LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
"For those states who want to pursue peaceful nuclear energy ... that's not a problem for us. Those are countries that we can work with." State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, who said the U.S. would not object to Egypt's plan to build nuclear power plants as long as it adhered to a treaty and international guidelines Article, 1A
Argentina's first lady wins presidency
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina- Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the wife of Argentina's president, Nestor Kirchner, has become the first woman to be elected president in Argentina's history, according to the latest official results published Monday.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, 54, the center-left Peronist party candidate and a senator, defeated a fractured opposition and avoided a runoff.
With 96 percent of the voting locations reporting, Mrs. Kirchner had 45 percent, ahead of Elisa Carrio, a center-left congressman, who had 23 percent, and Roberto Lavagna, a former finance minister, who had 17 percent, according to Ministry of Interior figures.
Kirchner needed 45 percent of the vote outright, or 40 percent with at least a 10 percentage-point lead to avoid a runoff. Rival candidates accused her party of "systemic theft" of ballots and other irregularities.
Kirchner declared victory late Sunday. In a speech, she said she felt a responsibility not only to lead her country, but "an immense responsibility for my gender."Official says terrorist sneaked into Japan
TOKYO - Japan's justice minister said Monday that a friend of his had a friend who belonged to al-Qaida and had entered the country repeatedly with false passports and disguises, a disconcerting revelation in a nation that fears its support of the United States makes it vulnerable to a terror attack.
Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama told reporters he had personal knowledge of how terrorists can infiltrate the country, citing an unidentified "friend of a friend" and saying the al-Quaida figure was involved in a bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed 202 people.
"I have never met this person, but until two or three years ago, it seems this person was visiting Japan often. And each time he arrived in Japan, he used a different passport," Hatoyama said.
The minister added that his friend, whom he did not name, had warned him to stay away from the center of Bali, where bomb attacks took place in 2002 and 2005. Hatoyama's statement came during a press conference to discuss a new program to fingerprint nearly all foreigners entering Japan.
U.S. adds civilian to Africa Command
FRANKFURT, Germany - The U.S. military has named both a senior American diplomat and a Navy admiral to serve as deputies to the general leading its new Africa Command, an acknowledgment of the importance of the civilian aspects of the operation.
The appointment of Mary Carlin Yates, a former ambassador to Ghana and Burundi, was believed to be the first time a senior government civilian from outside the Defense Department was named to be part of a U.S. regional military headquarters command structure, according to the military.
"Certainly it's a first among the unified combat commands," said Vince Crawley, a spokesman for Africa Command, where Yates will be the deputy for civil-military activities.
The command began operations Oct. 1 with a staff of 175 under Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward and will increase to about 800 through 2008.
Vice Admiral Robert T. Moeller was appointed deputy for military operations.
The Africa Command headquarters, which started operations earlier this month, is meant to help African security forces tackle regional crises and terrorist threats - recognizing the continent's increasing strategic importance.
Threat closes U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan - Militant Islamists planned to attack the U.S. Embassy and other government buildings in Azerbaijan with stolen military grenades and assault rifles but were thwarted by security forces, officials said Monday.
The National Security Ministry said the group had planned a "large-scale, horrifying terror attack," but did not provide details or say if any other weapons had been involved. It described the plotters as adherents of the strict Wahhabi interpretation of Sunni Islam, which counts Osama bin Laden and many al-Qaida members among its adherents.
Other Azeri officials said they were pursuing an army lieutenant who had taken the weapons before deserting.
The State Department said that it had closed its embassy in Baku, the capital of this oil-rich, largely Shiite Muslim nation on the Caspian Sea, but would likely reopen it soon after tightening security.
Britain's Foreign Office said that its embassy in Azerbaijan also temporarily suspended services because of what it called "local security concerns," and was likely to remain closed to the public today.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 10/30/2007