Around the world
SIEGE: Three gunmen demanding that Nicaragua's Sandinista army chief step down were still holding the country's ambassador and 18 other hostages in Nicaragua's embassy in Costa Rica on Wednesday. "They have gallons of gasoline there, and if someone smokes or there is a gunshot, this could end tragically," said Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo of Nicaragua, who failed in talks to persuade the men to end the standoff.
BREAK-IN: A woman broke into the all-male Swiss Cabinet Wednesday, a week after lawmakers created turmoil by rejecting a more controversial female contender. Ruth Dreifuss, 53, an economist and labor official from the Social Democratic Party, outpolled last week's unsuccessful candidate, Christiane Brunner, in a secret ballot by the Federal Assembly.
Across the nation
FLOODING: Hundreds of eastern Nebraska residents were forced from their homes Tuesday as runoff from melting snow and ice jams pushed rivers out of their banks in some of the worst flooding in 15 years. Water spilled from a dike in West Branch, about 60 miles northwest of Omaha, and National Guard helicopters plucked 35 people from their homes in Ashland, about 35 miles southwest of Omaha.
AIDS: Surgeons infected with the AIDS virus can be held liable for failing to disclose their condition to patients before an operation, Maryland's highest court says. Tuesday's unanimous ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals reinstated two lawsuits filed against the estate of a Johns Hopkins Hospital breast cancer surgeon who died in 1990 of an AIDS-related illness.
TRAIN CRASH: An Amtrak train and a propane truck collided Wednesday morning, setting off an explosion and killing at least one person, authorities in Kalamazoo, Mich., said. The explosion shook nearby buildings, witnesses said. The train was reportedly Amtrak 350, the Wolverine, from Chicago to Detroit.
ROACHES: Armies of microscopic mercenaries are the latest weapons against cockroaches in a new type of trap that uses no insecticide. The device, created by Biosys Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., uses nematodes, tiny wormlike creatures that burrow into roaches, infect them with a killer bacteria, devour the carcass and breed inside, sending offspring to find a new host. Inside the device, millions of nematodes live on a moistened pack of roach-attracting fiber. When roaches go inside, their body heat attracts the nematodes.
In Washington
ECONOMY: The nation's 12 Federal Reserve bank presidents told Congress Wednesday the overall economy is showing gradual signs of improvement, but they warned that serious problems exist in New England and California.
BCCI: Federal prosecutors say they will seek a new indictment in the BCCI bank scandal alleging that former Defense Secretary Clark Clifford and his law partner began a conspiracy to defraud regulators earlier than previously stated.