WASHINGTON — The Army fired 11 soldiers in January for violating the military's policy that gay service members must keep their sexuality hidden, according to a Virginia congressman.

Democratic Rep. Jim Moran said he has requested monthly updates from the Pentagon on the impact of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy until it is repealed.

In a statement released yesterday, Moran said the discharged soldiers included an intelligence collector and four infantry personnel.

BAILED-OUT BANK TIED TO POLITICIAN

WASHINGTON — Rep. Maxine Waters, one of Los Angeles' most enduring liberal politicians, has come under scrutiny because of bailout funds that went to a bank in which her husband had owned stock and served on the board.

Waters was on the congressional committee dealing with the financial crisis at the time that OneUnited Bank, one of the nation's largest minority-owned institutions, received $12 million in bailout funds.

Her husband, Sidney Williams, served on the bank board until early last year and held at least $500,000 in investments in the bank in 2007.

FOREIGNERS TAKEN IN DARFUR ATTACK

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Armed men burst into an aid agency compound in Darfur and kidnapped three Westerners, heightening fears that foreigners will be targeted in the backlash over the international arrest warrant for Sudan's president.

The three workers for Doctors Without Borders were kidnapped Wednesday in a government-controlled area in northern Darfur, close to a stronghold of government-allied Arab militiamen.

The Sudanese government condemned the attack and denied involvement. But officials quickly blamed the arrest warrant issued last week by the International Criminal Court accusing President Omar al-Bashir of war crimes in Darfur.

POLICE ARREST 7 TERROR SUSPECTS

AMSTERDAM — Dutch police yesterday arrested seven people suspected of preparing a terrorist attack in Amsterdam, including a relative of one of the attackers who died in the 2004 Madrid bombings.

Mayor Job Cohen said police acted on an anonymous tip that warned an Ikea outlet or other stores in the southeast of the city might be targeted.

District Attorney Herman Bolhaar said six men and one woman, all Dutch nationals of Moroccan ancestry, were arrested.