JIM LEHRER: Memorial Day was especially deadly for American troops in Iraq. The U.S. military announced today 10 U.S. soldiers were killed on Monday. That made 116 U.S. deaths so far in May, the most of any month this year.
Also today, a pair of car bombs in Baghdad killed 40 Iraqis and wounded more than 100 others. The targets were a busy square and a Shiite mosque. And to the north, in Samarra, gunmen set up fake checkpoints and kidnapped more than 40 Iraqis.
Kidnappers in Baghdad carried away five British citizens today in a daylight raid. We have a report narrated by Bill Neely of Independent Television News.
BILL NEELY, ITV News Correspondent: The five Britons were at this government building. They are a computer expert working for a U.S. company and his personal protection team of four, hired by a Canadian security firm.
Just before midday, they were taken by dozens of gunmen, led by one wearing a police major's uniform. The helicopters hovered overhead later, but failed to find the large convoy.
Kidnapping is common in Iraq, but this was unusual, large-scale and well-planned. Around 40 gunmen arriving in multiple police vehicles, sealing off the finance ministry outside the heavily protected Green Zone. Gunmen moved in, one shouting repeatedly, "Where are the foreigners?" Witnesses say the captives were taken from inside and outside the three-story building.
Inside were several Western computer experts. It's still unclear how many are missing. The four British bodyguards were armed but may have been fooled by the police uniforms and failed to resist the gunmen, who sped off after less than half an hour.
Today's kidnapping resembles one six months ago, when more than 100 people were taken by men disguised as police from another ministry. Most were released within days. British officials are now putting together a hostage rescue team. They have five men to save, four of them former soldiers. This is new territory on old, deadly ground.
JIM LEHRER: Iraqi officials also reported three Germans were abducted, but the German foreign minister said there was nothing to confirm those claims.
President Bush will name Robert Zoellick to be president of the World Bank. That word came today in wire service reports citing a senior administration official. Zoellick is a former U.S. trade representative and former number-two at the State Department. The current bank president, Paul Wolfowitz, resigned after a furor over giving his girlfriend a pay raise.
The president today announced new economic sanctions against Sudan. He said he hopes to force an end to the bloodshed in Darfur. The sanctions target Sudan's oil industry and three individuals. The head of the Save Darfur Coalition suggested they may be too little, too late, but U.S. special envoy Andrew Natsios said the penalties are "very powerful."
ANDREW NATSIOS, U.S. Special Envoy for Darfur: No matter what we propose, they'd say it's meaningless and they'd propose something more extreme, OK? So you can never satisfy the more militant people on this issue.
The purpose of these sanctions is not sanctions. The purpose of these sanctions is to send a message to the Sudanese government to start behaving differently when they deal with their own people. That's what this is about.
JIM LEHRER: The Sudan government criticized the move as "unfair and untimely." We'll have more on this story right after the news summary.
In Iran today, a spokesman for the national courts said three Iranian-Americans are now formally charged with spying and other crimes. They include a Middle East scholar, an urban planning consultant, and a journalist. Iran has said they tried to promote a "soft revolution" to oust the Islamic regime; their families and employers have denied that.
The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld strict limits on the right to sue employers over pay discrimination. By 5-4, the court ruled against letting plaintiffs cite employment decisions made years earlier. The case involved an Alabama woman who sued Goodyear Tire and Rubber after working there for 19 years. We'll have more on this story later in the program.
The price of oil plunged today, as concerns over Nigeria eased. The African nation is one of the world's major suppliers. Its new president took office today and promised to address violence in the country's oil region. In New York trading, oil prices dropped more than two dollars to close at $63.15 a barrel. And there was hope for lower gasoline prices, as five U.S. refineries resumed normal operations after repairs.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14 points to close at 13,521. The Nasdaq rose nearly 15 points to close at 2,572.
