IRANIAN NUCLEAR CRISIS

Iranian nuclear crisis
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's hard-line president said Monday he is thinking about withdrawing from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty if the U.N. atomic agency tries to prevent his country from enriching uranium. In a rare news conference with foreign journalists, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also predicted the U.N. Security Council will not impose sanctions on Iran, which is facing a Friday deadline to halt enrichment because of suspicions it is trying to develop atomic weapons. Ahmadinejad's government insists the nonproliferation treaty gives Iran the right to enrich uranium for fueling civilian nuclear power plants, and he has given no ground in the international face-off. The United States, Britain and France maintain Iran also wants enriched uranium for atomic bombs, which would violate its commitments under the treaty.
Bush orders probeinto rising gas prices
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE -- President Bush is trying to calm Americans' outrage over soaring gas prices by ordering an investigation into whether the price of gasoline has been illegally manipulated, his spokesman said Monday. During the last few days, Bush asked his Energy and Justice departments to open inquiries into possible cheating in the gasoline markets, said White House press secretary Scott McClellan. Bush planned to announce the action today during a speech in Washington. Bush is under pressure to do something about gas prices that have reached nearly $3 a gallon. In a new CNN poll, 69 percent of respondents said gasoline price increases had caused them personal hardship. Other polls suggest that voters favor Democrats over Republicans on the issue, and President Bush gets low marks for handling gas prices. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., urged Bush in a letter Monday to order a federal investigation into any gasoline price gouging or market speculation.
Hamas threatens to endtruce over comments
JERUSALEM -- Hamas angrily rejected a warning by the moderate Palestinian president Monday that he could dismiss its month-old government, threatening to scrap a truce with Israel if he does. The public warning heightened tensions between the Islamic militant group and President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Fatah Party. Hamas defeated Fatah in January parliamentary elections. Abbas, elected separately, has been trying to trim the powers of the new Cabinet. In an interview broadcast Monday on CNN-Turk, Abbas said Hamas must recognize Israel and talk peace to avert an economic catastrophe because of Western sanctions. Abbas favors peace talks, but Hamas rejects the presence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Hamas also refuses to renounce violence or accept interim Palestinian-Israeli peace accords -- basic international demands.
Jury in Moussaoui casebegins its deliberations
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Prosecutors showed the most gruesome and heart-rending photos of Sept. 11 again Monday and told jurors that only Zacarias Moussaoui's death could give the victims justice. The defense asked his jury to spurn retribution and not let a delusional and inept terrorist bait them into making him a martyr. With those final arguments, the life of the 37-year-old Frenchman was placed in the hands of the same nine men and three women who early this month found him responsible for at least one death on 9/11 even though he was in jail at the time. Now they must weigh the suffering and the glee the confessed al-Qaida conspirator took in it on the witness stand against his role, his mental health and background to decide whether he deserves the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of release. The jurors deliberated three hours and went home for the day. They will resume this morning.
Teenagers charged withplanning attack at school
COLUMBUS, Kan. -- Five teenage boys were charged Monday with threatening to carry out a shooting spree at their high school on the anniversary of the Columbine bloodbath. Each was charged with incitement to riot and making a criminal threat. A judge set bail at $50,000 for Charles New, 18, who was charged as an adult. The four others were charged as juveniles and ordered held for a May 3 hearing. "These are serious allegations and they scared me as I read them," Judge Robert Fleming said. The incitement charge carries seven to 23 months in jail; the criminal threat charge is punishable by five to 17 months behind bars. The punishment is the same for adults and juveniles. It would be premature to say whether more charges will be filed, said Deputy Attorney General Eric Rucker. "It is a very fluid case," he said. "We have not ferreted out all the facts, but we are comfortable with the charges filed today."
Associated Press