nNEW ORLEANS  — Thousands of hurricane-weary residents joined with rowdy visitors for Fat Tuesday, taking a break from rebuilding New Orleans to put on wild costumes and celebrate the second Mardi Gras since Katrina.

WASHINGTON — Prosecutors told the jury Tuesday that former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby made up a ludicrous lie to save his job during the CIA leak investigation. But defense attorneys said he behaved like an innocent man with a bad memory.

Across the nation, small towns are quietly bearing a disproportionate burden of war. Nearly half of the more than 3,100 U.S. military casualties in Iraq have come from towns like McKeesport, where fewer than 25,000 people live, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. One in five hailed from hometowns of less than 5,000.

LONDON — Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce on Wednesday a new timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,500 to return home in several weeks, the BBC reported.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported on Tuesday a better-than-expected 9.8 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits, helped by new strategy and cost-control measures at its flagship U.S. stores division.

SACRAMENTO — A state judge ruled Tuesday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to transfer inmates out of state to relieve severe prison overcrowding is illegal.

With three new members, the Howell Mountain School District board of trustees is gearing up to oversee the modernization of its single campus and to adapt the 85-student, K-8 district to the changes Angwin may see in coming years.

SAQQARA, Egypt — Archaeologists unveiled the tombs Tuesday of a pharaonic butler and a scribe that have been buried for more than 3,000 years — proof that Egypt’s sands still have secrets to reveal.

BANJUL, Gambia — From the pockets of his billowing white robe, Gambia’s president pulls out a plastic container, closes his eyes in prayer and rubs a green herbal paste onto the ribcage of the patient — a concoction he claims is a cure for AIDS.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.  — Michigan and eight other states sued the Bush administration Tuesday, saying the White House failed to adequately regulate emissions of mercury and other pollutants at cement plants.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A hidden bomb ripped through a tanker carrying chlorine gas Tuesday, killing nine people and filling hospital beds with more than 150 wheezing and frightened villagers after noxious plumes covered homes and schools north of Baghdad.

TRENTON, N.J. — Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company’s new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance.

ROME  — Three patients at hospitals in Tuscany were mistakenly given organs from an HIV-positive donor, raising serious concerns about transplant procedures in Italy.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming, with its wide-open spaces and crisp, clear vistas, is starting to worry it has made itself too attractive in one respect: Convicted sex offenders from out of state are moving in, apparently because the laws are less restrictive.

SYDNEY, Australia — The Australian government on Tuesday announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country.

VIENNA, Austria — Iran’s chief nuclear envoy said Tuesday his country wants to negotiate over its uranium enrichment program, on the eve of a U.N. Security Council deadline that carries the threat of harsher sanctions. But the country’s hard-line president said Iran will halt enrichment only if Western nations do the same.

WASHINGTON — Shayana Kadidal didn’t think twice when he heard a federal appeals panel had ruled that Guantanamo detainees were barred from using the U.S. court system to challenge their imprisonment.

DENTON, Texas — These days Mean Green means more than the green-jerseyed football team at the University of North Texas.