Clinton: Iran is becoming a military dictatorship

Clinton: Iran is becoming a military dictatorship

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday Iran is sliding into a military dictatorship, a new assessment suggesting a rockier road ahead for U.S.-led efforts to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

As the first high-level Obama administration official to make such an accusation, Clinton was reflecting an ever-dimming outlook for persuading Iran to negotiate limits on its nuclear program, which it has insisted is intended only for peaceful purposes. The U.S. and others — including the two Gulf countries Clinton visited Sunday and Monday — believe Iran is headed for a nuclear-bomb capability.

Top prelate chastises Irish bishops over sex abuse

ROME — A top Vatican prelate told Irish bishops at an extraordinary Vatican summit with Pope Benedict XVI Monday they must admit their own blame in cover-ups of generations of sex abuse of minors or risk losing the faith of Ireland’s Catholics.

But the former Dublin altar boy who helped expose the scandal doubted that any real hierarchy housekeeping would result from the two days of talks behind closed doors in the Apostolic Palace.

Benedict’s top aide, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, delivered a stinging homily at a Mass before the talks decrying the “particularly abhorrent deeds” of some in the Irish church hierarchy, although he didn’t identify anyone.

5 die in small-plane crash

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A small plane preparing to land broke apart and nose-dived into a snowy field alongside a runway Monday, a witness reported. Five people are dead after the crash, which happened in an affluent section of the state, officials said.

The crash was reported at 3:45 p.m. Monday at Monmouth Executive Airport, about 35 miles east of Trenton, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters. The weather was overcast, but no precipitation was falling.

Capt. Tim Clayton of the Wall Township police says three men, a teenager and a younger child were killed in the crash Monday afternoon at Monmouth Executive Airport. At least three of the victims were related.

Commuter-train crash in Belgium leaves 18 dead

BRUSSELS — A rush-hour commuter train sped through a red signal and slammed into an oncoming train as it left a suburban Brussels station, killing at least 18 people and disrupting rail traffic in northern Europe.

Investigations into one the worst accidents on the Belgian rails were likely to focus on whether human error was responsible or if it could have been influenced by the persistently freezing temperatures that have iced up the European capital.

Officials said 80 people were injured, 20 of them seriously in Monday’s crash. The death toll — 15 men and three women — was not considered final.

Adviser to missionaries admits he is suspect

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The man who served as legal adviser to 10 American missionaries jailed in Haiti on charges of child kidnapping acknowledged Monday that he is the suspect wanted in El Salvador on human-smuggling accusations.

In a call from an undisclosed location, Jorge Puello told The Associated Press he was innocent of the accusations and that he and his Salvadoran wife had taken in young women from the Caribbean and Central America who had been abandoned by smugglers.

On Monday, a Haitian prosecutor said a power outage delayed his printing of a recommendation to release the 10 Americans charged with child kidnapping. Because today is a national holiday, he doesn’t expect the judge to issue a decision until Wednesday morning.

More time to claim prize

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis lottery officials say they miscalculated the deadline to collect the winnings from a $2.5 million jackpot ticket and are allowing more time for the winner to come forward.

The Hoosier Lottery office says the deadline for claiming the jackpot from the Aug. 19 drawing has been extended until Monday.

Lottery officials had said the jackpot expired as of 5 p.m. Friday but now say that was incorrect because the day of the drawing was mistakenly included in the 180-day limit to claim the prize.

Lottery spokesman Andrew Reed said Monday that the deadline should have been Feb. 15, not Feb. 12, and that officials decided to extend it further due to the mistake.

Associated Press