Nation briefs 9/26

Research discoveries earn Lasker awards

NEW YORK -- A researcher who turned cataract surgery into a brief outpatient procedure and three scientists who illuminated how some hormones and vitamins act on the body's cells have won prestigious medical awards. The $50,000 prizes, from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, will be presented Friday in New York. The award for clinical research will be given posthumously to Dr. Charles Kelman, who made cataract removal an outpatient procedure. Previously, cataract operations were risky ordeals that required more than a week of hospitalization with the patient's head immobilized by sand bags.

Court-martial set for England in abuse scandal

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Army Pfc. Lynndie England, who has come to symbolize the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, will face a court-martial, one of her attorneys said. The Army will announce the court-martial on Monday, defense attorney Rhidian Orr said Friday. England, 21, is one of seven members of the 372nd Military Police Company of Cresaptown, Md., charged with the abuse that occurred last year at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

House Democrats decry 'partisan' GOP intel bill

WASHINGTON -- Some lawmakers are opposing a new intelligence bill, complaining that Republicans refused to craft a balanced bill that would represent both viewpoints. "Instead of acting in a bipartisan manner, the Republican leadership is introducing a bill, written behind closed doors, that attempts to score partisan points and goes far outside the recommendations of the 9-11 commission," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

-- From wire reports