WASHINGTON — Congress sent President Bush legislation today to intensify anti-terror efforts in the U.S., shifting money to high-risk states and cities and expanding screening of air and sea cargo to stave off future Sept. 11-style attacks.

The measure carries out major recommendations of the independent 9/11 Commission.

The bill, passed by the House on a 371-40 vote, ranks among the top accomplishments of the six-month-old Democratic Congress. The Senate approved the measure late yesterday by 85-8, and the White House said the president would sign the bill.

Six years after the Sept. 11 attacks and three years after the 9/11 Commission made its recommendations, "Congress is finally embracing what the 9/11 families have been saying all along," said Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. "It takes a willingness to do things a different way."

The bill elevates the importance of risk factors in determining which states and cities get federal security funds — that would mean more money for such cities as New York and Washington — and also puts money into a new program to assure that security officials at every level can communicate with each other.

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TROUBLING DETAILS ON DRUNK ASTRONAUTS EMERGE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — After drinking heavily, an astronaut flew on a Russian spacecraft and another was cleared to launch on a space shuttle, according to interviews by a panel of outside experts, the panel's chairman said today.

In the case of the shuttle, the mission was delayed for mechanical reasons and the astronaut wanted to fly a jet from Florida back home to Houston, said Col. Richard Bachmann Jr., head of the panel, created to assess astronaut health. He said he didn't know the outcome.

"In none of these can we say factually they did or did not occur," he added, speaking by telephone to a news conference held in Washington. He said it was not the panel's mission to investigate allegations and that NASA would have to ferret out details.

The independent panel was created by NASA after the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak in February on charges she tried to kidnap her rival in a love triangle.

NASA said it is unaware of any astronauts who were drunk before a flight but that it is investigating. Deputy Administrator Shana Dale said the panel provided no details and did not verify the troubling revelations and promised the space agency would pursue the truth.

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REVENGE BOMB ATTACK KILLS 13 IN PAKISTAN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suspected suicide bomber killed at least 13 people at a hotel today after hundreds of stone-throwing protesters clashed with police as the capital's Red Mosque reopened for the first time since a bloody army raid ousted pro-Taliban militants holed up there.

The blast, targeting police, was the latest in a string of militant revenge attacks and deepened the security crisis facing President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a close U.S. ally.

The bombing comes on the back of almost daily suicide blasts in Pakistan's restive northwestern frontier, where Musharraf is also under U.S. pressure to crack down on al-Qaida. More than 300 people have died in violence which began with the siege of the Red Mosque at the start of July.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said the government had received intelligence about a possible suicide bombing in the Aabpara market where the attack happened about 5:15 p.m. today. He said there would be an official inquiry into the security lapse, but he also blamed the mosque unrest for creating the conditions in which an attacker could strike.

"If these people had not created such a situation, it would not have happened," he said, adding the mosque was now indefinitely closed.

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FORMER QWEST CHIEF SENTENCED TO 6 YEARS

DENVER — Joe Nacchio, the former Qwest Communications chief who was forced to resign during a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal, was sentenced to six years in prison today for illegally selling $52 million in stock while not telling investors that his telecommunications company faced serious financial risks.

Nacchio was ordered to forfeit the $52 million within 15 days. He received a maximum $19 million fine and two years' probation after he serves his sentence. Once a federal prison is chosen for him, he is to report within 15 days. He was denied bail while he appeals his conviction.

"The crimes the defendant has been found guilty of are crimes of overarching greed," declared U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham as Nacchio stood before him.

Nacchio, 58, a former AT&T executive, is the latest in a string of former top-level executives to be convicted in recent years in corporate fraud scandals at companies like Enron and WorldCom. He had faced a maximum of seven years and five months in prison.

The case grew out of the accounting scandal in which federal regulators said Qwest falsely reported fiber-optic capacity sales as recurring instead of one-time revenue between April 1999 and March 2002. They said the practices allowed the company to improperly report about $3 billion in revenue and helped it acquire former Baby Bell U S West Inc.

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NEWS HELICOPTERS COLLIDE IN PHOENIX, KILLING 4

PHOENIX — Two news helicopters collided and crashed today while covering a police chase on live television, killing four people on board.

Both helicopters went down in a park in central Phoenix and caught fire. No one on the ground was hurt.

TV viewers did not actually witness the accident because cameras aboard both aircraft were pointed at the ground. But they saw images from one of the helicopters break up and begin to spin before the station abruptly switched to the studio.

Television station KNXV reported that it owned one of the choppers. The other was from KTVK. A pilot and photographer aboard each chopper were killed.

Within a minute, other stations with helicopters in the area began reporting news of the crash.

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SHIITE MILITIA, U.S.-IRAQI FORCES CLASH IN KARBALA

BAGHDAD — A fierce gunbattle broke out after a joint U.S.-Iraqi force arrested a rogue Shiite militia leader in Karbala today, leading to an airstrike and the deaths of some 17 militants, the military said.

U.S. troops also captured four militants suspected of links to networks that smuggle weapons and fighters from Iran, which Washington accuses of fueling the violence in Iraq with its support of Shiite militias.

The U.S. military has promised to crack down on Shiite militias, which have been blamed for thousands of execution-style killings and roadside bombings, as well as on Sunni extremists usually blamed for suicide attacks and other bombings.

Militia violence declined after radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to lay low when a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown began in February. But such attacks have recently increased out of frustration over frequent raids against al-Sadr's supporters and the failure of security forces to stop bombings that target Shiites.

In the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, the joint force moved in before dawn to detain a man described as the commander of a breakaway group of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, along with two other suspects.

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PRINCE CHARLES VISITS FLOOD VICTIMS IN BRITAIN

LONDON — Prince Charles praised the sturdy spirit of waterlogged residents of southern and western England today as he visited areas hit by Britain's worst flooding in more than a half-century.

People working to clean out soggy homes and businesses hoped to avoid more rain after the wettest July since records began. The news was not all good: Forecasters predicted more rain on Sunday.

Homeowners in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire counties continued to bail water out of their front doors. Charles has a home in the area.

"I've seen some obviously disastrous horrors that have affected so many people. What I have found so wonderful is the spirit the people have displayed," Charles said in Tewkesbury, one of the hardest-hit towns.

"One of the things I have found about the British is when faced with disaster, it brings out the best in us," he said.

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COLBERT BREAKS WRIST BEFORE SHOW TAPING

NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert's disdain for all things left is growing.

The host of "The Colbert Report" revealed on last night's show that he broke his left wrist while running around the New York studio before taping a recent episode. Colbert removed a large "No. 1" foam hand to unmask a small cast.

"I didn't want to draw attention to it. I didn't want to play on your sympathy," Colbert said before dramatically grimacing.

The fall happened June 27, before the show went on a two-week hiatus, a spokesman for Comedy Central said today. Colbert, 43, was only recently fitted with a cast.