USA

In response to an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit Tuesday, the Pentagon released a now-defunct 2003 Justice Department memo that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against Al Qaeda and Taliban terror suspects. The existence of the document has been known for years, but this marked the first time its contents were made fully public. The memo, since withdrawn, said the president has to right to override international law.

The American Forest & Paper Association said an industry rcycling goal was reached five years ahead of schedule in 2007, when an all-time high of 56 percent of the paper consumed in America was recovered and recycled. That amounts to more than 360 pounds for every man, woman, and child. The industry now has its sights set on a new goal of 60 percent recovery by 2012.

Independent truckers protested high fuel costs Tuesday. Many drivers either pulled their rigs off the road or clogged traffic, as happened on the heavily traveled New Jersey Turnpike, where trucks slowed to 20 m.p.h. as part of a loosely organized protest.

General Motors and Chrysler both reported 19 percent drops in US sales in March from the same month last year, with Ford and Toyota sales also dipping sharply, 14 and 10 percent respectively.

The comptroller of Long Island's Suffolk County and Dowling College in Oakdale, Long Island, have launched a six-month feasibility study to determine if the island would be better off financially by seceding to become the 51st state, Newsday.com reported.

The women's basketball team at the University of Tennessee earned the right to defend its national title and possibly add an eighth championship Tuesday by defeating Texas A&M, 53-45, to advance to the NCAA Final Four in Tampa, Fla., April 6 and 8. The Lady Vols will take on LSU in one semifinal, while the University of Connecticut, a five-time national champion, will square off with Stanford in the other. Below, Tennessee's Candace Parker pulled the ball away from Texas A&M defender Danielle Gant.