Headed for the future
Palestinians press war-crimes case against Israel
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Turning up the pressure on Israel, the Palestinians announced Wednesday that they are joining the International Criminal Court to pursue war-crimes charges against the Jewish state - a risky, high-stakes move that brought threats of retaliation from Israel and criticism from the U.S.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas acted a day after suffering a defeat in the U.N. Security Council, which voted down a resolution setting a three-year deadline for the establishment of a Palestinian state on lands occupied by Israel.
"We want to complain. There's aggression against us, against our land. The Security Council disappointed us," Abbas said.
Turning to the international court at The Hague marks a major policy shift, transforming Abbas' relations with Israel from tense to openly hostile. The ultimate goal is to pressure Israel into withdrawing from the territories and agreeing to Palestinian statehood.
Better weather allows search to resume for plane
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia - A much needed break in the weather gave searchers a window Thursday to "fight with full force" to find the victims of AirAsia Flight 8501, with officials also hustling to locate the fuselage of the plane that crashed in the sea four days ago.
Only seven of the 162 bodies have been recovered so far, with four of them found during the past two days arriving Thursday morning in Pangkalan Bun on Borneo island. They will later be flown for identification to Surabaya, where the two-hour flight to Singapore originated on Sunday.
"The visibility is good this morning, we are ready to fight with full force to search for bodies, wreckages that can reveal what went wrong with this accident," said First Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, an Air Force Operation commander helping to lead the search, adding four aircraft were dispatched to the area just after sunrise.
Choppy conditions had prevented divers from entering the water on Wednesday, and helicopters were largely grounded. But 18 ships surveyed the narrowed search area. Sonar images identified what appeared to be large parts of the plane, but strong currents were moving the debris.
Governor will reduce death-row sentences to life
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - In one of his final acts as governor, Democrat Martin O'Malley announced Wednesday that he will commute the sentences of four death-row inmates to life in prison without parole.
Two years ago, the General Assembly abolished the death penalty, leaving five inmates on death row. One of them, John Booth-El, died in prison this year.
The governor said he had met or spoken with many of the relatives of the people killed by the inmates. Some victim family members and prosecutors were upset with O'Malley's decision.
O'Malley said that if he didn't commute the sentences the legal process would "needlessly and callously subject survivors, and the people of Maryland, to the ordeal of an endless appeals process, with unpredictable twists and turns, and without any hope of finality or closure."
Official: 98 still missing from Italian ferry
BRINDISI, Italy - Stormy weather in the Adriatic Sea thwarted efforts Wednesday to tow a fire-ravaged ferry to Italy so authorities can investigate the blaze that killed at least 11 people and search the ship for more possible dead.
Ninety-eight people were still unaccounted for Wednesday after a pre-dawn fire raced through the Norman Atlantic ferry on Sunday, Bari prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
It's not clear if those people ever boarded the ferry - which left Greece on Saturday bound for Italy - if they were rescued, or if they died in the fire or in the sea. Hundreds were rescued in the maritime disaster, but the exact number of ferry survivors and how many were onboard to begin with are still not known.
Volpe said he hoped that Greek authorities would be able to say how many people had been rescued by various ships and brought to Greece. Greece's coast guard later said nine Greeks were still missing but did not resolve other questions.
Rocket hits Afghan wedding party, kills 26
KABUL, Afghanistan - A rocket fired amid fighting between Taliban insurgents and Afghan soldiers killed at least 26 people at a nearby wedding party Thursday, authorities said, a grim end to a year that saw the end of the 13-year U.S.-led combat mission there.
The rocket struck a house in southern Helman province's Sangin District, where Afghan security forces have been battling insurgents in the six months since U.S. forces withdrew from the area.
Police spokesman Fareed Ahmad Obaid said the rocket wounded at least 45 people. Bashir Ahmad Shakir, a provincial council member, said the death toll could be up to 30 killed with as many as 60 wounded.
- The Associated Press