JERUSALEM -- The Israeli government's plan to punish rebels in Gaza for rocket attacks by reducing electricity supplies was ordered put on hold in Jerusalem.Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak endorsed cutting power into the strip by two hours per day except to hospitals because of the near-daily rocket attacks on Israel from the region.However, Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled the military needed more justification of "any such move with the risk of ... [full story]

PANMUNJOM, South Korea -- North Korea says it will start disabling its nuclear facilities in November in exchange for the equivalent of 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.The tentative pact reached Tuesday calls for South Korea and other six-party countries negotiating the agreement to provide 450,000 tons of fuel oil and the rest in money or equipment equivalent to the value of 950,000 tons of fuel oil, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.The deal, which ... [full story]

According to police, a bicyclist who was struck by a vehicle and injured after he failed to obey a red traffic light was nearly hit by three other vehicles before the crash on the Bend Parkway Sunday afternoon.   Roger Silverio Duran, a 41-year old man police described as a transient, was crossing the Bend Parkway westbound near Pinebrook Boulevard when he was struck by a 1993 Chevy Astro Van shortly after 4 p.m.  The van was ... [full story]

Two La Pine drivers were taken to the hospital with unknown injuries following a head-on collision between a pickup and a minivan Saturday night, deputies reported. Shortly after 9:30 p.m. October 27, Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the report of a two-vehicle crash on Burgess Road at the intersection of Huntington Road in La Pine, Sgt. Dan Deluca and Deputy Flory wrote in a news release. Preliminary investigation determined that Geraldine Pearl Cox, 61, was stopped ... [full story]

One person was critically injured and four others, including three children, received minor injuries in a two vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway 97 and Gift Road Friday afternoon, Oregon State Police (OSP) reported.   Photographs (above & below) of Friday's accident on Highway 97 that sent four people - including three children - to the hospital were provided by OSP.   Shortly after 5:30 p.m. on October 26, a Saturn four-door passenger car driven by Ashley Thomas, 21, ... [full story]

A 71-year old woman from Bend died at the hospital from an apparent heart attack after her sport utility vehicle left the roadway and became partially submerged in the Deschutes River at Riverbend Park, police reported. Bend police officers and fire department personnel responded to the scene at 700 SW Columbia shortly after 5:30 p.m., October 26, in response to a report of a vehicle in the river, Lt. Ken Mannix said. When responders arrived, ... [full story]

For the second time in two days, threatening notes found in a girls’ bathroom referring to either bombs or shootings prompted a lockdown at Redmond High School, authorities reported. According to Redmond School District’s communications officer Stephanie Curtis, a bomb threat was found on Thursday, Oct. 25.  Police were notified, the building was evacuated and students were sent home about 1:30 p.m.  The incident was deemed “non-credible”, Curtis said. On Friday during the noon hour, ... [full story]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Britain has been lax in battling international terrorism, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said Monday before arriving in London.In a telephone interview with the BBC from Riyadh, the monarch said that in the past Britain had failed to act on information passed to them by the Saudis which might have averted terrorist attacks."We have sent information to Great Britain before the (July 2005) terrorist attacks in Britain but unfortunately no action was ... [full story]

CANBERRA, Australia -- A government bonus to new parents is credited with prompting Australia's biggest baby boom in more than three decades.Official figures released Monday show the country recorded 265,900 births in 2006, the highest number since official records began, with the exception of 1971, The Australian reports.The number of children a woman is likely to have over her lifetime rose from an average of 1.79 in 2005 to 1.81 in 2006.Credited with encouraging Australians ... [full story]

CHENNAI, India -- Nigerian militants are demanding $50 million for the release of four Indian workers kidnapped from an offshore oil rig near Harcourt port.The Nigerian government is talking with the kidnappers and trying to secure the release of the workers, who were kidnapped Friday, Press Trust of India reported Monday.Three of the men are from Vadakkankulam village in India's Tirunelveli district, where many have left for jobs in Gulf and African countries, Press Trust ... [full story]