Florida does not keep comprehensive records on the impact of its new law, but prosecutors and defense lawyers there agree that fewer people who claim self-defense are being charged or convicted.

The Florida law, which served as a model for the others, gives people the right to use deadly force against intruders entering their homes. They no longer need to prove that they feared for their safety, only that the person they killed had intruded unlawfully and forcefully. The law also extends this principle to vehicles.

In addition, the law does away with an earlier requirement that a person attacked in a public place must retreat if possible. Now, that same person, in the law's words, "has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force." The law also forbids the arrest, detention or prosecution of the people covered by the law, and it prohibits civil suits against them.

The central innovation in the Florida law, said Anthony J. Sebok, a professor at Brooklyn Law School, is not its elimination of the duty to retreat, which has been eroding nationally through judicial decisions, but in expanding the right to shoot intruders who pose no threat to the occupant's safety.

"In effect," Professor Sebok said, "the law allows citizens to kill other citizens in defense of property."

This month, a jury in West Palm Beach, Fla., will hear the retrial of a murder case that illustrates the dividing line between the old law and the new one. In November 2004, before the new law was enacted, a cabdriver in West Palm Beach killed a drunken passenger in an altercation after dropping him off.

The first jury deadlocked 9-to-3 in favor of convicting the driver, Robert Lee Smiley Jr., said Henry Munnilal, the jury foreman.

"Mr. Smiley had a lot of chances to retreat and to avoid an escalation," said Mr. Munnilal, a 62-year-old accountant. "He could have just gotten in his cab and left. The thing could have been avoided, and a man's life would have been saved."

Mr. Smiley tried to invoke the new law, which does away with the duty to retreat and would almost certainly have meant his acquittal, but an appeals court refused to apply it retroactively. He has appealed that issue to the Florida Supreme Court.

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the N.R.A., said the Florida law had sent a needed message to law-abiding citizens.

"If they make a decision to save their lives in the split second they are being attacked, the law is on their side," Mr. LaPierre said. "Good people make good decisions. That's why they're good people. If you're going to empower someone, empower the crime victim."

The N.R.A. said it would lobby for versions of the law in eight more states in 2007.

Sarah Brady, chairwoman of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said her group would fight those efforts. "In a way," Ms. Brady said of the new laws, "it's a license to kill."

Many prosecutors oppose the laws, saying they are unnecessary at best and pernicious at worst. "They're basically giving citizens more rights to use deadly force than we give police officers, and with less review," said Paul A. Logli, president of the National District Attorneys Association.

But some legal experts doubt the laws will make a practical difference. "It's inconceivable to me that one in a hundred Floridians could tell you how the law has changed," said Gary Kleck, who teaches criminology at Florida State University.

Even before the new laws, Professor Kleck added, claims of self-defense were often accepted. "In the South," he said, "they more or less give the benefit of the doubt to the alleged victim's account." [...]

The malfunctioning piece of equipment, called a localizer, acts as a beacon to guide arriving planes onto runways. It is most crucial when it is foggy or hazy, and it was foggy at the airport Monday.

Because of a runway construction project, LAX, the world's fifth-busiest airport, has three working runways - one handles arrivals, one handles takeoffs, and one handles both. It was the shared runway that had the problem.

The equipment used on that runway failed at 9:17 a.m., the FAA said. Airport authorities responded by reversing the direction of the runways so that the faulty equipment was no longer needed.

Before the fix was made, the number of landings, usually about one a minute, was reduced by half, said FAA spokesman Mike Fergus.

Laney Fishera, 46, from Topsfield, Mass., said her flight from Boston circled above the ocean for about 30 minutes until a runway was available.

"We had to fly over the ocean, which was really weird," she said.

LAX was hit with a major power failure July 18 that backed up flights across parts of the western United States and Canada.

That outage happened when a vehicle crashed into a utility pole, causing a power fluctuation that prompted the air traffic control center's backup generator to turn on automatically. About an hour later, that generator failed.

The airport averages 1,800 daily flights and will serve an estimated 18.7 million passengers this summer, 200,000 more than last year.

