NATIONWIDE

WOODRUFF SHOWS SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT; MAY BE AIRLIFTED TO U.S.

ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, seriously hurt by a roadside bomb in Iraq, has shown signs of improvement and may be airlifted to America as soon as Tuesday, the network’s news president said yesterday. A hospital official said body armor likely saved the journalist’s life. Cameraman Doug Vogt, also hurt in the explosion, is in better shape than Woodruff but doctors were pleased with how both handled the transfer to an American military base in Germany, said ABC News President David Westin. “We have a long way to go,” Mr. Westin said. “But it appears that we may have also come some distance from yesterday.” Mr. Vogt was filming a stand-up report with Mr. Woodruff and both were standing in the open hatch of an Iraqi military vehicle when the bomb went off. They underwent surgery in Iraq before being flown to Germany. “They’re both very seriously injured, but stable,” said Colonel Bryan Gamble, commander of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in western Germany. He said both men were heavily sedated and under the care of the hospital’s trauma team.

– Associated Press

WEST

NEVADA SENATOR ENSIGN, AIDE INJURED IN CAR CRASH

LAS VEGAS – Senator Ensign was injured in a car crash and taken to a hospital yesterday after another driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit the senator’s car head-on, police said. The Nevada Republican and an aide, who was driving, were taken to Sunrise Hospital with minor to moderate injuries, police said. A hospital spokeswoman said there was no record of Mr. Ensign being admitted.

Mr. Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said the senator and aide had minor bumps and bruises, and he expected Mr. Ensign to be released later in the day. Their car was hit as they headed to McCarran International Airport, Mr. Finn said.

The car was struck head-on around 7:30 a.m., a few blocks east of the Las Vegas Strip, police spokesman Bill Cassell said.

– Associated Press

MEXICAN ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGES IN CROSS-BORDER TUNNEL CASE

SAN DIEGO – A Mexican citizen was arrested on drug charges in the investigation into the longest tunnel ever found underneath the American-Mexican border, U.S. officials said yesterday.

The suspect was taken into custody Saturday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He awaited arraignment yesterday on a charge of conspiracy to import more than a ton of marijuana, which carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison. The 2,400-foot tunnel runs from a warehouse near the airport in Tijuana to a warehouse in San Diego. It was unclear how long it had been in operation, but more than two tons of marijuana were found inside.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

NATIONAL GUARD REPORTS RECRUITING GAINS

National Guard officials said yesterday that recruiting has accelerated so much in recent months that they expect to expand the Guard even as the Bush administration proposes to shrink it.

The National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon office that administers the Guard, issued a statement outlining a recent turnaround in recruiting and predicting that it will continue to rise this year. The Guard is “aggressively working” to reach the 350,000-troop level by the end of the current budget year on September 30, it said.

The Guard now has about 333,000 soldiers, which is the number the administration proposes to pay for. It is unusual for a military organization like the Guard Bureau to publicly suggest it is moving in a direction that appears to differ from the administration’s.

– Associated Press