http://www.post-gazette.com/nationworld/ National and world news en-us Copyright 2010, post-gazette.com. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:02:18 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042289-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Long before the State Dinner party crashers and the tension with her White House colleagues and the strain in her relationship with the first lady, Desirée Rogers began to understand she was in trouble when David Axelrod summoned her to his office last spring to scold her. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042290-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml A Fremont charter school that was the subject of a highly critical state audit will be allowed to operate, despite a continuing review by the Alameda County district attorney's office. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042291-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml For the owner of a Humboldt Park auto repair shop who lost 25 percent of his sales this year, paying $50,000 to fix up the parking lot of his business to comply with the city's landscaping ordinance would be difficult. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042292-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Jolted by a sudden tightening of the rules, lobbyists and military contractors who have long relied on lucrative earmarks from Congress were scrambling Thursday to find new ways to keep the federal money flowing. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042152-147.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml Traffic fatalities for last year fell by nearly 9 percent, reaching their lowest level since 1954, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported Thursday. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042174-454.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml Republicans last night selected a political newcomer who has never sought elected office as their nominee in the special election to succeed the late U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042175-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Congressional attempts to pass the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression suffered a potentially devastating blow Thursday, as the lead senator working on the legislation vowed to move forward next week without Republican support. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042176-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Neighbors were chagrined last week when the police here found the body of an elderly woman who had frozen to death, alone in her house, during frigid weather. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042177-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml ALBANY, N.Y. -- Amid concerns over a conflict of interest and just two days after a poll showed the public opposed his investigation into two scandals involving Gov. David Paterson, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo took himself off the case Thursday and appointed a respected former judge to take over. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042179-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml JACKSON, Miss. -- Constance McMillen didn't believe that her Mississippi school district would really call off her senior prom rather than allow her to show up with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042185-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml SANTIAGO, Chile -- The earth shook and shook Thursday as dignitaries walked in for the swearing-in of Sebastian Pinera as Chile's new president. It shook some more as they waited for him. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042187-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml ATHENS, Greece -- Greek hospitals, airports and schools were shut and police scuffled with protesters Thursday, as unions staged the second general strike this year against government budget cuts to curb the European Union's biggest deficit. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042188-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml BAGHDAD -- As the first, incomplete results from Iraq's weekend election trickled in Thursday, a prominent opposition group supported mostly by Sunnis Muslims made fraud allegations that could taint the legitimacy of the outcome. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042189-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml AMMAN, Jordan -- Vice President Joseph R. Biden, winding up a disconcerting trip to the Middle East, struggled Thursday to keep hopes alive for new peace talks amid intensifying Palestinian anger over Israeli plans for new housing construction in a disputed Jerusalem neighborhood. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042190-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Thursday launched a new effort to rebuild the nation's long-term economic strength by sharply boosting exports, and he got a lift from government data showing that the gap between what Americans sell abroad and what they import narrowed unexpectedly in January. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042203-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Jolted by a sudden tightening of the rules, lobbyists and military contractors who have long relied on lucrative earmarks from Congress were scrambling Thursday to find new ways to keep the federal money flowing. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042204-114.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- House Democratic leaders abandoned a long struggle in their ranks to strike a compromise on abortion, gambling Thursday that they can secure the support for President Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation with showdown votes looming as early as next week. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042205-454.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml PHILADELPHIA -- She married young and badly. She bounced checks at Pizza Hut and the grocery. She hit the bottle to excess sometimes, talked to her cats and once attempted suicide. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042206-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Pledge of Allegiance in public schools has survived another legal challenge. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042212-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml NEW YORK -- After years of fighting in court, lawyers representing the city, construction companies and more than 10,000 Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers have agreed to a settlement that could pay as much as $657.5 million to responders sickened by dust from the destroyed World Trade Center. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1042162-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml Republicans tonight selected a political newcomer who has never sought elected office as their nominee in the special election to succeed the late U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:45:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1042030-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml Traffic fatalities for last year fell by nearly 9 percent, reaching their lowest level since 1954, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported today. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:15:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1042020-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml Karl Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy White House chief of staff under President George W. Bush, on Tuesday published a memoir, "Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight." The Times caught up with him in New York to talk about democracy in Iraq, the impact of the C.I.A. leak case and questions about his mother's suicide and his father's sexual orientation. This is an edited transcript: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1042021-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Previously undisclosed e-mail messages turned over to the F.B.I. and Senate ethics investigators provide new evidence about Senator John Ensign's efforts to steer lobbying work to the embittered husband of his former mistress and could deepen his legal and political troubles. