USA
After thrashing the resorts of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, where it stalled over the weekend, hurricane Wilma was expected to pick up speed and lash southern Florida Monday. With winds of 100 m.p.h., the Category 2 storm prompted a call for evacuations of coastal areas. Meanwhile, yet another tropical storm, Alpha, the record 22nd of the season, was being watched closely south of the Dominican Republic. Having run through the predetermined names for this hurricane season, forecasters had to turn to the Greek alphabet for the first time in almost 60 years.
In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Bush tried to mute criticism of his proposed guest-worker plan by promising stronger security at the border with Mexico to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. "Our goal is to return every single illegal entrant - no exceptions," Bush said, adding that the guest-worker program, which would allow undocumented workers to obtain three-year work visas, is critical to immigration reform.
The Navy will begin a series of hearings next month on a controversial plan to use a 500-square-mile area off North Carolina as a sonar training range, The Washington Post reported. Environmentalists strongly oppose emitting loud underwater sounds that they believe may disorient endangered whales. The Navy considers the area well suited for teaching detection of hostile subs in near-shore locations.
US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R) of Texas refuted suggestions that the White House might withdraw the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court because of concerns some lawmakers and observers have raised about her lack of judicial experience and established positions. The Senate confirmation hearings scheduled to begin Nov. 7 will be a "make or break" experience for Miers, Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. Schumer said Miers presently doesn't have the votes needed for confirmation.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended a weekend ceremony in Birmingham, Ala., to mark one of the seminal events of the civil rights movement - the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four girls, including one of her childhood friends. The girls were honored with bronze plaques Saturday.