New ‘superbug’ found in 3 states

New ‘superbug’ found in 3 states

BOSTON

An infectious-disease nightmare is unfolding: Bacteria that have been made resistant to nearly all antibiotics by an alarming new gene have sickened people in California, Illinois and Massachusetts and are popping up all over the world, health officials reported Monday.

The three U.S. cases and two in Canada all involve people who recently had received medical care in India. A British medical journal revealed the risk last month in an article describing dozens of cases in Britain in people who had gone to India for medical procedures.

2 homes lost in 2nd Colorado wildfire

LOVELAND, Colo.

Firefighters worked Monday to control a 900-acre wildfire that destroyed at least two homes in the northern Colorado foothills as authorities said the blaze and another one that burned at least 166 homes were sparked by household fires.

Crews were hopeful they could stop the newest fire near Loveland from damaging more houses. They attacked it quickly with aircraft and hundreds of firefighters brought in to fight the week-old wildfire near Boulder.

Obama to students: Focus on learning

WASHINGTON

In a pep talk to the nation’s students as they settle back into school, President Barack Obama will tell them that nothing is beyond their reach as long as they’re willing to dream big, work hard and stay focused on learning.

Obama will deliver that message today during his second back-to-school address, this time from a Philadelphia school.

Cuba to cut 500,000 government jobs

HAVANA

Cuba announced Monday it will cast off at least half a million state workers by early next year and reduce restrictions on private enterprise to help them find new jobs — the most-dramatic step yet in President Raul Castro’s push to radically remake employment on the communist-run island.

Cuba’s official work force is 5.1 million — meaning nearly 10 percent of all employees soon could be out of a government job.

Workers caught off guard by the announcement said they worried whether the tiny private sector could support so many new jobs, a sentiment echoed by some analysts.

3rd Iranian envoy defects in Europe

HELSINKI

A third Iranian diplomat upset with Tehran’s post-election crackdown on dissidents has defected in Europe — this time in Belgium, an opposition group said Monday. The announcement came just hours after the No. 2 man at Iran’s mission in Helsinki said he will seek asylum in Finland.

The defections are an embarrassment for Iran, which clamped down on citizens after last year’s presidential election was followed by large-scale protests and accusations that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by fraud. Numerous Iranians have been arrested in a continuing crackdown.

Women surpass men in doctoral degrees

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.

Women were awarded more doctorates than men for the first time last year, according to a study released Monday by the Council of Graduate Schools.

The achievement — women received 50.4 percent of the doctorates in the U.S. in 2008-09 — means women dominate every level of higher education from bachelor’s degrees to doctorates. Women have earned more bachelor’s and master’s degrees than men since the 1980s, said Nathan Bell, the report’s author and the council’s director of research and policy analysis.

Combined dispatches