ANCHORAGE (Alaska) - AN ETHICS complaint filed against Alaska Governor Sarah Palin claims the legal defense fund formed last week to challenge such claims is an ethics violation itself.

The complaint filed on Monday with the attorney general's office seeks an investigation by the state personnel board for violations of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

MEMPHIS - A YOUNG girl who told police her father forced her to help as he cut up her mother's body with an electric saw said she could only look away when the head fell to the floor.

The girl is the chief witness against James Hawkins, 31, a prison parolee charged with first-degree murder in the death of Charlene Gaither, 28, a longtime companion with whom he had three children.

WASHINGTON - TWO million dead. Hospitals overwhelmed. Schools closed. Swaths of empty seats at baseball stadiums and houses of worship. An economic recovery snuffed out.

The world is not remotely close to what US government planners are considering a worst-case scenario: a global pandemic. Government leaders at all levels, and major American employers, have spent almost four years planning for a pandemic in series of exercises.