HAMMOND, Ind. -- A Hammond, Ind., federal court has ordered Minister Louis Farrakhan to appear and explain why stipends given to his son are not considered income.The Chicago-based Nation of Islam spiritual leader's son, Nasir Farrakhan, claimed he could not pay $350,000 in punitive damages to a Gary, Ind., couple after crashing into their car and leaving the scene in 2003 because he has no income and has never been employed, the Northwest Indiana Times ... [full story]

JAKARTA -- Indonesia marked the third anniversary of the tsunami that wiped out thousands of acres and killed more than 225,000 with renewed reconstruction efforts.The Multidonor Fund, a World Bank program established to organize international tsunami aid, plans to extend its tenure from 2010 to 2012 to help the government become more self-sufficient, Voice of America said Wednesday.International efforts produced upwards of 100,000 new homes and estimates suggest an additional 20,000 will be built by ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES -- Heavy winds left thousands of people without power in Southern California while the region braced for further gusts Wednesday.A total of 112,792 Southern California Edison customers lost power for some time Tuesday and about 15,000 customers remained without electricity Tuesday night, the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported Wednesday.Paul Klein, a spokesman for Edison, said Tuesday the company was working to have power restored to all areas as soon as possible."Every available Edison crew ... [full story]

BEIJING -- A Beijing dog owner, unwilling to take lying down a ban on him from using the Web to write on city dog rules, has reportedly taken the issue to court.An irate Chen Yuhua filed the lawsuit last month after he got no reply to his letters to Beijing mayor and the city council, The Washington Post reported. Recently Chen was told the district court had decided to reject the case but he may ... [full story]

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas death sentences declined in the face of a de facto national moratorium and other legislation banning executions.Texas carried out more than 60 percent of all executions in the United States as a national tendency opposing or restricting the practice gains momentum. Yet the numbers of executions mask a moderate decline in Texas as well, as new sentencing guidelines and perceptions on the practice emerge to produce a near 13 percent decline ... [full story]

LAS VEGAS -- A wheelchair-bound woman said she spent hours on the tarmac of a Las Vegas airport when US Airways employees allegedly forgot her there.Jeanne Grettum was in Las Vegas for a connecting flight on her trip from California to Orlando, Fla., WKMG-TV in Orlando, reported Wednesday.She was taken onto the tarmac to make her flight but was apparently forgotten there until she was seen by an airport worker and taken into a hallway ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Educational officials in the United States called for increased teacher training initiatives in the face of falling test scores.The United States scored much lower than other industrialized nations in higher math skills tests leading education officials to express concern over the ability to produce leading scientists and engineers in a globalized world.The same officials, however, said the issue reaches beyond the education of students, saying elementary school teachers lack the ability to teach ... [full story]

NEVINNOMYSSK, Russia -- An explosion on the Pyatigorsk-Stavropol shuttle bus led to murder and arms smuggling charges against two people, a Russian law enforcement source said.The source said the suspects may have been working for criminals who have been seeking to destabilize the North Caucasus with their activities, Itar-Tass reported Wednesday."The investigators believe that the detainees are not masterminds, but perpetrators of the blast," the source said.The source said the Dec. 9 explosion, which killed ... [full story]

BAM, Iran -- A 4.2-magnitude earthquake shook the suburbs of Bam, Iran, on the anniversary of a quake that killed tens of thousands in 2003.No casualties or property damage were reported in southeastern Kerman province after Tuesday's quake, which hit the region at 7:53 p.m. local time, Iran's IRNA news agency reported Wednesday.The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University said the epicenter of the tremor was located at 58.48 degrees longitude and 29.21 degrees latitude.The quake ... [full story]

TOKYO -- Japanese textbook publishers may use "forced" in describing the military's role in mass civilian suicides during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa if it is explained.The approval of the request from six publishers was issued Wednesday by a textbook authorization council, Kyodo news service reported.The report said the council did not alter its opinion that saying the suicides were "forced by the military" could create misunderstanding. But it also noted "from the perspective of ... [full story]