WASHINGTON

FRIST BREAKS WITH PRESIDENT TO SUPPORT STEM CELL RESEARCH

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, breaking with President Bush, plans to announce support of legislation to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, increasing the possibility Congress will enact the measure, a Senate aide knowledgeable about Dr. Frist’s plans said late yesterday.

Dr. Frist, who last month said he did not at this time support expanded federal financing of such research, is expected to explain his decision to now support such financing in a speech on the Senate floor on Friday morning.

Dr. Frist plans to say that he has reservations about disagreeing with Bush’s policy that stringently limits taxpayer financing for stem cell research, but will support the legislation anyway, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a reluctance to undercut Dr. Frist’s formal announcement.

– Associated Press

STATE DEPT.: BOLTON MISTAKENLY DENIED BEING INTERVIEWED IN PROBE

John Bolton, President Bush’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, mistakenly told Congress he had not been interviewed or testified in any investigation over the past five years, the State Department said yesterday.

Mr. Bolton was interviewed by the State Department inspector general as part of a joint investigation with the Central Intelligence Agency into prewar Iraqi attempts to buy nuclear materials from Niger, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said.

The admission came hours after another State Department official said Mr. Bolton had correctly answered a Senate questionnaire when he wrote that he has not testified to a grand jury or been interviewed by investigators in any inquiry over the past five years.

The reversal followed persistent Democratic attempts to question Mr. Bolton’s veracity just days before Mr. Bush may use his authority to make him United Nations ambassador after Congress adjourns for its summer recess. For months, Democrats have prevented the Senate from confirming the fiery conservative to the post. The new information does not change the Bush administration’s commitment to Mr. Bolton’s nomination, said a senior State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

– Associated Press

MIDWEST

FAA ENDORSES CHICAGO’S PLAN TO EXPAND O’HARE AIRPORT

CHICAGO – The Federal Aviation Administration yesterday endorsed the city’s $15 billion plan to expand O’Hare Airport to relieve congestion and reduce the worst flight delays in the nation.

City officials hailed the report as a validation of their proposal and said they expect the FAA to approve the plan when the agency issues its final decision next month. Mayor Richard Daley said construction would begin immediately upon receiving final approval. “When we reduce delays at O’Hare, it will speed up air travel throughout the nation, saving millions of dollars in time and fuel,” Mr. Daley said.

The plan calls for building new runways and taxiways and reconfiguring others. The first new runway would open in 2007 and construction would be complete in 2013. The project could still face legal challenges from opponents who claim the city has exaggerated the benefits and low-balled the cost.

The 440-acre expansion would require the city to buy and raze more than 500 homes, displacing some 2,600 residents, and would require relocation of nearly 200 businesses and a cemetery with 1,300 tombs dating back to the 1800s.

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

POLICE SEARCH FOR PREGNANT WOMAN MISSING FOR MORE THAN A WEEK

PHILADELPHIA – Police searched a park yesterday for any sign of a missing pregnant woman in a case that has turned up few leads since she disappeared 10 days ago. Authorities had no solid information linking the disappearance of 24-year-old LaToyia Figueroa to the park, but Philadelphia police Sergeant Ron Mc-Clane said police recruits, bike patrols, and canine officers searched the grounds “just to maybe eliminate that area.”

“We’re covering all the angles right now,” Sergeant McClane said.

Ms. Figueroa, who is five months pregnant and also the mother of a young girl, was last seen on July 18 in West Philadelphia. Police received a missing persons report July 21, Sergeant McClane said.

Authorities have since questioned family members, neighbors, and the father of Ms. Figueroa’s unborn child, as well as another woman he had been seeing, Sergeant McClane said. No one is considered a suspect and police are still treating the 5-feet, brown-haired Ms. Figueroa as a missing person, Sergeant McClane said.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

EXPLOSION, FIRE ROCK TEXAS INDUSTRIAL PLANT

FORT WORTH, Texas – A series of explosions rocked a chemical plant yesterday and set off a raging fire, injuring three people and sending up a pillar of black smoke that could be seen 30 miles away. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Workers at the Valley Solvents & Chemicals plant told authorities they heard an explosion and noticed a fire near a tractor-trailer that had pulled in to deliver chemicals, said fire Lieutenant Kent Worley. The driver suffered a burned leg, one employee had arm burns, and another hurt his back trying to flee, Lieutenant Worley said. The blaze raged in and around more than a dozen large metal and plastic tanks containing 2,000 to 4,000 gallons of methanol, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, ethanol, and other chemicals.

The Environmental Protection Agency has sent an official to the scene with air monitoring equipment to provide information to local officials, said Cynthia Fanning, an EPA spokeswoman in Dallas.

– Associated Press