TOKYO -- North Korea's nuclear program and U.S. soldiers accused of rape are to be discussed when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Japanese leaders meet.On the agenda for Rice were Wednesday meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and defense and foreign ministers to discuss ways to jump-start stalled North Korean nuclear talks, CNN reported. Rice is expected to reaffirm with Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and the others the need for a ... [full story]

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York State Democratic Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine beat his Republican rival in state senate elections seen to tilt the partisan balance.Assemblyman Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, conceded to Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, following vote counts giving the Democrat a 52 percent to 47 percent victory in the race in the New York state's 48th Senate District, the Times Union newspaper in Albany, N.Y., said Wednesday.Democrats hailed the victory as a shake-up in the state legislature ... [full story]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A U.S. aid worker and her Afghan driver kidnapped in Afghanistan last month are feared dead, their aid group said.Meanwhile, military officials said two Polish solders in NATO-led troops were killed and another injured by a roadside bomb, CNN reported Wednesday. The bombing was Tuesday in Paktika province along the Pakistan border.The worker, Cyd Mizell, and her driver, Muhammad Hadi, were taken Jan 26 by gunmen from a residential neighborhood in Kandahar ... [full story]

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan officials say the release of three more hostages being held by left-wing Colombian rebels is imminent. According to Venezuelan Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, told his ministry where to find the hostages so they could be picked up and brought to Venezuela, Globovision TV reported Tuesday. Venezuelan officials helped last month with the recovery of two FARC hostages who had been held for ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- Parents in Chicago are waiting to learn if their children have won the lottery to get into magnet schools and those for gifted students.Karen Moran has 5-year-old twin daughters and has spent hours weighing the merits of various public and private schools."I've spent more time on this process than in I did trying to get into college or law school," Moran told the Chicago Tribune. "There's so much stress and uncertainty right now, ... [full story]

ASUNCION, Paraguay -- Three Latin American countries have sent medical professionals and scientists to Paraguay to help combat an outbreak of yellow fever. Physicians and insect experts from Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela were sent to the poor South American nation to work with local officials on stemming the spread of the mosquito-borne illness that has already killed three and sickened over a dozen more, ABC Color reported online Tuesday. France also is reportedly sending yellow ... [full story]

TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- Florida environmentalists are angry about a NASA plan to build a private launch pad in a wildlife refuge.Several hundred people attended a meeting at the Titusville municipal building Monday aimed at convincing the National Aeronautics and Space Agency to put the pad somewhere else, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. In addition to environmentalists who treasure the area's bird life, those at the meeting included boaters who enjoy the waters of Mosquito Lagoon ... [full story]

Cigarette retailers in Oregon received a final notice last week from the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to comply with Oregon's fire-safer cigarette law or risk civil penalties beginning March 1st.Oregon's fire-safer cigarette law, effective January 1, 2008, requires retailers to sell only fire-safer cigarettes. Since then, retailers in violation of the law have received warnings from the OSFM and given the choice of disposing of the illegal cigarettes or have them confiscated. On ... [full story]

Parents who provide consistent discipline and are supportive are helping reduce the likelihood their children will have substance abuse or other behavioral problems when they reach the teenage years. That's the message delivered to parents and their 10- to 14-year-olds in 27 counties and the Siletz and Umatilla tribes during the Strengthening Families program sponsored by the Oregon Department of Human Services Addictions and Mental Health Division. The $1.56 million two-year program was funded by ... [full story]

NEWBURG-DUNDEE, Ore. -- A 60-year old Oregon man was arrested Friday and charged with 30 crimes related to the alleged sexual abuse of a child, police announced today.   Floyd Alan Finsand - YCCF photo  Floyd Alan Finsand of Dundee was taken into custody and lodged in the Yamhill County Corrections Facility in McMinnville after an investigation that began when a 14-year-old girl reported the suspect allegedly abused her several times, usually at Finsand’s home. The abuse ... [full story]