USA

Federal prosecutors said they plan to seek the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged to date with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Attorney General Ashcroft still has to approve the decision, due by March 29. Moussaoui, a French national of Moroccan descent, allegedly meant to join 19 hijackers who crashed hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but was in jail for visa violations on the day of the attacks. Four of six counts against him are punishable by death. His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 30 in Alexandria, Va.

President Bush is preparing to ask Congress for $20 billion in emergency funding, White House and congressional sources said. At least half that amount would go to the costlier-than-expected war in Afghan-istan. In the proposal, which could come as soon as Thursday, Bush reportedly will seek $1 billion for US counterterrorism allies and extra spending to help New York recover from the Sept. 11 attacks and to tighten security at airports nationwide.

An FBI crackdown on an Internet child-pornography ring resulted in charges against at least 89 people in 26 states. The sweep, dubbed "Operation Candyman," is expected to yield 50 more arrests by the end of the week. The effort traced members of three online discussion groups on Yahoo Inc.'s website. Among those charged, the FBI said, were two Roman Catholic priests and six other members of the clergy, a day-care worker, and at least one police officer.

Human error and out-of-date computer systems were partly to blame for FBI delays in handing over evidence to lawyers for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Ashcroft said. He cited findings of a yet-to-be released Justice Department inquiry. It reportedly concludes that the agency did not intentionally withhold documents, but that two supervisors waited months to disclose their belated discovery. That resulted in a one-month delay of McVeigh's scheduled execution last year.

Federal Reserve policymakers weren't expected to change interest rates. But analysts were looking for the Federal Open Market Committee to upgrade its assessment of the economy from a bias toward weakness to a neutral stance. Cuts last year dropped one key rate to a 40-year low, and many analysts predict the Fed will start raising rates again by the end of summer.

Onetime teen idol Brenda Lee said being inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame made her feel "like Cinderella." Honored with Lee (below) Monday night in New York were soul songsmith Isaac Hayes and rockers Talking Heads, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Ramones.