CARACAS — Colombian President Alvaro Uribe authorized the extradition to the United States of 14 notorious paramilitary warlords Tuesday to face cocaine-trafficking charges in a move that surprised many.

In a nationwide television address, Uribe said that he agreed to the extradition because the paramilitary leaders had been committing crimes behind bars and had failed to make restitution to victims of their crimes. ''The country has been generous with them, but the government can't tolerate a relapse into crime,'' Uribe said.

Some analysts ascribed a political motive as well, noting that Uribe's decision comes while the president and his allies have been increasingly enveloped by a scandal over their ties to paramilitary groups. » read more

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese Sunni Muslim leader Saad Hariri vowed Tuesday that his U.S.-backed movement will never surrender to the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and its allies, but his words rang hollow after a week of swift and humiliating defeats at the hands of opposition militias.

Hariri, the son and political heir of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, could do little to counter the deep-rooted shame and fury shared by many Sunnis over effectively losing the glamorous capital to what Hariri called proxy forces of Iran and Syria.

"They simply are demanding that we surrender. They want Beirut to raise white flags. ... This is impossible," Hariri said. "They will not be able to obtain Saad al Hariri's signature ... on a deed to surrender to the Iranian and Syrian regimes." But he didn't say what, if anything, Sunnis could do to reverse Hezbollah's gains. » read more

MEXICO CITY — Martha couldn't take the beatings anymore. She visited local police three times last year to report that her husband was punching her in the stomach so hard she could barely breathe. Each time, the police told her they could do nothing unless she returned with cuts and bruises.

Discouraged and fearful, Martha, 43, who asked that her last name not be published for fear of retribution from her husband, in March packed some clothes and left. She's lived with three different relatives since.

"There were times I didn't want to wake up," she said, crying. "I wanted it to stop. I wanted to die." » read more