From Wire Reports

American tours tsunami land

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz flew across the devastated wasteland along the Sumatran coast Saturday, voiced pride in the American aid operation but said Washington wants to hand over relief work to Indonesia and other affected nations as soon as possible.

The Indonesians "have welcomed us in a way that might have been unimaginable in other circumstances," Wolfowitz said aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln anchored off the Indonesian coast.

In the ongoing recovery work in Indonesias Aceh province, the United Nations Development Program started paying about 3,000 tsunami survivors the equivalent of $3 a day to help with the clean up - an attempt to kick start the region's crippled economy.

Hitler planned pope abduction

ROME - The Nazi commander in Rome warned Pope Pius XII in 1944 of a plan by Adolf Hitler to abduct the pontiff, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Avvenire, an Italian Catholic daily, cited a written statement by Gen. Karl Wolff, the head of the SS in German-occupied Rome, saying that Hitler considered Pius a "friend of the Jews."

The comment would seem to refute claims that Pius did little or nothing to protect Jews from slaughter by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Avvenire, published by the Italian bishops conference, said the new details emerged during research to help the Vatican determine if Pius XII merits beatification.

Iraqis mull car ban for election

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials said Saturday they are considering new measures to protect voters in the Jan. 30 national election, including a three-day, nationwide ban on driving to discourage car-bombings. Fresh clashes broke out in the troubled northern city of Mosul, where most election officials have fled their jobs in fear.

U.S. and Iraqi officials fear a surge in insurgent attacks as the election approaches.