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Local

Four men escape from Hoke County Jail

RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) - A man accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old girl pregnant with his daughter and taking her to Mexico was one of four inmates who escaped from the understaffed Hoke County Jail, authorities said.

Hector Noel Mojarro Frausto, 23, and three other inmates escaped from the jail's annex about 10 p.m. Tuesday, dropping blankets about six feet from a window, Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said.

Frausto is suspected of kidnapping Dana Pevia, who didn't contact her family between 1999, when she was taken to Mexico, and March 18 of this year, when she went to the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara and told officials she was missing from Raeford.

She and her two children flew home eight days later. She has a son fathered by another man whom she said rescued her.

The inmates took advantage of a lack of guards, the sheriff's office said. The inmates were in the jail's annex, which is supposed to house about 40 inmates but typically holds 90 inmates instead of the 71 allowed, Peterkin said.

Peterkin said he sent memos to Hoke County Commissioners on Sept. 18 and Oct. 6 asking for more personnel, but never received a response.

Only three jailers were on duty Tuesday night

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (AP) - In an area known for its military families, no one questioned William Carlson or his wife about his job with the CIA.

William "Chief" Carlson, 43, of Southern Pines was one of two contractors working for the CIA who died Saturday in eastern Afghanistan.

Carlson and Christopher Glenn Mueller, 32, of San Diego were "tracking terrorists operating in the region" of Shkin, when they were killed, the CIA said in a statement.

His family issued a statement saying he had recently retired after nearly 21 years in the military "only to volunteer again to serve the country he loved in a different capacity.

The CIA said it consulted with the dead officers' families and decided their names could be released without compromising ongoing operations.

The pair was working for the CIA's Directorate of Operations, which conducts clandestine intelligence-gathering and covert operations.

National

40 names removed from WTC death toll, bringing total down to 2,752

NEW YORK (AP) - Forty names listed on the World Trade Center death toll for more than two years were removed Wednesday because the city cannot confirm their deaths or in some cases their existence.

The list was cut from 2,792 to 2,752, a decision made by several city agencies, including the medical examiner's office, the police department and the mayor's office.

The names removed include illegal immigrants whose jobs were not well documented and people whose relatives say they were near the trade center on Sept. 11, 2001, but know little more.

Thousands of names landed on the list in the chaos immediately after the attack, when worried callers swamped the city's "missing" hot lines to report a friend or relative they hadn't heard from.

The city formed a group called the Reported Missing Committee, charged with weeding out fraud and crossing errors off the death list, which peaked at 6,700 two weeks after the attack.

Schwarzenegger treks to Capitol Hill seeking help for California's fire emergency

WASHINGTON (AP) - It was supposed to be a victory lap through the nation's capital for Arnold Schwarzenegger, but with wildfires devastating southern California, the governor-elect's meetings Wednesday with congressional leaders focused on a more pressing problem - aid for his state.

Schwarzenegger used his first visit since his Oct. 7 election to plead for additional federal resources to fight what authorities are calling the worst fire emergency in the state in more than a decade.

The governor-elect began his day on Capitol Hill, meeting with Michael Brown, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He then had a private session with the California Republican congressional delegation.

"He's much more impressive in person than in pictures," Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said of the celluloid action hero.

Schwarzenegger also was to meet with members of the House and Senate leadership, Cabinet secretaries and leading members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over how federal funds are allocated.

World

Nobel winner says she owes award to jailed Iranian intellectuals

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - In biting criticism of Tehran's hard-line Islamic establishment, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said Wednesday she owes the award to those Iranians who have suffered for their beliefs.

Ebadi, a lawyer and rights activist who became the first Muslim woman to win the prize earlier this month, also said she owed the award to ancient Persian king known for his support of human rights.

"The road to the peace prize was also paved through the pains and sufferings of people who have spent many years in jail because of their beliefs. Long live all those who paved this road," she said, drawing wild applause from more than 1,000 students at Amir Kabir University.

Ebadi encouraged students to avoid tension and violence to bring democratic changes, warning that confronting hard-line vigilantes would only harm students.

She said Iranians should not wait for a hero to bring about democratic changes.

"Heroes die. Heroes fall or are finally defeated. Heroes commit treason. Don't wait for a hero," Ebadi shouted.

After her speech, Ebadi shook hands with two men, Habibollah Peyman and Mohammad Maleki, both prominent political opponents. Public touching between unrelated men and women is a crime under Iranian laws and subject to jail and flogging punishment.

Rescuers find alive majority of 13 trapped Russian miners

NOVOSHAKHTINSK, Russia (AP) - Search crews blasted through solid rock to rescue 11 of 13 coal miners who emerged covered in soot Wednesday after six days trapped in a deep shaft in southern Russia. One miner died underground and another remained missing, emergency officials said.

Rescuers reached the men on Wednesday morning after drillers punched through to the pit face where the miners had sought refuge following a flood.

Rescuers carried out the body of the dead miner, Sergei Voytinok, last. Russian Orthodox priests had accompanied the body on the final leg of the journey to the surface, reciting prayers for the dead as the shaft elevator rose.

The men who were rescued from the Zapadnaya mine were among 71 working some 2,625 feet below ground on Thursday. Twenty-five managed to escape, and 33 other miners who had been trapped by the flood were rescued Saturday.

Accidents are common in the Russian coal industry. According to the Independent Coal Miners' Union, 68 miners were killed on the job last year and 98 in 2001.