Nation briefs 7/8/04

Utah family disputes missing Marine's release

WEST JORDAN, Utah -- The brother of a Marine captured in Iraq denied reports Wednesday that he had been released and contacted family members, but a U.S. official said there was reason to believe the corporal was in his native Lebanon. CNN reported Wednesday that Wassef Ali Hassoun, 24, had been in touch with his family in Utah and Lebanon, telling them he had contacted the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and asked to be picked up at an undisclosed location in Lebanon.

Bodies found on newsman Sam Donaldson's ranch

HONDO, N.M. -- The 14-year-old son of the manager of ABC newsman Sam Donaldson's New Mexico ranch was arrested Wednesday on charges of murdering his father, stepmother and stepsister, authorities said. Cody Posey was arrested at a friend's home near the Chavez Canyon Ranch around 5 p.m., Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Sullivan said. The bodies were found at the ranch in south-central New Mexico after Donaldson went to the manager's house on Tuesday and discovered an "obvious crime scene," Sullivan said. Deputies searched the area and found the three bodies in a shallow grave.

Streamlined security begins at Minn. airport

MINNEAPOLIS -- Select airline passengers breezed through security Wednesday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in the start of an experiment to ease delays and make flying a little more agreeable. Under the program, frequent business fliers will not be subject to random searches if they pass background checks in advance and do not set off any alarms while moving through security. Minneapolis-St. Paul is the first of five U.S. airports to take part in the program, which could be made permanent.

-- From wire reports