Nation in brief

Bush will unveil plan for work force training

WASHINGTON - President Bush will announce a new initiative in his State of the Union address to give community colleges more money to train American workers - a proposal that addresses joblessness, a key issue in November's presidential race.

In his national address on Tuesday, Bush plans to unveil at least $120-million in grants, administered by the Labor Department, to enhance work force training programs at U.S. community colleges, education experts said.

The president is expected to flesh out his proposal during a speech Wednesday at Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio - a key re-election state that Bush has already visited more than a dozen times.

Job growth is an election issue that Bush could be vulnerable on. The economy has lost about 2.3-million jobs since he took office, giving him the worst job creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover.

JERUSALEM - Psychic Uri Geller defended his friend Michael Jackson on Sunday, saying the pop singer denied under hypnosis three years ago that he had sexually abused children.

Geller, best known for his claimed telekinetic ability to bend spoons, told Israel's Army Radio that he hypnotized Jackson with his permission when the two were alone in a recording studio at an undisclosed location.

The hypnosis would have taken place before Jackson is alleged to have molested a boy invited to his Neverland Ranch.

He said he asked Jackson about persistent rumors that he had abused children.

"He answered me under deep hypnosis that he had never touched a child in a sexual way," Geller said. "He said - and here I'm using his exact words - "My relations with children are very beautiful.' "

GUARDS TAKEN HOSTAGE: Two state prison guards were taken hostage by two inmates early Sunday at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis, and negotiators were called in to try to defuse the situation. One of the hostages was injured, but no details were released. The medium- to high-security prison, west of Phoenix in Buckeye, houses 4,400 inmates, most convicted of felonies such as manslaughter and aggravated assault.

CRASH RESCUE EFFORT ENDS: Hampered by snow and low clouds, U.S. and Canadian crews called off rescue efforts Sunday for 10 people believed killed when a small regional airline plane crashed into icy Lake Erie shortly after taking off from a Canadian island Saturday. The Georgian Express plane, carrying eight hunters from Ontario, the pilot and a friend of the pilot, was bound for Windsor when the pilot made a frantic call for help soon after taking off.

MEDIA DEAL: A British newspaper company announced a deal Sunday with embattled press baron Conrad Black to take over his controlling interest in Hollinger Inc., the Toronto-based parent company of newspaper publisher Hollinger International Inc. News of the deal comes just a day after Hollinger International said it was removing Black as chairman and suing him to recover more than $200-million the company claims was improperly diverted to him, an associate and entities he controls. Hollinger International publishes the Chicago Sun-Times and the Daily Telegraph in London.

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