hPope ordains 21 priests

hPope ordains 21 priests
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI ordained 21 new priests for Rome on Sunday, but with the number of recruits for the clergy falling in western Europe, many of the men he ordained in St. Peter's Basilica came from Latin America and Africa. Before the 21 men came forward individually to kneel before Benedict and put their hands into his as they pledged loyalty to him, the pontiff delivered a homily that sounded like a pep talk. "All of us are part of the network of obedience to the word of Christ," Benedict said.
Rebellion stalls rebuilding from tsunami
DEAH GEULUMPANG, Indonesia -- Political squabbling, donor demands and government indecision have stalled the building of roads, water treatment plants and nearly 180,000 homes for survivors of last December's tsunami. Aid agencies, which plan to spend more than $7 billion on tsunami relief across the Indian Ocean basin, have put massive building projects on hold while waiting for Indonesian authorities to come up with a solid plan. Only now, nearly five months later, are concrete reconstruction agreements being signed.
Both sides predict to be winner in filibuster fight
WASHINGTON -- Amid talk of a possible compromise, the Senate's second-most powerful Republican and Democrat each claimed on Sunday to have enough support for their side's position as the hamber neared a showdown over the minority party's right to block a president's judicial nominees. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., intends this week to call up for a vote the first of the blocked nominees -- Texas judge Priscilla Owen and California judge Janice Rogers Brown. Bush nominated both for federal judgeships during his first term, but they and five others were blocked by Democrats. Should Democrats move this week to block either Brown or Owen, and Republicans fail to break the filibuster, Frist then would call for the Senate to vote on whether to ban use of filibusters against judicial nominees.
Seat belt use declines among those in pickups
WASHINGTON -- People who ride in pickup trucks use seat belts less often than passengers in cars, and the consequences are deadlier: A higher percentage of people killed in pickup truck crashes didn't buckle up compared to those in passenger cars, the government reported today. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released those statistics to open the national "Click It or Ticket" campaign, which is used to enforce seat-belt laws nationwide using police checkpoints and patrols. The two-week campaign runs from May 23 through June 5. The agency says more than 80 percent of the people in passenger cars buckled up in 2003, compared to 70 percent of those in pickup trucks. But the numbers were more stark in terms of fatalities: 70 percent of those killed in pickup truck crashes in 2003 did not wear safety belts, compared to 50 percent of the fatalities in cars. "While overall safety belt use is at an all-time high of 80 percent, 6,000 more lives could be saved each year if everyone buckled up," said Jeffrey Runge, administrator of the traffic safety agency. To spread the message, the Transportation Department was spending more than $26 million on advertising to alert those who ride in pickup trucks about the importance of wearing a safety belt.
The Associated Press