BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At least 40 explosions damaged Baghdad's fortified Green Zone Tuesday in the worst attack since April 2004, it was reported. Mortar shells struck throughout the Green Zone as helicopters flew overhead and columns of thick smoke and dust rose near the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices, reported KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency. News correspondents working in Baghdad described it as the worst attack on the area in four years. No information ... [full story]

GAVLE, Sweden -- A man scheduled to be deported from Sweden lashed out Tuesday by attacking a police officer with a sharp object in the city of Gavle. The Local newspaper reported that the unidentified 31-year-old man was being transferred by two police officers, when he suddenly cut one of the officers on the throat with the object. A police spokesman said the officer's injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. The prisoner, who now ... [full story]

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Police began digging Tuesday at a house in Homestead, Fla., south of Miami, for the body of a young woman who disappeared in 1986. Miami-Dade police took a backhoe to the house after a cadaver-sniffing dog supplied by a missing persons group based in Wilmington, N.C., detected human remains there Monday, the Miami Herald reported. Sheri Lynn Swims, a 23-year-old waitress and mother of a 6-month-old boy, was last seen Aug. 19, ... [full story]

JEBEL ALI, United Arab Emirates -- All crew members were rescued when a vessel carrying construction raw material from Thailand to the United Arab Emirates sank off Mumbai in India. The MV Clinker Carrier went down in stormy weather July 4, Gulf News reported. The ship was in the Arabian Sea 70 miles from Mumbai. The Indian Coast Guard coordinated rescue efforts with the MV Maersk Dhaka. The 22-man crew was safely transferred to the ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- The jury in Conrad Black's fraud and racketeering trial in Chicago sent a note to the judge Tuesday saying it was deadlocked and asking for advice. "We have discussed and deliberated on all of the evidence and are still unable to reach a unanimous verdict on one or more counts. Please advise," the note said. "P.S. We have read the jury instruction very carefully." Black was expressionless and leaned back in a chair ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George Bush's former political director will respect executive privilege in a Senate inquiry into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. From a copy of her opening statement seen by The Washington Post, Sara Taylor, 32, will follow orders not to discuss internal communications when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee. That testimony is scheduled for Wednesday. "The president has made the determination that the disclosure of this information would interfere ... [full story]

LONDON -- Four men found guilty of plotting a second round of London bombings in July 2005 were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with a minimum of 40 years. Group leader Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Hussain Osman were found guilty Monday of planning the July 21 attack to follow one two weeks earlier on the transit system that killed 56 people. Their homemade bombs failed to explode and their defense ... [full story]

LONDON -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has started diplomatic meetings as the international community's Middle East envoy. Blair met Tuesday in London with senior officials from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, together known as the Quartet, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. Blair seeks a broader role in peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians beyond the terms spelled out by the Quartet last month in announcing his position ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Senior U.S. Republicans are trying to rein in senators who are siding with Democrats trying to establish policy on the war in Iraq. At a speech Tuesday in Cleveland, U.S. President George Bush appealed to lawmakers to hold off on legislative responses at least until September, when the top commander in Iraq, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus delivers a progress report on the military and political efforts there. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney ... [full story]

BOSTON -- Builders and suppliers are to blame for a tunnel collapse that killed one woman beneath Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, said federal investigators. The Big Dig consortium, led by Bechtel Corp., should have known the epoxy glue used to hold ceiling panel bolts in place could slip over time, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded. The NTSB Tuesday, in a summary of its investigation, said "Big Dig" workers should have monitored the concrete panels ... [full story]