USA

Problems with incinerators and conflicts with state regulators will prevent the Army from meeting a 2012 international deadline for disposing of stockpiled chemical weapons, military officials said. The US thus far has destroyed less than half its 27,768 metric tons of chemical weapons. Russia, another signatory to a 178-nation treaty, has destroyed only 3 percent of its 40,000 tons.

Senate leaders reached a deal Thursday on reviving a broad immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens and said they'll try to pass it before Memorial Day. The agreement breaks a political stalemate that has lingered for weeks.

House lawmakers anticipated overwhelming approval of a bill Thursday aimed at combating roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate is expected to vote on a similar bill later this spring. The key provisions in the House version call for spending $109 million for jamming devices that detect the explosives and prevent them from detonating as well as $100 million for surveillance aircraft.

Demolition work on an estimated 8,000 homes damaged by hurricane Katrina in St. Bernard Parish, a blue-collar territory adjacent to New Orleans, began Wednesday.

Retail sales slowed slightly in April. They rose 0.5 percent, down from their 0.6 percent pace in March, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Lower auto sales factored in the modest drop.

In a deal that may defuse tensions with the California Teachers Association, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said the state will pay $2.9 billion to the public schools that education officials claimed he promised if state revenues rose more than expected. Although he denied making such a promise, the extra educational funding could end a teacher union lawsuit.

After the sentencing of one defendant in a Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people, prosecutors said they've set their sights on convicting the brothers who owned the West Warwick facility. Daniel Biechele, the former manager of the rock band Great White, was sentenced to four years in prison and three years' probation for igniting, without a permit, pyro-technics that caused the blaze. Owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian have been accused of operating their club in a negligent manner. The first of their two trials begins July 31.