Nation & World Digest

Karzai lashes out at UN, foreign nations

KABUL

President Hamid Karzai lashed out at the U.N. and international community Thursday, accusing them of interfering in last year’s fraud-tarnished presidential election and seeking to weaken his authority after parliament rejected his bid to expand his control over the country’s electoral institutions.

Karzai did not mention the United States specifically, but his harsh words — and his practice of blaming foreigners for the nation’s problems — reflect his increasingly difficult relations with Washington and its international allies.

Obama promises flood aid to RI

BOSTON

President Barack Obama on Thursday promised Rhode Island’s governor that the federal government will help the state clean up the damage caused by devastating floods, the governor’s office said.

Obama called Gov. Don Carcieri during the president’s trip to New England, and the two spoke for about five minutes, said Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for Carcieri.

During a daylong trip to New England built around a health-care speech and two Democratic fundraisers, Obama stopped at the state emergency-management headquarters in Framingham, Mass., for a briefing on recovery efforts in that state.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and a top FEMA official will be visiting Rhode Island today on behalf of the administration.

India begins census of 1B-plus citizens

NEW DELHI

India began a yearlong census of its billion-plus population Thursday in which it plans to photograph and fingerprint every citizen over age 15 to create a national database and then issue its first national identity cards.

About 2.5 million census-takers began traveling across more than 630,000 villages and 5,000 cities in an effort to visit every structure serving as a home, from tin shanties to skyscrapers, in what the government calls the world’s largest administrative exercise.

Jobless claims fall

WASHINGTON

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the recovering economy moves closer to generating more jobs.

The Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless-benefit claims dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 439,000, nearly matching analysts’ estimates. It’s the fourth drop in five weeks.

New gas-mileage standards set

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration set tougher gas-mileage standards for new cars and trucks Thursday, spurring the next generation of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines and electric cars.

Each auto company will have a different target for fuel-efficiency, based on its mix of vehicles. Automakers that build more small cars will have a higher target than car companies that manufacture a broad range of cars and trucks.

Ohio official: Fewer death terms is trend

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s attorney general says the low number of death sentences being handed down in the state is a trend that’s likely here to stay.

Attorney General Richard Cordray says it appears judges, juries and prosecutors are increasingly comfortable with the growing use of life without the possibility of parole.

Cordray also notes what he calls the odd conjunction of fewer death sentences but increasing executions, with about one per month being carried out.

Associated Press