WASHINGTON — A war spending bill headed for President Bush’s signature Friday includes millions for California citrus and dairy farmers, salmon fishermen and levee repairs.

WASHINGTON — Congress has agreed to a tenfold increase in special immigrant visas for Iraqi and Afghan translators and interpreters, whose work with U.S. military personnel and diplomatic officials makes them targets for terrorist violence

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A U.S. contractor who worked at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was sentenced to more than three years in prison Friday for possessing child pornography that he obtained using the prison’s computer network.

RENO, Nev. — Firefighters neared containment Friday of a wildfire that burned about 750 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

PHOENIX — The body of a man who apparently tried to break into an elementary school was discovered Friday in an air conditioning duct on the school’s roof, police said.

WASHINGTON — President Bush signed a bill Friday to pay for military operations in Iraq after a struggle with Democrats in Congress who sought to tie the money to U.S. troop withdrawals.

BAGHDAD — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr resurfaced Friday after nearly four months in hiding and demanded U.S. troops leave Iraq, a development likely to complicate U.S. efforts to crack down on violence and broker political compromise in the country.

ARLINGTON, Va. — It’s a busy spring morning in the curved pavilion of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial outside the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery: There’s a retirement ceremony under way, school groups tour the exhibits, and a woman in Air Force blues burps a newborn on her shoulder.

OAKLAND — University of California executives are still getting additional compensation despite withering criticism from lawmakers and others.

WASHINGTON— Intelligence analysts predicted, in secret papers circulated within the government before the Iraq invasion, that al-Qaida would see U.S. military action as an opportunity to increase its operations and that Iran would try to shape a post-Saddam Iraq.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon — The United States and Arab allies rushed military aid to Lebanon Friday, boosting its strength ahead of a possible army assault to crush al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp.

OAKLAND— The freeway that collapsed after a fiery tanker crash reopened just 25 days after the accident, though one expert questioned the safety of the new structure.

SAN DIEGO — A woman was run over by her own sport-utility vehicle after the parking brake failed, officials said.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Nearly 40 astronauts on Friday became the first to ride aboard a NASA tourist attraction that recreates a ride aboard the space shuttle, complete with the deep rumble of liftoff and a serene view of the earth from orbit.

SACRAMENTO — The California Highway Patrol on Friday suspended the hazardous materials license of the company that owns the gasoline tanker involved in a crash and fire that caused a Bay Area freeway ramp to collapse.

NEW YORK — Bold new initiatives against global warming have come out of major cities around in the world over the past few weeks — with the notable exception of Washington.

DALLAS — Forecasters predicted more heavy thunderstorms in the Plains over the holiday weekend after two days of storms and flooding that left five people dead and one missing in central Texas.

DENVER — Mary Walsh, a single mother of three and a student at the University of Wyoming, lives off loans and grants so she can spend evenings with her children. The 28-year-old wondered about how she could make the jump into politics — running for city council in Laramie — because the prime time for knocking on doors soliciting votes was family time.

MONTERREY, Mexico — Standing in the baking sun outside the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, hundreds of Mexicans wait anxiously for temporary work visas. But even before they were fingerprinted and interviewed for the permit, many had already paid recruiters thousands of dollars in hopes of easing the way.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Saturday it has uncovered spy rings organized by the United States and its Western allies, claiming on state-run television that the espionage networks were made up of “infiltrating elements from the Iraqi occupiers.”