Bush: 'War on terror' not on Muslims

CANBERRA, Australia - President Bush tried to convince skeptical
Islamic leaders yesterday that America is not biased against Muslim
countries, and praised Indonesia's president for her work against
terrorism near the site of an al-Qaida sponsored bombing that
killed 200.

In Australia, hundreds of protesters marched against the U.S.
decision to go to war in Iraq as Bush arrived from Bali for the
last stop of a six-country Asian-Pacific trip.

During a 3 1/2-hour stop on the Indonesian resort island of
Bali, Bush praised President Megawati Sikarnoputri, an ally against
terrorism, and tried to dispel the conviction of many Muslims that
the war on terror is, in fact, a war against Islam. He presented
his case in a meeting with moderate religious leaders.

"I felt he was a quite warm person," said Azyumardi Azra, a
Muslim scholar at the National Islamic University in Jakarta. "He
responded and he listened."

With gunboats on the horizon and 5,000 troops on shore, Bush's
visit took him within several miles of the spot where 202 people
were killed in al-Qaida linked terrorist bombings a year ago. There
were fears for his safety because Indonesia is regarded as one of
Asia's biggest terrorist targets, but the visit went off without a
hitch.

Israel dismisses U.N. vote on W. Bank barrier

JERUSALEM - Israel rejected an overwhelming call by the United
Nations to dismantle a massive barrier being built in the West
Bank, with a top official dismissing the U.N. General Assembly
yesterday as hostile to the Jewish state.

"The fence will continue to be built," said Vice Premier Ehud
Olmert.

Israel says the wall is needed to keep suicide bombers out of
the country. The Palestinians say Israel is using the barrier as a
pretext to take Palestinian land.

In Jerusalem, Israel's police minister toured a disputed holy
site - the first visit by a senior Israeli official since
Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted there three years ago. Muslim
administrators of the site called the visit a provocation, though
Police Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said it was coordinated with them.
The visit ended without incident.

The site is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, an area of
destroyed ancient temples; Muslims call the compound the Harem
as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, where the Dome of the Rock and Al
Aqsa mosques are located.

Hanegbi went to the site to survey security arrangements in
preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next
week, his office said. The site, which had been open only to
Muslims since the violence erupted, was reopened to others in
recent weeks.

Democrats criticize federal nominee's past

WASHINGTON - Under fire from Democrats, federal appellate
nominee Janice Rogers Brown yesterday defended speeches and
decisions she made as a conservative California jurist and promised
to rule fairly if promoted to one of the nation's highest
courts.

"I have only one agenda when I approach a case, and that is to
try to get it right," she told the Senate Judiciary Committee at
her confirmation hearing.

Republicans say opposition to her nomination to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia has more to do with the
fact she is a conservative black woman who might one day rise to
the Supreme Court.

"She is a conservative African-American woman, and for some that
alone disqualifies her nomination to the D.C. Circuit," said
committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.).

Sniper's lawyers return to his defense

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - After two days of occasional fumbling in
the courtroom, sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad gave up trying to
be his own lawyer yesterday and put his fate back in the hands of
his court-appointed attorneys.

"Mr. Muhammad no longer believes it is in his best interest to
represent himself," Circuit Judge LeRoy Millette Jr. told the jury
in the murder case.

Muhammad, 42, whose face is badly swollen from a chronic
toothache, did not spell out his reasons in open court but assured
the judge that it had nothing to do with his health.

Muhammad had stunned the judge and his own attorneys when he
demanded the right to act as his own lawyer just as opening
arguments in the capital case were to begin Monday.

Lawsuit filed aganist violent video game

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A $246 million lawsuit was filed against the
designer, marketer and a retailer of the video game series "Grand
Theft Auto" by the families of two people shot by teenagers
apparently inspired by the game.

The suit claims marketer Sony Computer Entertainment America
Inc., designers Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games,
and Wal-Mart, are liable for $46 million in compensatory damages
and $200 million in punitive damages.