World briefs 3/19/04

FCC cites Howard Stern and Bono for indecency

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators continued their crackdown on indecency Thursday, issuing a fine for a broadcast of the Howard Stern radio show and ruling that an expletive uttered by rock singer Bono on NBC violated broadcast standards. The Federal Communications Commission proposed fining Infinity Broadcasting the maximum $27,500 for a Stern show broadcast on WKRK-FM in Detroit. The FCC also overruled its staff and said that Bono's expletive during the 2003 Golden Globe Awards program was indecent and profane, but issued no fine. The fines are the latest in a stepped-up campaign by the FCC to crack down on indecency.

Polish leader assails prewar Iraq intelligence

WARSAW, Poland -- President Aleksander Kwasniewski, a key U.S. ally, said Thursday that Poland was "misled" about whether Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction and was considering withdrawing troops from Iraq several months early. The remarks came as polls show about half of Poles are opposed to involvement in Iraq and after deadly bombings in Madrid triggered fears of a terror attack on Polish soil. Kwasniewski's comments were the first by a Polish leader to raise doubts about the intelligence behind the decision for going to war. He tempered them by stressing that Poland is not about to abandon its mission in Iraq, and said Iraq was a better place without Saddam.

Scalia won't step aside from friend Cheney's case

WASHINGTON -- In typically combative style, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed a request Thursday that he stay out of a case involving his friend, Vice President Dick Cheney, saying a duck hunting trip they took was acceptable socializing that wouldn't cloud his judgment. The environmental organization is pursuing a lawsuit that seeks to compel the Bush administration to release information about closed-door meetings of Cheney's energy task force, which crafted the administration's energy policy.

S. Korea cancels plan to send troops to Iraq city

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea has scrubbed plans to send troops to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, citing U.S. pressure to participate in "offensive operations," but it will still send the forces to help rebuild the country, the Defense Ministry said today. The ministry said it was looking for another location to send the promised 3,600 forces. The dispatch, making South Korea the biggest coalition partner after the United States and Britain, was scheduled to come as early as next month. South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing an unnamed ministry officials, said the dispatch would be put off until June and that the military was considering sites in central or southern Iraq where things are more stable.

Police arrest teen, find homemade bombs in car

MALCOLM, Neb. -- A teenager was charged with attempted murder after police found him outside school with 20 homemade bombs, a rifle and a note saying he wanted to injure everyone at his high school except for three friends. Authorities believe they averted what could have been the worst school shooting since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. Josh Magee, 17, was arrested Tuesday in the parking lot of Malcolm High School after a staff member saw him swigging liquor from a flask and putting on a black overcoat. Police who searched Magee's car found a bolt-action rifle, several rounds of ammunition, small bottles of propane and rigged containers of a petroleum-based propellent.

-- From wire reports