WASHINGTON — New financial disclosures show that former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens spent at least $1 million on legal bills defending himself against charges that he failed to report gifts as required.

A report filed this week with the Senate shows that Stevens owes between $1 million and $5 million to the Washington law firm Williams and Connolly for defending him in his corruption trial last year.

A jury found the longtime Republican lawmaker guilty in October on seven counts of lying on financial disclosure forms about gifts, including renovations that doubled the size of his home in Girdwood, Alaska. A judge dismissed the case in April, saying prosecutors withheld evidence that might have been favorable to Stevens at trial.

$96.7 BILLION WAR BILL SAILS THROUGH HOUSE

WASHINGTON — Despite Democrats' rising anxiety about Afghanistan, the House yesterday easily passed a $96.7 billion measure filling President Obama's request for war spending and foreign aid efforts there and in Iraq.

Some 51 Democrats broke with Obama, who is sending thousands more troops into Afghanistan, but all but a handful of Republicans stood behind the president to produce a 368-60 tally. Republicans supported the measure though majority Democrats added almost $12 billion to Obama's $85 billion request.

The measure boosts total funding provided by Congress for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan above $900 billion.

CALIF. TO LAY OFF THOUSANDS OF STATE WORKERS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday that thousands of state employees must be laid off and billions of dollars must be slashed from the budget to deal with a deficit that tops $15 billion and could widen again within days.

The state approved billions in budget cuts and revenue increases earlier this year but they were not enough to keep up with a sharp drop in tax revenue as the recession batters the state's economy.

California still faces a deficit of $15.4 billion in the fiscal year that starts July 1. That will grow to $21.3 billion if voters reject budget-related measures during a special election next week.

REMAINING FIRE EVACUATION ORDERS LIFTED

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Fire officials yesterday lifted the last mandatory evacuation orders for a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes in Southern California's Santa Barbara County.

The fire, which has charred 8,700 acres, was 90 percent contained yesterday, up 10 percent from Wednesday. The progress came despite winds that gusted up to 65 mph overnight.

The lifted mandatory evacuation order had affected about 100 residents, the last of 30,500 forced from their homes at the height of the blaze, which destroyed 80 homes, damaged 15 others and injured 29 firefighters.

HIGH-ON-COCAINE DEFENSE FAILS TO SWAY

GOIANIA, Brazil — A young Brazilian man who acknowledged stabbing to death and dismembering a British teen while high on crack cocaine last year was found guilty of first-degree murder last night and sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Jurors rejected a defense plea for a lighter sentence on the grounds that psychological tests showed Mohamed D'Ali Carvalho Santos' mental capacity was diminished at the time of the killing, in part by drug use.

Santos, 21, calmly testified in court that he had been smoking crack for four days when he killed 17-year-old Cara Marie Burke after an argument in his apartment on July 25, 2008.

BUSINESSMAN GUILTY OF SELLING BODY PARTS

LOS ANGELES — A businessman accused of selling body parts from corpses donated to the University of California, Los Angeles, medical school was found guilty yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court of conspiring to commit grand theft, embezzlement and tax evasion.

Prosecutors alleged that Ernest V. Nelson, 51, cut up heads, torsos and other parts from donated bodies and sold them without UCLA's permission to medical and pharmaceutical research companies, collecting $1.5 million between 1999 and 2003.

The bodies were donated to UCLA for medical and scientific research at the university.