Passaro, a 40-year-old former Special Forces medic from Lillington, N.C., is the first civilian charged with mistreating a detainee during the U.S. wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

Passaro's attorneys have said they want to call Tenet and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, formerly the White House counsel, as part of a "public authority defense" - namely, that Passaro was following orders. It was nit immediately clear if Gonzales was among those Boyle said could not be subpoenaed by the defense.

Before jury selection began, prosecutor Jim Candelmo told the judge that even the titles of some of the witnesses sought by defense attorneys are classified and cannot be discussed in open court.

But defense attorney Joe Gilbert disputed the government's claim of secrecy. At least one of the potential witnesses has appeared on national television and been interviewed in newspapers, Gilbert said.

"The government is using it in such a way to deny Mr. Passaro due process and they shouldn't be allowed to do this," Gilbert said.

Boyle has previously limited the defense's access to several classified documents and e-mails, including a memo from the Justice Department to the CIA that Passaro contends described the kind of interrogation techniques allowed by U.S. law.

The government contends paratroopers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division saw Passaro beat detainee Abdul Wali with his hands, his feet and a flashlight in June 2003 during two days of questioning about rocket attacks on a remote firebase housing U.S. and Afghan troops.

Wali later died in his cell, although Passaro - who was working under contract to the CIA - is not charged with his death. Instead, he faces assault charges that carry up to 40 years in prison.

With Border Patrol agents in pursuit, the driver attempted to make a U-turn and rolled over, Frers said. He did not know how fast either vehicle was traveling.

"The suburban was grossly overloaded, and it's difficult to handle on that kind of (dirt) road," Frers said.

Sheriff's Maj. Leon Wilmot said the car had swerved to avoid a spike strip put out by Border Patrol agents. Border Patrol spokeswoman Agent Veronica Lozano said she didn't know whether agents put out the device.

Scores of illegal immigrants die each year while crossing the Mexican border into Arizona, many in car crashes. Smugglers often flee from authorities at high speeds or overload vehicles, which makes them difficult to control.

"They just pile in; they're like sardines," Frers said. "It's unfortunate."

Agents are generally required to follow a "non-pursuit" policy, meaning they must follow a suspect vehicle at a distance unless the driver commits a traffic violation, said T.J. Bonner, who heads a union representing Border Patrol agents. After a traffic violation, a supervisor can authorize pursuit.

"Now that you have so many more people making that journey through those godforsaken areas, it's only natural that you're going to have more fatalities," Bonner said.

Four of the injured were at Yuma Regional Medical Center, including one in serious condition, spokeswoman Machele Headington said. The conditions of the others were not known. Three others were treated and released to the custody of Border Patrol, she said.

The Yuma area, a sandy stretch of desert in southwestern Arizona, has become the nation's busiest immigrant-smuggling hotspot. President Bush visited the area in May as part of his push for a sweeping overhaul of immigration laws.

Last month, after a crackdown on illegal border crossing, the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector reported a 48 percent drop in migrant arrests - from 11,522 in June 2005 to 6,030 in June this year.

"It's no secret that bedbugs are making a comeback," said Dan Suiter, an associate professor of entomology at the University of Georgia.

Before World War II, bedbug infestations were common in the U.S., but they were virtually eradicated through improvements in hygiene and the widespread use of DDT in the 1940s and 1950s.

Bedbugs are tiny brownish, flattened insects that feed exclusively on the blood of animals and humans. Their bites may cause itchy red welts or swelling.

Unlike mosquitoes, though, they are not known to transmit blood-borne diseases from one victim to another. They are extremely resilient and very difficult to exterminate. Experts say bedbugs are not necessarily an indicator of unsanitary conditions.

In the past four years, reports of bedbugs have significantly increased in U.S. cities, from New York to Honolulu, especially in hotels, hospitals and college dormitories - all places with high resident turnover.

The National Pest Management Association, which represents many of the country's pest control companies, says the number of bedbug reports have increased fivefold in four years.

The Atlanta branch of pest-control firm Terminix saw no cases of bedbugs in 2004 and only three or four last year. But in the first six months of this year, they've had 23 new cases, said Clint Briscoe, a spokesman.

