Church leader arrested on sex charges in New Mexico

Church leader arrested on sex charges in New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M. — The leader of an apocalyptic sect in northeastern New Mexico was arrested Tuesday and charged with felony sex crimes against children.

State police arrested Wayne Bent, 66, on three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, said Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson.

Bent was being held on $500,000 bond at the Union County Detention Center in Clayton and was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

Spears granted expanded visits with her 2 children

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears will have expanded visits with her sons after a child-custody hearing that went off without a hitch Tuesday, capping a three-month period of relative calm and stability for the troubled pop star and mother of two.

The longer visits are “recognition of the progress that has been made, a progress in structure and stability,” said Mark Vincent Kaplan, lawyer for Spears’ ex-husband, Kevin Federline. At a post-hearing press conference, Kaplan said Federline retains custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, but that Spears would be allowed to see them for longer periods.

Baskin-Robbins co-founder dies

LOS ANGELES — Irvine Robbins, who as co-founder of Baskin-Robbins brought Rocky Road, Pralines ’n Cream and other exotic ice cream concoctions to every corner of America, has died at age 90.

Robbins had been ill for some time and died Monday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., said his daughter Marsha Veit.

While the company advertised that it offered 31 flavors, in fact it has created more than 1,000 flavors, according to its Web site.

Volcano in Chile forces thousands to evacuate

SANTIAGO, Chile — The long-dormant Chaiten volcano blasted ash some 20 miles into the Andean sky Tuesday, forcing thousands to evacuate and fouling a huge stretch of the South American continent.

The thick column of ash climbed into the stratosphere and blew eastward for hundreds of miles over Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean, forcing schools and a regional airport to close. Citizens of both countries were advised to wear masks to avoid breathing the dangerous fallout.

IAEA chief urges more U.S. sensitivity on Iran

VIENNA, Austria — The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency urged Washington on Tuesday to show more sensitivity in dealing with Iran if it hopes to see Tehran make concessions on its nuclear program, diplomats said.

The diplomats, speaking to The Associated Press after a meeting between IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and Undersecretary of State John Rood, said the American diplomat made no commitments, but promised to take ElBaradei’s concerns back to his superiors.

Rood, the top U.S. official on nuclear nonproliferation, declined to go into details of his discussions with ElBaradei beyond confirming that Iran and Syria were among the topics of the meeting.

Iran is under three sets of relatively mild U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Palestinian police fight militants in West Bank

QABATIYEH, West Bank — Hundreds of Palestinian police came under fire when they deployed in this militant stronghold Tuesday as President Mahmoud Abbas pushed ahead with a U.S.-backed program to assert authority in the West Bank.

Sporadic exchanges of gunfire were heard throughout the morning between officers who used the small town’s buildings for cover and militants in surrounding hills. The clashes wounded three people, drove residents off the streets and forced businesses to remain shuttered.

Deployment of Palestinian security forces in the northern West Bank is a critical test of Abbas’ ability to control his own territory and is key to answering critics who argue he is too weak to implement a future peace agreement with Israel.

Associated Press