Plane diverted to Scotland after note warns of bomb

Plane diverted to Scotlandafter note warns of bomb
LONDON -- Fighter jets escorted a commercial plane carrying 172 people to an airport in Scotland on Wednesday after a passenger passed the captain a note saying there was a bomb on board, and the plane landed safely, authorities said.
Ryanair Flight FR25, a Boeing 737 en route from Paris to Dublin, Ireland, was escorted to Glasgow's Prestwick Airport, which was closed for about two hours while army explosives experts searched the plane. No bomb was found, Strathclyde police said.
The 167 passengers and five crew were safely escorted off the plane and questioned at the airport, police said.
Later, all the passengers were allowed to continue their journey, arriving at Dublin International Airport aboard the aircraft shortly before midnight.
Lay and I didn't break law,ex-Enron chief testifies
HOUSTON -- Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling spoke up Wednesday for company founder Kenneth Lay in his third day on the witness stand in the pair's fraud and conspiracy trial, saying they were a "good team" that committed no crimes.
Even though most counts pending against him and Lay allege crimes that occurred at different times before Enron crashed in scandal in December 2001, an overarching conspiracy count alleges they participated in a sprawling effort to portray Enron as strong when they knew accounting tricks hid bad news and weak ventures.
Skilling appeared confident, alternating between earnestness and occasional annoyance, and told jurors that neither he nor Lay perpetuated such a ruse.
"Did you and Ken Lay ever discuss doing something you knew to be forbidden by law?" Skilling's lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, asked Wednesday.
"No," Skilling said. Later, he added, "It is completely untrue," and "I was aware of no illegal activity occurring at Enron Corporation."
Toxic pollution levelshave dropped, EPA says
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that chemical pollution released into the environment fell more than 4 percent from 2003 to 2004, led by declines among the metal mining, electric utility and hazardous waste industries.
But environmentalists noted with alarm that toxic releases in U.S. waterways rose 10 percent, to 241 million pounds of chemicals.
The amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment overall fell to 4.24 billion pounds in 2004, the last year for which figures are available, the EPA said in its annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Some 4.44 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released in 2003.
The agency said releases of dioxin and dioxin compounds fell 58 percent; mercury and mercury compounds were cut 16 percent; and PCBs went down 92 percent.
Linda Travers, acting head of the EPA's Office of Environmental Information, said the report "demonstrates that economic growth and effective environmental protection can go hand-in-hand."
Activist returns to Texasto protest by Bush ranch
CRAWFORD, Texas -- Peace activist Cindy Sheehan returned to Texas on Wednesday for another war protest near President Bush's ranch, although he was to spend the weekend at Camp David.
About 50 anti-war demonstrators accused Bush, who has spent every Easter at his Crawford ranch since he was elected, of running from them and their message to immediately bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.
"We chased him away from his ranch," said Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004. "We protest all over the country without him being in attendance, so I don't think it takes away [from this vigil] a bit because he never met with us anyway."
FEMA: Raise La. homes
NEW ORLEANS -- Many homes damaged by flooding during Hurricane Katrina likely will have to be raised 1 to 3 feet to qualify for flood insurance, a FEMA official said Wednesday as the government released long-awaited new projections on area flooding risks.
The government recommendations, issued more than seven months after Hurricane Katrina hit, have been eagerly awaited by New Orleans residents and public officials.
The advisories are based on President Bush's new pledge to seek an additional $2.5 billion to raise levees and are considered crucial for residents deciding whether or how to rebuild their homes and businesses. They also will be key factors in planning the area's reconstruction and how much aid will be available to home owners.