Around The World

Martha Stewart's stock sale trial opens
NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart lied to investigators and committed "serious federal crimes" by selling off nearly 4,000 shares of stock based on a tip no one else had, a federal prosecutor charged Tuesday. But the defense said the case was based on mere speculation and guesswork. As opening statements got under way in federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Patton Seymour told jurors Stewart had lied to federal agents, and "multiplied that lie by feeding it to investors in her own company." Bush defends war decision with Iraq
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- President Bush, Tuesday, vigorously defended his decision to go to war against Iraq despite chief inspector David Kay's conclusion that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, as the U.S. had believed. Bush said he had "great confidence" in the intelligence community, which had provided prewar estimates about what Saddam had in his arsenal. But Bush refrained from saying -- as he once did -- weapons of mass destruction would be discovered eventually. Bankrupt airline posts yet another quarterly loss
CHICAGO -- United Airlines' parent company posted a $476 million loss for the fourth quarter, extending its string of money-losing quarters to 14, but cited "significant progress" and said it remains on target to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by mid-year. The figures released Tuesday by UAL Corp. showed a whopping $2.81 billion loss for 2003, its second-worst ever and only slightly better than the $3.21 billion deficit for 2002, when heavy losses forced it to make the largest bankruptcy filing in aviation history. Rover sends photos from Mars as NASA nurses twin back to health
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA scientists, Tuesday, unveiled a high-resolution photograph of an intriguing slab of martian bedrock near the Opportunity Rover, while they studied a thermostat problem and worked to avoid the computer troubles crippling its twin, Spirit. The sharp image could provide new details on what scientists call the first bedrock ever seen on the surface of Mars. Pictures of the rock the rover beamed back earlier, were less clear. The stone forms a portion of the rim of the shallow crater into which Opportunity bounced to a stop after landing last the weekend. Scientists want to know if it was formed volcanically or if sedimentary rock, which can be formed by water or through wind action.