Democrats say they never OK'd wiretapping

WASHINGTON -- Some Democrats say they never approved a domestic wiretapping program, undermining suggestions by President Bush and his senior advisers that the plan was fully vetted in a series of congressional briefings.

"I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse, these activities," West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said in a handwritten letter to Vice President Dick Cheney in July 2003. "As you know, I am neither a technician nor an attorney."

Rockefeller is among a small group of congressional leaders who have received briefings on the administration's four-year-old program to eavesdrop -- without warrants -- on international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the United States with suspected ties to al-Qaida.

The government still would seek court approval to snoop on purely domestic communications, such as calls between New York and Los Angeles.

Some legal experts described the program as groundbreaking. And until the highly classified program was disclosed last week, those in Congress with concerns about the National Security Agency spying on Americans raised them only privately./AP

Cheney may be tiebreaker on budget cuts

WASHINGTON -- A Senate vote on a deficit-reduction bill looks to be so tight that Vice President Dick Cheney is said to be rushing home from an overseas diplomatic mission to be the tiebreaker for saving one of the Bush administration's top priorities.

The showdown vote loomed on the bill, which would cut some federal benefits and trim budget deficits by $40 billion through the end of the decade.

Cheney was in Pakistan Tuesday to check on U.S. aid to victims of an October earthquake that killed as estimated 75,000 people. He also met with President Pervez Musharraf.

Whether the vice president is needed for the budget vote may rest with Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who was one of two Democrats to vote for the bill when it passed 52-47 last month.

Now that the bill is returning from House-Senate negotiations with stiffer cuts to the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled than the milder Senate-passed version, Nelson is weighing a "nay" vote. He scheduled an announcement for Tuesday./AP

Federal survey shows unwanted births up

ATLANTA -- More American women are having babies they didn't want, a survey indicates, but federal researchers say they don't know if that means attitudes about abortion are changing.

U.S. women of childbearing age who were surveyed in 2002 revealed that 14 percent of their recent births were unwanted at the time of conception, federal researchers said Monday.

In a similar 1995 survey, only 9 percent were unwanted at the time of conception.

At least one anti-abortion group said the numbers reflect a national "pro-life shift," while others who research reproductive health issues suggested it might mean less access to abortion.

The latest findings are consistent with the falling rate of abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues./AP

Britney Spears sues 'Us Weekly' for $20M

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Britney Spears filed a $20 million libel lawsuit against celebrity magazine Us Weekly, charging it published a false story reporting she and her husband, Kevin Federline, made a sex tape and were worried about its release.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, seeks $10 million in libel damages and $10 million for misappropriating Spears' name and image to promote sales. It also seeks unspecified punitive damages.

A telephone call made after business hours Monday to the magazine's Los Angeles office was not immediately returned.

According to the lawsuit, the article was published Oct. 17 in the magazine's "Hot Stuff" column and claimed that Spears and her husband feared the release of a secret sex tape, which they had viewed with their estate planning lawyers.

The article stated that Spears gave a copy of the tape to the lawyers on Sept. 30 and that she and her husband were "acting goofy the whole time" while watching the video.

China increases official size of economy

BEIJING (AP) -- China sharply raised the official size of its economy Tuesday after taking into account emerging service industries, saying its output last year was 16.8 percent higher than previously reported.

The new figures mean China's mainland overtook Italy as the world's 6th-largest economy in 2004, behind France and the United Kingdom. China would jump to No. 4, after only the United States, Japan and Germany, if it included Hong Kong, a Chinese territory that reports its economic figures separately.

The data could have far-reaching effects on economic and social policymaking as Beijing tries to create new jobs for unemployed workers and plans investments.

The new Chinese output tally of 15.987 trillion yuan ($1.981 trillion) followed a survey meant to gather more accurate data on restaurants, retailers and other service businesses, which were underreported previously.

"These new figures give us a clearer picture and a better way of understanding China's economy," Li Deshui, director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a news conference. "Based on these figures, we can have even more confidence in our long-term fairly fast and sustained economic growth."

Packers suffer worst loss in 25 years

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Years from now, Kyle Boller won't care that the game meant nothing. The oft-criticized quarterback will remember that he outplayed Brett Favre. Boller put on a dazzling performance on a national stage and guided the Baltimore Ravens to a 48-3 rout of the Green Bay Packers.

It was the low point of an awful season for the Packers (3-11), who absorbed their most lopsided loss Monday night since a 61-7 defeat at Chicago in 1980.

"It was tough to watch any part of that game," Green Bay coach Mike Sherman said. "We didn't execute in any phase."

Boller was 19-of-27 for 253 yards and three touchdowns before leaving with 8 minutes to go. There's still no guarantee he will return as the starter next year, but for one night he looked like a No. 1 draft pick.

"It was a really good win. My teammates, my guys, they allowed me to do it," Boller said. "My job is to put points on the board and score, and that's what we did tonight."