The week in review

LITTLE ROCK — Around the world Turks, Kurds talk A delegation of senior Iraqi officials held high-level talks with the Turkish government in Ankara Friday to try to avert an incursion by Turkey's military into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish separatist rebels. The Iraqi officials, who met with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, were proposing measures to disrupt the activities of the militant group, which uses the northern Iraqi mountains as a safe haven for attacks inside Turkey.

But it was unclear whether the Iraqi proposals would be enough to keep Turkey from crossing into Iraq. Amid rising tensions and increasing military action by Turkish troops and warplanes along the border area, Turkey has demanded that Iraq and the United States take more robust steps, including military action and the extradition of the militant leaders to Turkey, to stop attacks by the rebel group, known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party or the P.K.K.

American military officials were present at the talks in Ankara Friday.

Around the nation Bush seeks more money President Bush asked Congress for $46 billion more to bankroll wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and said he wants the money approved by Christmas. Democrats responded that Bush should not expect lawmakers to rubber-stamp the request. The fighting in Iraq, in its fifth year, has cost more than $455 billion.

"The colossal cost of this war grows every day in lives lost, dollars spent, and to our reputation around the world," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "The American people long ago rejected the president's planned 10-year occupation of Iraq and want the administration to provide a concrete plan to bring our troops home."Iran sanctions announced The Bush administration announceda long-debated policy of new sanctions against Iran Thursday, accusing the elite Quds division of the Revolutionary Guard Corps of supporting terrorism. The administration also accused the entire Revolutionary Guard Corps, a part of Iran's military, of proliferating weapons of mass destruction. While the United States has long labeled Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, the decision to single out the Guard reflects increased frustration in the administration with the slow pace of diplomatic negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program. The designations put into play unilateral sanctions intended to impede the Revolutionary Guard and those who do business with it. This is the first time that the United States has taken such steps against the armed forces of any sovereign government.

Homes still at risk While life began returning to normal in parts of southern California today, firefighters continued to battle several large blazes that still threatened more than 20,000 homes. The death toll from the fires rose Friday to seven, San Diego county authorities said. Border patrol agents on Thursday night found the charred remains of four immigrants who may have died after crossing the Mexican border. Earlier in the day, recovery crews, moving from house to house in towns where the fires had passed, found the bodies of two people in the shell of a home near Poway, northeast of San Diego. They were the first confirmed fatalities since Oct. 21, when a man was killed in Potrero, not far from the border-but unlikely to be the last, officials said. "I imagine we will be finding bodies into next year," said Sgt. Mike Radovich of the San Diego Sheriff's Department.

Around the stateClosing to take 300 jobs More than 300 workers will lose their jobs before Christmas when the GDX Automotive facility in Batesville closes its doors. The shutdown is pending the completion of the sale of GDX International Holdings to MAPS Holdings Inc. The plant is expected to close in late November, according to a news release. The last day of operation for the plant, which manufactures sealing products, will be Nov. 26, said Jonah Shumate, president and chief executive officer of the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce. "They employ over 300 people, so it's going to be a pretty significant economic blow to not only Batesville and Independence County, but the three or four counties around here," he said, adding that workers commute from surrounding areas. The company has a $20 million-plus payroll, he said. With about 200 layoffs earlier this year at the White-Rodgers plant, which makes die castings, coils, rubber products and machined components, Shumate said the area is facing a challenge.

Suit seeks ward voting Four black residents and one Hispanic resident of Little Rock are challenging the city's method of selecting city directors, saying the current system favors white voters and dilutes the voting strength of members of minority groups. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Little Rock, the plaintiffs advocate the dissolving of the city's three at-large positions and the rezoning of the city from seven individually represented wards to 10. The lawsuit aims to dismantle a segregation-era City Hall system originally approved by Little Rock voters in 1956.

Many neighborhood and black activists have long criticized at-large seats as a way to keep blacks mostly off the city board. The addition of three more individually represented wards would create a situation in which members of minority groups would be in the majority in four to six of those wards, argue the plaintiffs, who are represented by Little Rock civil-rights attorney John W. Walker.

Council retools ban plan In revamping a proposed ban on unmarried couples adopting or becoming foster parents, supporters have gone back to declaring in writing that it's in the best interest of adopted and foster children not to live with "cohabiting" people. The Little Rock-based Family Council added the statement to a proposed initiated act submitted Wednesday for certification by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. The idea is to answer critics of a previous version of the proposal, including McDaniel and Gov.

Mike Beebe. But opponents say including a statement about doing what's best for children doesn't make it true. "The reason we're opposed to it is because we don't think it's in the best interest of children," said Dr. Eddie Ochoa, spokesman for the coalition preparing to campaign against the initiative. And Beebe, in his strongest statement on it yet, said that "regardless of minor changes in its wording," he remains against the proposal. "We should not undermine the current deliberative system and replace it with a rigid, blanket policy that does not allow full consideration for the circumstances of each child," Beebe said.