USA

About 200 mostly older men and women kicked off a volunteer border watch in Three Points, Ariz., for the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. The group, which conducted a similar month-long campaign last year, seeks to raise public awareness of how many illegal immigrants sneak into the country.

Airline passenger complaints increased 17 percent last year, according to an annual quality-rating study released Monday by researchers at the University of Nebraska and Wichita State. Lost luggage was a major complaint, as the rate of mishandled baggage rose from 4.83 bags per 1,000 passengers in 2004 to 6.06 in 2005. Southwest Airllines had the lowest overall rate of complaints.

With the April 15 tax-filing deadline approaching, President Bush used his weekly radio address to urge Congress to extend tax cuts he shepherded into law during his first term. Bush said the cuts have helped create jobs and stimulate economic growth. Democrats contend that cuts have driven up the deficit and largely benefited the wealthy.

The major-league baseball season got under way Sunday night when the White Sox began defense of their first World Series championship in 88 years against Cleveland in Chicago.

During a weekend rally in front of the New Orleans' convention center, the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson said that displaced residents could be disenfranchised when the city holds its April 22 mayoral election. Comedian Bill Cosby, who also addressed the crowd of about 2,000, said the city's African-American population needs to "cleanse" the community of crime, drug trafficking, and youth pregnancies.

A Justice Department report released Sunday indicates an estimated 3 out of every 100 US households were victimized by identity theft. This involved either unauthorized use of credit cards, cellphones, or bank accounts, or misuse of someone's personal information to open a new account.

UCLA, which owns a record 11 NCAA men's basketball titles, seeks to make it a dozen Monday night in Indianapolis against Florida. Both teams advanced easily to the championship game, Florida by beating the tournament's Cinderella team, George Mason University, 73-58, and UCLA by knocking off LSU, 59-45.

Several hundred demonstrators protested outside McDonald's flagship Chicago restaurant Saturday, demanding the fast-food giant pay tomato pickers higher wages. The rally was organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a Florida-based group with many Hispanic laborers.

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