Search results for

More than 70 people -- the vast majority Iraqis -- have died at the hands of insurgents in Iraq in the past three days. In one incident, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying unarmed Iraqi contractors employed by American forces. Seventeen died. Hear NPR's Mike Shuster.

At least 20 people are killed when a car bomb explodes near a crowd of men seeking jobs with the Iraqi National Guard in Kirkuk. It's the latest in a series of attacks targeting Iraq's nascent security forces. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and Rajiv Chandrasekeran of "The Washington Post".

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld pays a surprise visit to troops in Iraq, landing first at the U.S. base near Mosul where an insurgent attack three days ago killed 22 people. His message to the troops was upbeat. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Alister Bull of Reuters News Agency.

An Indonesian court convicts Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir of conspiracy in connection with the 2002 attack on two nightclubs in Bali that killed more than 200 people. Judges sentenced the man to 2 1/2 years in prison -- far less than the maximum sentence possible but far more than his supporters wanted.

The consumer data company ChoicePoint says a security breach last week will affect more than 140,000 people in all 50 states. The company is sending notices to individuals whose personal and financial details were accessed by thieves posing as businessmen.

A bomb explodes in a shopping center in Jounieh, a Christian town near Beirut, killing at least two people and wounding five. It's the second deadly attack against an anti-Syrian stronghold in five days. Rami Khouri, executive editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon, discusses how the attacks affect the country's security situation.

The Government Accountability Office says dozens of people whose names are on terrorism watch lists were able to buy guns in the U.S. legally last year. Gun control supporters say the report underscores the need to tighten requirements for gun purchases.

The pacifist constitution imposed on Japan after World War II restricted its military forces to self-defense so the nation could never again be an aggressor. The result has been a truncated role in geopolitics for the world's second largest economy. Many Japanese, especially younger people, want their country to assume a bigger role now. NPR's Rob Gifford reports.

Severe thunderstorms packing tornadoes and softball-sized hail left a path of destruction across six Midwestern states and Tennessee, killing at least 23 people. Nineteen of the deaths were reported in western Tennessee, including a family of four.

The U.S. Postal Service has given the go-ahead for the private venture PhotoStamps, which allows people to make personalized postage stamps. A brief experiment with the program last year was shelved after some embarrassment about what ended up on some of those stamps. Melissa Block talks with Ken McBride, CEO of Stamps.com.