Iraqi sues US firms over alleged torture

LOS ANGELES - An Iraqi man who says he was tortured while detained at the Abu Ghraib prison is suing two US military contractors. Emad al-Janabi claims in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday in Los Angeles that he was abused for 10 months beginning in September 2003 by employees of CACI International Inc. and L-3 Communications, formerly Titan Corp. Janabi says his jailers punched him, slammed him into walls, hung him from a bed frame, and kept him naked and handcuffed in his cell. He contends contractors conspired to cover up the torture by destroying documents and other information. Pictures of prisoner abuse by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib ignited international outrage. (AP)

SACRAMENTO - Police say they have discovered 300 dead cats stuffed into freezers at a man's Sacramento home. Animal control officers also removed 30 live cats from 47-year-old Michael Louis Vondueren's home over the weekend. Vondueren was arrested on suspicion of possessing an automatic weapon and obstructing police officers. Animal control officers also are considering issuing citations. Authorities say three freezers were crammed with dead cats and the house was littered with cat feces. Police say Vondueren's 81-year-old mother also was living at the house. (AP)

The largest charity established to help Washington-area victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is closing nearly seven years after a hijacked airplane crashed into the Pentagon. The Survivors' Fund raised $25 million from more than 12,000 area residents and businesses after the 2001 attacks. It is the last major Sept. 11-related charity to shut down. Most of the money went toward helping families pay bills. About 14 percent of the funds went to education for survivors, 11 percent for victims' medical expenses, and 14 percent for emotional and mental-health needs. (AP)

TAMPA - The woman known as the "D.C. Madam" apologized to her mother and sister in suicide notes, saying she couldn't bear going to prison for six to eight years and saw killing herself as the only "exit strategy." Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52, convicted last month of running a Washington prostitution ring that catered to the political elite, hanged herself Thursday in a shed outside at her mother's mobile home. (AP)