Boy, 3, in custody battle

Boy, 3, in custody battle
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 31/2-year-old boy at the center of a three-way custody battle was handed over to his biological mother, leaving the couple who had been raising him since his birth in tears. Evan Scott's mother, Amanda Hopkins, who had won a court battle, picked up the boy Thursday for a "transitional visit" to his new home. Hopkins lives on a Navy base in Illinois with her husband and infant daughter. Dawn and Gene Scott, who have cared for the boy since his birth in May 2001, are still seeking to overturn a judge's order denying them custody. "I know he is confused," Dawn Scott said in an interview Friday on NBC's "Today." "I know he didn't understand all this turmoil happening in his life right now." The Scotts, of Atlantic Beach, hugged and kissed the boy as they handed him over to the mother. After the visit of a few days, Evan is expected to return to Florida for about a week before moving to Illinois.
hNASA tank begins trek
NEW ORLEANS -- NASA's redesigned fuel tank, a massive vessel (above) that supplies propellant for the launch of the space shuttle, began its five-day trip across the Gulf of Mexico to the launch site on Florida's east coast. NASA workers in New Orleans rolled the massive tank onto a 200-foot barge Friday for the trip down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico. The tank will travel around the Florida Keys and up the Banana River and arrive next week at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Unrelenting storm in Calif.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- An unrelenting storm brought more rain and snow to Southern California on Friday, while residents in the Sierra Nevada dug out from as much as 8 feet of snow. More wet weather was expected through the New Year's weekend for most of the state, giving skiers mountains of fresh snow -- but dangerous driving conditions to get there.
Leftist rebel extradited
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia extradited a top leftist rebel to the United States on Friday to face drug and terror charges, an unprecedented move that followed his group's refusal to free dozens of hostages, including three Americans and a German. Ricardo Palmera, wearing handcuffs and a bullet-proof vest, became the first leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to be sent for trial in a U.S. federal court -- prompting fears of reprisal attacks. A phalanx of army commandos and American officials escorted Palmera to a U.S. government plane at a military airfield on the edge of Bogota.
hDeadlock in S. Korea
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea will be left without a national budget and its troops deployed in Iraq on an unauthorized mission if a weekslong deadlock in parliament isn't resolved before today. The dispute is centered around the government's plans to abolish the country's anti-communist National Security Law, which has long been criticized by North Korea. President Roh Moo-hyun, a former human rights lawyer and activist, has argued the law was abused in the past to persecute dissidents to South Korea's previous military dictatorships. The main opposition Grand National Party has opposed totally scrapping the National Security Law, arguing that it is vital to South Korea's security. Some of its members, above, slept in their seats Friday, keeping the assembly floor occupied in an effort to prevent Uri Party legislators from passing reform bills.
Associated Press
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