hTowering tradition

hTowering tradition
BARCELONA, Spain -- A traditional Catalan human tower is raised in Barcelona's San Jaime square during the St. Merce fiesta celebrations. Human pyramid building has a long tradition in the region of Catalonia. The tower was raised Sunday.
Israel kills Jihad leaderin pinpoint airstrike
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israel pressed forward with a broad offensive against Islamic militants Sunday, killing an Islamic Jihad commander in a pinpoint airstrike in the Gaza Strip and rounding up more than 200 wanted Palestinians. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised to use "all means" against the militants.
The offensive, coming just two weeks after Israel withdrew from Gaza, followed a wave of militant rocket attacks against Israeli towns over the weekend. Israel has promised to continue with its airstrikes, arrests and a possible ground invasion until the rocket fire ceases.
Sunday's airstrike killed Islamic Jihad's top commander in southern Gaza, Mohammed Khalil, and his bodyguard as they drove along a coastal road in Gaza City.
The army said Khalil, 35, was responsible for attacks that killed 17 Israelis.
Boeing, Machinists unionreach tentative contract
SEATTLE -- The Boeing Co. and its Machinists union have reached a tentative contract agreement, which if approved would end a three-week strike that shut down the company's airplane production.
Mark Blondin, district president for Machinists District Lodge 751 in Seattle, confirmed the agreement Sunday and said union members would vote on the deal Thursday.
"I'm just proud of our membership," Blondin said. "They stood solid, unified, and that solidarity is what finally got the company to do the right thing."
Suspect in Holloway casedenies responsibility
NEW YORK -- A suspect in the case of an Alabama teenager missing in Aruba admits he lied about the last time he saw her on the night she vanished, but he insists she was fine, according to a television interview.
Joran van der Sloot, 18, was one of three men jailed this summer in Natalee Holloway's May 30 disappearance. He talked to a producer for "A Current Affair" in Holland, where he is attending college. The interview is scheduled to air today.
Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot and two brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe.
Van der Sloot and the brothers initially told police they dropped Holloway off alone at her hotel but later admitted van der Sloot was dropped off with the teen.
"We agreed to lie," van der Sloot said, according to a transcript of the show.
He insists the night ended when he left her alone on the beach.
IRA fully disarms, aideto weapons monitor says
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- International weapons inspectors have supervised the full disarmament of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, a long-sought goal of Northern Ireland's peace process, an aide to the process' monitor said Sunday.
The IRA permitted two independent witnesses, including a Methodist minister and a Roman Catholic priest close to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, to view the secret disarmament work conducted by officials from Canada, Finland and the United States, the aide to retired Canadian Gen. John de Chastelain said on condition of anonymity.
The breakthrough should smash the biggest stumbling block in Northern Ireland's peace process since Britain opened negotiations with Sinn Fein in December 1994.
Associated Press