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JAN 27: The United States government is trying to enlist more truckers in the battle against terrorism. The move comes as the federal government trains other civilian workers -- from suburban shopping mall security guards to city doormen -- to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. Training for membership takes about an hour. Each of the "tens of thousands" of members is assigned an identification number to use when making a report to the around-the-clock operation.

Global warming might be twice as catastrophic as previously thought. Under the "worst-case" scenario, London would be under water and winters banished to history as average temperatures in the UK soar up to 20C higher than at present, studies show. Globally, average temperatures could reach 11C greater than today, double the rise predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the international body set up to investigate global warming. Such high temperatures would melt most of the polar icecaps and mountain glaciers, raising sea levels by more than 20ft.

Sacramento Fire department's four firefighters - a male captain, two male firefighters and a female firefighter - have been suspended for allegedly participating in three instances of consensual sexual encounters (orgies) with each other while on duty at Station 12 in Hollywood Park. Three of the firefighters are married. One of the men would stand lookout while the others had sex in the station. The group sex would take place in the Hollywood Park station house. In recent months, the Fire Department has been rocked by disclosures of firefighter misconduct, including drinking on duty, cruising bars, giving joy rides to women in fire vehicles and attending a Porn Star Costume Ball. The department's rules don't specifically prohibit sexual activity on the job, but they do say firefighters are expected to "be governed by the ordinary and reasonable rules of behavior observed by law-abiding and self-respecting citizens.

Douglas Dycus, a 40-year-old Florida man was charged yesterday with felony child abuse and domestic battery for allegedly using a stun gun to discipline his 14-year-old son. Dycus, an engineer with a Palm Beach firm, admitted to cops that he used the electrical device on the boy when the child was wrestling with a brother and holding up the family's departure from their home last month. Instead of pulling the boys apart, Dycus--who said the children were "not listening"--went to his dresser drawer and pulled out the stun gun, which he used to zap his son on the arm. The child let out a scream and then "got into the vehicle," according to a Martin County Sheriff's Office report. The victim told a child welfare investigator that Dycus shocked him twice, pointing to marks the device left on his arm and abdomen. The stun gun was recovered from Dycus's Palm City home after sheriff's investigators filed the below search warrant affidavit.

Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Thursday against the risks of Iraq being partitioned and said elections were the best way to restore stability to the country.

King Abdullah referred to "calls for the establishment of an autonomous region in southern Iraq that clearly amount to a suspect invitation to partition".

Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi, who is running in Sunday's general elections, called earlier this week for the establishment of an autonomous zone in mainly Shiite southern Iraq, like that of the Kurds in the north.

"As a Hashemite Arab king, attached to the unity of the Iraqi people, the unity of its ranks and independent destiny, I was warning against attempts at division," Abdullah said.

"It is my duty to warn against any attempt to break up the unity of the Iraqi people and spread discord between the different communities," said King Abdullah.

"As a Hashemite, I speak in the name of all Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites," said the king, a direct descendant of Prophet Mohammed.

King Abdullah, who turns 43 on the day of the Iraqi elections, and who took over on the death of his father King Hussein in February 1999, said his aim was to make Jordan "an example of political openness ... security and stability" in the region.

"The world is changing and we must face the challenges of the century with new tools," said the king. (AFP)