On Monday, the court was told by prosecutor John Price that the series of attacks had caused "widespread public alarm" as police and public alike tried to work out where the next bomb would arrive.

On Tuesday, Mrs Andrews told Oxford Crown Court that, as she opened the envelope, she joked: "Do we think this is suspicious?" She told the court: "I was just joking. It was because it was a Jiffy bag and because of what had been on the news."

She described how she broke the seal on an envelope contained within the original package and saw a bright flash and heard a very loud bang.

Mrs Andrews has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since the incident, the court heard, a condition which worsened following the recent car bomb attacks outside West End nightclubs in London. She suffers from permanent tinnitus and has a large scar on her upper chest where she had to receive stitches.

She told the court that she has only returned to work intermittently and said: "I've been forced out of my department because some colleagues refuse to work with me. One manager even wanted me to apologise to people for what I did that day."

The court heard how the bomb had been addressed to the IT manager of an old DVLA office which no longer exists. Most of the company's large volume of mail that it receives each day is opened automatically, but items sent to an old postcode, the court heard, are opened by hand in a separate room and the backlog this creates could mean that the bomb was received as early as Monday that week.

Cooper denies eight counts of causing bodily injury by means of an explosive substance, two counts of using an explosive substance with intent to disable and making and possessing an explosive substance.

Twenty-three-year-old Kyle Schott of Renton had been charged with first-degree rape, but the charge was reduced to second-degree.

Whitman County Superior Court documents say Schott and another man broke into the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority September 13th and attacked a woman as she slept.

Prosecutors say Schott watched while Christopher Reid performed sex acts on the woman. The two fled when she awoke. They are also accused of breaking into two other WSU sororities the same night.

Reid pleaded not guilty Wednesday to burglary and rape charges. The 25-year-old Los Angeles man performs in porno films under the name Jack Venice.

Spector, 67, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson with a gunshot through her mouth at his Los Angeles area home in February 2003.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler issued new instructions to the jury on Thursday aimed at breaking an impasse after two days of legal arguments with lawyers on both sides.

Fidler withdrew a jury instruction -- seen as central to the defense case -- that said the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Spector pointed a gun at Clarkson and the gun ended up inside her mouth while in Spector's hand for them to find him guilty.

Instead he told the jury they could consider a range of possible scenarios.

Jurors had reported confusion over the original instruction and Fidler agreed it "misstates the law."

The defense has argued that the 40-year-old actress, who was working as a nightclub hostess when she met Spector, was depressed over her career and finances and shot herself in the mouth, either deliberately or by accident.

Prosecutors said during the trial that even if the gun went off mistakenly, Spector could be convicted of murder because his actions showed a conscious disregard for human life.

Spector, who did not testify in his defense, is famous for pioneering the "Wall of Sound" recording technique in the 1960s and for his work with The Beatles, The Ronettes, Tina Turner and Cher.

Kerkorian's Tracinda investment vehicle was not immediately available for comment.

The lower court ruled in 2005 that Kerkorian had not been misled into believing the $36 billion deal was a merger of equals as the two partners had claimed.

A DaimlerChrysler spokesman said the verdict would not have any financial consequences because the company had not set aside any money in case it lost the case. It had, however, made reserves for its legal fees and court costs, he added.

DaimlerChrysler shares rose 1.4 percent to 66.79 euros by 0941 GMT, lagging a 2.1 percent gain in the DJ Stoxx European car sector index.

The transatlantic linkup between Daimler-Benz and Chrysler was one of the biggest deals in automotive history, but never lived up to its potential and was unwound this year when Chrysler was sold to buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management.

Kerkorian was Chrysler's leading shareholder when it signed the deal that former Chief Executive Juergen Schrempp boasted would form the world's first truly global carmaker.

Kerkorian, who had demanded more than $1 billion in damages, contended that Schrempp only billed the deal as a merger of equals to lower the transaction price and avoid paying shareholders a "control premium".

Arellano-Felix, nicknamed "El Tigrillo" (Little Tiger), was arrested by the US Coast Guard in August last year while fishing in international waters off Mexico's coast.

US authorities alleged he was the head of the Tijuana drug cartel, which has been blamed for the murder and torture of police officers, informants and rivals and is one of the main smugglers of cocaine into the United States.

According to Mexican authorities, Arellano-Felix was also involved in the 1993 assassination of Roman Catholic cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo at Guadalajara airport.

The Tijuana cartel distributes illegal drugs, much of it cocaine from Colombia, to the US state of California. Authorities say the group has diversified to include amphetamines and marijuana.

A US indictment for 11 top members of the group unveiled in July 2003 charged them with racketeering, conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana, and with money laundering.

The 2003 indictment said the Tijuana operation received multi-tonne shipments of cocaine by sea and air from other traffickers, including Colombia's rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and then arranged to smuggle the drugs into the United States.

It also said the group "recruited, trained and armed groups of bodyguards and assassins responsible for protecting the leaders of the organization and for conducting assassinations of rival drug traffickers."

Arellano-Felix pleaded guilty on Monday in a deal brokered with justice officials after they indicated they would not seek the death penalty.

The narcotics kingpin also agreed to forfeit 50 million dollars he made from his drugs empire as well as a 43-foot yacht called the Dock Holiday as part of the plea agreement.

A co-defendant, Manuel Arturo Villareal-Heredia, 31 -- a senior lieutenant within the cartel -- also pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to invest and reinvest illicit drug profits.

Villareal-Heredia agreed to forfeit five million. He faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on January 7.

Carmel faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Nov. 27, although the prosecutor said he could get a lighter sentence in exchange for his guilty plea under federal sentencing guidelines.

Carmel, 32, of Gilman, also is charged in federal court in New York state with trying to sell rifle sights he allegedly stole from the military. That complaint says that when he served as a supply officer on the minesweeper USS Shrike, he obtained hundreds of laser sights, machine gun parts and night vision goggles although the vessel didn't require the equipment.

Carmel, a lieutenant, was relieved of his supply duties for misappropriating government property and misusing his authority. He left the Navy in 2005.

The complaint in Wisconsin said Carmel became the target of an investigation into theft and sale of stolen military supplies, including weapons.

Federal investigators discovered a cache of weapons on the 40 acres Carmel shares with his parents in Chippewa County, including machine guns, a rocket launcher, artillery shells and dozens of grenades.

Carmel's attorney, Chris Kelly, said nothing in court besides agreeing with the judge. He didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

No hearings have been scheduled on the charges in New York.