Nation in brief

Senate panel puts rush on 9/11 report hearing

WASHINGTON - A Senate panel that planned to begin hearings next week on the intelligence overhaul recommended by the Sept. 11 commission will instead hold its first session this Friday.

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee spokeswoman Jen Burita said Tuesday the session was moved up to accommodate the schedules of the commission's two leaders, who will testify: Republican Thomas Kean, the former governor of New Jersey, and retired Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.

Senate leaders have asked committees to produce legislation by Oct. 1. House leaders, after initially saying the process could take some time, directed their committee leaders to have bills ready in September.

LOS ANGELES - California will probably have a budget in place by the end of the week for the fiscal year that began July 1, but the bruises from a month of difficult negotiations between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders may take far longer to heal.

The Republican governor and lawmakers agreed on a $103-billion state budget late Monday night, ending a 26-day impasse that signaled an end to Schwarzenegger's legislative honeymoon in Sacramento. The fight saw the re-emergence of the Democratic-led Legislature as a political force after months of dominance by the governor from Hollywood.

The budget contains no new taxes, fulfilling a pledge by Schwarzenegger.

The plan relies heavily on borrowing, accounting maneuvers and one-time deals with local governments, colleges and public school districts. It also includes hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue from Indian casinos.

Harvard University is returning a controversial $2.5-million gift to its donor, the president of the United Arab Emirates. Harvard said in a statement Monday that the president, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, recently asked to withdraw the gift, which was to endow a chair in Islamic religious studies, before it was subjected to deliberation this summer by the university.

Students and Jewish organizations had criticized the Harvard Divinity School for accepting the donation because they objected to the sheik's support for a policy research organization, the Zayed International Center for Coordination and Follow-Up.

NEW ORLEANS - The foam that detached on liftoff and led to the space shuttle Columbia disaster last year has been removed from redesigns of the fuel tanks that launch shuttles into space, NASA officials said.

NASA approved a redesign that installs heaters in place of some of the foam, according to a statement.

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