BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazil offered Monday to mediate tensions among three South American nations arising from the killing of a Colombia rebel in Ecuadorian territory.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reportedly will discuss ways to diffuse the tension with leaders from Argentina and Chile, which have also offered to help negotiate an end to the dispute among Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.Colombia angered neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador after its forces killed a leading leftist rebel ... [full story]

MEMPHIS - Six people, including two children, were found dead inside a Memphis home Monday.The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that three other children in the home were taken to the hospital in critical condition.Police are investigating the incident, which is being called one of the worst mass killings in Tennessee in more than 15 years."We just don't know the motive or cause of death, but we do have four adults and two children (dead)," Memphis ... [full story]

BOGOTA - Colombian officials Monday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of funding Colombia's largest leftist rebel group, El Tiempo reported online.Officials in Bogota said files found on the computer belonging to a rebel leader who was killed by Colombian forces during the weekend contained proof that Chavez had funneled millions of dollars to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.FARC leader Raul Reyes and 16 members of the rebel group were killed by Colombian ... [full story]

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. motorists say they're interested in purchasing safety technology for their next automobile but say they don't want to give up control, a poll indicates.The Harris Interactive AutoTECHCAST study found that about half of the poll's respondents expressed an interest in buying blind-spot detection technology for their next new vehicle, while about one third of respondents said they were interested in lane departure warning technology. A majority of respondents said they were interested ... [full story]

NEW DELHI - A British mother has rejected an Indian police finding of drowning in the death of her daughter, saying the 15-year-old was raped and killed.Scarlett Keeling's semi-nude body was found last month on a beach in the popular tourist state of Goa in south India. Police in the state later said the girl had accidentally drowned, the Times of London reported. The Times report said an autopsy report it had seen showed several bruises ... [full story]

GENEVA, Switzerland - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the international body's human rights panel for what he called selective condemnation of abuses.Ban questioned whether the U.N. Human Rights Council was "fully meeting the high expectations" of the international community, The Financial Times reported Monday.Ban told the panel to "recognize and promote the universal application of human rights values" and to "do so without favor, without selectivity, without being impacted by any political machinations ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign Monday defended a campaign adviser's meeting with the Canadian government on trade.Austin Goolsbee was not acting in his role as senior adviser to the Illinois senator's campaign when he met with Canadian officials about Obama's stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. The Hill newspaper reported that there is a memo circulating in the Canadian government ... [full story]

RIVERTON, Utah - Authorities in hazmat suits have finished their search of a Utah home looking for vials of the deadly plant poison ricin, a newspaper said.The Deseret Morning News reported Monday that National Guardsmen and emergency personnel searched the Riverton, Utah, home of Tom Tholen as a part of an investigation into vials of the plant toxin that were found last week in a Las Vegas motel room.Tholen's cousin, Roger Von Bergendorff, 57, who ... [full story]

BANGKOK - Former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, back in Thailand from his exile, says the military coup that ousted him has eroded investor confidence in his country.Thaksin, whose return home last week was made possible with the election of a new government, told the Financial Times the coup 17 months ago and the political uncertainty that followed have seriously damaged the country's image. He said the new government, which took power after a smooth transition from the ... [full story]

CAIRO - The Interim Arab Parliament Union has denounced the republication in Danish newspapers of a cartoon it said is offensive to Mohammed.Parliament Chairman Mohammad al Sager said he hoped non-Muslims in the west showed respect to other people's religions the same way Muslims respect all other religions, KUNA reported Monday.Officials reportedly said the cartoon was "uncivilized."Sager stressed the importance of respecting all types of religion and denounced the use of "freedom of expression" as ... [full story]