Helping the poor and boosting the U.S. image
NORTENO, Panama — Dressed in sweaty surgical scrubs and grappling with a screaming 6-year-old girl as he pulled her abscessed tooth, dentist Jason Vogt didn’t look the part of a diplomat.
Democrats slowed in effort to cut Medicare’s managed care programs
WASHINGTON — Deep cuts in Medicare’s managed care programs seemed a sure bet last winter when Democrats, not exactly fans of health maintenance organizations, began to seek money to expand health coverage for poor children.
Cities fight homelessness with apartments instead of shelters
NORFOLK, Va. — Andrew Adams hated one soup kitchen because he believed the workers deprived him of food. He stopped staying at a homeless shelter because he was convinced the people who ran it were plotting to evict him.
Bush argues Democrats owe fighting men and women a vote for Iraq war funding
WASHINGTON — President Bush, prodding Congress to extend the Iraq war without calling troops home, said Monday that Democratic leaders owe it to veterans and their families to pass the war-spending bill he wants.
Wall Street Journal wins 2 Pulitzers; AP wins 1
NEW YORK — The Wall Street Journal won two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday for exposing excesses of capitalism — in America and in communist China. The Associated Press captured one for what the judges called a “powerful photograph” of a lone Jewish woman defying Israeli security forces.
Gunman kills 32 at Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students.
Around the globe: Northeast battered by record rains, flooding
NEW YORK — A menacing spring storm punished the Northeast for a second straight day Monday, dumping more than 8 inches of rain on Central Park and sending refrigerators and pickup trucks floating down rivers in one of the region’s worst storms in recent memory.
In Israel and at former Nazi death camps, millions pay respect to Holocaust victims
JERUSALEM — Sirens sounded across Israel Monday morning, bringing life to a standstill as millions of Israelis observed a moment of silence to honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
Followers of radical cleric quit Iraq’s Cabinet, raising fears his militia will confront U.S.
BAGHDAD — Cabinet ministers loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr quit the government Monday, severing the powerful Shiite religious leader from the U.S.-backed prime minister and raising fears al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia might again confront American troops.
Sudan’s government agrees to allow first U.N. peacekeepers and attack helicopters into Darfur
UNITED NATIONS — Sudan agreed Monday to let 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers deploy in Darfur with attack helicopters, opening the door to the first significant U.N. force to help beleaguered African Union soldiers who have been unable to halt the region’s four-year war.
Gasoline prices rise to national average of $2.876 per gallon
NEW YORK — The national average price for gasoline rose for the 11th straight week, according to a government report released Monday.
Mortgage defaults in California hit highest level for quarter in years
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage defaults in California increased on an annual basis in the first quarter to the highest level in nearly a decade, a spike fueled largely by people who bought a home or took out an equity loan in the past two years, a real estate research firm said Monday.
Alleged ’sleeper agent’ sent by Saddam Hussein convicted in Chicago
CHICAGO — An alleged Iraqi “sleeper agent” sent by Saddam Hussein to spy on dissidents in the United States was convicted Monday of lying about his ties to the former Baghdad regime.
New focus on asthma control to help patients breathe easier
WASHINGTON — Only one in five children with asthma has the disease under good control, sobering findings that are helping to fuel a shift in care.
Lender pays $2.5 million in student loan probe
ALBANY, N.Y. — A third lending company agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement in an expanding probe of the student loan industry, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday, as he announced that 13 additional lenders have been hit with subpoenas or letters from his office.
Palmdale school name suggestions include Oprah, Clinton, Batman
LANCASTER — The public came up with a wide range of suggestions for three new schools in Palmdale, including Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Oprah Winfrey and the caped-crusader Batman.
Gunman in Virginia Tech massacre had raised concerns with his disturbing writings
6 p.m. BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The gunman in the Virginia Tech massacre was a sullen loner who alarmed professors and classmates with his twisted, violence-drenched creative writing and left a rambling note raging against women and rich kids.
Democrats must decide how far to go to challenge Bush on war, post-veto plans
6 p.m. WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats say there is no doubt President Bush will soon be confronted with legislation calling for an end to the Iraq war.
Cross-border collaboration landing US suspects in Mexican courts
SAN FRANCISCO — Criminals have long fled across borders to escape prosecution, but growing cross-border collaboration between California and Mexico is landing more of these fugitives in court in their native country.
