FRESNO, Calif. - The grounding of hundreds of F-15s because of dangerous structural defects is straining the nation's air defense network, forcing some states to rely on their neighbors' fighter jets for protection, and Alaska to depend on the Canadian military.

The U.S. Senate's majority leader postponed on Monday the debate regarding controversial legislation designed to modernize the United States' legal framework for eavesdropping on phone calls and Internet communications, and which would have granted telecommunications companies immunity from lawsuits over their alleged past cooperation with the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program.