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A senior US official says the United States has decided not to participate in a UN conference on racism in April unless the outcome document is changed to drop all references to Israel and the defamation of religion. US President Barack Obama's administration sent two representatives to Geneva last week, where negotiations on the final document are taking place to assess the negotiations on the final document, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not yet been made.

Analysis: Iran Won't Back Down From U.N. Wednesday August 30, 2006 11:16 PM By LEE KEATH Associated Press Writer CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Iran isn't blinking in the face of Thursday's U.N. deadline for it to halt uranium enrichment or else finally face the possibility of sanctions the United States has sought for years. Tehran appears confident it can withstand any punishment - if it comes at all. There seems to be no question of Iran's bending to the U.N. demand. It was enriching small amounts of uranium gas at its facility in Natanz as recently as Tuesday, U.N. and...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - An unfinished statue of Barney Fife apparently won't be heading to Don Knotts' hometown after all. Knotts' widow endorses a statue but says the monument should be of her husband, not of the bumbling deputy he made famous on "The Andy Griffith Show." Knotts died in February at age 81. "We consider the dissemination of his image to be a big responsibility that we take very seriously," Francey Knotts and Andy Griffith said in a statement. "No one cares more about Don's image than we do. It would be wonderful to have a statue in Morgantown, W.Va.,...

The $100,000 note that won't buy a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 07/06/2006) The 100,000 Zimbabwean dollar note which went into circulation this week was officially worth just over 50p. Yesterday on Zimbabwe's burgeoning black markets it was valued at about 16p. In a country stricken by 1,000 per cent inflation, the world's worst, the new note will not even buy a loaf of bread. Just four months ago, a loaf of bread cost $45,000 Hours after the national mint started printing the notes, the price of bread shot up by more 40 per...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2006 – The National Guard's support for the border security mission won't detract from its warfighting and disaster support roles, but will actually sharpen its ability to carry them out, senior defense officials told Congress today. "National Guard combat readiness will not -- will not -- be degraded," Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told the House Armed Services Committee today, putting added emphasis on his second "will not." President Bush proposed using up to 6,000 National Guard members on a rotational basis for up to a year to support the...

Judge Won't Drop Charges in Mosque Sting Saturday March 11, 2006 11:46 PM By MICHAEL VIRTANEN Associated Press Writer ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A federal judge refused to dismiss charges against two Muslims arrested in an FBI anti-terrorism sting, rejecting claims that evidence was tainted by use of illegal warrantless wiretaps. U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy's ``classified'' order leaves secret his reasons for also turning down defense requests to suppress any evidence acquired from warrantless wiretaps or force authorities to disclose whether they were used in the Albany case. His three-sentence public order was issued late Friday. Yassin Aref, 35,...

PASADENA, Calif. - Singer Kelly Clarkson, who vaulted to fame as the first "American Idol" winner in 2002, is not letting any of her songs be used by new contestants on the show. A spokesman for Clarkson insisted it's nothing personal, but the stance prompted a public scolding from "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell. "I think that by ignoring the show you're ignoring the audience who put you there," Cowell said Tuesday. Clarkson has become a major star in the past year, with her hit "Since U Been Gone" earning both massive sales and critical respect, particularly from a rock...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2005 – Al Qaeda's top leader in Iraq likely will try to stop Iraq's Dec. 15 election of a permanent government, and failing that, terrorists will continue their campaign of violence to try to unseat the new government, a senior U.S. military officer told reporters at a Baghdad news conference today. "No one should believe that on the 15th of December, when there's a safe and secure election, the insurgents will go home," Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said. Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda affiliated forces in Iraq and remnant...

U.S., Europe Won't Push for Move on Iran Tuesday November 22, 2005 12:46 AM By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press Writer VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Washington and its European allies will forgo pushing for Iran's referral to the U.N. Security Council later this week, giving Russia more time in persuading Tehran to give up technology that could make nuclear arms, diplomats and officials told The Associated Press on Monday. For the Americans and the European Union, the plan holds the promise of success even if Iran continues to reject the proposal that would move its uranium enrichment program to Russia. The...

