WikiLeaks urges US to probe alleged rights abuses

GENEVA (AP) — The founder of WikiLeaks urged U.S. authorities on Thursday to probe possible rights abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq instead of focusing on tracking down who leaked that information to his group.

Australian-born Julian Assange said the U.S. hadn't opened any probes into the alleged incidents detailed in secret documents published by WikiLeaks since the group began putting them online in July.

"It is time the United States opened up instead of covering up," he told reporters near the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva, where on Friday the U.S. will face its first comprehensive human rights review by the global body.

Officials at the U.S. mission in Geneva …

Jurist: Ties to Israel obligated war crimes probe

The internationally renowned jurist who oversaw a U.N. report accusing Israel of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip said Monday that his deep attachment to the Jewish state compelled him to carry out the investigation.

South African jurist Richard Goldstone also faulted Israel for not cooperating with the investigation in an op-ed piece published in the Jerusalem Post, an English-language Israeli daily. It was the first time he has reached out to the Israeli public since his report was published last month.

Goldstone's report on the three-week winter war has set off an uproar in Israel. Leaders say the document was biased and commissioned by a U.N. body …

Rescuers aid pilgrims in Himalayas

SRINAGAR, India Army helicopters swept into the Himalayas andrescued hundreds of pilgrims stranded last week by torrential rainsand a snowstorm that reportedly killed 160 of their companions.

For two days, rescue teams used helicopters and trucks toevacuate tens of thousands of people, bringing them down to the townof Pahalgam, the starting point of the trek. By Monday, rescueworkers said almost all the pilgrims were safe.

Sixty thousand pilgrims were in Pahalgam, from where they hadbegun their arduous three-day trek to a 13,500-foot-high cavehonoring Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction.

Rescuers planned to move them to safer areas where there …

Tug pilot sentenced to year and a day in prison for deadly river crash in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tug pilot sentenced to year and a …

Thai army chief wants elections to end crisis

Thailand's army commander urged protesters Wednesday to leave Bangkok airport and called for elections to end the country's political crisis after a day of chaos in which thousands of travelers were stranded.

A protest spokesman said new elections alone would not solve the crisis, calling for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsarat to resign unconditionally. He added that they would not leave the airport.

All flights were canceled and frustrated passengers bused to hotels, as protesters shut down Suvarnabhumi Airport in a major escalation of their four-month campaign to oust Somchai.

"The government should give the public a chance to decide in a fresh …

Cable board is signing off: City and county officials will take over advisory panel's job

The sun has apparently set on the West Virginia Cable TV AdvisoryBoard.

The board met for its 94th - and possibly final - time Thursdaytohandle housekeeping duties before it goes out of operation June 30.

The Legislature failed to renew the board's operations under thestate sunset law, and a proposal to create a new cable TV consumerprotection agency was vetoed by Gov. Underwood."It's been a lot of fun and a good experience for me," said boardChairman James Sago, who has been a member since the agency wasformed in July 1990."I found out that not all cable operators are bad guys, most areresponsible business people. We have provided a forum to argue anddiscuss …

Desde Washington; Colombia, un Éxito Propio y Bipartidista

Si observamos a Colombia cinco a�os atr�s, habr�a sido justo decir que estaba cayendo en una incontrolable anarqu�a --un gobierno intimidado por una mort�fera mezcla de alas de izquierda y derecha-- grupos terroristas y es de droga pugnando por una, econom�a basada m�s en la coca�na que en el comercio honesto.

La batalla no ha concluido, pero la eliminaci�n del cartel de droga de Cali y la extradici�n de sus l�deres es una gran victoria. La guerra contra el ala izquierdista de las FARC sigue, pero ahora combate agresivamente.

Los �ltimos reportes indican que del 2000 a 2004 Colombia entren� 110,000 nuevos polic�as, redujo una tercera parte del �rea de cultivo de la …