Early Today

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip - Israel closed the main crossing point leading to its settlements in the Gaza Strip at midnight yesterday to all but military vehicles, signaling the start of the evacuation of the 21 settlements and the troops protecting them. Israeli soldiers were expected to fan out across the settlements early today, serving residents with eviction notices. The withdrawal will end 38 years of occupation of the Gaza Strip, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. Four West Bank settlements will also be removed.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle managers will have one eye on the weather and the other on a temperamental fuel-level sensor as NASA makes its second attempt to launch Discovery this morning. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:39 a.m. The long-awaited 114th shuttle launch would be the first since the Columbia accident 2 1/2 years ago. "All of our hardware is ready," NASA Test Director Pete Nickolenko said. "The launch and flight teams are ready, and our flight crew is ready for a successful mission."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Today's Kansas City Regional game between Stanford and Connecticut, which have won seven NCAA women's basketball championships between them, is the kind of matchup most basketball fans would want to see in a Final Four, or at least a regional final. Instead, it will be the second semifinal game following Michigan State-Vanderbilt. Stanford (31-2), seeded second, has done its best to downplay any disappointment about not getting a No. 1 seed in this year's tournament after ending the regular season as the nation's top-ranked team.

Maryland morphs back into wintry conditions today, with morning rain changing over to snow this afternoon as it turns blustery and cold. The National Weather Service in Sterling, Va., issued a wind advisory for Central and Western Maryland until 7 p.m. A cold front will push across the state, forcing temperatures to plummet from a high of near 50 degrees early today into the mid 30s. The chill follows yesterday's spring tease that brought a high of...

WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to name longtime aide and White House domestic policy adviser Margaret Spellings as his new secretary of education, a decision that could be announced as soon as today. The announcement would put Bush at three-for-three in dispatching White House insiders - who also are advisers who predate his Washington years - to head up key agencies as he reshapes his Cabinet. Bush named yesterday national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who began counseling Bush as he geared up for the 2000 campaign, as secretary of state.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - As rare back-to-back tropical storms - one a hurricane, the other likely to become one - churned toward Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush declared a statewide emergency and mobilized the National Guard yesterday. Tourists were told to evacuate the low-lying Florida Keys. "Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day, to say the least," said Ben Nelson, state meteorologist for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. In 150 years of reliable storm data, he said, there was no precedent for two hurricanes striking Florida in such rapid succession.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A cease-fire between American forces and insurgents loyal to a rebel cleric appeared to be unraveling as fighting erupted yesterday and early today in the centers of the cities of Najaf and Kufa. Three U.S. soldiers were killed and two others were injured in separate engagements ,the military said today. Two of the soldiers were killed yesterday near Kufa, where insurgents loyal to the 31-year-old radical cleric Motqada al-Sadr have clashed with U.S. troops. One soldier died when attackers ambushed a patrol while the other was killed when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his tank.

A 46-year-old Anne Arundel County man was unaccounted for early today after a fire in a Severn farmhouse, authorities said. Firefighters called to the 7600 block of Plumbers Pasture Lane about 10 p.m. found a two-story house engulfed in flames, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Two members of the household made it to safety, but the status of the third was unknown, a department spokesman said.

After waiting five days for a rescue plane, a sick employee stationed at the South Pole will be flying out early today to get medical treatment. The Twin Otter rescue plane arrived at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station at 5:13 p.m. yesterday. The name of the male employee of Raytheon Polar Services based in Centennial, Colo., has not been released. Unconfirmed reports indicate he is suffering from bladder problems that could require surgery. The rescue effort had been delayed for five days because of bad weather.

JERUSALEM - Plans by Israel to end its occupation of two West Bank cities and return them to Palestinian control hit last-minute snags early today over the removal of checkpoints and how Palestinian police would supervise suspected militants. Israeli and Palestinian security officials have scheduled another round of talks tomorrow for the withdrawal of troops from Jericho and Qalqilya. The abrupt breakdown today was a surprise, as both sides had portrayed the hand-over as all but completed.