Nation briefs 3/24/06

Rice appeals to Afghan president for convert

WASHINGTON -- In an unusual move, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned President Hamid Karzai on Thursday seeking a "favorable resolution" of the case of Abdul Rahman. The 41-year-old former medical aid worker faces the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for becoming a Christian. Meanwhile, senior Muslim clerics demanded Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity be executed, warning that if the government caves in to Western pressure and frees him, they will incite people to "pull him into pieces."

College Board faces criticism on SAT errors

The revelation of more scoring errors on last October's SAT exam has the College Board, the test's owner, under heavy criticism even from admissions officers -- a group that relies on the SAT and typically supports it. The SAT could also face legislative scrutiny: A New York state lawmaker said Thursday he plans to hold hearings about the scoring problem next month. Altogether, out of 495,000 tests, 4,411 students were given incorrectly low scores. One test was off by as much as 450 points on the 2,400-point exam, though the vast majority were off 100 points or less. More than 600 students got incorrectly high scores, but those will not be changed.

Three bodies found near Tenn. power plant

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- A man wanted on rape charges committed suicide Thursday morning after his car was approached by police, and his two young daughters were found dead in the back seat, authorities said. Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman John Moulton said investigators were calling it an apparent murder-suicide. A police officer patrolling a parking lot at the Bull Run fossil plant near Oak Ridge discovered Richard A. Howard, 32, in his car, dead from a gunshot wound. In the back of the vehicle, were the bodies of Howard's daughters Brionna, 3, and Markayla, 2. A suicide note and a handgun were also in the car. Authorities would not say when or how the girls were killed.

-- From wire reports