U.S. and Iran look askance at compromise on nukes

U.S. and Iran look askanceat compromise on nukes
WASHINGTON -- The United States and Iran separately expressed deep reservations Friday about a Russian compromise aimed at defusing the international crisis over Iran's nuclear program. The diminished prospects for the plan made it nearly certain that the United States and the European Union would prevail next week in having the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors send the matter to the U.N. Security Council. "There is every reason to believe there is going to be a vote on Feb. 2, and there is already a majority of countries assembled to vote positively," Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Friday. Reporting Iran to the Security Council, which has the power to impose economic sanctions, could worsen the crisis. Iran has promised to retaliate with steps that could set it on a course toward full-scale uranium enrichment and drive world oil prices higher. U.S. and European officials, however, have made it clear that they would seek sanctions only as a last resort should Iran persist in defying demands to fully disclose to the IAEA, a U.N. watchdog agency, all aspects of its nuclear program.
Probe of fatal jet skidleads to landing advisory
CHICAGO -- Federal investigators on Friday recommended banning a landing calculation used by the pilots of a jetliner that skidded off a runway and into a city street, where it killed a 6-year-old boy. The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots should not have factored in the plane's thrust reversers -- which help slow the plane -- when they estimated how long it would take to stop during a December snowstorm at Chicago's Midway Airport. The agency said the Southwest Airlines jet touched down with about 4,500 feet of runway remaining, but snowy conditions and other factors meant the plane needed about 5,300 feet of runway to stop. According to flight recorder data, the thrust reversers did not deploy until 18 seconds after landing, the report also said. That's more than 10 seconds beyond normal deployment, according to aviation experts. The jet skidded through a fence and crushed a car, killing the boy.
'Evil human' gets lifein senseless slayings
TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- Calling him "an evil human being," a judge ordered consecutive life sentences Friday for a former nurse convicted in the murders of a businessman and a gay prostitute whose remains were dumped along New Jersey highways. Richard W. Rogers, 55, stood stoically during his sentencing, declining to explain what drove him to kill. Both victims disappeared in New York in the early 1990s, but Rogers, a surgical nurse at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, wasn't caught until 2001, when investigators matched fingerprints taken from the plastic bags containing the victims' remains. Rogers' fingerprints were on file in Maine, where he was acquitted in 1973 in the hammer-beating death of a fellow student at the University of Maine. He had claimed self defense. Rogers also was acquitted in a 1990 case in which the victim testified he met Rogers in a New York bar and woke up in Rogers' home bound at the legs and wrists.
Scorpion Queen finds lovewith Centipede King
BANGKOK, Thailand -- It was love at first sight for Thailand's Scorpion Queen and Centipede King. The couple with a soft spot for creepy crawlers -- and publicity stunts -- is planning a Valentine's Day's wedding at a haunted house, and to consummate their vows in a coffin. Kanchana Ketkaew, 36, who set a world record in 2002 for spending 32 days in a glass cage with 3,400 scorpions, plans to wed 29-year-old Bunthawee Siengwong -- who set a Thai record for enduring 28 days with 1,000 centipedes. Kanchana's world record was beaten in 2004. The couple met while performing their respective stunts at a snake farm.
Billion-dollar disasters
WASHINGTON -- Last year added five events to the nation's list of weather disasters that did a billion dollars or more in damage, the National Climatic Data Center said Friday. Four hurricanes and a Midwest drought joined the agency's register of costly calamities, bringing the total to 67 since 1980. Hurricane Katrina, with a financial toll of more than $100 billion, became the nation's most expensive disaster in history, according to NCDC. That storm also claimed more than 1,300 lives. Before Katrina, the most expensive climate- or weather-related disasters since 1980 were the 1988 drought and heat wave, $61.6 billion; the 1980 drought and heat wave, $48.4 billion; and 1992's Hurricane Andrew, $35.6 billion, according to the Climate Center. In addition to Katrina, last year's billion-dollar disasters were Hurricane Wilma, $10 billion; Hurricane Rita, $8 billion; Hurricane Dennis, $2 billion; and the drought that struck the Midwest in spring and summer, $1 billion.
Associated Press