Diplomat sees the surreal and the sad in N. Korea
WASHINGTON -- As a U.S. diplomat, Wendy R. Sherman was accustomed to formal state banquets.

Livestock disease traced to restaurant
LONDON -- A team of detectives has concluded that the source of the disastrous outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in British livestock may have been an illegal shipment of tainted meat, possibly from East Asia.

The nation in brief
Affirmative action dealt another blow

Soft money alternative rejected
WASHINGTON -- The Senate handed a decisive victory Tuesday to the supporters of overhauling the campaign finance law, comfortably defeating a rival proposal that would have limited but not prohibited the unregulated, large donations to the political parties that escalated to nearly $500-million in the last election.

Smoking is top cause of cancer deaths for women
WASHINGTON -- Tobacco became a leading killer of women in just two generations, said a government report released Tuesday as President Bush's health secretary endorsed federal regulation of tobacco if Congress gives him the power to do so.

More work, less sleep common in America
WASHINGTON -- Americans are getting fewer hours of sleep and spending more time at work, resulting in a fatigued society that has less time to devote to family, social activities and sex, a study released Tuesday reported.

Childhood cancer cures increase risk for adults
NEW ORLEANS -- Survivors of childhood cancer face six times the usual risk of getting entirely new cancers in early adulthood -- almost certainly because of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments that cured them, a large study found.

The nation in brief
U.S. may seek death penalty in spy case

The world in brief
Protesters try to stop nuclear shipment