Christmas Day, 2004, Napa preschool owner Chandini Perera and family were done opening presents and decided to call relatives in Sri Lanka.

With Napa County's jail is often filed to capacity and beyond, a step is being taken to ease overcrowding and provide an alternative to incarceration for some inmates.

The gap between rich and poor has grown more in the Bay Area than other parts of California, according to a newly released report.

The CEO of Golden State Lumber pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion Thursday, ending a years-long Internal Revenue Service investigation. Lee Nobmann, 55, of Petaluma, is facing between 15-21 months in prison and must pay more than $330,000 in back taxes, as part of a plea agreement.

NEW ORLEANS -- A federal judge ruled Monday that a program that is putting tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees up in hotels must be extended until Feb. 7 -- a month beyond the cutoff date set by FEMA.

PHILADELPHIA -- In a rare, unscripted moment, President Bush on Monday estimated 30,000 Iraqis have died in the war, the first time he has publicly acknowledged the high price Iraqis have paid in the push for democracy.

SYDNEY, Australia -- Violence spilled into a second night Monday as scores of youths drove through predominantly white suburbs of Sydney, smashing windows of cars, homes and stores and raising fears of spreading racial unrest.

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, England -- A fire raging at an oil depot in southern Britain sent toxic smoke as far away as France and caused jitters on the global oil market Monday as firefighters struggled into a third day to douse the flames with chemical foam.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Soldiers, patients and prisoners began voting Monday in national elections, three days ahead of the general population, while insurgents denounced the balloting as a "satanic project" but did not threaten to attack polling stations.