Around the world
MONEY WOES: Russia does not have enough money to keep a Soviet-era promise to scrap military hardware in Central Asia by the end of the year, a disarmament official said Tuesday. The Soviet Union declared in 1991 it would destroy equipment and weapons withdrawn from eastern parts of Russia and stored in the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan as well as Russia. Col. Gen. Dmitri Kharchenko told the Interfax news agency he was seeking a three-year extension of the Dec. 31 deadline. "The scrapping of weapons is an expensive procedure," Kharchenko said. "Fulfillment of the promise requires about 100 billion rubles ($21 million)."
PAPANDREOU: Greek Premier Andreas Papandreou was placed on a respirator Tuesday at the intensive care unit in Athens where he is being treated for pneumonia. Doctors said the 76-year-old premier's condition was satisfactory. But unease over his health was reflected in a continuing plunge of the Athens Stock Exchange general index. It dropped 3.17 percent within an hour of the market's opening.
POLLARD: Israel's interior minister changed his mind and decided Tuesday to grant Israeli citizenship to Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life prison term in the United States for spying for Israel. Pollard, who is Jewish, was arrested in 1985. He has sought to win Israeli citizenship in hopes of improving his chances at a January parole hearing. Pollard requested citizenship earlier this year, but the Interior Ministry turned him down, saying that Israel normally does not grant citizenship to Jews until they immigrate.
Across the nation
TROOPER FIRED: A state trooper who delayed a couple's trip to an abortion clinic was fired after an internal Washington State Patrol investigation. Trooper Lane Jackstadt was fired Monday for "code-of-ethics and unbecoming-conduct violations," said patrol spokesman Lt. Ron O'Gwin. Jackstadt will appeal, said his lawyer, who represented him at his trial last spring on charges of unlawful imprisonment and official misconduct. Jurors were unable to reach a verdict in the case. Jackstadt, who describes himself as an anti-abortion Christian, was accused of detaining Justin Cooper, 20, and Deanna Thomas, 18, for 45 minutes last year after stopping them for speeding and learning they were headed to an abortion appointment. Prosecutors said he changed the speed on Cooper's ticket from 75 to 65 mph after the couple agreed to follow him to a church-run counseling session. Thomas had the abortion the next day.
ROONEY: Andy Rooney says CBS ordered him to shut up on the air. So he's putting his criticism of CBS management in his column instead. The "60 Minutes" commentator writes in his syndicated column, to appear Wednesday, that his remarks on Sunday's night program were censored by the executive producer, Newsday reported. The commentary was broadcast - but Rooney had to omit criticism of CBS and its chief executive, Lawrence Tisch, Newsday said. According to his column, the television commentary originally included the line: "Most of us think the chairman of the board ran our company badly." Stockholders last week approved the purchase of CBS by Westinghouse.
Other news
CHECHEN REBELS armed with grenade launchers reportedly attacked Russian troops several times overnight, killing two soldiers and wounding 10 . . . A CRUDE BOMB hidden in an oil can exploded in New Delhi's main shopping district Tuesday, reportedly injuring at least 30 people . . . AN EXPLOSION has killed at least 12 miners in a southern Philippine coal mine, the government said Tuesday.