Striking Honduran teachers face suspensions

Teachers march against a bill that they say can lead to the privatization of education on March 24, 2011. STORY HIGHLIGHTSHonduran teachers have been on strike since March 7They are protesting a bill that they say will lead to the privatization of the schoolsThe government set deadlines starting Monday to return to workRELATED TOPICSHondurasEducationEducation Issues (CNN) -- Honduran teachers who have been on strike for 21 days faced a decision Monday morning: return to the classroom or endure punishments.

The government on Sunday issued an ultimatum, disseminated on radio and television, to the teachers, saying that if they did not show up for work Monday, they would be suspended for two months without pay. Those who do not show up by Wednesday, will be handed six-month suspensions, and those still striking by next week will not allowed to teach for a year, the government said.

"If these deadlines are not met, the government will begin to execute justified firings," the statement said.

The teachers are protesting an education bill that they say can lead to the privatization of the public school system. They are also demanding salaries owed from last year to some 5,000 teachers.

Those teachers who are suspended will be replaced by educators who are currently unemployed, the government said.

Journalist Elvin Sandoval contributed to this report.

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Missing boy sparks huge hunt in Denmark

The 3-year-old was found alive Monday after he went missing in the woods Sunday. STORY HIGHLIGHTSHolger Kragh, 3, argues with his mother on a trip and storms offHe then vanishes, prompting a search involving police, military and volunteersPolice get news about his fate live on cameraRELATED TOPICSDenmarkMissing Children (CNN) -- It started out as a typical spat between a mother and child, the kind parents and kids around the world have thousands of times every day: Holger Kragh wanted to take his coat off during a walk in the woods. His mother wouldn't let him.

The 3-year-old stormed off -- and vanished.

The little boy and his mother were on a field trip Sunday morning with other children and teachers in northwest Denmark.

When Holger was still missing at lunchtime, his parents called the police, sparking an intensive search.

Police, dog patrols, the military and emergency services scrambled to find the boy.

As news of his disappearance spread, hundreds of members of the public also fanned out to help search the area, Tranum Klitplantage, in north Jutland.

Police got an unprecedented number of calls offering assistance, commissioner Poul Badsberg of North Jutland police told CNN.

In the end, they even sent out an ice cream truck, hoping that Holger would hear its bells and follow the sound.

But as night fell Sunday, as temperatures dropped to near freezing and rain began to fall, there was no sign of him.

The search continued Monday morning, a bright clear day -- and then the news broke, in the form of a shout as CNN affiliate TV2 was broadcasting live.

"Ja!" comes the roar from just offscreen. The camera swings to find police team leader Flemming Bruun Jacobsen pumping a fist in the air, his other hand holding a phone to his ear.

"They found him?" the reporter asks, though it couldn't be clearer from Jacobsen's face what he's been told.

"They found him!" the policeman shouts back.

"Where?" the reporter asks as he puts his phone down.

"I don't know yet. We're sending a police car to get him," Jacobsen says with a grin. Then, unable to contain himself, he raises both fists and erupts once again: "Yes!"

The boy was found by a member of the public on horseback 4-5km (2.5-3 miles) from the place where he was last seen, Badsberg said.

He was in good health and good spirits, the police commissioner said.

Holger was reunited with his weeping parents, and his mother carried the tired, slightly bewildered-looking boy into an ambulance to be taken to a hospital for precautionary tests.

For the record, he was wearing his coat.

CNN's Collin Vanbuskirk contributed to this report.

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U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal from Georgia death row inmate

Supreme Court rejects Troy Davis appealSTORY HIGHLIGHTSThe justices turned aside without comment two appeals from Troy DavisThe action likely sets the stage for the state to set another execution dateThe ruling is latest in case that is procedurally complex but, legally, a simple innocence claim Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a condemned Georgia inmate's request that his execution be delayed as he attempts to prove his "actual innocence."

The justices without comment on Monday turned aside separate appeals from Troy Davis, likely setting the stage for the state to set another execution date.

Davis has gained international support for his long-standing claim he did not murder a Savannah police officer more than two decades ago. Monday's ruling is the latest in a case that is procedurally complex but, legally, a simple claim of innocence.

Davis was granted a stay of execution by the U.S. Supreme Court two hours before he was to be put to death in 2008, and the court in 2009 ordered the federal District Court to take another look at the case.

That court, after holding a hearing to review evidence, ruled in August that Davis "failed to show actual innocence" in the case. The District Court suggested that, for procedural reasons, Davis should take his appeal of its ruling directly to the Supreme Court.

CNN Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears contributed to this report.

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2 killed in Israeli airstrike as nation deploys new defense system

An Israeli soldier stands next to a launcher, part of the countyr's "Iron Dome" defense system. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe "Iron Dome" is meant to provide a partial solution to rocket attacksPalestinian factions say they support a truce if Israel will halt strikesAt least 12 Palestinians have died since March 19 in Israeli retaliatory strikesRELATED TOPICSGazaIsraelMiddle East ConflictHamas Jerusalem (CNN) -- An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza Sunday morning killed two Palestinians and injured three others, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.