Experts are not entirely sure what has caused the marked increase. Some speculate that increased international travel and immigration may be partially to blame.



The tiny bugs may be hitching a ride in the luggage or clothing of travelers. This could explain the high concentration of the pests in cities like Atlanta and New York, which attract a lot of international traffic.

Another factor is a change in pest control practices. Companies are spraying more responsibly now, Suiter said. Instead of indiscriminately saturating the perimeter of all rooms, they often use more conservative measures and do large-scale spray treatments only when there's an infestation. As a result of consumer demand, less toxic chemicals are also being used.

"The bottom line is it may be a convergence of all those factors, but none of that really explains the rapid increase in recent years," said Michael Potter, a professor and urban entomologist at the University of Kentucky.

Experts agree that the public needs to be educated about bedbugs - on the symptoms and how to prevent them.

"A lot of people, including some physicians, don't even think they're real," Potter said. As a result people may go months before realizing the source of their discomfort.

In Hawaii, where tourism is a major industry, state lawmakers passed a resolution for a prevention campaign after infestations at some hotels damaged their reputations and annoyed travelers. Similarly, legislation for a bedbug task force has been proposed by New York City Councilwoman Gail Brewer.

For Benton, a 31-year-old graduate student, the bedbugs sparked a seven-month battle that included bug bombs and the tossing out of his and his fiancee's bedroom furniture.

They gave up and moved out of their apartment in New York and eventually moved back to their native Memphis, Tenn. Benton said the bugs essentially drove them out of New York because they couldn't sleep knowing the bugs may be anywhere.

"The main part of it is psychological trauma that they create because of the idea that they are feeding on you at night," Benton said. "It's still hard to talk about if it's anywhere near bedtime."

"We're not even talking about trying to get up through a glass ceiling; we're trying to stay above ground," said Paulette Brown, co-chairwoman of the group that produced the study, released Friday during the bar association's annual convention.

The report, "Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms," was conducted by the bar association with the help of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Questionnaires were sent to about 1,300 attorneys, both men and women, and responses came from 72 percent, or 920.

Law firms exclude minority women from golf outings, after-hours drinks and other networking events, the study says. Partners neglect the women of color they are supposed to help mentor.

In some cases, partners and senior lawyers disregard minority women less because of outright bigotry than because they have less in common with them and thus don't connect well with them, the study found.

Firms routinely hand minority women inferior assignments - such as reviewing documents or writing briefs - that provide little opportunity to meet clients, the study says. That means women of color aren't able to cultivate business relationships and develop the "billable hours" that are the basis of career advancement within a firm.

Among the statistics in the study:

- Forty-four percent of women of color said they were denied desirable assignments, versus 2 percent of white men.

- Forty-three percent of women of color said they had limited access to client development opportunities, compared with 3 percent of white men.

- Nearly two-thirds of women of color said they were excluded from informal and formal networking opportunities, compared with 4 percent of white men.

Such discrimination largely goes unchecked at law firms, forcing women to quit if they want to avoid it, Brown said.

The study cited 2005 data from the National Association of Law Placement showing 81 percent of minority female associates left their jobs within five years of being hired. That figure was up from the late 1990s, when it stood at 75 percent.

Elaine Johnson James, who is black and a partner at the firm Edwards, Angell, Palmer and Dodge, said she has seen such defections.

She recently called classmates from her Harvard law class in an effort to find black law partners to speak at an alumni panel. Of the 50 or so black women in her class and in the classes above and below hers, James said she found only one other than herself working at a firm.

"Harvard, now; you've got to figure if anybody's going to stick, it would be us," James said. "It's amazing that we have left the private practice of law in droves."

Michael Greco, the bar association president, said managing partners at law firms - mostly white men - need to dedicate themselves to reform.

"This is intolerable," Greco said at a news conference. "It stings the conscience of our profession."

Group spokeswoman Kathy Allmand said Monday that the total number of North American dates remains the same, with several Canadian cities added in place of the U.S. shows.

