Bush presses Congress to agree on terror insurance

Senators accuse CIA of withholding facts on Iraq

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday the CIA has not provided information sought by the panel on Iraq, impeding Congress' ability to consider the need for military action.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., said lawmakers were dissatisfied with an intelligence report they received Wednesday, which failed to address key questions, including what the effect of a military campaign would be for Iraq's neighbors.

Graham told reporters he would raise the concerns in a meeting with CIA Director George Tenet. The committee is expected to meet with Tenet today.

CDC: Baby caught West Nile from mother's milk

ATLANTA -- Federal health officials said Thursday that a Michigan infant has the West Nile virus and probably got it from the breast milk of his infected mother.

The child is healthy and his mother is recovering, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC said it was virtually certain the virus came from breast milk, though there is no way to be completely sure.

Doctors stressed that breast milk is the healthiest food for babies and that mothers shouldn't quit nursing because of West Nile fears.

Rule change to ease pension value drops

WASHINGTON -- New rules issued by the government Thursday would enable some people to ease the sting of an unexpected drop in the value of their retirement plans.

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service rules permit people to switch the amount of payments they get from their retirement plans based on their value from year to year, without penalty. In other words, distributions could be reduced to protect a depleted plan and raised in better years.

Previous rules required that pension or individual retirement account payments be based on the plan's value at the time they started receiving payments. The rules apply to people who want to avoid a 10 percent tax for early withdrawals -- those before age 59 1/2 -- by accepting a series of equal payments over their lifetimes.

New anthrax vaccine would cut down shots

WASHINGTON -- The government has created a new, genetically engineered anthrax vaccine that promises to cut in half the six shots now needed for protection, and chosen a pair of biotechnology companies to begin testing it.

The contracts, awarded Thursday for $22.5 million, will allow California-based VaxGen Inc. and Britain's Avecia to test the experimental vaccine on people to see if it is safe.

Federal authorities hope that together, the two companies will pave the way toward Food and Drug Administration approval for the vaccine. Eventually, the government wants 25 million doses manufactured and added to the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile.

--From wire reports