USA

Suspects in the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl may be indicted by a federal grand jury, the newspaper reported, but it's not clear if they would be turned over for trial. Pakistan has detained several suspects, among them alleged kidnap plotter Ahmed Omar Saeed. The US and Islamabad governments do not have an extradition treaty, however. The newspaper quoted a Bush administration official as saying the indictment would allow for prosecution "in case the Pakistanis don't sufficiently follow up."

Following reports that it proposed planting false stories in foreign news media, the new Office of Strategic Influence may be shut down, a Pentagon spokeswoman said. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld has asked for a review of the office, she said, noting concerns about its credibility. Rumsfeld has said that the US military might engage in tactical deception of foreign adversaries, and needed to counter lies spread by the Taliban in Afghanistan, but he told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, "The Pentagon does not lie to the American people."

In a victory for a mature-themed web site, the Supreme Court let stand, without comment, an appeals court ruling that Voyeur Dorm does not violate zoning rules for adult entertainment businesses in Tampa, Fla. The site allows paid subscribers to observe, via a closed-circuit camera, a house inhabited by five college-age women. Since customers do not visit in person, the court said the city's code did not apply. Today, in an Ohio case, the Supreme Court is to hear oral arguments on whether a town can require Jehovah's Witnesses to get permits to engage in door-to-door proselytizing for the faith. (Related story, page 1.)

With 35 medals, Germany emerged as the most-decorated nationat the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, which concluded Sunday night. The US came in second, with 34. Spain and Russia each lost gold medals in cross-country events, after their skiers were disqualified for testing positive for a blood-boosting substance. The next Winter Games, in 2006, will take place in Turin, Italy. (Related stories, page 3.)

Now that the Olympics are over, Mitt Romney, president of Salt Lake City's organizing committee reportedly is eyeing a new job: governor of his home state, Massachusetts. Romney failed in a 1994 bid for a Senate seat in the state. But according to a New York Times report, he's considering whether to challenge Acting Gov. Jane Swift (R) for the GOP nomination in November's election. The heavily Democratic state has had Republican governors since 1990.

A sheriff's deputy who mistakenly shot two special forces soldiers - killing one - "did exactly what he was supposed to do," his superiors in Moore County, N.C, said. The two men, who were taking part in a training exercise outside Fort Bragg, had tried to disarm the deputy after he ordered their pickup truck to pull over.

The Coast Guard was expected to ask 9,000 Maine fishermen to actas its "eyes and ears," and report anyone engaged in suspicious activities, as part of the counterterrorism war, reports said. The last time fishermen were enlisted for such duties was in World War II.