WASHINGTON -- A liberal Washington policy group warned of deep cuts in a nutrition program serving low-income women and children.The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said 500,000 people could be cut from the Women, Infants and Children program, known as WIC, USA Today reported Tuesday.Food prices have spiked and WIC caseloads have risen since U.S. President George Bush proposed spending $5.4 billion to serve 8.3 million people next year, said Bob Greenstein, the center's ... [full story]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- At least five groups, including both pro and anti-Israel organizations, have announced plans to protest at the Middle East peace summit in Annapolis, Md.Israeli groups that oppose any talks with the Palestinians, including Shalom International and Americans For a Safe Israel, have obtained permission from the city to protest, as has Neturei Karta International, a group opposes Zionism, the Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.At least two groups, including the Baltimore chapter of the ... [full story]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- U.S. President George Bush Tuesday convened his Middle East peace summit, saying "we must not cede victory to the extremists."Bush urged Israelis and Palestinians to understand and help each other. Only through such understanding can both achieve their aspirations, Bush said in prepared remarks delivered to representatives from some 40 nations gathered at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.The goal, Bush said, is Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace."Achieving this ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East Tuesday welcomed the peace summit convened in Annapolis, Md., as a first step toward a two-state solution.In a statement issued in Washington, the United Nations, European Union, Russian Federation and United States "welcomed the commitment of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to launch bilateral negotiations toward the establishment of a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza and the realization of Israeli-Palestinian peace."This reflects the ... [full story]

AUSTIN, Texas -- The e-mail address databases of subscribers to more than 150 U.S. charities and non-profits have been hacked, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The breach was discovered Nov. 1 in the newly acquired GetActive division of Convio Inc., of Austin, Texas, the report said. Convio informed 92 charities of the leak on Nov. 3 and a week later told a further 62 non-profits.The company said only e-mail addresses and log-in passwords were ... [full story]

CANBERRA, Australia -- Outgoing Australian Prime Minister John Howard spent Tuesday cleaning out his office and readying it for the country's new leader, Kevin Rudd.Howard's Liberal-National coalition was soundly beaten by Rudd's Labor Party in the general election Saturday -- a victory that meant Labor now controls the Australian federal government in Canberra as well as all six state governments and territories.Rudd said he hoped to finalize his new Cabinet by Thursday and be sworn ... [full story]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber and a second person died in an attack on U.S. contractor SUVs Tuesday in Kabul, Afghanistan.Kabul police told CNN four others were wounded in the attack but there were no American casualties. The CNN report said Afghanistan's notorious war lord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's anti-government group Hezb-i-Islami claimed responsibility for the attack.The early morning blast occurred near the U.S. embassy in Kabul's upscale Wazir Akhbar Khan neighborhood, the report said.In July, ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian resistance groups vowed Tuesday to mount a rocket campaign against Israel to protest peace talks taking place in the United States."The Annapolis (Md.) Conference has been called the Autumn Conference, and leaves fall in the autumn; therefore, our missiles will also fall on Israel," said Popular Resistance Committees spokesman Abu Abir."No one has the right to give up a single inch of Palestinian land. No one has the right to forfeit the ... [full story]

LONDON -- A key photographer refused to testify in London at the inquest into Princess Diana's death in Paris a decade ago.Romuald Rat was the first photographer to arrive on the scene after the Mercedes carrying Diana crashed in a tunnel, the BBC reported Tuesday. The crash also killed Diana's companion, Dodi Fayed, and the Mercedes' driver, Henri Paul.Rat wrote inquest officials that he was "not prepared to give evidence by video link or at ... [full story]

WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's new prime minister suggested his Cabinet is to open talks with Russia and NATO on a U.S. missile defense plan in Central Europe.Poland's liberal, pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose coalition government was installed Nov. 16, indicated the new Warsaw leaders are likely to place the U.S. missile shield issue to a wider international debate, the EU Observer reported Tuesday.In his address to the Polish parliament Friday, Tusk said he would ... [full story]