BAGHDAD, Iraq - Handpicking Iraq's interim leadership to reflect its ethnic and religious makeup seemed like the right thing to do six months ago. But communal tensions are on the rise, deepening the country's ethnic and religious fault lines and casting doubt on prospects for installing a peacefully elected government next year.
AMARAH, Iraq - Impatience with Iraq's occupying forces boiled over yesterday as unemployed Iraqis pelted British troops with stones and a top Shiite Muslim cleric demanded the country's next parliament be elected - not chosen by local caucuses, as foreseen by the Americans.
(U-Wire) - The initial Pledge of Allegiance did not contain the phrase under God. This phrase was not added during World War II, when the pledge was adopted as a comfort to a country at war.
WASHINGTON - Space-exploration proposals that President Bush is preparing to put into his next budget will not undermine his administration's goal of cutting the federal deficit in half within five years, Treasury Secretary John Snow said yesterday.
The bitter cold that gripped the Northeast and iced over roads through the weekend was blamed for at least three deaths, including that of a Philadelphia man found inside a home without heat.
The Ohio wrestling team continued its string of dominance this weekend, remaining perfect in the New Year by beating Indiana, Gardner Webb and host team Ashland at the Wendy's Classic yesterday.
Perhaps the sellout crowd of 1,200 plus that attended Saturday night's hockey game at Bird Arena could have just watched the film from Friday night.
COLUMBUS - Howard Dean is the early favorite of Ohio Democrats with a 12-point lead over his closest challenger, according to The Columbus Dispatch's first poll of the 2004 presidential campaign.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Two years after the first prisoners began arriving at Guantanamo Bay in the wake of Sept. 11, families of detainees are asking how much longer they must wait for their loved ones to be tried or released.
CLEVELAND - Ohio's 51 colleges and universities that train future teachers will collaborate on a $10 million project to identify what makes a good teacher.
KENT - Despite outshooting and outrebounding the Mid-American Conference East Division leader, the Ohio men's basketball team fell to Kent State, 80-71, Saturday night.
BOSTON - Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley urged Catholic lawyers yesterday to oppose gay marriage, saying the institution of marriage and the family are under assault and attorneys need to help protect them.
JERUSALEM - Israel had secret contacts with Syria several months ago - well before recent Syrian overtures - but they broke down after word of the meetings leaked out, Israel's foreign minister said yesterday. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was ready to open negotiations if Syria stops helping terror.
Ohio lawmakers should pass a new bill requiring the state to share details about youth offenders with school districts. The bill, which was passed by a House committee 9-1 on Wednesday, concerns the records of juveniles who have spent time in a detention facility.
CLEVELAND - Ohio has halted a federally backed program that provided college-tuition aid to state and county government social workers.
LAS VEGAS - Nevada state officials say a federal appeals-court hearing this week on a collection of lawsuits will give the state a chance to block the government's plans to entomb nuclear-reactor waste under a mountain 90 miles outside Las Vegas.
ISTANBUL, Turkey - The American military has begun using an air base in southern Turkey for a massive rotation of troops in and out of Iraq, a U.S. official said yesterday, in a sign of improved U.S.-Turkish relations.
(U-WIRE) - For thousands of years, marriage between a woman and a man has been a bedrock of civilization with cultural, legal, religious and historical underpinnings that provide the foundation for society's most basic social unit: The family. Recently, though, the institution has come under attack, most notably last week when four judicial activists on the Massachusetts State Supreme Court struck down that state's ban on gay marriages as unconstitutional. The decision was both poor and erroneous and left many unanswered questions about gay rights and the role of the judiciary in shaping public policy.
LETHBRIDGE, Alberta - In the heart of Canada's cattle country, ranchers feel a bond with their American colleagues, one built on a century of trade.
Two East State Street businesses had demanding weekends as one store officially opened its doors for students while another store emptied its racks.
Solutions by The State News