Briefs of the Nation and World

Prosecutor urges death penalty for embassy bomber

NEW YORK - A federal prosecutor urged jurors on Wednesday to impose the death penalty on a convicted terrorist who showed such "total lack of remorse'' he posed triumphantly for a photograph after participating in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 213 people.

Senate Republicans put Bush nominees on fast track

WASHINGTON - They were the lucky ones: five ambassadors, six deputy secretaries, eight undersecretaries and a whopping 22 assistant secretaries.

All won Senate confirmation last week in a huge burst of activity as the outgoing Republican majority scrambled to help the still-nascent Bush administration fill as many positions as possible before Democrats take over the chamber.

Perhaps less fortunate are the dozens of nominees for mid-level administrative posts who - following the announcement by Sen. James M. Jeffords of Vermont that he would leave the GOP, tipping the Senate's balance of power - have suddenly become more dependent on the goodwill of incoming Democratic committee chairmen and floor leaders.

Riots open wide a long-simmering racial divide

OLDHAM, England -The shattered windows of the Live and Let Live pub have been boarded up. The burned-out automobile carcasses and police barricades have been removed since Britain's worst race riots in decades broke out last weekend.

But the rage that fueled two nights of pitched street battles between police officers and Pakistani and Bangladeshi youths is still simmering.

Bush's daughter accused of trying to buy alcohol

Authorities said Wednesday they are investigating whether Jenna W. Bush, one of the president's 19-year-old twin daughters, used someone else's identification in an attempt to buy an alcoholic beverage - the second time in two months she has faced allegations related to underage drinking.

Police in Austin, Texas, said they received a call Tuesday night from the manager of Chuy's restaurant alleging that Bush and her sister, Barbara, had attempted to buy alcohol, and that Jenna had presented an ID card that was valid but did not belong to her. Neither woman was ticketed or arrested, and the incident remains under investigation, police said.

Crime rates are no longer dropping, FBI figures show

WASHINGTON - An unprecedented drop in crime has come to an end, with the number of crimes bottoming out nationwide and creeping upward in Western states for the first time in a decade, according to FBI data released Wednesday.

The trend triggered new concern that a sagging economy, a record number of parolees and other factors could fuel a return to the high crime rates of the early 1990s.

Microsoft raises fee for office programs

Microsoft Corp. is trying to boost profits from the newest version of its popular Office programs being released Thursday bychanging the terms of its licensing deals to force business customers into more expensive contracts.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is prodding its best corporate customers to fork over new annual fees on top of one-time payments for the latest suite of programs, called Office XP.

Satellite findings reveal massive global pollution

New glimpses of Earth from space show air pollution wrapping around the planet, spreading haze and hazardous gases across oceans and continents and posing new challenges for cleanup.

The findings, beamed back to Earth from a National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellite in orbit for two years, depict in dramatic fashion the global reach of air pollution. Scientists have known for years that man-made pollutants spread far and wide, but this is the first time they have watched it happen from space over a long period.

INS to charge for expedited visa work

WASHINGTON - The Immigration and Naturalization Service will begin allowing foreign celebrities, athletes, executives and other specific types of workers to pay $1,000 to get work visa applications processed within 15 days instead of waiting the usual three months or more.

INS officials said the Premium Processing Program, to be launched on Friday, will generate an extra $80 million a year and allow the agency to hire hundreds of extra workers to help all visa applicants.

Germany OKs release of funds for Nazi slave laborers

BERLIN - German lawmakers Wednesday gave a final go-ahead for $4.5 billion in payments to the last uncompensated Nazi victims, an estimated 1.2 million survivors of slave labor who will begin getting their long-overdue reparations within two weeks.

Wire briefs compiled from the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post wire service.