Rice wants Israel to lift restrictions

Rice wants Israel to lift restrictions

JERUSALEM — Facing mounting Palestinian frustration at the pace of peace talks, the United States leaned on Israel on Sunday to lift restrictions that chafe West Bank residents and stifle an already limping economy.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not directly criticize close U.S. ally Israel, but had unusually direct remarks about the consequences of Israeli housing and roadblocks in the West Bank. Palestinian claims that Israel is deliberately expanding Jewish settlements on land the Palestinians claim for a state have dampened the high hopes for a peace deal before President Bush leaves office next year.

Teachers: We’re targets

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Educators have become targets in Zimbabwe’s postelection violence, a teachers union said Sunday, threatening a nationwide strike unless the government stops the attacks.

The Roman Catholic Justice and Peace Commission also protested political violence and called on the United Nations and African Union to supervise a planned presidential runoff.

In a statement to coincide with Sunday services, the Catholic human rights body said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission could no longer be relied on as a “neutral and nonpartisan electoral umpire” after its five-week delay in announcing final results of the March 29 national election amid witness reports of politically motivated murder, abduction and torture.

22 cars of train derail

WEST NEWTON, Pa. — A freight train ran into a derailed car of another train in southwestern Pennsylvania on Sunday, and a total of 22 cars left the tracks, including a tanker carrying a paint additive that ruptured.

No injuries were reported, but crews were working to contain the leak from the tanker.

A CSX Corp. train was heading west from New Castle to Chicago when it jumped the track around 10 a.m. near West Newton, about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, said CSX spokesman Garrick Francis. About 10 cars left the tracks.

Courthouse damaged

SAN DIEGO — A suspected pipe bomb exploded at a federal courthouse in downtown San Diego early Sunday, damaging the front entrance and blowing out a window, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

Few people were around the building, which is a block from nightclubs in the Gaslamp Quarter, when the powerful blast also damaged the lobby area of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse about 1:40 a.m., said FBI spokeswoman April Langwell.

The bomb was reported by two guards in the building, who were uninjured. Debris was found lodged in a window about eight stories up the AT T building that faces the courthouse.

Boiler suspect in blast

JACKSON, Miss. — Investigators hoping to determine the cause of a deadly explosion at a paper mill must wait to make sure that a boiler being restarted when the blast occurred is safe, the company said Sunday.

At least 400 International Paper Co. employees, including contractors, were on site Saturday when the explosion tore through mill in Redwood, about 30 miles west of Jackson. Marcus Christopher Broome, a 28-year-old contract worker, was killed, and 17 others were injured.

The boiler had been shut down for annual maintenance before the blast.

6 sea lions found dead

PORTLAND, Ore. — Authorities are investigating the deaths of six sea lions on the Columbia River. At least some of them appear to have been shot.

The carcasses of four California sea lions and two Steller sea lions were found Sunday about noon.

The discovery comes a day after three elephant seals were found shot to death at a breeding ground in central California.

All three species are federally protected. The dead sea lions were found at traps below the dam.

Washington, Oregon and federal investigators are treating the area as a crime scene.

Associated Press