World briefs 3/3/09

Obama nominates Sebelius to Cabinet

WASHINGTON — President Obama turned to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Monday to help him overhaul a healthpcare system whose cost has risen four times as fast as people's wages in recent years. "Health-care reform that reduces costs while expanding coverage is no longer just a dream we hope to achieve; it's a necessity we have to achieve," Obama said as he introduced Sebelius as his choice to be secretary of health and human services and Nancy-Ann DeParle, a health policy figure during the Clinton administration, to head the White House Office for Health Reform.

One dead, one injured in Wal-Mart shooting

SHOW LOW, Ariz. — A shooting outside a Wal-Mart in eastern Arizona has left an elderly woman dead and an elderly man critically wounded. Show Low police supervisor Randy Harris said the victims, likely a couple, were in the parking lot Monday morning when the shooting happened. Show Low is about 125 miles northeast of Phoenix. The male victim underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition Monday. Harris said police are following up with witnesses about a potential suspect. Some of the victims' personal items were missing. But Harris said authorities are not sure that robbery was the motive.

Police find baby's body in woman's home

COLUMBIA, Ill. — Authorities investigating a Southern Illinois woman accused of trying to drown her baby in a toilet have found the remains of another infant at her home. Twenty-three-year-old Elyse Mamino was arrested last week on charges that she tried to drown her newborn last year. That child is now in state custody. Belleville police Capt. Don Sax said authorities were searching her home when they found another infant's remains. Those remains date back more than a year and no charges have been filed in that case. It was not clear whether Mamino has an attorney. Police said that in November, Mamino gave birth at a house southwest of Belleville in Columbia. Someone called 911 to report it and emergency workers saved the child.

Navy hands over nine suspected pirates

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The U.S. Navy handed over nine suspected pirates to authorities in northern Somalia after determining there was not enough evidence to put them on trial, an American serviceman said Monday. Lt. Nate Christensen of the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet said the men had been detained Feb. 12 after being found in the vicinity of an Indian merchant ship that pirates had unsuccessfully attacked off the lawless Somali coast. "The U.S. Navy evaluated the situation and determined there was insufficient evidence to support their prosecution" by the U.S., Christensen said.

Report: Monks protest New Year prayer ban

BEIJING — Defiant Buddhist monks banned from marking a key Tibetan New Year prayer festival marched in protest in China's southwest, rights groups and officials said. It was the latest resistance to Chinese rule ahead of sensitive anniversaries in Tibet. Tensions are high over harsh security measures set up before the new year, which began Wednesday. The Monlam prayer festival started on Saturday and ends on March 11th. The usually merry atmosphere has been largely subdued since the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, said celebrations would be "inappropriate" after deadly anti-government riots in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, last March led to a crackdown on protesters in Lhasa and Tibetan communities throughout the region.

— From wire reports