News

Reuters - Cuban President Fidel Castro, who handed
over power provisionally to his younger brother after
undergoing surgery, has thumbed his nose for four decades at
the U.S. government just 90 miles away across the Florida
Straits.

AP - Fidel Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, rebuffed repeated U.S. attempts to oust him and survived communism’s demise almost everywhere else, temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night because of surgery.

AP - British Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an agreement Monday to bypass the Bush administration and work together to explore ways to fight global warming.

Reuters - North and South Korean troops exchanged
gunfire across their heavily fortified border for the first
time in about a year, a military official said on Tuesday, with
the incident coming as once warming ties turn chilly.

AP - The prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay during the war on terror have attacked their military guards hundreds of times, turning broken toilet parts, utensils, radios and even a bloody lizard tail into makeshift weapons.

AP - Israel’s prime minister declared Monday there would be no cease-fire with Hezbollah guerrillas, saying “we will not give up on our goal to live a life free of terror.” His Security Cabinet approved widening the ground offensive.

AP - Greg Maddux was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the biggest deal before baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline Monday while the Washington Nationals surprised some teams by holding onto Alfonso Soriano.

AP - The deputy who arrested Mel Gibson on suspicion of drunken driving said Monday that he feels bad for damage to the star’s reputation but hopes Gibson thinks twice before drinking and getting behind the wheel.

AP - President Bush acknowledged growing international pressure for an immediate Middle East cease-fire Monday but dismissed any idea of simply “stopping for the sake of stopping” without a plan for lasting peace.

AP - Four monks pleaded not guilty to charges alleging a boy was sexually assaulted at a Texas monastery that draws thousands of visitors every year, officials said Monday.

AP - Northwest Airlines Corp. flight attendants rejected a wage-cutting contract on Monday and warned of random, unannounced strikes as early as mid-August.

Reuters - Israeli troops fought fierce battles
with Hizbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon early on Tuesday,
as the Jewish state gave the green light to widen a ground
offensive and push deep into Lebanese territory.