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Good afternoon! I’m Naamua Delaney at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Here’s a look at what’s happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

 The government’s ability to eavesdrop¹ on phone calls and emails of suspected terrorists is at the center of a showdown today. The House could vote on surveillance legislation after a rare late-night closed-door session. It was the first secret session in 25 years. President Bush threatens to veto the bill by House Democrats². He wants legal protection for telecom companies that cooperate with the government.

 Well, you are still paying record prices for gas and the cost is still going up. AAA says the average price of a regular gallon rose to three dollars and twenty-eight cents overnight. That's a two-cent of jump since Wednesday and up about 30 cents from a month ago.

 ……

The Environmental Protection Agency has watered down part of its new smog requirements at the direction of the White House. The Associated Press says the EPA made the changes just before the new rules were to be released. The administration and the EPA centered on the amount of protection from ozone³ or smog for wildlife, farmlands, parks and open spaces. A White House spokesman called the intervention⁴ a technical matter.

 The Queen of England has dedicated⁵ a new terminal at London Heathrow Airport. Terminal Five will be able to handle thirty million passengers a year as environmentalists protest the expansion. Today's ceremony follows a security scare at Heathrow yesterday involving a man with a backpack who scaled a fence and ran onto a runway. Police have not said it is related to environmental protest, though. The new terminal will open for business March 27th.

 Well, those are the headlines this hour. Stay with CNN for more on these stories and the other news of the day.

 Water down: to change a speech, a piece of writing etc. in order to make it less offensive or forceful

Scale: to climb to the top of sth high