USA
The State Department ordered nonessential diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia and repeated a May 1 travel warning for US citizens after the terrorist attacks on Western residential compounds that killed 34 people Tuesday. An FBI team was en route to the capital, Riyadh, to aid in the investigation and FBI Director Mueller said he expected "full cooperation" from Saudi authorities, despite past difficulties. In a CBS-TV interview, US Ambassador Robert Jordan criticized the Saudis for failing to improve security despite US warnings of a possible imminent attack.
On his first US visit, new South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was meeting President Bush Wednesday night, as well as with other senior administration officials, for talks on security and North Korea. In a speech to business leaders Tuesday, Roh said he'd press for a peaceful solution to the North's resumed nuclear program while conceding, "There will be numerous difficulties ahead." Bush has said he prefers a diplomatic solution but hasn't ruled out sanctions or a military option.
Sheriff's deputies summoned to a truck stop near Victoria, Texas, found the remains of 16 people in tractor-trailer rig. A local radio station reported as many as 50 people were inside, 12 of whom were hospitalized. Officials said they suspect, but haven't confirmed, that all were illegal immigrants. Federal agents were headed to the scene, 230 miles from the Mexican border.
Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols may be tried on state murder charges, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Prosecutors plan to bring 160 counts of first-degree murder against him for the April 1995 blast, which could mean the death penalty if Nichols is convicted. Bomb driver Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001. Nichols was sentenced to life in prison after a previous federal trial.
Sales at US retail stores dipped 0.1 percent in April, the Commerce Department reported. The drop was largely due to a 5.9 percent plunge in gasoline sales. Excluding gas stations, retail sales rose 0.4 percent.
In a case caught up in the abortion debate, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) directed state lawyers Tuesday to seek court appointment of a guardian for the fetus of a mentally disabled woman. State child welfare officials have said such an appointment would be illegal. The woman, who was raped, is unable to speak or consent to DNA tests that might identify her attacker or to make decisions regarding the pregnancy.
The final member of the 1970s radical Symbionese Liberation Army charged in a fatal bank robbery pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday in Sacramento, Calif. James Kilgore will serve six years in jail under a plea deal with prosecutors. Four other SLA members pleaded guilty in November.
