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When the Watergate scandal grew into a full-bore crisis, Richard Nixon’s aides hatched a plan to save his presidency: Convince lawmakers and the public that the Watergate prosecutor was a zealot holding a “pistol to the head” of the president.

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Setting up to learn about mummies The mummy of the Royal Prince, Count of Thebes, one of four Egyptian mummies belonging to New York’s Brooklyn Museum, is positioned in a CT Scan machine at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., on Tuesday. Researchers hope to gain further knowledge about their identities, cause of death, and ancient funerary practices from the mummies that range in age from over 3,000 years old to around 1,700 years old.

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It didn’t work.

Memos and tape recordings released Tuesday by the Nixon Presidential Library shed light on fateful moments of Nixon’s second term, among them a peace deal with North Vietnam, sea changes in domestic and foreign policy and management of the Cold War.

They also give insights into a well-known characteristic of Nixon and his aides — a hair-trigger sensitivity to political rivals and quick resort to machinations against them.

A 1972 meeting between Nixon and his chief of staff produced an informal directive to “destroy” the “pip-squeak” running for Democratic vice president, according to scribbled notes released in the new collection.

SEOUL, South Korea

N. Korean ship followed

An American destroyer tailed a North Korean ship Tuesday as it sailed along China’s coast, U.S. officials said, amid concerns the vessel is carrying illicit arms destined for Myanmar.

The sailing sets up the first test of a new U.N. Security Council resolution that authorizes member states to inspect North Korean vessels suspected of carrying banned weapons or materials. The sanctions are punishment for an underground nuclear test the North carried out last month in defiance of past resolutions.

A U.S. official said last week that the American destroyer has no orders to intercept the ship, but experts say the vessel will need to stop to refuel soon. The resolution prohibits member states from providing such services to ships accused of bearing banned goods.

PARIS

Muslims criticize Sarkozy

A top Muslim group in Britain lashed out at Nicolas Sarkozy as “patronizing and offensive” on Tuesday, after the French president said body- and face-covering Islamic garments such as the burqa turn women into prisoners.

In Paris, parliament formally created a commission Tuesday to study the wearing of body-cloaking Muslim robes in France, a day after Sarkozy told lawmakers that the burqa would not be welcome in the country.

A top official with the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organization for British Muslim groups, accused Sarkozy of “divisive politics,” and said his comments could fan an “Islamophobic reaction” in Europe.

BOSTON

Author sues Hasselbeck

The author of a health book has sued Elisabeth Hasselbeck, accusing the co-host of ABC’s “The View” of plagiarism.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Massachusetts, alleges that Hasselbeck lifted “word for word” content from a book written by Susan Hassett, a self-published author on Cape Cod.

Hasselbeck’s book, “The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide,” has appeared in the past month on several best-seller lists.

Hassett said in the lawsuit that she sent Hasselbeck a personal note and copy of her “Living With Celiac Disease” book as a courtesy after the television celebrity disclosed she had the illness last year.