Attacker kills mom, kidnaps baby

LONEDELL, Mo. - State and federal investigators kept up the search Saturday for a woman who walked into a rural home, told a young mother “I'm here to take your child,” then slashed the mother's throat and left with her 1-week-old baby.

Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said authorities had some good leads in their search for the attacker and the baby, Abby Woods, but “nothing has headed us in a certain direction.”

The child's mother said she did not know her attacker, police said. Stephanie Ochsenbine, 21, was in stable condition Saturday following surgery.

Hurricane Lane slams Mexico coast

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico - Powerful Hurricane Lane slammed into a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico's Pacific coast south of the city of Culiacan on Saturday after battering the resort of Mazatlan with strong winds and rain.

The Category 3 storm knocked out power to at least parts of Mazatlan, a resort and retirement community popular among Americans, and forced officials to cancel the traditional Independence Day parade.

Lane was projected to weaken slightly to a still-dangerous Category 2 hurricane before advancing 50 miles inland to slam the state capital of Culiacan, a city of 750,000, in the afternoon.

Iraqi violence kills at least 19 more

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged Iraqis Saturday to cast aside their sectarian, ethnic and political differences and embrace his national reconciliation plan.

The appeal came as Iraqi security forces announced they will dig trenches around Baghdad in an attempt to prevent insurgents and explosive-laden cars from getting into the sprawling city of 6 million. The U.S. military confirmed the joint Iraqi-coalition operation Saturday.

“There is a plan in progress for a security belt around Baghdad that includes trenches and other obstacles for channeling exit from and entry to the city through checkpoints controlled by Iraqi forces,” said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.

Yemen arrests four planning attack

SAN`A, Yemen - Authorities arrested four al-Qaida members Saturday who were believed to be planning to carry out attacks in the capital, San'a, Yemen's interior minister said.

Interior Minister Rashad Rashad al-Eleimi said the suspects had links to the four suicide bombers, who planned to blow Yemeni oil installations on Friday but were killed as the attack was foiled.

Security forces confiscated 12 bags each containing 88 to 110 pounds of highly explosive material as well as masks and women's clothing, which militants sometimes use to disguise themselves.

Strangled intruder was hired hit man

PORTLAND, Ore. - When Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from work one day earlier this month, she encountered an intruder wielding a claw hammer. After a struggle, the 51-year-old nurse fended off her attacker by strangling him with her bare hands.

Neighbors praised the woman for her bravery, and investigators said they believed the dead man - Edward Dalton Haffey - was burglarizing Kuhnhausen's home. But after an investigation, police now say the intruder Kuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estranged husband - Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. - to kill her.

- From wire reports