Nation briefs 1/21/05

Don't call them 'victims,' Jackson's defense asks

LOS ANGELES -- Attorneys defending Michael Jackson in his child molestation case want the accuser and his family referred to in court by their names or as "complaining witnesses" -- not as "victims." In a motion released Wednesday, the pop star's attorneys ask that the judge bar the district attorney from saying he represents 'the people' in a manner that implies that he represents the jury against the defendant." It also requests that the accuser not be called a "victim" in court.

FBI: Terror suspects may be heading to Boston

BOSTON -- Authorities launched a manhunt across the Northeast for four Chinese nationals and two Iraqis described by the FBI as potential terror suspects who may be going to Boston. Federal law enforcement officials said they had received a tip Wednesday about an unspecified threat against Boston, and released photographs of the two Chinese men and two women they were seeking. Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Kenneth Kaiser, special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, identified the Chinese nationals as Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen and Guozhi Lin.

Energy import growing popular in United States

Liquefied natural gas is a fuel that many economists believe will help temper energy prices in the coming decades. For years, LNG was too expensive. As growing demand for natural gas outstrips North America's conventional supplies, many experts view imports of LNG as the only way to head off decades of soaring prices for businesses and the tens of millions of households that rely on the fuel. If current trends continue, the United States "by far will be the largest consumer of LNG in the next decade," says Guy Caruso, head of the government's Energy Information Administration.