The trio released a statement last week attributing the changes to attempts to "accommodate demand" and said more dates might be added next year.

The group also said the adjustments will allow them to promote the documentary "Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing," for the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

"We hope that our fans who were looking forward to a stop that is no longer on the tour will be able to join us at a nearby arena this fall, and we are sorry for any confusion or inconvenience these changes have caused," the Dixie Chicks said.

Many country fans criticized the band after lead singer
Natalie Maines told a London audience in 2003 on the eve of war in Iraq that the trio was "ashamed" President Bush was from their home state of Texas.

County radio stations dropped them from their playlists and have been slow to welcome them back, despite strong sales of their latest album, "Taking the Long Way."

The album, which has more of a rock edge than their previous releases, spent several weeks at the top of the country albums chart and has sold more than 1 million copies.

In the latest case, Unisys told the VA on August 3 that the computer was missing from the company's offices in Reston, Virginia, the VA said. The VA and Unisys said the data may include names, addresses, Social Security numbers and dates of birth.

The data do not contain personal financial information, Unisys said in a statement, but the VA said it may include patients' insurance carriers and billing information, dates of military service and claims information that may include some medical information.

The VA's inspector general, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement agencies "are conducting a thorough investigation of this matter," Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson said in a statement.

The agency said it believes the records concern about 5,000 patients treated at the VA medical center in Philadelphia and about 11,000 seen at a VA facility in Pittsburgh over the past four years, as well as about 2,000 deceased veterans.

The agency said it is also investigating whether the computer contained information on about another 20,000 people who were treated at the Pittsburgh medical center.

Unisys said it had launched a "comprehensive search and investigation" and was working with the VA and law enforcement agencies investigating the incident.

Anti-nuclear campaign group Trident Ploughshares said its activists had cut through a perimeter fence and boarded a U.S. plane to search for evidence of arms shipments to Israel.

Spokesman David Mackenzie said the group had not found any weapons aboard the cargo plane, whose destination was unknown.

The seven arrests follow those of four other members of the group, who ran onto a runway at the airport on Sunday.

Last month, a stopover at Prestwick of U.S. flights carrying missiles to Israel sparked intense criticism in Britain.

U.S. President George W. Bush apologized for the flights' stopping without declaring the cargo they were carrying to Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Tony Blair's office has said.

Blair has denied Britain has acted inappropriately and dismissed critics who have called for a ban on U.S. military aircraft landing on British airfields.

About 70 protesters, including members of Scotland's Lebanese community, chanted anti-war slogans outside the airport's entrance last week to coincide with the expected arrival of two more weapons flights to Israel.

Instead, two cargo flights bound for Israel landed for refueling at RAF Mildenhall, a U.S. operated base 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of London.

He asked the City-County Council for an extra $54 million that could come out of the budgets for other city programs.

"We're going to have to do what it takes to restore our reputation as a safe city," Peterson said. "We must fight this war now, even as we work together on the funding."

Early Tuesday, Eric Taylor, 39, was found dead in an apartment on the city's east side with multiple stab wounds, Marion County sheriff's deputies said. Police said they wanted to talk to a 23-year-old man about the case.

Monday evening, a young man died in a shooting on the city's north side. Police patrols in that area already were so heavy that officers were on the scene within just 30 to 45 seconds of the report of shots being fired, said police Chief Michael Spears.

"Our police department is just fed up with the violence. We're just tired of it," Spears said.

With 91 homicides so far this year, Marion County is on track for its bloodiest year since 1998, when 162 people died. The number so far this year compares with 121 for all of 2005.

On June 1, seven people were killed in a house on the east side of Indianapolis, the city's worst mass killing in 25 years.

The Indianapolis Police and Marion County Sheriff's departments have assigned more officers to the streets and put them on longer shifts.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Monday he would be adding six deputy prosecutors to the Homicide Unit, bringing the total to 12. Two other deputy prosecutors will be assigned to the Handgun Prosecution Unit, bringing the staffing there to five, Brizzi said.

"We need to allocate our resources to the areas where they are needed most," Brizzi said Monday.