California's prison system, originally designed for 100,000 inmates, currently houses 173,000 inmates and has resorted to housing approximately 17,000 inmates in temporary beds in locations like prison gymnasiums. In February, Schwarzenegger announced a plan to release prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes in response to various federal actions that could establish federal oversight of California's prison system if the overcrowding problem is not resolved.

Zachares admitted engaging in official acts on Abramoff's behalf while working for Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who chaired the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Abramoff assisted Zachares in obtaining his committee post. Zachares left Young's staff in 2005. Young's office did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment Monday and Tuesday.

Zachares pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle to one count of conspiracy. He faces a maximum of five years in prison, but under federal sentencing guidelines will likely face two years or less.

He is the fifth congressional staffer to plead guilty in the Abramoff scandal, including two ex-aides to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

Zachares entered his plea before Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. He faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and supervised release following his incarceration.

One of the Broward County judges involved in the Anna Nicole Smith proceedings in South Florida has entered a written plea of not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession.

Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda was cited last month after Hollywood Police officers allegedly found him smoking marijuana while sitting under a tree in a park. After being charged, Korda took a leave of absence from the bench.

Korda's moment in the media spotlight surrounding the Smith case came when he was asked to rule on who should have control over the former Playboy Playmate's body. The final ruling in that case was eventually issued by Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin.

Korda also heard arguments in a related case, seeking to determine the biological father of the baby. He ruled that a Bahamian court had jurisdiction over the child's custody.

Authorities recovered a body from an upstate New York farmhouse that burned down after police surrounded it in search of a man suspected of killing a state trooper and wounding two others, a state police spokesman said Wednesday.

"At this time, we have recovered a charred body from the house, but we can't confirm who it is yet," said Lt. Galletto, who did not give his first name.

Officials had a "reasonable degree of certainty" that Travis Trim, 23, was inside the building during the fire, New York State Police Acting Superintendent Preston Felton said earlier.

The cause of the fire was unknown, but Felton said authorities fired several canisters of tear gas into the building shortly before the fire broke out at 6 p.m.

"We're not saying it can absolutely not cause a fire, but it's not constructed to cause a fire," he said of the gas.

Earlier Wednesday, Troopers David C. Brinkerhoff and Richard Mattson were shot while searching the farmhouse for Trim, Felton said, according to The Associated Press.

"They had a good 20 shots going back and forth," witness Chan Squires told the AP. "You could hear them ringing out."

Authorities said Brinkerhoff died in the shooting.

"One of our best has fallen and another has been seriously wounded in the line of duty," Gov. Eliot Spitzer said in a statement Wednesday.

The officers were pursuing Trim after he allegedly shot Trooper Matthew Gombosi on Tuesday when he was stopped for a minor traffic violation near Margaretville. Gombosi was not seriously injured because he was wearing body armor, police said.

"The silence that is in this town right now it's eerie, and our hearts go out to the troopers who are doing what they do to protect us. It is devastating," one resident said.

"Today, the New York State Police and the state of New York suffered a tremendous loss," the governor's statement said.

He asked "all New Yorkers to keep the State Police in their thoughts and prayers during this harrowing time."

Once it is passed by the senate as well, the bill will be sent to the president to be signed into a law, something which he is not going to do. He has steadfastly rejected any specific timetable for withdrawal, arguing that is a military decision and ought to be taken by the commanders on the ground.

While a majority of Democrats called the bill an essential step to end the debacle in Iraq, members of the Republican party called it a recipe for defeat as well as an invitation to radical Islam. The Democrats are counting on widespread disenchantment with the war in Iraq in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election.

There is increasing perception that unencumbered by his own political fortune since this is his last term, Bush will maintain his unyielding position on what is arguably his single biggest failure.

The bill makes the war funding conditional on the Bush administration accepting a specific timetable to pull out of an Iraq devastated by a Shia-Sunni civil war. In a sense it is the strongest assertion in the last four years by the Democrats of their complete disagreement with the war for which most of them voted in the first place.

With the 2008 presidential election barely two years away, the Democrats appear determined to hammer home their message against the war even while carefully balancing that with the demand of the military. Hence passing the war-spending bill, albeit with a timeframe, is their way of saying they support the military but not the administration that wants to expose them to mortal dangers in Iraq for an indefinite period.

All parties in Iraq have been watching the political wrangling in the US with a great deal of interest. A large number of Iraqis, both Shia and Sunni, might see an opportunity in an early US troop withdrawal to reiterate their own supremacy.

Of course, being a minority population of less than 40 per cent and with their strongest symbol in Saddam Hussein out of the picture now, the Sunnis have a very difficult future ahead.

The Shias, who constitute some 60 per cent of Iraq's population, are demanding their fair share after being oppressed by the Hussein regime for some three decades. Both have a direct interest in when and if the US withdraws its forces.

The North Dakota Legislative Assembly passed a bill Monday prohibiting abortion in the state if the US Supreme Court ever declares that such a move would be constitutional. The measure, which Governor John Hoeven is expected to sign, passed the state House 68-24 and the Senate 29-16. In the event that the US Supreme Court overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the bill would subject anyone performing an abortion to a prison sentence of up to 5 years, a $5,000 fine, or possibly both. An exception would be made in cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother was in danger.

North Dakota has become the second state to pass this type of abortion law; Mississippi approved a similar measure last month. Senate Majority Leader Bob Stenehjem denied that the North Dakota bill was influenced by last week's Supreme Court decision upholding a federal 'partial birth' abortion ban.