National and International News - Saturday June 2

MIAMI (AP) - Forecasters say they don't expect Tropical Storm Barry to turn into a hurricane before it hits northern Florida. A tropical storm warning remains in effect for a stretch of the state's northwestern coast. Barry currently has 50-mile-per-hour winds but could weaken a bit. Its heavy rains are not expected to dent Florida's drought.

FRUITLAND, Iowa (AP) - Heavy rains and a tornado have ripped across eastern Iowa, crushing houses, ripping trees and downing power lines. The tornado hit the towns of Grandview and Fruitland before heading to Muscatine yesterday. Only minor injuries have been reported.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal officials say it may be a harbinger of things to come. At least 18 people, including five children, died in crashes involving all-terrain vehicles over the Memorial Day weekend. Officials say the 18 deaths are nearly double the average for other weekends in May.

BAGHDAD (AP) - May was the third deadliest month for U-S troops in Iraq since the war started in 2003. The military today says a U-S soldier's death in a roadside bombing earlier this week in Baghdad brought the May death toll to at least 127.

SINGAPORE (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is urging Asian nations to do more to combat the threat of terrorism. He's also calling for more international pressure on Iran in the form of sanctions to get Tehran to drop its nuclear program. Gates says Iran could have a nuclear weapon in a decade or less if it's not stopped.

MIAMI (AP) - Some of the F-B-I wiretap evidence against Jose Padilla will probably be played next week at his trial for supporting Islamic extremist groups. A federal judge ruled Friday the evidence is relevant to the case. The judge also rejected defense objections to the use of Osama bin Laden's name.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) - The thud of artillery fire is mixing with the sound of machine guns and small arms today as Lebanese army troops press an offensive against Islamic militants in a Palestinian refugee camp. The army has demanded the surrender of the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam group and is reportedly moving more troops in.

TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) - A soldier who disappeared in an ambush in Iraq May 12th has been memorialized at the California field where he played high school football. Joe Anzack's body was found in a river last week. Two other soldiers remain missing. Traffic stopped and people watched as a horse-drawn carriage brought Anzack's body to the memorial.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Suspected Islamic militants who set up shop in a remote, mountainous region of northern Somalia have been pounded by at least one U-S warship. Officials in the region say they suspect the militants came from the south, where they were pushed out by Ethiopian troops.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A man who reportedly had been drinking at a wake and quarreled with another is in police custody in the Philippines after allegedly killing ten people during a rampage with a long knife. Police say five of the dead were children and that the man wounded 14 other people.

DENVER (AP) - It could be two months in the hospital for the man quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis. And he may need surgery. Andrew Speaker has repeatedly apologized for traveling overseas with the disease. He's getting doses of antibiotics.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The parents of a teen-ager who vanished during a vacation in Aruba have been rebuffed in their attempt to sue in California. A judge has dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit that Natalee Holloway's parents filed against two Aruba brothers. The judge says the case has no California connection and can't be heard there.

FRUITHURST, Ala. (AP) - It turns out "Monster Pig's" real name was Fred and he had been sold to an Alabama game preserve by a farmer just days before an eleven-year-old boy mowed him down. The game preserve is a private, 150-acre fenced area.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Trade Commission says half the television ads for junk food, sugary cereals and soft drinks are now seen on kids' programming. That's double the number 30 years ago. Some experts link the ads to a rise in childhood obesity.