Rumsfeld, top FBI official kept Sept. 11 souvenirs

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department investigation that criticized FBI agents for taking souvenirs from the World Trade Center site also found that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and a high-ranking FBI official kept items from the Sept. 11 attack scenes. The final investigatory report said the Justice Department inspector general confirmed Rumsfeld "has a piece of the airplane that flew into the Pentagon." Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said Friday night that Rumsfeld has a shard of metal from the jetliner that struck the Pentagon on a table in his office and shows it to people as a reminder of the tragedy Pentagon workers shared on Sept. 11, 2001.

S. Korean leader urges calm after impeachment

SEOUL, South Korea -- The interim head of state known as "Mr. Stability" pledged to continue South Korea's alliance with Washington as he began his first full day in office today, hours after thousands of angry South Koreans held candlelight vigils to protest the impeachment of their president. Prime Minister Goh Kun assumed executive powers from President Roh Moo-hyun. Defense Minister Cho Young-kil said today that the impeachment caused a "crisis situation in the supreme military command." He did not elaborate but urged U.S. military assistance in maintaining "impeccable vigilance without the slightest wavering."

Billions vanish in cleanup of WorldCom books

McLEAN, Va. -- Instead of profits, WorldCom should have reported combined losses of nearly $65 billion for 2000 and 2001, according to a long-awaited restatement of the renamed company's tainted books which wipes away a vast accounting fraud and reflects the plunging value of its telecommunications assets. The financial restatement issued by MCI Friday, totaling $74.4 billion in additional expenses for the two years, is likely the biggest in corporate history, surpassing a $54 billion writedown recorded by AOL Time Warner in April 2002.

Roadside bombing kills two more U.S. soldiers

TIKRIT, Iraq -- A roadside bomb in Saddam Hussein's hometown killed two American soldiers and wounded four today. The soldiers killed were patrolling in downtown Tikrit, north of Baghdad, around 5 a.m. in an armored Humvee when a roadside bomb exploded, an Army official said. The soldiers were from the army's 1st Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment.

Soldier survivors reunite for Iwo Jima anniversary

IWO JIMA, Japan -- Fifty-nine years later, 25 U.S. veterans returned here Friday for a memorial and reunion with three Japanese who also survived the battle for Iwo Jima -- one of the bloodiest fights of World War II and a victory for Americans that came more than any other to symbolize the Pacific conflict. The annual Iwo Jima gathering, which began in 1985, is a low-key event, with few media invited -- partly because the Japanese consider it sacred ground with many wandering souls of unrecovered dead. The tradition may be fading, however, as the veterans of the three Marine divisions that fought for Iwo Jima are now in their 80s and less able to travel.

-- From wire reports