LINCOLN, Neb. — Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals. The law, approved hours earlier by the Legislature in a 45-3 vote, goes into effect today, and makes Nebraska the 14th state with a 30-day age cap. It had been the only state with a safe-haven law without an age limit. "I think this solves the immediate problem of adolescents being abandoned," said state Sen. Kent Rogert. "These kids are old enough to know they’re being dropped off, and that’s not good."
D.C.: Mukasey goes back to work
With briefcase in hand and a smile on his face, Attorney General Michael Mukasey returned to work Friday after collapsing during a speech the night before and spurring a 14-hour scare about his health. A Justice Department spokeswoman blamed the 67-year-old’s dramatic and public fall on a fainting spell. Determined to prove his fitness, Mukasey checked out of George Washington University Hospital shortly after noon, saying he felt "excellent." Arriving at the Justice Department a few minutes later, Mukasey climbed out of his van unassisted and showing no sign of pain.
Obamas select school for girls
President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have chosen Sidwell Friends School for their two daughters, opting for a private institution that another White House child, Chelsea Clinton, attended a decade ago. "A number of great schools were considered," a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama said. "In the end, the Obamas selected the school that was the best fit for what their daughters need right now." Sidwell is a private Quaker school with a campus in northwest Washington for grades 5-12 and another in suburban Bethesda, Md., for kindergarten through fourth grade.
Verizon fires Obama-cell peepers
Verizon Wireless on Friday fired an unspecified number of employees it said had looked at President-elect Barack Obama’s old cell phone records without permission. The firings ended an internal investigation into the matter. Verizon Wireless earlier had disclosed the privacy breach and apologized to Obama. Obama aides had said no voice mails or e-mails were reviewed. Obama had been using a simple voice flip-phone without e-mail capabilities.
New York: Democracy for Libya
Libya wants to open a new chapter in relations with the United States by tapping into a major government fund to invest in U.S. companies and sending thousands of students to study in America, the son of Libya’s leader said in New York on Friday. Seif al-Islam Gadhafi also outlined plans for Libya to move from the one-man rule of his father, Moammar Gadhafi, to a constitutional democracy as part of the country’s modernization process. The younger Gadhafi said he expects a constitution providing for democratic elections to be adopted by September 2009.
California: Espionage sentences
Two engineers from China were sentenced to a year in prison Friday for stealing computer chip designs from their Silicon Valley employers and trying to smuggle the secrets to their homeland to launch a government-backed startup there. Fei Ye, a U.S. citizen, and Ming Zhong, a permanent resident of the U.S., had pleaded guilty in 2006, becoming the first people convicted of the most serious crime under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. They were accused of trying to benefit China with their stolen chip designs, though prosecutors did not allege that the Chinese government knew of their illegal activities.
South Carolina: Bob Jones apology
Bob Jones University has apologized for racist policies including a one-time ban on interracial dating that wasn’t lifted until nine years ago and its unwillingness to admit black students until 1971. The private fundamentalist Christian school that was founded in 1927 said its rules on race were shaped by culture instead of the Bible, according to a statement posted Thursday on its Web site. "We failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry," the statement said.
Florida: Suicide live on webcam
A 19-year-old Broward College student committed suicide by taking a drug overdose in front of a live webcam as some computer users egged him on, others tried to talk him out of it, and another messaged "OMG" in horror as it became clear it was no joke. Some watchers contacted the Web site to notify police, but by the time officers entered Abraham Biggs’ home — a scene also captured on the Internet — it was too late. Biggs suffered from what his family said was bipolar disorder, or manic depression.
Malaysia: No yoga for Muslims
Malaysia’s top Islamic body has ruled against Muslims practicing yoga. In its nonbinding edict, Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council says yoga has elements of Hindu religion that could corrupt Muslims. Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin said yoga involves not just physical exercise but also includes spiritual elements. Though the council’s decisions are not legally binding on Malaysia’s Muslim population, many nevertheless abide by the rulings.
From Herald news services
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