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CIA honors 79 officers killed in the line of duty

McLEAN, Va. -- The CIA honored its dead Friday, recalling in a ceremony the sacrifices of 79 intelligence officers killed in the line of duty during the agency's history.

In an address, CIA Director George J. Tenet noted the death of Johnny "Mike" Spann, the paramilitary officer who was killed during a Taliban prison uprising in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, in November.

"He led one of our teams into Afghanistan, then under the sway of a dictatorship aligned with global murder," Tenet said in a statement. "And it was there, one evening, that he said he would gladly risk his life if he could help make the world a safer place for his wife and children. As we know, those were much more than words."

Also Friday, Spann posthumously received the agency's Intelligence Star, awarded for valor, and Exceptional Service Medallion, awarded for death or injury in the line of duty.

Continental, Delta raise leisure fares by $20

NEW YORK -- Three of the nation's largest airlines raised the price of round-trip fares for leisure travelers less than a week after the Memorial Day holiday, the official beginning of the summer travel season.

Continental Airlines initiated the $20 fare increase late Thursday, and Delta Air Lines and American Airliners matched it Friday. Frontier Airlines, a small budget carrier, also matched the increase.

The change, which applies to advance-purchase tickets requiring a Saturday night stay, resembles a fare hike announced by several carriers in April. That increase was dropped when others in the industry didn't follow suit.

Bidders buy cattle seized by feds from Indian tribe

RENO, Nev. -- The government took bids Friday on cattle the Bureau of Land Management seized last week from an Indian tribe in northern Nevada. Four bids were submitted after a judge refused the tribe's request to block the auction.

U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben ruled at 7:58 a.m. that the 8 a.m. auction could go forward, rejecting an argument that selling the cattle would irreparably harm the tribe. However, he ordered the federal government to hold on to any money it gets from the sale until legal issues are worked out.

McKibben also rejected the tribe's contention that the cattle were illegally seized from the Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone south of Elko.

The agency did not immediately identify the bids it received for the 157 animals seized. The successful bidders will have until Sunday to pick up the cattle from the agency's corrals in Palomino Valley, 15 miles north of Reno.

In Palomino Valley, about 30 demonstrators gathered outside the facility

FDA to approve some drugs by animal testing

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration is set to allow approval of some drugs based on animal studies in cases where it wouldn't be possible or ethical to test them in humans.

The rules finalized Thursday will help in the development of bioterrorism antidotes to treat or prevent the potentially lethal or disabling toxicity of chemical, biological or nuclear substances. Traditional human testing of the drugs would be impossible.

"This isn't some kind of pass we're giving to these drugs," cautioned FDA drug chief Dr. Janet Woodcock, who said manufacturers will have to do several rigorous studies in animals and provide other supporting data.

Wildfire burns thousands of acres in mountains

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- A controlled burn sparked a raging wildfire Friday that destroyed a wing of a former resort hotel and climbed toward mountain communities, authorities said.

The fire had consumed 2,500 acres by evening in the San Bernardino National Forest. No injuries were reported and no homes were in immediate danger, said Fran Colwell, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

The California Department of Forestry started a small planned burn in the area, said Bill Peters, a spokesman for the state agency in San Bernardino County.

--From wire reports