The "no-fly" terrorist watch list now used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is being redrafted and will likely be cut in half, according to testimony given by TSA Administrator Kip Hawley during a Thursday Senate Commerce Committee  hearing. Hawley said that "To assure the accuracy of the No-Fly list itself, we will shortly conclude a case by case review of every name on the No-Fly list" and that the TSA Secure Flight Program, scheduled to come into effect in 2008, will replace current watch list efforts. The Secure Flight Program will transfer the responsibility of checking passenger information against the watch list from the aircraft operator to the TSA itself. Hawley also testified that a 100 percent requirement for physically inspecting all air cargo, as recommended by the 9/11 Commission and passed by the House of Representatives last week, may not be as effective as other security measures.

In October, the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) reported that erroneous terrorism watch lists slow travel, and a July study by the Department of Homeland Security suggested that the watch list system was inefficient. The US Department of Justice reported last year that the list was missing some names, was based on incomplete and inaccurate information, and mischaracterized the danger posed by nearly 32,000 suspects who are not designated as targets of significant security action.

The Bush administration changed course and agreed Wednesday to let a secret but independent panel of federal judges oversee the government's controversial domestic spying program.

Officials say the secret court has already approved at least one request for monitoring.

The shift will probably end a court fight over whether the warrantless surveillance program was legal.

The program, which was secretly authorized by President Bush shortly after 9/11, was disclosed a little more than a year ago, resulting in widespread criticism from lawmakers and civil libertarians questioning its legality.

The program allowed the National Security Agency – without approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court – to monitor phone calls and e-mails between the U.S. and other countries when a link to terrorism is suspected.

In a letter to senators Wednesday, Attorney General Al Gonzales said "any electronic surveillance that was occurring as part of the Terrorist Surveillance Program will now be conducted subject to the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court."

Mr. Gonzales said Mr. Bush won't reauthorize the program once it expires.

On October 26, 2006, Fredericy pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere and interfering with the federally protected housing rights of an interracial family because of their race, and for making false statements to federal investigators. Another Cleveland resident, Joseph Kuzlik, pleaded guilty to the same charges on November 27, 2006, and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 21, 2007.

Fredericy and Kuzlik engaged in a series of acts intended to threaten and intimidate African-American residents in their neighborhood. Among other acts, the defendants placed toxic mercury on the porch of a family with children for the purpose of intimidating them because they were an interracial family. In order to keep their unlawful actions secret, both Fredericy and Kuzlik lied to federal investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal agency that was initially charged with cleaning up the mercury and investigating the incident. Fredericy was ordered to pay restitution to the U.S. EPA and the Ohio EPA for the cost of cleanup, and was also ordered to pay restitution of a to be determined amount to individual victims who suffered financial losses as a result of the offenses.

"Any vicious act of racism is deplorable," said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "What these men did is despicable, and the Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those who violate the federally protected civil rights of others."

"Today's sentence is a fitting conclusion to a joint effort by the FBI, the U.S. EPA, the Ohio EPA, and the Cleveland Police Department, and demonstrates the commitment of both state and federal law enforcement authorities to protecting every citizen's basic right to live in and enjoy his or her own home without fear of racial intimidation," said Gregory White, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann C. Rowland and Trial Attorney Kristy L. Parker of the Civil Rights Division.

"There is no medical science supporting the plaintiffs' position that they need to be monitored for cardiovascular conditions two years after Vioxx was voluntarily taken off the market," Merck attorney Ted Mayer said in an e-mailed statement.

They also say the bugs infested their luggage, which led to further problems in their apartment when they returned home. Mrs Bluming claims the trauma was made worse as she is recovering from cancer and her immune system is still weak.

Their lawyer, Michael Weinstein, said they were forced to fumigate their home and throw away clothing, bedding, luggage and personal effects. Mr Weinstein added: "People associate bed bugs with more of a lower end class of hotel. Clearly, that is not the case here. The Mandarin is as premier and luxurious as any hotel could make themselves out to be."

Jill Kluge, communications director for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, said: "We can confirm a regrettable, but isolated, incident of infestation occurred in May 2006 within one guest room at our London property.

"On discovery, a full investigation was carried out and the problem fully rectified. There have been no subsequent incidents. The matter has been referred to our insurers.

"Mandarin Oriental's policy is to operate with the highest standards of conduct, with stringent hygiene systems and processes in place at all of our hotels to safeguard the health and safety of our guests."

The hotel chain is accused of fraud, negligence, recklessness, intentional infliction of emotional distress deceptive trade practice and nuisance.

Oil prices rallied more than $1 Wednesday to close above $52 after floundering through a volatile trading session that saw crude briefly bottom at a new 19-month low.

The market searched for direction in the lull between Tuesday's comments by Saudi Arabia's oil minister advocating no further production cuts and Thursday's scheduled release of petroleum inventory data.

A barrel of crude hasn't settled below $50 since May 24, 2005. But prices came close Tuesday, sliding as low as $50.28 in early trading before recouping the losses. The price of crude has plunged 14 percent since the year began due to weeks of unusually warm weather in the Northeast and an influx of short positions in the market, or bets that prices would fall.

Net income rose to $1 billion, or $1.14 a share, from $565 million, or 65 cents, a year earlier, Cupertino, California-based Apple said today in a statement. Sales rose 24 percent to $7.12 billion. Analysts anticipated profit of 78 cents, according to the average of 14 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Apple sold a record 21.1 million iPods after Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs stoked holiday demand by releasing smaller, less-expensive and higher-capacity models. Updated Macs with faster chips from Intel Corp. helped drive shipments to 1.61 million machines. Sales gained in the U.S. and abroad.

``The results today confirm that Apple's product portfolio is a superior offering to the market place,'' said Glen Kacher, a fund manager at Integral Capital Partners in Menlo Park, California, which owns Apple shares. This year ``should be a victory lap for Apple.''

Profit and sales this quarter will fall short of analysts' estimates. Apple forecast earnings of 54 cents to 56 cents a share, compared with the 60-cent average analyst estimate. The company expects sales of $4.8 billion to $4.9 billion, below analysts' average estimate of $5.23 billion.