Bush administration officials knew that an oil company with close ties to President Bush planned to sign an oil deal with the Kurdistan government, counter to American policy.
AP - Three American hostages rescued from leftist guerillas in Colombia arrived safely in Texas late Wednesday and were taken to a hospital, where they were expected to reunite with their families and undergo tests.
AP - Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels into handing over kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors Wednesday in a daring helicopter rescue so successful that not a single shot was fired.
AP - The issues are as difficult as ever, but the conditions are likely to be more conducive to agreement as President Bush attends his eighth and final economic summit of industrial democracies.
Investigators have found the body of a 12-year-old Vermont girl missing for a week in a case that led to separate sexual assault charges against her uncle and stepfather, state police announced Wednesday. Information gathered in a search of her uncle's home led police to her gravesite, authorities said.
Hours after a military operation that freed 15 hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday night urged peace by calling on leftist rebels to release all hostages.
The United States and Poland have reached a tentative deal to place part of a ballistic missile defense system on its territory, a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia, a senior administration official said Wednesday.