U.S. & WORLD NEWS DIGEST | Judge: Health law is unconstitutional

Judge: Health law is unconstitutional

PENSACOLA, Fla.

A federal judge in Florida ruled Monday that President Barack Obama’s entire health-care overhaul law is unconstitutional, placing even noncontroversial provisions under a cloud in a broad challenge that seems certain to be resolved only by the Supreme Court.

Faced with a major legal setback, the White House called the ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson — in a challenge to the law by 26 of the nation’s 50 states — “a plain case of judicial overreaching.” That echoed language the judge had used to describe the law as an example of Congress’ overstepping its authority.

The Florida judge’s ruling produced an even split in federal-court decisions so far on the health-care law, mirroring enduring divisions among the public. Two judges previously had upheld the law, both Democratic appointees. A Republican appointee in Virginia had ruled against it.

World’s oldest woman dies at 114

JACKSONVILLE, Texas

A Texas woman cited as the world’s oldest person has died at age 114.

Patricia Ellis of Boren-Conner Funeral Home of Jacksonville says Eunice G. Sanborn of Jacksonville died Monday morning at her home.

The Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group in Los Angeles listed Sanborn as the world’s oldest person, based on data from the 1900 census. Robert Young of the group said the title now passes to 114-year-old Besse Cooper of Monroe, Ga., who is 114 years and 5 months old.

Australians brace for strong cyclone

SYDNEY

A strong tropical cyclone roaring toward Australia’s flood-ravaged northeast likely will cause powerful and deadly flash-flooding, officials warned today, as residents braced for what’s predicted to be one of the fiercest storms the region ever has seen. Cyclone Yasi was barreling toward the Queensland state coast as a strong Category 3 storm today with winds up to 137 mph. It was expected to hit the coast Wednesday as a violent Category 4 storm with wind gusts up to 155 mph, dumping up to 3 feet of rain on communities already saturated from months of flooding.

Napolitano: Border towns are safe

EL PASO, Texas

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday that U.S. communities on the border with Mexico are safer than most Americans believe, but she also warned Mexican drug cartels they’ll be “met by an overwhelming response” should they move north. Napolitano told an audience at the University of Texas at El Paso — just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez and the unprecedented wave of drug-fueled violence engulfing it — that it’s “inaccurate to state, as too many have, that the border is overrun with violence and out of control.”

Hundreds protest against Putin

MOSCOW

About 500 people demonstrated in a central Moscow square Monday to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his “rule of thieves.”

The rally took place peacefully, but police detained a separate group of 20 opposition activists nearby. About 60 protesters also were detained in St. Petersburg, one of a number of other cities where demonstrations took place.

Prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was arrested and jailed for 15 days after a similar demonstration a month ago, kept up his assault on Russia’s longtime leader as he addressed the protesters on Moscow’s Triumph Square.

Associated Press