Pakistan: Suspects in reporter’s slaying ordered to remain in jail

A Pakistani judge on Monday gave prosecutors two more weeks to build their case against three Islamic militants accused in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

The judge in the southern city of Karachi ordered top suspect Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and two alleged accomplices jailed until their next court hearing. Over the next two weeks, police will also continue to search for Pearl’s body.

In Islamabad, the U.S. ambassador said she would meet with President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday to discuss Saeed’s possible extradition to the United States.

President Bush said Monday that the United States is “interested in dealing with” Saeed, but expressed confidence that Pakistan is doing enough to round up Pearl’s killers.

Georgia: Families give blood samples to help identify corpses

Distraught families lined up to give blood samples Monday in the hope their DNA might help investigators identify more of the corpses scattered around a crematory in Noble.

The body count rose to 331, with only 70 corpses positively identified. Authorities said at least 40 sets of remains had been returned to families or funeral homes.

Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court rejects appeal on Ten Commandments

Courts across America have reached different conclusions in emotional Ten Commandments cases, some allowing government displays of the biblical list, others barring it.

Only the Supreme Court can resolve the question, and it chose Monday to steer clear for now. The court quietly turned down an appeal from Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon, who wanted permission to place a 7-foot stone monument on the grounds of the state Capitol.

The Indiana case presented an opportunity for a broad ruling on government display of the Ten Commandments, whether outdoors on monuments or indoors in courtrooms or other civic spaces.

Instead, the hodgepodge of conflicting court rulings will continue at least until the next time the court faces a similar appeal.

Monuments such as Indiana’s are forbidden in that state along with Illinois and Wisconsin, but allowed in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

California: Lower contract prices for energy pursued

Gov. Gray Davis on Monday asked federal regulators to trim back the cost of long-term energy contracts the state scrambled to sign at the height of last year’s energy crisis.

With the supply crunch seemingly passed and power prices plunging, Davis is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reduce by $21 billion the cost of 20-year contracts signed when prices were high.

Davis fumed at FERC last year for taking too long to cap prices as blackouts rolled, electric rates climbed and other states began casting for California business.

FERC has agreed with the state Public Utilities Commission that energy sellers charged unfair prices during the last-minute deals.

Since power prices fell, Davis has been roundly criticized by Republicans, consumer groups, and even his own state appointees for buying too much power at too high a cost.