The latest airstrike marks the beginning of a second week of escalated violence between the two sides as Israel deployed its "Iron Dome" defense system in southern Israel Sunday. The deployment was part of the evaluation phase Israel Defense Forces is undertaking to check the system's effectiveness.

Israeli Air Force jets "identified a group of rocket launchers preparing to fire a rocket at the Israeli home front from the northern Gaza Strip, and thwarted the attempt by firing at them. A hit was confirmed," a spokesman said in a statement.

Hamas, the party that rules Gaza, confirmed the deaths and injuries on its website, saying the incident occurred in the Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza.

A statement from the Islamic Jihad militant group said Israel bears full responsibility for the bloodshed. "We fully blame the Zionist enemy for the continuing aggression and bloody attacks and their consequences," the statement said. "... we reaffirm our right in responding and defending against the occupation's continuous crimes against our own people and we call for the protection of our people in defense and resistance."

The dead and wounded were taken to Kamal Odwan hospital, Palestinian medics told CNN.

Four rockets were fired into southern Israel Friday and Saturday in the latest round of violence. One of them, a Qassam rocket, slammed into a house Friday night in the Eshkol regional council area, causing extensive damage.

"Hamas has lost control of other organizations within the Gaza Strip," Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, commander of the Israeli Southern Command, said in a visit to the damaged house. "There is anarchy among them and within Hamas itself. There's no authority over any facet and it's difficult for Hamas to regain control."

His comments came amid talk by Palestinian factions that they are prepared for a truce as long as Israel halts attacks on Gaza.

In a meeting between Palestinian factions Saturday in Gaza, they stressed they are committed to the truce and to refrain from escalating, Hamas' Interior Ministry said on its website.

"We are, of course, interested in quiet and security, and we have no interest in escalating the situation, but we won't hesitate to use the might of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) against those who harm our civilians," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Islamic Jihad, in its statement, said claims by Israel that it doesn't want to escalate the situation are "lies" aimed at misleading the public.

Since last Saturday, about 90 rockets have been fired into southern Israel and 12 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory strikes, both airstrikes and artillery. Four of them were civilians, including an 11-year-old and a 16-year-old. The rest were militants.

In light of the increased rocket fire over the last week, including two Grad missiles into Beersheva, Israel's biggest southern city with a population of about 200,000 people, Israel deployed the first battery of its Israeli-developed "Iron Dome" defense system.

The system has been in development for years, and was still "in the evaluation stage on an operational level," according to Israel Defense Forces.

Brig. Maj. Gen. Doron Gavish, head of the Israeli Air Defense Force, spoke to reporters Sunday at a site where the system was deployed.

"Because of what we saw in the last week or two, we accelerated the phases, and now we are here ... this is what we are going to do for the next coming weeks," he said.

The system is a mobile defense solution for countering short-range rockets and artillery shells. Its aim is to identify and track incoming projectiles and strike them with a rocket before they hit. It is supposed to provide a partial answer to the short-range rockets being fired into southern Israel alongside shelters and military offensive measures, according to an Israel Defense Forces statement.

Gavish said the system is unique in that "there is no other system in the world which shoots missiles against rockets." He would not elaborate on the cost of firing the missiles, saying, "It is more important to understand if you didn't shoot something, what (the rocket) would hit. Our job is to make sure we would do everything to defend our population."

But Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that he does not want "to create the illusion that the Iron Dome system will give a whole or comprehensive response. It is still in the experimental stage, and in any case, we cannot deploy batteries to protect every house or school."

CNN's Shira Medding contributed to this report.

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Japan's government under fire in nuclear crisis

Patients exposed to radiation at Fukushima are moved -- authorities Friday encouraged voluntary evacuations in the buffer zone. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Kyodo poll finds government gets poor marks for handling the nuclear crisisNEW: IAEA chief says communication has improved NEW: Greenpeace warns of high radiation levels outside the evacuation zoneTraces of radiation are detected in China and Massachusetts Tokyo (CNN) -- Japan's government pressed the owner of the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for better information Sunday as it battled against criticism of its own handling of the crisis there.

Yukio Edano, the government's point man for the crisis, issued what he called "stronger instructions" to the Tokyo Electric Power Company to fully disclose as much as possible about conditions at the plant.

"Every piece of information must be provided accurately and swiftly" to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Edano, the chief Cabinet secretary, told reporters. "Without this communication, it's very difficult for the government to (establish) proper safety measures."

Workers have spent more than two weeks trying to stave off potential meltdowns in three reactors at the six-unit Fukushima Daiichi plant, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo. The plant was damaged by the historic earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11.

A poll by Japan's Kyodo News Agency found the government is getting poor marks for its handling of the crisis, with 58 percent telling pollsters that they disapprove. Though 57 percent of Japanese approve of how the government has moved to provide relief for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the poll found, only 39 percent approve of how it has managed the situation at Fukushima Daiichi.

Edano said the government has done "everything possible."

"But we also realize that many of the people in the affected areas have been very inconvenienced, and they are in a very serious crisis," he added. "We understand that, and there may be more such difficulties ahead."

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