Nation briefs 2/26/06

Bush seeks nuclear deal, economic ties with India

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will try to seal an elusive nuclear deal when he visits India this week but also will seek new footing with a burgeoning economic power feared by some Americans and embraced by others. With a stop in Pakistan, Bush joins Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon and Clinton as the only U.S. chief executives to visit both countries. India, with more than 1 billion people, is the world's largest democracy. Some in the U.S. perceive India as a threat to their jobs and are wary of the country's cheap labor markets. The Bush administration says U.S. jobs will be created if American companies stay competitive in the global economy.

Weather postpones some Mardi Gras parades

NEW ORLEANS -- A healthy crowd lined St. Charles Avenue on Saturday for two of the day's Mardi Gras parades, but a threat of showers postponed one of the city's biggest and glitziest processions on the last big weekend of Carnival. Before Katrina, dozens of parades staged by private clubs, called krewes, were held for nearly two weeks leading up to Mardi Gras. This year's parade schedule has been abbreviated and the routes consolidated. Still, tourism officials and merchants hope this year's event will gin up an economy reeling since Katrina hit on Aug. 29, flooding 80 percent of the city and dispersing more than two thirds of the population.

Mistrial for Texas woman accused in baby's death

McKINNEY, Texas -- A judge declared a mistrial Saturday in the murder trial of a woman accused of fatally cutting the arms off her 10-month-old daughter. Jurors deadlocked during the fourth day of deliberations in the case of Dena Schlosser, 37, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Police arrested Schlosser in November 2004 after finding her baby dying in her crib, and Schlosser covered in blood, holding a knife and listening to a hymn. The prosecution argued that she knew what she was doing, emphasizing several witnesses' observations of Schlosser as a healthy, seemingly sane mother.

-- From wire reports