Nation

• WORLD & NATION UPDATE: AT HOME

  The ex-boyfriend of actor Christina Applegate was found dead in his Hollywood apartment, apparently of a drug overdose, the Los Angeles coroner's office said. Lee Grivas, 26, a fisherman and aspiring photographer, met Applegate while she was starring in the Broadway musical "Sweet Charity." He was found Tuesday. "Grivas did have a history of drug abuse, and our investigator found a syringe at the scene," Lt. Fred Corral of the coroner's office told People magazine. In a statement yesterday, Applegate, 36, said she was "profoundly saddened."

• Obama says he may 'refine' plan to bring troops home

  FARGO, N.D. - Barack Obama opened the door yesterday to refining his plan to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq in 16 months based on what he hears from military commanders during his upcoming trip there.

• Snooping into private passport files found widespread

  WASHINGTON - Government workers repeatedly snooped without authorization into the electronic passport records of entertainers, athletes and other high-profile Americans, a State Department audit has found. One celebrity's records were breached 356 times by more than six dozen people.

• Utah switches to four-day workweek for most employees

  SALT LAKE CITY - Starting next month, it will be "TGIT" for Utah state employees. As in: "Thank God It's Thursday." In a yearlong experiment aimed at reducing the state's energy costs and commuters' gasoline expenses, Utah is about to become the first state to switch to a four-day workweek for thousands of government employees.

• President Bush to attend Olympics opening ceremonies

  WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush will attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing, the White House said yesterday, quashing any talk of a presidential boycott over China's violent crackdown after anti- government riots and protests in Tibet.