NEWS BRIEFS
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
Pakistani religious schools expel students amid government crackdown
Associated Press
Pakistani religious schools have sent home hundreds of foreign students this month under a government order aimed at curbing the number of young men who might be recruited by al-Qaida, school officials said yesterday.
The Jan. 12 order from Pakistan's military-led government told students at the religious schools, known as madrassas, to leave the country if they did not have student visas and other documents in order by March 23.
About 700,000 Islamic militants, mostly Afghans, are believed to be studying in Pakistan's 7,000 to 8,000 madrassas. Thousands of madrassa students crossed into Afghanistan last year to fight against the United States and its allies.
The Interior Ministry said yesterday that, in general, the madrassas were cooperating with the government order and that it had no immediate plans to search schools for lawbreakers.
The Jan. 12 order was issued the same day President Gen. Pervez Musharraf announced a crackdown on Islamic militant groups as part of the U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign. Violence surged in Pakistan after the arrests of 2,000 militants and the closure of extremist groups' offices.
A large number of students are leaving the madrassas because their embassies are not helping them, afraid of being seen as supporting Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers, said Salim Ullah Khan, who is in charge of supervising madrassas in Pakistan.
"We know hundreds of students, mostly Afghans, have left madrassas while others are struggling to legalize their stay," Khan told The Associated Press.
One noted religious school, the Darul Aloom Haqqania near the northwestern city of Peshawar, has expelled 700 Afghans and some Arabs because they were unable to secure the proper paperwork, said Maulana Hamidul Haq, a senior official at the school.
ATHENS, ALA.
Four electricians injured in electrical accident at Alabama nuclear plant
Associated Press
Four electricians were badly burned after a high-voltage breaker at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant malfunctioned, officials said.
No radioactivity was released in Tuesday's incident, which left Fred Pendergrass, David Letson, Ed Minyard and Dan Young with burns and other unspecified injuries. Their conditions were upgraded from critical to satisfactory condition yesterday at University Hospital in Birmingham.
Officials said an electrical arc jumped out of a 4,160-volt breaker in the Unit 3 turbine room, burning the four.
The Tennessee Valley Authority-run plant had been shut down for routine maintenance earlier Tuesday. It is unclear what the workers were doing.
Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the incident.
"My main concern right now is that everyone understands there's no nuclear threat," said Lee Helms, Alabama's emergency management director.
The plant, about 95 miles north of Birmingham, suffered a major electrical fire in 1975 after workers using a candle to search for air leaks ignited insulation on cables in a reactor control room.
PHOENIX
McCain joins Hull in trying to land International Genome Consortion
Associated Press
U.S. Sen. John McCain is trying to help the state land the International Genome Consortium.
McCain has been meeting with corporate and political leaders to line up support and funding for Arizona's bid to land the biotechnology project despite competition from other states.
The Arizona Republican said the potential for the research is virtually unlimited.
McCain discussed the effort with Governor Jane Hull yesterday.
She is proposing the state government invest $5 million for the project in spite of a projected $1 billion shortfall.
