WORLD NEWS

• Stanford investors to Antigua: Remove liquidator 11/21/2009, 1:30 p.m. EST
(AP) — ST. JOHN'S, Antigua - A group of investors is urging an Antiguan court to remove a British accounting firm appointed to collect assets of a Caribbean offshore bank at the center of an alleged Ponzi scheme by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford.

• Saudi: 4 pilgrims die of swine flu before hajj 11/21/2009, 11:15 a.m. EST
(AP) — RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi health officials announced the first deaths from swine flu of this year's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as four pilgrims succumbed to the disease soon after arriving in Saudi Arabia.

• Reports: 101-yr-old Brazil architect back at work 11/21/2009, 10:31 a.m. EST
(AP) — BRASILIA, Brazil - Famed 101-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is reportedly back at work just weeks after surgery for gallstones and an intestinal tumor.

• Religious Jews protest against Intel in Jerusalem 11/21/2009, 8:36 a.m. EST
(AP) — JERUSALEM - Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews are demonstrating outside an Intel facility in Jerusalem against the U.S. company operating on the Jewish Sabbath in the holy city.

• Pope and Anglican leader agree on closer relations 11/21/2009, 7:38 a.m. EST
(AP) — VATICAN CITY - The Vatican says the pope and the archbishop of Canterbury have agreed to press for closer relations between Catholics and Anglicans despite the jolt from the Vatican's unprecedented invitation to disaffected Anglicans.

• Health care bill nears crucial Senate test vote 11/21/2009, 6:00 a.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Democratic senators called an overhaul of the U.S. health care system long overdue as historic legislation advanced toward a crucial first vote Saturday night, an early test of party unity on President Barack Obama's top domestic initiative

• Iraqi lawmakers seek to end election crisis 11/21/2009, 5:58 a.m. EST
(AP) — BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament is discussing ways to end a dispute over an election law after a vice president vetoed the bill, throwing national polls slated for January into question.

• Pope meets with artists, actors and musicians 11/21/2009, 5:40 a.m. EST
(AP) — VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI is meeting with artists, actors and musicians in the splendor of the Sistine Chapel to renew the Catholic church's friendship with the world of art.

• Russia president criticizes ruling party over vote 11/21/2009, 5:33 a.m. EST
(AP) — ST.PETERSBURG, Russia - Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday harshly criticized officials in the ruling Kremlin-backed party for abusing their positions in order to win elections, saying the party must learn to win fairly.

• Sentence request for US woman in Italy murder case 11/21/2009, 4:14 a.m. EST
(AP) — PERUGIA, Italy - Prosecutors are expected to request life in prison for an American student and her former boyfriend accused of killing a young British woman in Italy.

• Sri Lanka to release 136,000 Tamil war refugees 11/21/2009, 3:13 a.m. EST
(AP) — MANIK FARM, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka will release next month the remaining 136,000 Tamil refugees still in the squalid and overrun government camps where they've been detained since the country's civil war ended six months ago, a top official said Saturday.

• Buddhists from 2 Koreas to hold joint ceremony 11/21/2009, 1:18 a.m. EST
(AP) — SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean Buddhist monks headed to North Korea on Saturday for a joint ceremony with monks there, showing the countries continue civil exchange despite a bloody naval skirmish earlier this month.

• Chinese activist detained during Obama trip 11/20/2009, 9:32 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - A leading Chinese human rights lawyer who tried unsuccessfully to meet with President Barack Obama in Beijing this week was detained and interrogated twice during Obama's visit to China, a U.S. lawmaker and an American-based Chinese activist said.

• China says 15 dead, 114 trapped in mine explosion 11/20/2009, 9:27 p.m. EST
(AP) — BEIJING - A gas explosion tore through a coal mine in northern China on Saturday, killing 15 people and trapping another 114 nearly a third of a mile under ground, central government authorities said.

• Prosecutors plan commission case in Cole bombing 11/20/2009, 8:37 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Military prosecutors said Friday they plan to seek new charges against the alleged mastermind of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

• US senator says more e-mails from Hasan possible 11/20/2009, 7:25 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - There may be additional e-mails that could have tipped off law enforcement or military officials to the Fort Hood shooter before he went on his deadly rampage, the chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee said Friday.

• FAA says equipment outage caused 819 flight delays 11/20/2009, 6:48 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration is blaming an equipment outage this week for delaying 819 flights.

• GOP: Health test recommendations could affect care 11/20/2009, 6:09 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Republicans are seizing on this week's recommendations for fewer pap smears and mammograms to fuel concern about government-rationed medical care-and to try to chip away support by women for President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul.

• Guests for the Sunday TV news shows 11/20/2009, 6:07 p.m. EST
(AP) — Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:

• Levin: could be more e-mails from Ft. Hood suspect 11/20/2009, 6:05 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON-The government intercepted at least 18 e-mails between the alleged Fort Hood gunman and a radical Muslim cleric, and a key senator says there could be more communications that might have tipped off law enforcement or military officials.

• US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard 11/20/2009, 4:44 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.

• US couple pleads guilty in Cuban spying case 11/20/2009, 3:33 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - A retired State Department worker and his wife accused of a three-decade-long plot to spy for Cuba have pleaded guilty in federal court.

• Ethics committee says no punishment for Burris 11/20/2009, 1:36 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The Senate ethics committee admonished a U.S. senator on Friday for making "inconsistent, misleading or incomplete" statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the Senate seat once held by Barack Obama. The committee recommended no action beyond the letter.

• UN committee targets Iran's rights violations 11/20/2009, 11:52 a.m. EST
(AP) — UNITED NATIONS - A key U.N. committee approved a resolution Friday urging Iran to halt the persecution of political opponents following the country's disputed presidential election and release those still detained.

• Ethics committee: No punishment for Burris 11/20/2009, 11:46 a.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Democratic Sen. Roland Burris for misleading investigators about his maneuvering to get Barack Obama's old Senate seat from the governor who was ousted for trying to sell it.