NATIONAL BRIEFS

WASHINGTON: No charges in destroying of CIA tapes

A special prosecutor cleared the CIA's former top clandestine officer and others Tuesday of any charges for destroying agency videotapes showing waterboarding of terror suspects, but he continued to investigate whether the harsh questioning went beyond legal boundaries. The decision not to prosecute anyone in the videotape destruction came five years to the day after the CIA destroyed its cache of 92 videos of two al-Qaida operatives, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Nashiri, being subjected to waterboarding, which evokes the sensation of drowning.

CALIFORNIA: San Francisco OKs ban on Happy Meal toys

It's a happy moment for people who see the Happy Meal as anything but. San Francisco has become the first major American city to prohibit fast-food restaurants from including toys with children's meals that do not meet nutritional guidelines. The city's Board of Supervisors gave the measure final approval Tuesday on an 8-3 vote, enough to survive a planned veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The ordinance would go into effect in December of next year.

UTAH: Kidnap victim recalls her fears

Elizabeth Smart was so terrified of her abductor that on the day police found her, she told them she was someone else. She took the stand at her alleged kidnapper's trial for a second day Tuesday, telling jurors she was also too scared to speak up when a detective tried to question her in a public library months before she was finally freed. Smart said Brian David Mitchell raped her almost daily and forced her to drink, use drugs and view pornography. Once she tried to flee, and Mitchell and his wife caught her and told her an angel would cut her down with a sword if she ever tried it again.