HUNTINGTON, Utah — For 10 days, miners braved the rubble-strewn mine to try to reach their fallen comrades trapped deep within.

But after a series of setbacks, nerve-jangling mountain "bumps" and a second collapse that killed three rescuers, a new sentiment emerged Friday: Abandon the rescue effort and concede defeat to a mountain that appeared to be slowly crumbling.

"Is there any possible way we can continue this underground operation and provide safety for the rescue workers? At this point we don't have an answer," Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said as he announced that officials had suspended the rescue operation indefinitely.

The collapse Thursday night killed three rescue workers and injured six others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach six men trapped since Aug. 6 after a massive cave-in. Crews on Friday were still drilling a fourth hole into the mountain to look for any sign of the missing men.

"Without question, we have suffered a setback, and we have incurred an incredible loss. But this team remains focused on the task at hand" — the rescue of the miners, said Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., co-owner of the mine.

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General: U.S. plans 'quick strikes' on al-Qaida

WASHINGTON — The No. 2 American commander in Iraq said Friday that coalition forces are planning "quick strike raids" aimed at smashing al-Qaida and other insurgents in far-flung parts of the country before the U.S. brings some of its buildup troops home.

Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno said that in a nation torn by violence from Sunni insurgents, Shiite militias and al-Qaida terrorists, right now al-Qaida is the biggest threat because it wants to establish a safe haven in Iraq.

"If we can, we want to finish them off," he said of al-Qaida.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters by video conference from Baghdad, he also said commanders are planning in April to start withdrawing troops sent in as part of President Bush's buildup — and complete the drawdown to pre-escalation levels by August 2008.

Military operations launched since the escalation have helped coalition forces capture and kill insurgent leaders, disrupt their operations and retake some territory from them in main population centers, he said. Odierno asserted that coalition forces now "have a chance to really go after them and defeat them."

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Peru earthquake survivors loot market as aid arrives

PISCO, Peru — Hungry earthquake survivors ransacked a public market Friday, while other mobs looted a refrigerated trailer and blocked aid trucks, prompting Peru's president to appeal for calm. Aid finally arrived to the disaster zone after about 36 hours without much help.

With hopes diminishing of finding more survivors from Wednesday's devastating magnitude-8 quake, the death toll had reached at least 510. Another 1,500 people were injured, overwhelming the few hospitals in Peru's southern desert region.

Severe damage to the only highway to the hardest hit zone slowed trucks from Lima. But food, water, tents and blankets were finally arriving, and with Peruvian soldiers distributing enough for some 80,000 people who lost loved ones, homes and belongings in Wednesday's magnitude-8 temblor and the many aftershocks that have followed.

"I understand your desperation, your anxiety and some are taking advantage of the circumstances to take the property of others, take things from stores, thinking they're not going to receive help," Garcia said. "There is no reason to fall into exaggerated desperation knowing that the state is present."

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Hurricane Dean sweeps into east Caribbean

CASTRIES, St. Lucia — Hurricane Dean roared into the eastern Caribbean on Friday, tearing away roofs, flooding streets and causing at least three deaths on small islands as the powerful storm headed on a collision course with Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

The Atlantic season's first hurricane grew into a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 125 mph after crossing over the warm waters of the Caribbean and forecasters warned it could grow into a monster tempest with 150 mph winds before steering next week into the Gulf of Mexico, with its 4,000 oil and gas platforms.

Dean could threaten the United States by Wednesday, forecasters said, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry's office suggested people get ready.

On tiny St. Lucia, fierce winds tore corrugated metal roofs from dozens of houses and a hospital's pediatric ward, whose patients had been evacuated hours earlier. Police said a 62-year-old man drowned when he tried to retrieve a cow from a rain-swollen river.

The government on Dominica reported that a woman and her 7-year-old son died when a hillside soaked by Dean's rains gave way and crushed the house where they were sleeping.

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Republican defends record as a Washington lobbyist

DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican Fred Thompson defended his record as a Washington lobbyist, arguing that controversial clients do not reflect his views and they deserved representation in dealing with Congress and the federal government.

"Don't confuse the lawyer with the client," Thompson said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It has nothing to do with one's political views. Lawyering is a profession but it's also a business."

Thompson has come under fire for representing — among others — abortion rights activists, raising questions about his own position as he prepares to enter the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

"I'm not representing an issue," said Thompson. "I'm representing a client who has an issue."

Thompson, a lawyer, compared his work lobbying to that of a lawyer who represents someone accused of a crime.

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Ammunition shortage squeezes police nationwide

Troops training for and fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are firing more than 1 billion bullets a year, contributing to ammunition shortages hitting police departments nationwide and preventing some officers from training with the weapons they carry on patrol.

An Associated Press review of dozens of police and sheriff's departments found that many are struggling with delays of as long as a year for both handgun and rifle ammunition. And the shortages are resulting in prices as much as double what departments were paying just a year ago.

"There were warehouses full of it. Now, that isn't the case," said Al Aden, police chief in Pierre, S.D.

Departments in all parts of the country reported delays or reductions in training and, in at least one case, a proposal to use paint-ball guns in firing drills as a way to conserve real ammo.

Forgoing proper, repetitive weapons training comes with a price on the streets, police say, in diminished accuracy, quickness on the draw and basic decision-making skills.

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Scientists say Arctic sea ice levels are at a record low

WASHINGTON — There was less sea ice in the Arctic on Friday than ever before on record, and the melting is continuing, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported.

"Today is a historic day," said Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the center. "This is the least sea ice we've ever seen in the satellite record and we have another month left to go in the melt season this year."

Satellite measurements showed 2.02 million square miles of ice in the Arctic, falling below the Sept. 21, 2005, record minimum of 2.05 million square miles, the agency said.

Sea ice is particularly low in the East Siberian side of the Arctic and the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, the center reported.

Ice in the Canadian Archipelago is also quite low. Along the Atlantic side of the Arctic Ocean, sea ice extent is not as unusually low, but there is still less than normal, according to the center located in Boulder, Colo.

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Jordin Sparks of 'Idol' fame signs with Jive Records

NEW YORK — Jordin Sparks has signed the record contract that comes with winning "American Idol." The bubbly 17-year-old inked a deal with Jive Records in conjunction with 19Recordings, the label managed by "Idol" creator Simon Fuller, it was announced Friday.

Her debut album is slated for release in November. She'll offer a taste of the disc with her new single, "Tattoo," to be released to radio stations Aug. 27.

"'American Idol' has truly been a life-altering experience," Sparks said in a statement. "I can't wait to share this next chapter of my story with all the fans that have supported me so far."