MILWAUKIE, Ore. – Police have released few details into the murder of a 48-year old man found dead of “suspicious circumstances” at a metal fabrication business on Thursday morning, but the victim’s girlfriend has been arrested.   Suspect: Sonia Marie Ulness (left), Victim: Randy Lee Chipman (right) - MPD photos  Milwaukie Police took Sonia Marie Ulness, 40, into custody and charged her with a single count of murder. Ulness, reportedly in a domestic relationship with the victim, ... [full story]

BELGRADE, Serbia - The Serbian economy and regional development minister said the country should stop making payments on Kosovo's debt.Mladjan Dinkic, head of the G17 Plus Party, said money that would have gone to servicing the debt should instead be used to assist Serbs living in Kosovo. He rejected arguments from other members of the government that abjuring the debt would mean recognizing the breakaway region's unilateral declaration of independence, Blic reported."The government is not ... [full story]

MOSUL, Iraq - A Chaldean Catholic archbishop was kidnapped and his guards shot and killed Friday by Iraqi gunmen in Mosul, it was reported.Archbishop Faraj Rahho apparently was taken from his car after he left a church. The kidnappers attacked his car and killed the three guards, CNN reported.The Chaldean Catholic Church is part of the Roman Catholic Church. © 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved. [full story]

BRUSSELS - The 27-nation European Union has promised a safe journey across its territory for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an endangered former Dutch member of Parliament.A target of death threats from Islamic fundamentalists, she recently returned to Europe from the United States.Franco Frattini, the EU justice, freedom and security commissioner, said member states would draft special measures to guarantee freedom of movement for others similarly targeted for what they have written or said.Hirsi Ali, the subject ... [full story]

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Five people were believed buried in an avalanche in northern Kyrgyzstan, a report said Friday."At present, three bodies have been found under snowdrifts; the search for others continues," the central Asian republic's emergencies ministry said.The snow slide occurred Thursday near the mountain resort of Lake Issyk Kul.Kyrgyzstan authorities have closed several highways because of the threat of more avalanches, ITAR-TASS reported.The country's military has been firing weapons into the air to trigger ... [full story]

QINAYAT, Egypt - An Egyptian woman has been authorized to perform marriages in Egypt, believed to be a first in that country and the Muslim world, a report said Friday.Amal Soliman, a 32-year-old lawyer and mother of three, will work in Qinayat, east of Cairo, the same town where her father-in-law conducted weddings until his recent death, the BBC reported.As an appointed judicial assistant, Soliman can read Koran verses, sign marriage certificates and authorize divorces, ... [full story]

DIMONA , Israel - Security officers stopped a suspected terrorist attack on the Dimona nuclear reactor in Israel, a report said.Officials apprehended a senior worker at the reactor plant after they discovered an alleged plan to blow up one of the facility's ovens, The Jerusalem Post reported Friday. The worker, known only as Moshe, is also reportedly suspected of giving confidential information about the plant to foreign sources. Moshe's family thought he was participating in covert ... [full story]

NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia - A southern Siberian shepherd plans to sue Russia for $40,000 in damages stemming from the fall of an 11-foot fragment of a space rocket into his yard.Boris Urmatov of the Altai Republic wasn't hit but said the Feb. 5 incident frightened him and his children, Novosti reported. The incident occurred after the launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center leased by Russia in nearby Kazakhstan. © 2008 United ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A senior leader of the victorious Pakistan People's Party says he does not want to rock the boat while forming a coalition government.Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Punjab unit president of the PPP and a contender for prime minister, says he wants no confrontation with embattled President Pervez Musharraf.The 51-year-old Cambridge-educated parliamentarian told the Press Trust of India the relationship between the future government and the presidency is a "sensitive issue," and Musharraf ... [full story]

NEW ORLEANS - Donald Powell, who oversaw Gulf Coast recovery efforts for U.S. President George Bush since 2005, said he would be leaving his post soon.Powell said observing the rebuilding of Gulf Coast communities destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita was the most rewarding aspect of his job, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Friday. Still, governmental bureaucracy was frustrating, he said."The thing that I struggled with more than anything else is the inability to cause things ... [full story]