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claims that militants abducted 60 foreign construction workers, including some 15 Turks, near the oil city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
• Fighters of the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant began their attack on the Beiji refinery, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, late Tuesday night, the security official said. The attack continued into Wednesday morning, with fighters targeting it with mortar shells. A small fire started on the facility's periphery, he said.
• The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
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• KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russian news agencies say Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has proposed a unilateral cease-fire by his troops to allow pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country a chance to lay down weapons or leave the country.
• The agencies quoted Poroshenko as saying Wednesday that this would be the first step in the peace plan he has proposed to de-escalate the conflict.
• He was quoted as saying: "The plan will begin with my order for a unilateral cease-fire." He added that "shortly afterward the plan will receive support from the other participants."
• The proposal, reportedly disclosed during a visit to an army academy in Kiev, comes after a telephone call between Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin in which a cease-fire was discussed. Poroshenko's spokesman was not immediately available to confirm the offer.
• Separatists have seized government buildings, held disputed referendums and declared independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions along Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. Ukrainian troops have struggled to suppress the insurgents, who on Saturday shot down a military transport plane, killing all 49 on board. Authorities say more than 300 people have died in fighting.
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• ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A Georgia inmate convicted of rape and murder has been put

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