WASHINGTON — President Bush denounced "irresponsible" Democrats on Tuesday for going on spring break without approving money for the Iraq war with no strings. He condemned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria, too, accusing her of encouraging a terrorism sponsor.

With Congress out of town, Bush tried to take the upper hand over Democrats who are making increasing forays into foreign policy as his term dwindles and his approval ratings remain low.

Democrats, buoyed by recent Republican defections from Bush on Iraq, shot back that they are the ones pursuing effective solutions overseas in response to a national desire for change from his approach.

"We are not going to allow the president to continue a failed policy in Iraq. We represent the American people's vision on this failed war," Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said at a ceremony for a new Nevada National Guard armory near Las Vegas. "We have said time and time again the troops will have everything they need."

Speaking a day before he heads out of town for six days for events in the West and an Easter break at his ranch, the president said Democrats are failing their responsibility to the troops and the nation's security by leaving for their own recess after passing bills to fund the war that contain timelines for American withdrawal.

BRITAIN URGES DIRECT TALKS WITH IRAN

LONDON — Britain called for direct talks with Iran over 15 captive Britons Tuesday after speaking for the first time with the chief Iranian negotiator. The announcement followed the sudden release of an Iranian diplomat in Iraq that raised new hope in resolving the standoff.

In a statement late Tuesday, Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street office said "both sides share a desire for an early resolution to this issue through direct talks."

Hours after Foreign Secretary Margaret cautioned against expecting a swift resolution to the crisis, Downing Street struck an upbeat note, announcing there had been "further contacts" between the two countries, including with chief negotiator Ali Larijani.

"The prime minister remains committed to resolving this by diplomatic means. The UK has proposed direct bilateral discussions and awaits an Iranian response on when these can begin," Blair's office said.

Earlier, Iranian diplomat Jalal Sharafi arrived in Tehran, hours after he was freed by his captors in Iraq, officials said. He was seized Feb. 4 by uniformed gunmen in Karradah, a Shiite-controlled district of Baghdad.

GUNFIRE AT CNN ATLANTA KILLS WOMAN

ATLANTA — A domestic dispute erupted in gunfire at CNN's headquarters complex Tuesday, killing a woman and critically wounding the man who first pulled a gun, authorities said. The man and woman were arguing near the main entrance of the complex when the man shot her, police officer James Polite said. The armed man was then shot by a CNN security guard.

The woman was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital, authorities said. The man was in critical condition.

The woman, who worked at a hotel attached to CNN Center, was Clara Riddles, 22, of College Park, said Caryn Kboudi, a spokeswoman for the Texas-based Omni Hotel chain.

Riddles and the man, who was not identified, had a prior relationship, police said. Kboudi said that she did not know what Riddles did at the hotel, and that the hotel was not aware of any of the woman's domestic troubles.

The victims were seen being carried out of the building on stretchers. The man's face was covered in blood and his shirt was removed.

U.S. AGENTS VISIT SECRET ETHIOPIA PRISONS

NAIROBI, Kenya — CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries held at secret prisons in Ethiopia, which is notorious for torture and abuse, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

Human rights groups, lawyers and several Western diplomats assert hundreds of prisoners, who include women and children, have been transferred secretly and illegally in recent months from Kenya and Somalia to Ethiopia, where they are kept without charge or access to lawyers and families.

The detainees include at least one U.S. citizen and some are from Canada, Sweden and France, according to a list compiled by a Kenyan Muslim rights group and flight manifests obtained by the Associated Press.

Some were swept up by Ethiopian troops that drove a radical Islamist government out of neighboring Somalia late last year. Others have been deported from Kenya, where many Somalis have fled the continuing violence in their homeland.

Ethiopia, which denies holding secret prisoners, is a country with a long history of human rights abuses. In recent years, it has also been a key U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida, which has been trying to sink roots among Muslims in the Horn of Africa.

'VERY ACTIVE' ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON PREDICTED

DENVER — The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season should be "very active," with nine hurricanes and a good chance that at least one major hurricane will hit the U.S. coast, a top researcher said Tuesday.

Forecaster William Gray said he expects 17 named storms in all this year, five of them major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. The probability of a major hurricane making landfall on the U.S. coast this year: 74 percent, compared with the average of 52 percent over the past century, he said.

Last year, Gray's forecast and government forecasts were higher than what the Atlantic hurricane season produced.

There were 10 named Atlantic storms in 2006 and five hurricanes, two of them major, in what was considered a "near normal" season. None of those hurricanes hit the U.S. Atlantic coast — only the 11th time that has occurred since 1945. The National Hurricane Center in Miami originally reported nine storms, but upgraded one storm after a postseason review.

Gray's research team at Colorado State University said an unexpected late El Nino contributed to the calmer season last year. El Nino — a warming in the Pacific Ocean — has far-reaching effects that include changing wind patterns in the eastern Atlantic, which can disrupt the formation of hurricanes there.

FRENCH TRAIN BREAKS RAIL SPEED RECORD

ABOARD TRAIN V150, France — The speedometer climbed higher and higher — and so did my heart rate. Inside the last of three double-decker cars sandwiched between two engines, those of us aboard the French bullet train trying to set the speed record on conventional rails watched the digital numbers flash on a screen in kilometers per hour: 400, 450, 500, 550.

Looking out the windows, the French countryside became a green blur.

Then the magic number appeared: 547.8 kph, or 357.2 mph — faster than any humans had ever traveled in a train on rails. As fast as an airplane, but on the ground.

The air pressure made my ears ache.

Frankly, I was happy when it was over — and not because the journey quite literally ended in Champagne.

KEITH RICHARDS SNORTED FATHER'S ASHES

LONDON — Keith Richards has acknowledged consuming a raft of illegal substances in his time, but this may top them all. In comments published Tuesday, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," Richards was quoted as saying by British music magazine NME.

"He was cremated, and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared," he said. "... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

Richards' father, Bert, died in 2002, at 84.