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1042022-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- House Democratic leaders on Wednesday banned budget earmarks to private industry, ending a practice that has steered billions of dollars in no-bid contracts to companies and set off corruption scandals. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1042023-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml HAMTRAMCK, Mich. -- Even though more than 50 years have passed since Sallie Sanders was a confused little girl wondering why her family was kicked out of their house for being on the wrong side of the color line here, the pain seems fresh. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041896-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Counterterrorism forces have shot and killed one of Southeast Asia's most-wanted Islamic militants, Indonesia's president said Wednesday. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041897-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml group of top scientists from around the world will review the research and management practices of the U.N. climate change panel so it can try to avoid the kinds of errors that have brought its work into question in recent months, officials said Wednesday. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041899-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml ISLAMABAD -- Suspected militants armed with assault rifles and a homemade bomb on Wednesday attacked the offices of a U.S.-based Christian aid group helping earthquake survivors in northwestern Pakistan, killing six Pakistani employees, police and the organization said. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041900-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Congressional opponents of the war in Afghanistan forced a debate Wednesday on the House floor on a resolution to bring U.S. forces home and end the 8-year-old war. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041901-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml KABUL -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used a brief visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday to lob insults at the United States and argue that international forces won't stop terrorism and will only lead to more civilian deaths. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041907-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- House Democratic leaders banned Wednesday the practice of doling out multimillion-dollar, no-bid contracts to private contractors, a move that will shake up the lobbying industry that has come to rely on securing these so-called earmarks for their corporate clients. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041908-298.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml A panel of educators convened by the nation's governors and state school superintendents on Wednesday proposed a uniform set of academic standards, laying out their vision for what all the nation's public school children should learn in math and English, year by year, from kindergarten to high school graduation. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041948-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama and the Supreme Court have waded again into unfamiliar and strikingly personal territory. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041949-114.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- As they scrambled recently to trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds around the country, investigators from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successfully used a new tool for the first time -- the shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe every time they buy groceries. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041958-114.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday made an impassioned case for his health care proposal, delivering a folksy, partisan argument for reform as industry groups prepare a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to defeat it. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041963-54.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml Authorities in Alaska are investigating whether Candice Berner, a 32-year-old schoolteacher originally from Slippery Rock whose body was found in the woods of a remote Alaskan village, was the state's first recorded victim of a wolf attack. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041572-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml A conservative advocacy organization in Washington, Keep America Safe, kicked up a storm last week when it released a video that questioned the loyalty of Justice Department lawyers who worked in the past on behalf of detained terrorism suspects. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041573-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml CHICAGO -- This place is desperate to shed its political reputation for cronyism, insiders and backroom deals, a way of life once boiled down by a ward boss this way: "We don't want nobody nobody sent." Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041574-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- A Pennsylvania woman who called herself JihadJane was tied Tuesday to an alleged assassination plot against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the prophet Muhammad atop the body of a dog. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041575-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml MIAMI -- The movie "Bait Shop" had too much boozing to earn the extra rebate from Florida's "family friendly" program of incentives for film production. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" was, well, just too violent. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041579-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml HONG KONG -- The ruling military junta in Myanmar announced a new election law Wednesday that will likely prevent Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's leading opposition figure, from participating in upcoming parliamentary elections. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041580-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml As much as half the food aid sent to Somalia is diverted from needy people to a web of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and local United Nations staff members, according to a new Security Council report. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041581-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml JERUSALEM -- Having been removed in favor of Israeli nationalist Jews, members of the Palestinian Ghawi family have been sheltering this winter in a tent on the sidewalk opposite their home of more than five decades in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041537-455.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml An attorney for Ben Roethlisberger said Tuesday his firm has assembled a team of investigators to gather information about sexual assault allegations that have been raised by a 20-year-old college student. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:54:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041464-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml HARRISBURG -- State transportation officials stressed Tuesday there is no "plan B" for funding road and bridge improvements if federal officials fail to approve tolls on Interstate 80. