USA

"Waterboarding," which simulates drowning, will not be condoned as an acceptable technique for interrogating terrorism suspects, Attorney General Eric Holder stated Monday. The Bush administration was harshly criticized for allowing such methods.

The CIA destroyed 92 interrogation tapes, many more than previously acknowledged, a letter filed by government lawyers in New York revealed Monday. The agency indicates it intends to provide missing, unclassified information sought by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit. The tapes were a contentious issue in the trial of convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, the controversial defense contractor that provided security services in Iraq and recently changed its name to Xe (pronounced "zee"), stepped down as part of a "comprehensive restructuring" plan. Some employees were implicated in the shooting deaths of Iraqi citizens.

Children are far less likely to have high lead levels in their systems today than 20 years ago, according to a new re-port by the government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Frequency has dropped from 9 percent to 1.4 percent in "a public health success story" achieved through efforts to remove lead from paint, water, and soil.

The National Guard pulled its last troops from New Orleans over the weekend, ending the Guard's long post-hurricane Katrina presence in the city. At one time, 15,000 troops assisted residents and helped hold crime in check.

American freelance journalist Roxana Saberi has been detained in Iran at an undisclosed location and not heard from since Feb. 10, her father said in Fargo, N.D., Sunday. She allegedly was arrested for buying wine, based on his last phone conversation with her.

A winter storm that began by blanketing Alabama and Georgia in a rare mantle of white moved up the Atlantic seaboard, causing numerous flight cancellations and school closings Monday in the Northeast.