USA
In an effort to salvage the latest Middle East peace initiative, the Bush administration is pressing Israel and the Palestinians to "get back to the business of [the] road map," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. The initiative is "the only acceptable path ahead," he added. Fleischer spoke while en route to Chicago with President Bush for a speech on Medicare, before word of a deadly new bus bombing in Jerusalem. Bush later strongly condemned the attack.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky., agreed to a $25.7 million settlement Tuesday in one of the largest civil actions to emerge from the national clergy sex-abuse scandal. More than 240 people who claim they were molested as children sued the archdiocese for allegedly covering up or failing to prevent abuse by priests. Archbishop Thomas Kelly apologized to victims and said the agreement "is a sign of our willingness to help you in your healing." Above, plaintiff Mary Mudd Fuchs participates in a candlelight vigil to mark the accord.
The House will vote Thursday on a bill extending the child tax credit to 6.5 million low-income families who don't qualify under the tax-relief package Bush signed last month, Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R) of Texas said. The $82 billion measure also expands tax breaks for wealthier families and for those in military service, and would have to be reconciled with a smaller Senate version. "What we are interested in is real, solid tax relief for those that are paying taxes," DeLay said.
A suspect in the weekend abduction of a girl in San Jose, Calif., was due in court to face nine felony counts of rape, kidnapping, assault, burglary, and other charges. The girl was found Sunday in a nearby city and helped to track down her alleged abductor. Police said they were investigating whether David Montiel Cruz, who used at least three aliases, may have been involved in other cases.
Donald Regan, who died Tuesday in Williamsburg, Va., served as President Reagan's Treasury Secretary and chief of staff before being forced to resign in 1987 over the Iran-Contra scandal. His subsequent autobiography famously revealed that first lady Nancy Reagan, with whom he had clashed, often consulted an astrologer when planning the president's schedule.
