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Briefs from around the world and nation

The annual cost of replacing, repairing and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to more than triple next year to more than $17-billion, according to Army documents. From 2002 to 2006, the Army spent an average of $4-billion a year in annual equipment costs. But as the war takes a harder toll, that number is projected to reach more than $12-billion for the next federal budget year. Army and Marine Corps leaders are expected to testify before Congress today and outline the growing costs of the war - with estimates that it will cost between $12-billion and $13-billion a year for equipment repairs, upgrades and replacements from now on.

Yates retrial begins with not guilty plea

Andrea Yates pleaded not guilty Monday as her retrial began in Houston on charges that she drowned her five children in a bathtub just over five years ago. As they did in her 2002 murder trial, the first police officers at Yates' house described a horrific scene of lifeless young bodies on a bed and a woman in dripping wet clothing who opened the door and said, "I just killed my kids." The prosecution and defense are expected to call most of the same witnesses, including the psychiatrist whose erroneous testimony led an appeals court to overturn her convictions.

Vietnam elects new president

Vietnamese legislators on Tuesday elected the Communist Party chief for Ho Chi Minh City as the country's new president in a leadership shuffle. Nguyen Minh Triet, 63, an economic reformer and the sole candidate for the job, won overwhelming backing from the National Assembly with 94 percent of the vote. Triet, in turn, nominated Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to become the next prime minister. Over the weekend, the lawmaking body cleared the way for the new leaders after approving the resignation of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, 72, President Tran Duc Luong, 69, and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An, 69.

UPDATE

Collapsed roof

Three men who helped design an exhibition hall in Katowice, Poland, that collapsed in January, killing 65 people, were arrested Monday on suspicion of endangering lives by failing to meet building codes. Two of the men were charged with intentionally allowing an accident that endangered lives and the third with unintentionally exposing people to the loss of life. Two of the men had designed the building - one was not qualified for the job and tried to commit suicide shortly after the collapse - and the third man was a supervisor. The arrests came after a formal investigation found that faulty design contributed to the tragedy. Earlier this year, police arrested three managers of the hall, which was built in 2000.

[Last modified June 27, 2006, 08:24:16]