Massive Corruption Cited in U.N. Oil-For-Food Program
In a scathing final report documenting massive corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program, investigators Thursday accused more than 2,200 companies, and prominent politicians, of colluding with Saddam Hussein's regime to bilk the humanitarian operation of $1.8 billion.

U.N.: Automakers in Illicit Iraq Oil-for-Food Deal
About half of the 4,500 companies in the U.N. oil-for-food program, including Volvo and DaimlerChrysler, paid a total of $1.8 billion in kickbacks and illicit surcharges to Saddam Hussein's government, a U.N.-backed investigation said in a report released Thursday.

Ex-engineer charged with selling B-2 secrets
FBI: Man gave classified documents on stealth bomber to foreign countries

WAR ON TERROR

Animal-rights activist: 'Kill the researchers'
A radical animal rights activist shocked members of the U.S. Senate this week by advocating the murder of those conducting medical research.

AXIS OF EVIL

Annan: 'Dismay' over Iranian leader's comments
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed "dismay" over the Iranian president's comments urging the destruction of Israel.

Sharon calls on U.N. to expel 'dangerous' Iran
Israelis incensed over comment Jewish state should be 'wiped off the map'

MIDDLE EAST UPDATE

Terrorist: All Israeli citizens 'are military targets'
Al Aqsa leader justifies this week's Hadera suicide bombing

DISEASE

Doctors Ask Government About Tamiflu
Worried that bird flu in Asia could morph into a human flu pandemic, healthy patients, schools and even some doctors are asking if they should stock up on Tamiflu — the one medicine experts believe might help fight the virus.

HURRICANE NEWS

Dozens subpoenaed in hospital probe
Charles Foti Jr. has issued 73 subpoenas in an investigation into allegations that euthanasia may have taken place at one of the hospitals flooded by Hurricane Katrina, he told CNN Wednesday night.

La. Gov. Blanco Blamed for Slow Removal of Bodies
Bodies of people killed by Hurricane Katrina went uncollected for more than a week in the New Orleans area as the federal government waited for Louisiana's governor to decide what to do with them, according to memos released Thursday by a Republican-led House committee.

President Gives Upbeat Assessment of Wilma Recovery
President Bush on Thursday predicted a robust response to Hurricane Wilma victims angry that supplies have been slow in coming as he greeted relief volunteers while a political storm gripped the White House back home.

Gov. Bush urges against hoarding gas
Gov. Jeb Bush told Floridians on Thursday there is no gasoline shortage, only a temporary distribution problem caused by power outages throughout the southeastern part of the state.

Floridians Again Find Gas in Short Supply
Many Floridians struggled another day to find food, water and fuel after Hurricane Wilma on Thursday, with lines of people and cars forming around home improvement stores and gas stations.

Lower 9th Ward like a surreal movie set
Home after home was destroyed by the flooding after the breach in the levee beside the Industrial Canal. Block after block is nearly unrecognizable as a place where people once went about their daily lives.

Wilma devastates Cancun tourism
Mexican authorities were still assessing the damage from Hurricane Wilma as they worked to get aid to the storm-ravaged Yucatan Peninsula, but the country's tourism minister said the region stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

Cuba Accepts U.S. Offer of Hurricane Aid
Cuba has unexpectedly agreed to a quiet U.S. offer of emergency aid following Hurricane Wilma, and three Americans will travel to Cuba to assess needs there, the State Department said Thursday.

ON THE HOME FRONT

Body hanging from tree mistaken for Halloween decoration
The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said.

Study: Halloween too scary for some kids
Psychologist says adults' attempt to make light of death confuses children

Police: Man Re-Enacts 'Halloween' Scene
Police say something bad was bound to happen when a butcher knife, the movie "Halloween" and a group of drinking men came together at a Rogers motel room.

Vitale murder suspect's mother arrested
The mother of a 16-year-old charged in the brutal slaying of an attorney's wife was arrested Thursday on a charge of accessory to murder for allegedly telling her son not to come home because police had blocked off the neighborhood following the killing.

California Has $4.8 Billion in Unclaimed Stuff
Danny DeVito has a $26 check waiting for him from Allstate Insurance. Reese Witherspoon is owed nearly $100 by Tiffany Co. And California first lady Maria Shriver has more than $300 waiting for her in the state's unclaimed property vault, according to the state controller's Web site.

Lawsuit in 'Wrong Beer' Case Dropped
A lawsuit filed by a man who alleged a Budweiser distributor wrongfully fired him after he drank a competitor's beer during his off-hours has been dismissed.

AROUND THE WORLD

U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier to be stationed in Japan
Japan said Friday that stability in East Asia will be strengthened by an agreement with Washington to let the U.S. Navy station a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Japan's waters for the first time.

Mexico Sets Payment for Ex-Guest Workers
After decades of waiting and years of protests, former "bracero" guest workers who labored in the United States between the 1942 and 1964 will get a one-time payment of about $3,500, the Mexican government announced Thursday.

EUROPEENING

Prove U.S. maize isn't modified strain: EU
EU biotech experts on Thursday extended controls on imports of U.S. maize products, saying they need proof shipments are free of an illegal genetically modified organism (GMO), a spokesman said.

