WARSAW, Poland -- Doctors said they successfully operated on Polish Health Minister Zbigniew Religa to remove cancer from his left lung, Polish Radio said Thursday. Following the three-hour operation, doctors quoted Religa as saying he hoped to be back in his office within the next 10 days, the radio reported. The news about Religa's cancer and an imminent surgery was broken by Polish Radio Wednesday. He told reporters the cancer was in its initial stage ... [full story]

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi police commander accused of ordering the killing of local people was arrested Thursday by the U.S. Army, a military statement said. U.S. Army troops also arrested 14 bodyguards and the brother of police commander Hamid Ibrahim Jazza'a, the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, reported. Jazza'a was arrested in the village of Hait, about 170 miles northeast of Baghdad, with the cooperation of local officials, a U.S. military statement said. Jazza'a is accused ... [full story]

BAGHDAD -- A suicide bomber blew himself up near the Fallujah police station in Iraq Thursday, police said. Reports on the number of people killed in the suicide bombing varied, the Kuwait New Agency, KUNA, reported. Police said one officer died in the attack, while medical sources told KUNA that 10 police officers were killed. In northern Iraq, one police officer and a civilian were killed in an explosion in Mosul Thursday, the agency reported. ... [full story]

BERLIN -- The Middle East Quartet mediators met in Berlin Thursday and urged Israel and the Palestinians to reaffirm their commitment to peace. Representatives of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States issued a statement saying they were concerned about the resurgence of factional Palestinian violence. The statement called on Palestinians to stop firing rockets at southern Israel. At the same time, the Quartet called on Israel to show restraint in ... [full story]

A 36-year old Bend man died early this morning of injuries he sustained when he jumped from a moving vehicle during an argument with his wife, police reported. Bend Police officers and Bend Fire paramedics responded to a report of an injured man at Highway 20 West and Robal Lane in the north part of Bend, Oregon shortly before 7 a.m. May 31, Lt. Gary Mack said. Officers and paramedics found Patrick Allan Giamanco deceased ... [full story]

SEATTLE - A man reputed to be one of the United States' most prolific purveyors of junk e-mail was arrested in Seattle Thursday on spam-related charges. A U.S. grand jury charged Robert Alan Soloway, 27, with 35 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering and fraud, The Seattle Times reported. Soloway was indicted under seal last week. Prosecutors alleged Soloway charged customers $495 to send e-mail to 20 million addresses for ... [full story]

CHICAGO - The daughter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia pleaded guilty to drunken driving but avoided child endangerment charges under an Illinois plea deal. Ann Banaszewski, 45, had three of her children in a minivan when she was arrested Feb. 12 as she pulled away from a McDonald's restaurant in Wheaton, Ill., and was stopped by police. Under her deal with prosecutors in DuPage County, Ill., Banaszewski, 45, was sentenced to 18 months ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Defense said the last of the surge of 20,000 U.S. troops has arrived in Iraq. The added troops mean there are some 150,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq. The increased troop presence has led to increase casualties, U.S. military officials said, Voice of America reported. The Pentagon reported that as of Wednesday night, 115 American soldiers had been killed in May in Iraq. "It's been a tough month," U.S. ... [full story]

GAZA -- The Lebanese army's standoff with Islamist militants at a Palestinian camp in the country is calling attention to the increasing radicalization of Palestinians. Experts say Hamas and other radical groups may be taking control of the Palestinian movement and leading more young people down the path of jihad, The New York Times reported Thursday. Gazan analyst Taysir Mhaisin told the Times the fragmentation of authority in Gaza between Hamas and rival faction Fatah ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - Contamination concerns led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to delay expanding approval of the nasal flu vaccine FluMist to very young children. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the FDA had sent a warning letter about the delay following reports of contamination at a U.K. manufacturer of the drug. The report said, however, the final FluMist product wasn't affected and the maker, MedImmune, Inc., expected to make the vaccine available for this ... [full story]