USA
Hurricane Jeanne, the fourth storm to pummel Florida in the last month and a half, came ashore along the Atlantic coast about 60 miles north of Miami with winds of 120 m.p.h., then moved across the state with diminished force but drenching rains. Forecasters expected it to reach the Gulf Coast then track north into Georgia and the Carolinas. State officials had urged 2 million people to evacuate the area. More than 1 million customers lost power. Rainfalls of 5 to 10 inches are expected in the storm's path.
President Bush and John Kerry, his Democratic challenger in the Nov. 2 election, took the weekend to prepare for Thursday's first of three televised debates in Coral Gables, Fla. Bush, who practiced at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, used his regular Saturday radio address to counter Kerry's claim that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating, citing instead what he called "steady progress." Kerry, while boning up at his Boston townhouse, rolled out a new TV ad that accuses Bush and Vice President Cheney of "despicable politics" for standing by as a Republican-leaning interest group conveyed the idea that he could not deal effectively with terrorists.
The Army is expected to announce Monday the court-martial of Pfc. Lynndie England, her lawyers said. The action, which follows a hearing into her role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, is likely to level as many as 17 charges of abuse and indecent acts against the reservist. England has been held at Fort Bragg, N.C., since her return from Iraq.
California passed the world's toughest auto emissions regulations late last week. Under the regulations approved by the California Air Resources Board, the auto industry must reduce exhaust from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from larger trucks and sport-utility vehicles by 18 percent. The industry will have until 2009 to begin introducing cleaner technology and will have until 2016 to meet the new standards.
Responding angrily to last week's veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) of a California bill that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to drive legally, Hispanic leaders and political groups said they plan to organize protests and a national boycott aimed at steering conventions away from the state.
