Murder rate reaches 10-year high in Boston

BOSTON -- The execution-style slayings of four young men in a basement music studio this week cast a spotlight on a crime wave that has pushed murder in Boston to a 10-year high. While the murder rate nationally has dropped over the past decade, some cities -- such as Boston and Philadelphia -- are seeing it spike. In Boston, the number of slayings has more than doubled in the past several years, climbing from 31 in 1999 to 71 so far this year. Criminologists blame the increase in part on a decrease in funding for neighborhood policing because of the war on terrorism; a demographic bubble of teenagers and young adults; and the scaling back since the late 1990s of after-school and anti-gang programs. In some cities, murders continue to drop. New York, which has seen its murder rate plummet to levels seen during the 1960s, had 508 killings through Dec. 11, a drop of about 6 percent from last year.

2005 proves to be record year for seat belt use

WASHINGTON -- Motorists in Hawaii, Washington state and Nevada had the nation's highest rates of clicking their seat belts in 2005, a record year for seat belt use nationwide. Thirty-four states increased their seat belt use this year, the government said Friday. The federal traffic safety agency had said in September that seat belt use overall was a record 82 percent in 2005. Hawaii led the nation with 95.3 percent. Puerto Rico and seven other states -- Arizona, California, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state -- scored rates of 90 percent or better. Mississippi had the lowest rate with slightly better than 60 percent.

House moves to shut down illegal immigration

WASHINGTON -- The House continued to struggle Friday over how best to shut down illegal immigration, approving the construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border but putting off debate on an explosive proposal to deny citizenship to babies born in this country to illegal immigrants. The legislation on strengthening border controls and cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants headed for a vote Friday after the House Rules Committee, which determines allowable amendments, rejected the birthright amendment. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., had proposed that, within the bounds of the 14th Amendment, birthright citizenship be granted only to children of U.S. citizens and permanent legal aliens. Late Thursday, the House passed a measure calling for construction of a fence in parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The fencing would total 700 miles.

Anonymous gift-giver leaves ring for stranger

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. -- An anonymous gift-giver, apparently depressed over a lost love, is believed to have left a $15,000 engagement ring in someone else's unlocked car. The ring came in a box topped with a white bow and accompanied by a note, which read: "Merry Christmas. Thank you for leaving your car door unlocked. Instead of stealing your car I gave you a present. Hopefully this will land in the hands of someone you love, for my love is gone now. Merry Christmas to you." A 37-year-old man said he found the three-diamond, white-gold ring on the seat of his car, which he had parked at a train station on Dec. 7, The MetroWest Daily News of Framingham reported Thursday. Police declined to identify the man. A police report said he had decided to keep the ring.

Former graduate student convicted of murder

CLEVELAND -- A former graduate student who killed one person and wounded two others in a seven-hour shooting rampage at Case Western Reserve University in 2003 was convicted Friday of murder and nearly 200 other charges. Biswanath Halder, 65, could be sentenced to death. The jury will return on Jan. 17 to begin hearing evidence in the penalty phase. Halder's 196 convictions include murder, attempted murder, aggravated burglary and kidnapping.

NSA reportedly spied on Americans after Sept. 11

WASHINGTON -- Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter put the Bush administration on notice Friday that his panel would hold hearings into a report that the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States. "There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Specter, R-Pa., calling hearings early next year "a very, very high priority." He wasn't alone in reacting harshly to the report. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the story, first reported in Friday's New York Times, was troubling. Neither Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice nor White House press secretary Scott McClellan would confirm or deny the report that said the super-secret NSA had spied on as many as 500 people at any given time since 2002 in this country. That year, following the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush authorized the NSA to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of people inside the United States, the Times reported. Administration officials reacted to the report by asserting that the president has respected the Constitution while striving to protect the American people.

-- From wire reports