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041487-114.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Thousands of liberal public-option backers and conservative tea partiers launched last-chance campaigns Tuesday in the nation's capital to persuade Congress to pass -- or reject -- sweeping health care legislation. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041489-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml EL CAJON, Calif. -- James Sikes bought his Toyota Prius in 2008, and 53,000 miles later, the car was driving fine. But Monday afternoon, when he accelerated to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 east of San Diego, the car kept going. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041518-407.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Legislation to give additional months of unemployment benefits to people who have been out of a job for more than half a year cleared a key hurdle Tuesday that guarantees that it will soon pass the Senate. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041528-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml LONDON -- A chip for Spot? In a country where guns are tightly controlled, and even carrying a kitchen knife can bring prison time, some thugs use dogs to menace their victims. Now, the British government is proposing that dog owners be forced to have microchips embedded and take out insurance for their pets. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041531-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml PARIS -- Is the Middle East about to go officially nuclear? Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10069/1041536-454.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml PHILADELPHIA --She has an American passport, so Colleen R. LaRose of Montgomery County, who called herself "JihadJane" online, decided that she was an ideal candidate to carry out a terrorist attack in Sweden, federal prosecutors alleged Tuesday. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041241-455.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml For most of their 18-year-old daughter Hannah's life, Russell and Robalee Bruesewitz have been engaged in legal battle over compensation for her seizure disorder, which they believe was caused by a vaccine. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 06:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041223-455.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. -- Police investigators Monday said they are arranging to interview Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger about sexual assault allegations lodged against him by a young woman, and that they will seek a DNA sample. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 03:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041335-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Leading Congressional Republicans are arguing that getting tough on terrorism means trying all foreign terrorism suspects before military commissions. But national security officials who served in the Bush administration say that taking away the criminal justice option would weaken the government's hand. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041336-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml BOSTON -- Days after President John F. Kennedy was killed, Dr. Ira Seiler sat at his desk and wrote a letter of condolence to his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041337-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether the father of a Marine killed in Iraq may sue protesters who picketed his son's funeral with signs that read "God Hates You" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers." Tue, 9 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041338-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml SALT LAKE CITY -- Every person's life is a mix of the things revealed and unrevealed, secrets spilled or kept. Ted Gardiner, who committed suicide last week, was no exception. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041342-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml BERLIN -- To get Berliners arguing, bring up the new $3.4 billion airport rising just beyond the limits of this hip but economically strapped metropolis. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041225-28.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml Women of all races bring home less income and own fewer assets, on average, than men of the same race, but for single black women the disparities are so overwhelmingly great that even in their prime working years their median wealth amounts to only $5. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041273-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml KABUL -- The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan pledged Monday to retake the symbolic Taliban home ground of Kandahar in a campaign that builds on early signs of progress from the huge infusion of American and foreign forces. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041275-114.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml GLENSIDE, Pa. -- President Barack Obama began an important political week for his health care legislation with a passionate argument for its urgency Monday at Arcadia University in Glenside, blasting the insurance industry for skyrocketing premiums, canceled coverage -- and suffering Americans. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041276-407.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- Millions of Americans have been forced to rely on unemployment payments for extended periods as the nation struggles through its longest high joblessness period in a generation, and critics are taking aim, saying the Depression-era program created as a temporary bridge for laid-off workers is turning into an expensive entitlement. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041277-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml JERUSALEM -- Israel and the Palestinians agreed Monday to resume indirect peace negotiations mediated by the United States, said President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041279-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml LAGOS, Nigeria -- The victims of Sunday's sectarian massacres in central Nigeria were buried in mass graves Monday, as survivors told horrific stories of Christian villagers being trapped in nets and hacked to death by Muslim herdsmen. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041280-84.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide the outer limits of free-speech protection for protests and to rule on whether a dead soldier's family can sue fringe religious protesters who picketed near their son's funeral, carrying signs that read: "Thank God for dead soldiers." Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041281-147.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Monday nominated a new head of the Transportation Security Administration, a retired Army general and intelligence expert who would oversee the nation's airline passenger screening system. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041284-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml LAHORE, Pakistan -- A suicide car bombing at a building that houses terrorism investigations in Lahore killed at least 13 people and wounded 80 others Monday, the first terrorist strike to hit a major city in the country's heartland this year. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041286-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml OKCULAR, Turkey -- Hundreds of earthquake survivors in eastern Turkey huddled in aid tents and around bonfires Monday, seeking relief from the winter cold after a strong temblor knocked down stone and mud-brick houses in five villages, killing 51 people. Tue, 9 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500