Landmark Dresden church completes rise from the rubble
Dresden's rebuilt Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, a searing symbol of the suffering of German civilians after its destruction in World War II bombing and now of reconciliation between the one-time enemies, will be officially re-opened on Sunday.

ENTERTAINMENT

DiCaprio takes global warming warning to TV
DiCaprio joined environmentalists to give Americans a pre-Hallowe'en scare on Oprah's chat show in the US when he warned about the dangers of global warming.

50 Cent's billboards yanked after protests
The distributor of rap star 50 Cent's upcoming film said on Thursday it was taking down some movie billboards near Los Angeles-area schools after community leaders complained they glorify gangs and violence.

Sulu from Star Trek is gay
George Takei, who as helmsman Sulu steered the Starship Enterprise through three television seasons and six movies, has come out as a homosexual in the current issue of Frontiers, a biweekly Los Angeles magazine covering the gay and lesbian community.

HEALTH

Baylor Study Allows Parents to Pick Baby's Sex
The question is asked of almost every prospective parent: "Would you prefer a girl or a boy?"

Screening for face transplant to begin
Researchers develop survey to assess candidates for risk, benefit

Frog sweat kills HIV
Researchers' find could lead to ointment to help prevent AIDS

Bill Would Regulate Colored Contact Lenses
Contact lenses that can change brown eyes to blue, and a host of other colors, would have to be dispensed through eye-care professionals under a bill on its way to President Bush.

BUSINESS / ECONOMY

Lawmakers Call for Explanations After Oil Companies' Record Earnings
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called for Senate hearings to examine the reasons for high energy prices. Noting the contradiction between the soaring profits and squeezed consumer budgets, Frist requested that executives from the country's major oil companies attend the hearings.

Exxon Mobil Profit, Sales Soar to Records
Exxon Mobil Corp. rewrote the corporate record books Thursday as the oil company's third-quarter earnings soared to almost $10 billion and it became the first public company ever with quarterly sales topping $100 billion. Anglo-Dutch competitor Royal Dutch Shell PLC wasn't far behind, posting a profit of $9 billion for the quarter.

POLITICS

Public has had it with both parties
Battleground poll reveals Americans disillusioned with government

Bush Seeking New Supreme Court Nominee
President Bush, eager to put a bruising brawl within his own party behind him, is expected to announce his new pick for the Supreme Court within days.
 - Text of Harriet Miers' Withdrawal Letter

Dean: Bush Let Miers 'Die on the Vine'
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, called Thursday’s nomination withdrawal by Harriet Miers a "collapse of leadership at the Bush White House.”

Activists warn Bush to choose nominee carefully
As the White House turns its attention to finding a new Supreme Court nominee, conservative activists relieved at Harriet Miers' withdrawal are vowing to oppose President Bush's next nominee unless the candidate has solid conservative credentials.

Poll mixed on Miers' withdrawal
Some liked it, some didn't.

Lott: ‘Pick the Best Man or Woman’
Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said Harriet Miers "deserves credit” for recognizing that her Supreme Court nomination presented a problem for the president regarding "executive privilege.”

Feinstein: Attacks against Miers were sexist
'I hate to see a woman go down this way. I really, really do'

O'Connor hears cases as she waits to leave
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement has been delayed again, putting her at the center of upcoming Supreme Court debates on abortion, the death penalty and gay rights.

White House Fears Indictment for Libby
White House officials braced for the possibility that Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide would be indicted in the CIA leak case, but held out hope presidential confidant Karl Rove might escape charges for the time being.

Cheney Aide Appears Likely to Be Indicted; Rove Under Scrutiny
Lawyers in the C.I.A. leak case said Thursday that they expected I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, to be indicted on Friday, charged with making false statements to the grand jury.

House Cracks Down on Frivolous Lawsuits
The House on Thursday passed a bill that would take away lawyers' licenses if they repeatedly file frivolous lawsuits, the latest in a Republican drive to crack down on what they consider costly abuses of the legal system.

Gov. Schwarzenegger Opposes Amnesty for Illegals
Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a group of Spanish-speaking voters he opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants and defended his veto of a bill that would have granted driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

SCHOOLS

N.O. students adapt to new campuses
Accustomed to low and flat New Orleans, Tameka Noel finds herself huffing and puffing as she walks the hilly campus of Amherst College near the Berkshire Mountains. And though it's just October, it already feels like winter to her.

SPORTS

World Series Is Lowest-Rated Ever
The Chicago White Sox's first world championship in 88 years was also the lowest-rated World Series ever.

GLENNVIRNOMENT

Tropical Storm Beta strengthening as it threatens island
Officials evacuated hundreds of tourists and residents from the Colombian island of San Andres as Tropical Storm Beta appeared on track to become the 13th hurricane of the already record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season of 23 named storms.

ANIMALS

Missing U.S. cat found - in France
When Emily the cat went missing a month ago, her owners looked for their wandering pet where she had ended up before -- the local animal shelter. This week they learned Emily sailed to France.

SHAFT UPDATE

Clinton Library May Get $3.5M Tax Break
Bill Clinton's presidential library foundation is eligible for a $3.5 million tax break meant for economic development, The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting the state's argument that nonprofits shouldn't receive such aid.