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08-08-2004

Bomb Kills Two U.S. Soldiers, Interpreter

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ A roadside bomb hit an American military vehicle in southeastern Afghanistan, killing two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan interpreter, the U.S. military said Sunday. Another U.S. soldier was injured in the blast on Saturday about 60 miles southwest of the city of Ghazni, a military statement said. The wounded soldier was flown to the U.S. base in the southern city of Kandahar for treatment and was in stable condition.

Iraqi Gov't Gives Amnesty for Minor Crimes

Fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raise their weapons as they bear pictures of al-Sadr during clashes with U.S. forces and Iraqi National guards in the holy Muslim city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq Saturday Aug. 7, 2004. Sporadic explosions and gunfire echoed through the holy Shiite city of Najaf on Saturday after two days of intense clashes between U.S. forces and Shiite Muslim insurgents that marked some of the bloodiest fighting in Iraq in months. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi signed an amnesty Saturday intended to persuade militants fighting a 15-month-old insurgency to put down their weapons and join government efforts to rebuild the country. But the law pardons only minor criminals, not killers or terrorists, and appeared unlikely to dampen the violence, as some insurgent leaders called it "insignificant."

U.S.: al-Qaida Suspect Cased New York

A New York City Police officers get their assignments outside the New York Stock Exchange, background, Friday morning Aug. 6, 2004. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

WASHINGTON (AP) _ An al-Qaida terror suspect detained in England was sent to the United States in early 2001 by the principal architect of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings to perform surveillance on economic targets in New York, according to U.S. officials and government interviews with other captured terror suspects. They said the suspect claimed he has associates in America, possibly in California.

Bush Defends Elevated Terror Warnings

President Bush, right, with his daughters Barbara, left, Jenna, center, and his father, former President George H. W. Bush, back left, on a boat in Kennebunkport, Maine Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) _ The heightened state of alert in New York, Newark, N.J. and Washington is "a grim reminder" of terrorist threats that still face the United States, President Bush said Saturday. He defended the elevated warnings in the face of criticism they were based on old intelligence.

Judge to Mull England Defense Witnesses

Pfc. Lynndie England, right, smiles as she and Kathleen Johnson, a member of the defense team, leave the Staff Judge Advocate Building at Fort Bragg, N.C., Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004, after the fifth day of England's Article 32 hearing. England faces up to 38 years in prison on charges of maltreatment of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. (AP Photo/Bob Jordan)

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) _ The pretrial hearing for a soldier photographed with naked Iraqi prisoners recessed Saturday without a ruling on whether Vice President Dick Cheney and other high-ranking administration officials must testify _ and without the photos being accepted into evidence. Military judge Col. Denise Arn recessed the Article 32 hearing for Pfc. Lynndie England until she reviews defense requests to call dozens of witnesses, including Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top Army generals.

S.F. Man Fakes Own Decapitation in Video

Benjamin Vanderford, 22, is interviewed at his home in San Francisco, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004, after a video aired that purportedly showed an American being decapitated in Iraq. Vanderford said he videotaped the staged beheading at his friend's house using fake blood and began distributing the video on the Internet months ago in hopes of drawing attention to his one-time campaign for city supervisor. When his political aspirations waned, he thought thevideo would serve as social commentary. (AP Photo/Ron Harris)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ An aspiring politician and video game designer who faked his own beheading by Iraqi militants awoke Saturday to learn that television stations around the world were showing his homemade video of the gruesome hoax. Benjamin Vanderford, 22, said he posted the 55-second clip, which shows a knife sawing against his neck, on an online file-sharing network in May. It circulated in cyberspace before crossing over to major media, airing on Arab television.

Report: al-Qaida Made Pre-9/11 Diamond Buy

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor leaves after officially handing over the power of the presidency to his Vice President Moses Blah, at the Executive Mansion in the Liberian capital Monrovia in this Aug. 11, 2003, file photo. A series of witnesses place six top al-Qaida fugitives in Africa buying up diamonds in the run-up to the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a confidential report by U.N.-backed prosecutors obtained by The Associated Press. Al-Qaida figures, including those already wanted in pre-Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. targets, dealt directly with then-President Charles Taylor and other leaders and warlords in the West African country of Liberia from 1999 onwards, according to the accounts. The witnesses told of meetings and sightings in the seedy hotels and safehouses of Monrovia, the blighted capital of what was then a rogue nation. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) _ A series of witnesses place six top al-Qaida fugitives in Africa buying up diamonds in the run-up to the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a confidential report by U.N.-backed prosecutors obtained by The Associated Press. The first-person accounts detailed by the prosecutors add to long-standing claims that al-Qaida laundered millions of dollars in terror funds through African diamonds before launching its deadliest offensive.

Kerry Calls for More Stem-Cell Funding

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., left, and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., talk to supporters from their campaign train in Lamar, Colo. on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

LA JUNTA, Colo. (AP) _ John Kerry said Saturday the restriction on stem cell research imposed by President Bush was a triumph of ideology over science and "only adds to the loss and pain" of millions suffering from potentially curable diseases. "At this very moment, some of the most pioneering cures and treatments are right at our fingertips, but because of the stem cell ban, they remain beyond our reach," the Democratic presidential candidate said in his party's weekly radio address.

Rick James' Cause of Death Uncertain

Rick James pauses during an interview in this Oct. 23, 2002 file photo, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. James died Friday, Aug. 6, 2004, at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes. (AP Photo/Rene Macura, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ An autopsy Saturday failed to determine the cause of death for funk legend Rick James, authorities said. James, 56, died in his sleep Friday at his home near Universal City. The singer was a diabetic and also had a pacemaker. He suffered a stroke in 1998. His three children _ daughter Ty and sons Rick Jr. and Tazman _ said Friday through a spokeswoman that they believe their father died of heart failure.

Greg Maddux Joins 300-Victory Club

Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux works against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004, in San Francisco. Maddux is vying for his 300th career win. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Greg Maddux has always been a man of little fanfare, so that's exactly how he handled his 300th win _ with a quiet step into history. Maddux calmly overcame a shaky start to become the 22nd major league pitcher to reach 300 victories, leading the Chicago Cubs over the San Francisco Giants 8-4 on Saturday. Maddux never returned to the field after the final out was made. Fans hollered as he worked his way down the hallway to a postgame interview, and Maddux practically pursed his lips to keep from reacting. It took a near mugging by a bunch of teammates at his locker to finally make him smile.

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