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Report: Bush to get tougher on Cuba today

WASHINGTON - President Bush will try to overcome Cuban jamming of U.S. government radio and television stations by flying military aircraft capable of broadcasting signals to the island, the Associated Press reported, quoting an unnamed senior administration official.

The two stations, known as Radio Marti and TV Marti, are tailored for Cuban audiences but have been subjected to widespread jamming, especially the TV operation.

Bush is expected to announce the plan today as part of a series of measures toughening Cuba policy. They will be based on a report by a government commission created six months ago by Bush and headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Bush also is expected to announce ways to curb the flow of U.S. dollars to the island in hopes of putting economic pressure on Cuba. Some aspects of the new policy are classified.

JERUSALEM - Israel's Housing Ministry has spent $6.5-million on unauthorized construction in the West Bank, a government report said Wednesday, leading the attorney general to impose a new way of monitoring settlement spending.

In Gaza, two Palestinians were killed and 16 - including a news photographer - were wounded in Israeli-Palestinian violence. In the West Bank, an armed Hamas fugitive was shot dead by troops.

Also, Israel released a co-founder of Hamas, Mohammed Taha, after holding him for 14 months without charges. Taha, accused by the army of leading Hamas' military wing, was arrested in a raid on the Boureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

MISSILES FIRED: Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a suspected guerrilla hideout in south Lebanon on Wednesday, shortly after Hezbollah gunners fired on Israeli jets, security officials said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

KABUL, Afghanistan - One American soldier was killed and 16 injured Wednesday when their truck veered off the road and rolled over near the Afghan capital, the U.S. military said.

The cause of the accident was unclear, but spokeswoman Master Sgt. Cindy Beam said there was no evidence that the truck had come under attack or had been sabotaged.

"All we know is that a military truck rolled" as it was traveling the 30 miles from Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, to Kabul, Beam said.

The names and units of the soldiers were withheld until their families could be notified.

BATUMI, Georgia - Protesters celebrated in the streets early today as the Georgian president said the leader of the restive province of Adzharia had resigned and left for Moscow.

Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze reportedly left with Russian Security Council head Igor Ivanov after several hours of talks. Ivanov had arrived in the provincial capital of Batumi several hours earlier to discuss the region's rising tensions.

Thousands of opposition supporters, many waving the nation's red-and-white flag, were informed of the resignation by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, news agencies reported. President Mikhail Saakashvili later confirmed it on Georgian television.

CREW BLAMED FOR CRASH: Errors by the crew caused the crash that killed Macedonia's president and eight others on board two months ago, officials announced Wednesday. A 75-page report produced by Bosnian, Macedonian, U.S. and NATO investigators said the two-man crew miscalculated key flight data in stormy weather.