SUICIDE BOMBER STRIKES

Suicide bomber strikes
TEL AVIV, Israel -- A Palestinian suicide bomber struck a packed fast-food restaurant during Passover on Monday, killing nine people and wounding dozens in the deadliest bombing in more than a year. In a sharp departure from the previous Palestinian government's condemnations of bombings, the Hamas-led administration defended the attack as a legitimate response to Israeli "aggression." The bloodshed and the hard-line stance could set the stage for harsh Israeli reprisals and endanger Hamas' efforts to secure desperately needed international aid and acceptance.
Iran's nuclear wrinkle
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president has thrown a new wrinkle into the nuclear debate by claiming his country is testing a centrifuge that could be used to more speedily create fuel for power plants or atomic weapons. But some analysts familiar with the country's technology said Monday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be deliberately exaggerating Iran's capabilities, either to boost his own political support or to persuade the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to back off. The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran cease enrichment work, which the United States and some of its allies suspect is meant to produce weapons. Russia and China, two of the council's five veto-holding members, have opposed punishing Iran.
Moussaoui diagnosed
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A defense psychologist testified Monday that Zacarias Moussaoui is a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions, as defense lawyers presented additional evidence the confessed Sept. 11 conspirator believes he will be freed from prison by President Bush. Psychologist Xavier Amador testified Moussaoui displays symptoms of the brain disorder, including delusions and disorganized thoughts and speech. Moussaoui's court-appointed defense lawyers believe he has lied on the witness stand twice about having a role in the nation's worst terrorist attack in order to achieve martyrdom through execution or an enhanced role in history. Amador has never examined Moussaoui, who refused to see him. He said his diagnosis is based in part on conclusions of other mental-health professionals and an analysis of Moussaoui's actions and writings.
Fatal bus crash in Mexico
VERACRUZ, Mexico -- A vastly overcrowded passenger bus veered off a highway emergency ramp and crashed through a metal barrier Monday, plunging more than 650 feet into a ravine in eastern Mexico. At least 67 people were killed, including four children. Four people -- including an 8-year-old girl -- were injured in the wreck that came as the bus traveled on steep mountainous roads. The bus had already traveled for more than 10 hours as it returned from an Easter week gathering in the western city of Guadalajara to the passengers' home state of Tabasco, on the Gulf Coast. Rescuers ended their search for victims after recovering 63 bodies, State Attorney General official Rosa Elvira Gonzalez said. She said four passengers died at local hospitals. .
Sex offender registry used
CORINTH, Maine -- A man who shot two sex offenders to death in Maine got their names from the state's online sex offender registry, authorities said Monday, renewing fears that such lists expose ex-convicts to vigilante violence. The gunman, Stephen A. Marshall, a 20-year-old from Canada, committed suicide Sunday night in Boston after being cornered aboard a bus by police. Investigators were uncertain what relationship, if any, Marshall had with the two victims, who were killed Easter Sunday morning at their homes 25 miles apart. But the two men were among 34 names Marshall had looked up on the state Web site, said Stephen McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Arrest in Holloway case
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- A 19-year-old man detained in the disappearance of a young Alabama woman had never figured in the case before, lawyers said Monday, prompting speculation that authorities were taking a new approach to the case. The announcement that someone was being held in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway nearly a year ago was the first major development in months in the case, which has featured several false leads. Before Saturday's arrest, seven people had been detained previously in the case and later released.
Associated Press