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THE United States is considering establishing a missile defence system in Europe designed to stop a ballistic threat from the Middle East, the Pentagon said last night.A spokesman said they had been in discussions with European allies, including Poland, for several years about putting ten anti-missile interceptors in place. The New York Times reported that the system was intended to thwart a potential attack from Iran and that the US wanted it in place by 2011. The Czech Republic is also reported to be among the nations under consideration for the system's location. According to unnamed Pentagon officials a recommendation...

PIERRE, S.D. - Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday banning nearly all abortions in South Dakota, setting up a court fight aimed at challenging the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman's life. It would make no exception for cases of rape or incest. Planned Parenthood, which operates the state's only abortion clinic, in Sioux Falls, has pledged to challenge the measure in court. Rounds issued a written statement saying he expects the law will be tied...

Hunter Shot by Cheney Has Heart Attack AP - 13 minutes ago CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident has some birdshot lodged in his heart and he had a "minor heart attack," a hospital official said Tuesday. Peter Banko, the hospital administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial, said Harry Whittington had the heart attack early Tuesday while being evaluated.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) -- A 78-year-old hunting companion of Vice President Dick Cheney was recovering in stable condition Monday after Cheney accidentally shot him during a weekend quail hunting trip, a hospital official said. Harry Whittington spent "a great night. He slept throughout the night," said Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial. She listed his condition as "very stable," but said she did not know if Whittington would be discharged Monday. Whittington, an Austin attorney, was flown to the hospital after Cheney accidentally shot him late Saturday afternoon at the Armstrong Ranch. The vice president visited Whittington...

The governor of Iran's central bank has confirmed that the country has started to transfer assets held in foreign accounts. Ebrahim Sheibani told the ISNA students' news agency on Friday: "We transfer foreign reserves to wherever we see as expedient. On this issue, we have started transferring. We are doing that." ISNA specifically asked whether the money was being moved to Asian accounts but Sheibani's answer sidestepped the issue. Sheibani told reporters earlier this week that Iran stood ready to repatriate the money it held abroad should this prove necessary. Iran, which could face UN economic sanctions over its atomic...

400 pounds of blasting material taken from storage depot in New Mexico... Four men, including two brothers, were taken into custody Friday by federal authorities ... Federal authorities have said it was enough to flatten a large building... said Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal authorities were processing a crime scene... 150 pounds of C-4, 250 pounds of sheet explosives, 20,000 feet of detonator cord and 2,500 blasting caps. This breaking news story will be updated.

WASHINGTON - Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications. Bush said he reluctantly accepted her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. He blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege. "It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White...

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has told associates he intends to oppose confirmation of John Roberts as chief justice, Senate sources said Tuesday as rank and file Democrats began staking out positions on the man named to succeed the late William H. Rehnquist. Reid scheduled a speech on the Senate floor for mid-afternoon, at which he was expected to make his announcement public. Roberts has strong Republican support and appears headed for easy confirmation. As party leader, Reid had urged fellow Democrats not to announce their positions until the conclusion of last week's confirmation hearings for Roberts. By stating his...

At least 75 people were killed early Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a group of construction workers in the north Baghdad district of Kazimiyah, CNN reported. At least 160 people were wounded in the attack. The blast occurred at 6:30 a.m. near Oruba square, where a number of workers had assembled before going to work on nearby construction sites, said police Maj. Musa Abdel Kerim. He said the suicide driver drove his car into the gathering before detonating the explosive charge. In another incident, gunmen wearing military uniforms surrounded a village north of Baghdad early Wednesday...

BAGHDAD, Aug 30 (KUNA) -- US forces killed an activist of Al-Qaeda in Iraq during an air raid on the city of Al-Karbala near al-Qaem on the Iraqi-Syrian borders, a statement by the Multi-National Forces (MNF) said on Tuesday The statement added that the air raid killed an Al-Qaeda activist in Iraq known as Abu Islam, in addition to a number of his comrades. According to intelligence information the MNF believed that Abu Islam and his fighters were killed in the raid, the statement added.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid suffered a mild stroke earlier this week and underwent tests, but he was not hospitalized and "feels fine," his office said Friday. The Nevada Democrat experienced lightheadedness Tuesday evening and was diagnosed with having a transient ischemic attack after seeking medical attention, his office said in a statement. Reid, 65, was in Searchlight, Nevada. his hometown, when the episode occurred, The Associated Press reported. "Senator Reid feels fine. There are no complications or any restrictions on this activities," the statement said. "His doctors have recommended that he take advantage of the summer congressional recess for...