Favorite hiking areas are damaged but will recover. No structures in the park are lost.

Dismissal of charge against admitted terrorist stirs outrage.

Catholic politicians who back the move have excommunicated themselves, the pontiff suggests en route to Brazil.

Umaru Yar'Adua prays under a tree and drives a plain car. His profile is so low that many still have no idea what he stands for.

Bush's allies in Congress, known for their own recesses, say two-month break would erode GOP support for the war. Vice president warns Iraqis.

Residents of a New Jersey suburb recall talk about guns, rap and girls among men accused of plotting a rampage.

If there's progress in Iraq by then, he says, a reduction is possible. He rejects prolonging the buildup into 2008.

What are the lessons from the outgoing British prime minister's foreign policy?

A day in the life of your average L.A. millionaire.

Lawmakers are expected to press him for details about the replacement of two other attorneys from key election states.

During a lull in fighting, officers seek to reassure Haditha residents that they will not abandon them to the insurgents.

In Baghdad visit, he presses officials to resolve political and security issues. Bombing in Kurdish city kills 19.

Criticized for shortfalls after a Kansas tornado, the Pentagon chief says units have only 56% of their needed supplies.

We need workers. Some will want to stay. We'll need to find a way to evaluate them for citizenship.

The driest year on record has officials considering special measures to keep a lid on blazes.

For one night, her Los Feliz family turned into scruffy evacuees.

James Bonard Fowler, now 73, is charged in the shooting of a black activist during a voter registration march.

In a tape, the Army of Islam demands that Britain free a Palestinian cleric.

Re "Hundreds flee as wind drives flames through Griffith Park," May 9

Back in their outdoor exhibits, denizens of the zoo 'seem oblivious' to the faint smoke.

Firefighters heroically saved Griffith Park's landmarks and all but one home from damage. But bone-dry SoCal braces for more fires.

THE Griffith Park fire may have attracted national attention, but television updates Tuesday may have seemed rare as rain to Angelenos desperate for the latest information on the blaze.

By holding three Iranian American dual nationals, President Ahmadinejad is playing into the hands of U.S. hard-liners.

Farfur, bearing a striking resemblance to the trademark Disney character, encourages children to 'liberate' Muslim countries.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — U.S. Special Forces fighting insurgents in southern Afghanistan called in airstrikes that killed at least 21 civilians, officials said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — President Bush issued a formal national security directive Wednesday ordering agencies to prepare contingency plans for a surprise, "decapitating" attack on the federal government, and assigned responsibility for coordinating such plans to the White House.

The Britons made public notes on a meeting in which Bush allegedly suggested bombing Al Jazeera.

Tennessee's high court denies pleas for further delay to study protocol.

CAMP PENDLETON — A Marine squad leader who led an attack in Haditha, Iraq, that killed 24 civilians shot five men as they stood with their hands up and told comrades to lie about it, a Marine sergeant testified Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — The World Bank's board of member countries said Wednesday that it would give bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz more time to respond to findings of a panel that he broke rules in approving a promotion for his girlfriend.

Re "Climate plan called unrealistic," May 5

Re "Sex and the State Dept.," Opinion, May 2

Re "Beating an orderly retreat," Opinion, May 5

Bush warns House against adding expanded collective bargaining rights to Homeland Security exployees.

Tehran's City Council reelected a political rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as mayor of the Iranian capital Wednesday, Iranian news agencies reported.

Re "Lighten up on the mayor," Opinion, May 6

BANGKOK, THAILAND — A roadside bomb killed seven Thai soldiers Wednesday in one of the deadliest attacks against security forces this year in the country's south.

BAGHDAD — Three Iraqi journalists and their driver were killed Wednesday in a drive-by shooting near the northern city of Kirkuk.

Re "A hike on the wilder side," May 5

CONCORD, N.H. — Two retired generals challenged a dozen members of Congress in a new ad campaign Wednesday, saying the politicians can't expect to win reelection if they support President Bush's policies in Iraq.

Re "Possible Spector juror is e-mailed," May 5

An Iranian American academic who works at a Washington institute is being held in prison after being prohibited from leaving Iran for more than four months, the institute and her husband said.

The U.N. war crimes tribunal quashed the conviction of a former Bosnian Serb army commander for complicity in genocide in the Srebrenica massacre, but said he still had to serve 15 years for related crimes.

The European Union abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out yards, ounces and quarts by 2009, instead allowing the imperial measures to coexist with the metric system of meters, grams and liters.

Police in western India arrested two Christian missionaries, who allegedly forced conversions, and 11 Hindu hard-liners accused of attacking them this week, officials said.

Re "Pressure grows on Wolfowitz," May 8

Meehan becomes chancellor of UMass-Lowell.

'Arctic Tale': The Paramount Vantage release "Arctic Tale," opening Aug. 17, was omitted from the Summer Sneaks list in Sunday's Calendar section. The documentary from National Geographic follows a walrus and a polar bear through their life cycles amid a vanishing icebound world. It is narrated by Queen Latifah and includes music from Cat Stevens, Ben Harper, Aimee Mann and the Shins. It was directed by Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in Ames that reports that his wife donated $150 to Planned Parenthood in 1994 weren't surprising given his position on abortion at the time.

Two lightning bolts probably caused an electrical current in a cable left deep inside the Sago Mine and touched off the methane blast blamed for the deaths of 12 coal miners last year, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said.

A woman was sentenced in Utica to 25 years to life in prison for killing her husband by lacing his drink with antifreeze in hopes of obtaining his life insurance proceeds.

Vintage songs: An article in Tuesday's Business section about old songs' renaissance on the Internet said Frankie Avalon's "Venus" was the last No. 1 song of the 1950s. Avalon's "Why" was the last No. 1 song of the decade. The article also said that Digital Music Group bought the rights to 335,000 tracks from Chancellor Records. Not all of those tracks were acquired from Chancellor.

The Pentagon is setting up a civilian Language Corps, a cadre of about 1,000 foreign-language speakers who can help the government in times of war and national emergencies.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed legislation creating domestic partnerships for gays and lesbians in the state starting Jan. 1. He also signed a bill that outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, effective the same date.

Crochet reef: An article in Sunday's Calendar section about the "Hyperbolic Crochet Reef" art project said that Margaret and Christine Wertheim purchased their house with Margaret's "beau" who "has since moved on." In fact, the person is Margaret's husband, Cameron Allan, who continues to be part of the Institute for Figuring, which is co-directed by the sisters.

High-rise graphic: A graphic accompanying an article in Tuesday's Section A about a high-rise residential and hotel complex planned for downtown Los Angeles gave the height of the Empire State Building as 1,472 feet. The Empire State Building's website lists its total height as 1,454 feet.

May Day rally: An article in Friday's Section A about the Los Angeles Police Department removing dozens of elite officers from immigration protest duty hours before a clash in MacArthur Park said the violence left 10 people injured. The known number at that point was 17, including seven officers.

Golf course listings: In the Guide to Southern California Golf section published April 9, a listing of difficult courses included the TPC of Valencia. That club is a private facility and should not have been included in the section, which was for public-access courses only.

Hampton's location: In Wednesday's Food section, a review of the restaurant Hampton's implied that Westlake Village is in the San Fernando Valley. It is in the Conejo Valley.