Powerful pop mogul now facing the music
After a much-watched celebrity trial, a jury decides whether to send "Puffy" Combs to prison.

NTSB chief takes job with ties to Chrysler
As its watchdog, Jim Hall praised DaimlerChrysler. He may lobby for the automaker. That bothers critics.

China apologizes for school blast
BEIJING -- Departing from China's previous denials, Prime Minister Zhu Rongji acknowledged Thursday that students in a rural school that exploded last week had been forced to manufacture firecrackers.

Washington briefs
Head of inquiry reaches Kuwait

Health briefs
Spinal cord regrowth observed in hurt rats

Chechens hijack jet, hold 129
AL-KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia -- Chechen men wielding knives and claiming to have a bomb hijacked a Russian plane carrying 174 people after it left Turkey on Thursday. They forced it to land in the holy Saudi Arabian city of Medina, where 45 hostages reportedly were freed or escaped.