<p>A 10-year-old boy was in critical condition Sunday after three toy poodles escaped from a home and went on a rampage, attacking six people before police shot and killed dogs, authorities said.....</p>

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2005 – President Bush opened a major speech about the war on terror today by praising the military and crediting veterans for the solid example they've set for today's troops waging a fight he said the United States won't abandon. "We will never back down, we will never give in, and we will never accept less than complete victory," Bush told a servicemembers, veterans and business leaders in Norfolk, Va. The president emphasized that the United States is not to blame for the violence it has suffered at the hands of terrorists. "No act of ours invited...

The questions that won't go away for Condi Rice By Alec Russell in Birmingham, Alabama (Filed: 24/10/2005) Condoleezza Rice, the ultra-poised American secretary of state, has persistently said that she has no intention of running for the White House and that she expects people to believe her. All weekend, as she roamed her home state of Alabama with her guest Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, she fended off questions about her future. When a girl asked the question on a visit to her old school she looked weary before flashing her famous smile and saying: "I don't want to run...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court won’t consider a challenge to a provision of the state’s concealed gun law. Without comment, the state’s highest court let stand a lower court's ruling that there's no absolute right to bear arms in Missouri. The case focuses on whether people seeking permits to carry concealed guns must answer questions from county sheriffs about their criminal history or military service. Missouri's concealed-carry law lets sheriffs deny permits for various reasons -- including a discharge from the military "under dishonorable conditions." The sheriff of St. Charles County filed an appeal after a circuit...

PHOENIX - Gov. Janet Napolitano isn't going to ask President Bush to bring Arizona's National Guard troops back from the Middle East. The governor said Wednesday that she read the request that was delivered to her office Monday by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan. Sheehan said Arizona could find itself at a disadvantage during wildfires if its troops are busy battling insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Napolitano said she doesn't intend to do that. "The deployments from Arizona have been managed in such a fashion that I have never felt that we were left with inadequate resources here," ........

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2005 – U.S. servicemembers fighting in the global war against terrorism are "directly engaging the enemies of the United States" who have considered themselves to be at war with America since long before Sept. 11, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said here today. Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and other terrorist groups "were actually at war with this country before 2001," Cheney told attendees at the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting and exposition. In 1983, an explosives-laden truck killed 241 U.S. Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, Cheney recalled. Afterward, U.S. troops were withdrawn from...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2005 – Federal troops continue to deploy to the area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, but active-duty forces will not participate in the mandatory evacuation order issued by local authorities in New Orleans, a senior military officer involved in the operations said today. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Inge, deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command, explained that active-duty troops would not be used in "a law enforcement issue." Guardsmen working under the order of a governor would, however, be able to enforce the mandatory evacuation order. Emergency response officials are still in rescue mode in some areas while entering...

Reid won't be returning lobbyist contributions Spokeswoman says senator sees no reason to return funds By TONY BATT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will not return campaign contributions he received during the past five years from lobbyists and clients associated with Jack Abramoff, a Reid spokeswoman said Friday. Federal officials are investigating whether Abramoff, a lobbyist, bilked millions of dollars from Indian gaming tribes. Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats have been sharply critical of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who has close ties to Abramoff. About two-thirds of Abramoff-related campaign funds were given to...

Officials Say Iraq Won't Be Islamic State 53 minutes ago By RAWYA RAGEH, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ukraine withdrew 150 servicemen from Iraq on Saturday, beginning a gradual pullout, as Shiite and Kurdish politicians refined plans to form a coalition government that officials said includes an agreement not to turn the country into an Islamic state. In Mosul, gunmen killed three policemen and wounded a fourth at a funeral procession, the second time in as many days that mourners have been targeted in that northern city. It was unclear if the mourners were Shiites, but the police officers...

Bush Says U.S. Won't Attack Iran 2 minutes ago By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday the United States does not intend to attack Iran to crush its suspected nuclear weapons project but added that "you never want a president to say never." He expressed hopes that a European diplomatic initiative would persuade Tehran to abandon any such program. In interviews with European journalists at the White House, Bush was asked about an opinion poll showing that 70 percent of Germans believe the United States is planning military action against Iran. "I hear all...

The Virginia-based missionary group WorldHelp has dropped its plans to place 300 Muslim "tsunami orphans" in a Christian children's home, the group's president, the Rev. Vernon Brewer, told news agencies Thursday. The children were still in the Muslim province of Aceh and had not been airlifted to Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, according to an electronic mail message under Brewer's name circulating among his supporters. In an interview Tuesday for an article published in Thursday's editions of The Washington Post , Brewer said that the children already had been airlifted to Jakarta and that the Indonesian government had given permission for them...