Tolerance of torture rising, poll shows

The number of Americans who would condone torture, at least when used on terrorists in order to save lives, has risen in the past two years to 44 percent, according to a poll. A narrow majority of Americans - 53 percent - think all torture should be banned, according to the nationwide poll of 1,309 people by WorldPublicOpinion .org, a project managed by the University of Maryland. (Reuters)

One million acres of public land near the Grand Canyon would be off limits to new uranium mining under an emergency declaration adopted yesterday by a House committee. Tapping a rare provision not used in more than 20 years, the House Natural Resources Committee voted, 20 to 2, to stop any new claims to uranium on lands next to the national park for up to three years. (AP)

NEW YORK - A bloodstained life preserver, a macabre artifact from the 1912 Titanic sinking, fetched $68,500 yesterday at Christie's International in New York. The canvas and cork-filled relic, one of six known vests associated with the doomed liner, was sold to a woman in the sales room who declined to identify herself. (Bloomberg News)