GOP lawmakers foil Democrats' fiscal fix efforts
SACRAMENTO – Republican state lawmakers yesterday blocked the Democrats' $17 billion proposal to address part of California's fiscal meltdown, leaving the state on track for a cash derailment this spring.
Fla. judge rules ban on gays adopting is unconstitutional
MIAMI – A judge yesterday ruled that a Florida law that blocks gay people from adopting children is unconstitutional, declaring there was no legal or scientific reason for sexual orientation alone to prohibit anyone from adopting.
Report: Incidence of cancer is falling
The incidence of new cancer cases has been falling in recent years in the United States, the first time such an extended decline has been documented, researchers reported yesterday.
Recovery outweighs big deficits, Obama says
CHICAGO – The economy growing weaker, President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that recovery efforts will trump deficit concerns when he takes office in January. Yet he pledged a “page-by-page, line-by-line” budget review to root out unneeded spending.
- Storm may threaten homes in burn areas
LOS ANGELES – Southern Californians living near wildfire burn areas sandbagged their homes and in some places were urged to leave them last night as a storm moving in from the Pacific brought a threat of floods and mudslides.
- Jurors at impasse in online hoax case
LOS ANGELES – Jurors deliberating in the MySpace cyber-bullying trial of a Missouri mother yesterday suggested in a note to the judge that they have reached verdicts on three of the four counts.
- Mechanical flaws cited in crash of F-15
LAS VEGAS – A jet crash that killed an Air Force pilot during training exercises over the Nevada desert this past summer resulted from a combination of elements that sent the F-15D Eagle into a violent spin lasting nearly 90 seconds, the head of an accident review board has reported.
- Photo: Foreclosure
- Unsafe toy list cites lead paint, toxic phthalates
The annual unsafe toy list is out. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which monitors product safety, released its 2008 list of dangerous toys yesterday.
- REGION UPDATE
Boy's lawyer rips murder charge plan
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The attorney for an 8-year-old Arizona boy charged with fatally shooting his father and another man doesn't want prosecutors to drop one of the first-degree-murder charges.
- Only location, not meal, out of this world for crew
HOUSTON – The smoked turkey resembles sliced deli meat but stiffer, the candied yams are bland inside, the green beans taste like they've been microwaved to death and the cornbread stuffing has a broth-heavy, institutional flavor.
- Half of heart pump users die within year of implant
Half the people given mechanical heart pumps designed to avoid transplant surgery died within a year, according to a study, which suggested the devices' popularity has grown faster than doctors' skills.
- 3 will be a crowd in the cosmos
WASHINGTON – It's not just families getting together this Thanksgiving week. The three brightest objects in the night sky – Venus, Jupiter and a crescent moon – will crowd around each other for an unusual group shot.
- NATION UPDATE
Death of 48-pound woman investigated
CAMDEN, N.J. – Prosecutors and a state agency were investigating the death of a 28-year-old woman who had dwindled to 48 pounds in a New Jersey-licensed home for developmentally disabled adults, officials said yesterday.
- Ex-diplomat testifies Georgia initiated war with Russia in summer
TBILISI, Georgia – A parliamentary hearing on the origins of the war between Georgia and Russia in August ended in tumult yesterday after a former Georgian diplomat testified that Georgian authorities were responsible for starting the conflict.
- FDA detects melamine in baby formula
Traces of the industrial chemical melamine have been detected in samples of top-selling U.S. infant formula, but federal regulators insist the products are safe.
- U.S. pushes NATO-entry bypass
BERLIN – The United States has started an unexpected diplomatic initiative in Europe, urging NATO allies to offer Georgia and Ukraine membership in the alliance without going through a lengthy process and fulfilling a long list of requirements, NATO diplomats said.
- Somalian pirates move supertanker farther from coast
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalian pirates have taken their greatest prize – a Saudi supertanker with $100 million of crude oil – farther offshore in what appears to be a rare defensive move after threats by Islamic insurgents.
- South African ex-leader faulted for AIDS deaths
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A new study by Harvard researchers estimates that the South African government would have prevented the premature deaths of 365,000 people earlier this decade if it had provided antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients and widely administered drugs to help prevent pregnant women from infecting their babies.
- Host Venezuela welcomes Russian warships' arrival
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela – Russian warships sailed into port yesterday in Venezuela in a show of strength as Moscow seeks to counter U.S. influence in Latin America.
- Protesters shut down Thai airport
BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand's main international airport canceled all flights today as protesters thronged the complex in efforts to bring down the government, stranding thousands of tourists and buffeting the country's already-fragile tourism industry.
- THE FIGHT FOR IRAQ
U.S. interprets pact on security more loosely
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration has adopted a much looser interpretation of several key provisions of the pending U.S.-Iraq security agreement than the Iraqi government has, U.S. officials said yesterday – just hours before the Iraqi parliament was to vote on the pact.
- Anti-asteroid plan recommended
VIENNA, Austria – It's disaster planning on a galactic scale: Space experts want to come up with a contingency plan on what to do in case a killer asteroid collides with Earth.
- WORLD UPDATE
Navy sunk trawler hijacked by pirates
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A suspected pirate vessel that was destroyed by the Indian navy last week near Somalia was actually a Thai fishing trawler that had been hijacked by pirates, a maritime official said today.
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