Congress OKs bill on auto safety for kids

WASHINGTON — Congress on Thursday sent President Bush legislation to improve auto safety for children, including measures intended to reduce back-overs and accidents involving power windows.

The bill, which passed the Senate on a voice vote Thursday, was approved by the House in December and now goes to Bush for his signature. A White House official said the president is expected to sign.

The legislation is a response to incidents of children being accidentally backed over by cars with large blind spots, strangled by power windows or struck by vehicles that roll out of the parked position.

Judge seeks details on CIA videos

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Bush administration to tell him whether two CIA interrogation videos destroyed in 2005 were relevant to his case.

The videos showed the CIA using harsh interrogation methods on two terrorism suspects, but the government has not revealed what information was gleaned from that questioning. The Justice Department has urged judges not to demand information about the tapes, saying it would interfere with an investigation into their destruction.

U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts rejected that stance last month when he ordered the government to reveal how it has handled evidence since 2005 and explain what has been destroyed. The deadline to turn over that information was Thursday, but the Justice Department asked Roberts to put that ruling on hold during the criminal investigation.

Also

Rep. Al Wynn, D-Md., and Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the quality, labeling and economic impact of bottled water.

Seattle Times news services