Supreme Court hears new test of bans on gay sex

WASHINGTON -- Houston police arrested two gay men after bursting in on a bedroom scene that would have been legal for a heterosexual couple, setting in motion an emotional debate over gay rights that landed at the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The court appeared deeply divided over a Texas law against "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex." Justices framed the argument in moral and historical terms as a clash over equality, privacy and government's role in upholding traditional values.

Texas said the law promotes the institutions of marriage and family, and communities have the right to choose their own standards.

"I don't see what it has to do with marriage, since marriage has nothing to do with the conduct," said Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the court's more liberal members.

Nigerian militants OK cease-fire in oil delta

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Ijaw militants battling soldiers and tribal enemies in Nigeria's oil-rich delta region called for a cease-fire Wednesday after state officials agreed to give support to their political demands.

Bello Oboko, president of the militant Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities, whose fighters have spent two weeks battling government troops and rival Itsekiris, said Delta State governor James Ibori agreed Tuesday to help renegotiate electoral boundaries the Ijaws say favor their enemies.

At least 100 people, including 10 soldiers, have been killed in the fighting. Many witnesses say the actual death toll is far higher.

Two weeks of violence in the region, where nearly all of Nigeria's oil is drilled, has forced oil multinationals to evacuate their staff and cut oil exports by more than 800,000 barrels a day -- or 40 percent of the country's normal daily output of 2 million barrels.

Energy abuses generate likely $3.3 billion refund

WASHINGTON -- Federal energy regulators, cataloging widespread manipulation of Western markets, said Wednesday they probably will require about $3.3 billion in refunds, a third of what California says its owed.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also signaled that it probably will not force energy companies to renegotiate more than $20 billion in long-term power contracts California agreed to when natural gas and electricity prices soared to record levels in 2000 and 2001.

Two of the three commissioners -- both Republicans -- oppose renegotiating the contracts that California officials say were inflated because of the corrupt market activities prevalent at the time. The issue will be decided next month.

The actual amount of refunds has yet to be determined by the commission and whatever they decide is likely to be challenged in court. But the staff report's analysis put the amount due at about $3.3 billion, according to FERC officials.

China reveals wider outbreak of illness

BEIJING -- For the first time, Chinese government officials revealed Wednesday that nearly three dozen people have died and almost 800 became ill in a mysterious outbreak that Western medical investigators confirm was the beginning spread of a new flu-like disease.

The numbers raised the worldwide death total from severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, to 53, with 1,325 cases since November.

Until now, Chinese authorities said only five people had died from a pneumonia-like illness that struck the southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong. The new count of 34 includes three deaths in Beijing.

"Everything we've seen so far indicates it's the same disease," said Dr. Meirion Evans, member of a World Health Organization team that is studying the Chinese cases.

"We're getting a more complete picture. It's certainly been one of the objectives of the mission to clarify whether the outbreak in China was the same disease as what's been seen outside of China."

For weeks, Chinese officials said only 305 people were sickened in an outbreak that started in November.

Four leaders at Air Force Academy to be replaced

WASHINGTON -- Top Air Force officers pledged Wednesday to restore honor to an Air Force Academy shaken by allegations that female cadets were ostracized or reprimanded for reporting rapes and sexual assaults.

"We believe this is one of the finest institutions in the world. It stumbled, and now it's going to get fixed," said Air Force Secretary James Roche.

Roche announced that four of the academy's top officers would be replaced, and the superintendent, Lt. Gen. John D. Dallager, would retire as scheduled, in June.

Other changes listed in a nine-page report include clustering female cadets' dormitory rooms and providing round-the-clock security; training medical personnel to respond to sexual assault cases; offering amnesty to cadets raising sexual assault allegations; and expelling cadets for underage drinking or providing alcohol to an underage cadet.

--From wire reports