hCriticism in Britain mounts over intelligence

hCriticism in Britainmounts over intelligence
LONDON -- Robert H. Tuttle, the new U.S. ambassador to Britain, and his wife, Maria, place a memorial wreath alongside other flowers for those killed in the July 7 terrorist attacks in London. Criticism of the British government grew Monday over the revelation that the vaunted domestic intelligence service did not detain one of the London attackers last year after linking him to a suspect in an alleged plot by other Britons of Pakistani descent to explode a truck bomb in the capital. The service found itself under fire as new information emerged Monday about the bombers' connection with Pakistan: Two of the suspects traveled together to the southern city of Karachi last November and returned to London in February. A third bomber went to the same city last July.
In defiance of police ban
NETIVOT, Israel -- Security forces blocked thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters from marching Monday night in protest of Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip next month. After a two-hour standoff, settlers said they reached an agreement with security forces to spend the night in Kfar Maimon, a village two miles from their starting point and 12 miles away from their goal -- the main crossing point into the Gaza settlements. Settlers pledged to push on toward Gaza in the morning. About 20,000 police and soldiers were deployed in southern Israel to block the marchers, who started out after a rally in the town of Netivot. A line of soldiers and police stopped the march shortly after it started. Forming a sea of orange, their chosen protest color, the settlers shouted at the security forces to disobey their orders.
7 sentenced in slayingof ex-Serbian president
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro -- Slobodan Milosevic's paramilitary commander, his secret police chief and five others were convicted and sentenced Monday for the 2000 killing of a former Serbian president who was Milosevic's political rival. The Special Court in Belgrade sentenced the former paramilitary commander, Milorad Lukovic, to the maximum 40 years in prison for the murder of former President Ivan Stambolic and for a failed attempt to assassinate Vuk Draskovic, an opposition leader at the time and now Serbia-Montenegro's foreign minister. Rade Markovic, the secret service chief under Milosevic, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Five other hitmen were handed sentences ranging from 15 to 40 years in the high-profile trial that lasted more than a year. All already are serving prison terms for separate convictions.
New cattle from Canada
WASHINGTON -- The first new shipment of Canadian cattle rolled into the United States on Monday, four days after a federal appeals court ended a two-year-old ban originally instituted because of mad cow disease. Thirty-five black Angus cattle crossed the border around noon at Lewiston, N.Y., near Niagara Falls, according to the shipper, Schaus Land and Cattle Co. of Elmwood, Ontario. The animals were destined for a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse.
July 26 launch possible
NASA officials troubleshooting a sensor malfunction in the space shuttle Discovery said Monday the orbiter could launch on July 26 at the earliest, and suggested they may have to reload its external fuel tank with supercooled liquids in order to duplicate the glitch so they can fix it. "We've been dealing with launch vehicles" for some time, Deputy Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale said. "A few days' delay to figure out what is going on is always the right answer. This is a business where you have to have patience."
Blond hair to be tested
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- Investigators said Monday they will conduct DNA tests on blond hair attached to duct tape that was found along Aruba's coast to see if it came from Natalee Holloway in a possible break to the 6-week-old mystery. A park ranger found the duct tape while collecting trash Sunday on rocks at Boca Tortuga, an inlet near a series of caves on Aruba's northeast coast, said National Park Ranger Service spokeswoman Dilma Arends. Boca Tortuga is on the opposite side of Aruba from where the 18-year-old was last seen in public.
Vindicator wire services