NATIONAL AND WORLD NEWS DIGEST: Some drilling allowed to resume

Some drilling allowed to resume

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration said Monday it will allow 13 companies to resume deepwater drilling without any additional environmental scrutiny, just months after saying it would require strict reviews for new drilling in the wake of the BP oil spill. The government said it was not breaking its promise to require environmental reviews because the 13 companies — which include Chevron USA Inc. and Shell Offshore Inc. — had already started drilling the wells without detailed environmental studies.

Brown returns as Calif. governor

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Democrat Jerry Brown was sworn in Monday as California’s 39th governor, returning to the office he left 28 years ago but inheriting a much different and more-troubled state than the one he led then. The man who once was California’s most-famous bachelor took the oath of office after being introduced by his wife of five years, former Gap Inc. executive Anne Gust Brown, inside Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.

Iran invites nations to nuclear sites

VIENNA

Iran has invited Russia, China, the European Union and its allies among the Arab and developing world to tour its nuclear sites, in an apparent move to gain support ahead of a new round of talks with six world powers. In a letter made available Monday to The Associated Press, senior Iranian envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh suggests the weekend of Jan. 15 and 16 for the tour and says that meetings “with high-ranking officials” are envisaged.

Military expert’s body found dumped

DOVER, Del.

The body of a military expert who served in three Republican administrations was found dumped in a landfill over the New Year’s weekend, and investigators said Monday they do not know who might have killed him. Authorities say John Wheeler III, 66, was scheduled to be on an Amtrak train from Washington to Wilmington on Dec. 28. Police say it’s now not clear if he ever made that trip. His body was found three days later, on New Year’s Eve, as a garbage truck emptied its contents at the Cherry Island landfill. His death has been ruled a homicide.

Thieves tunnel into Argentine bank

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina

Thieves dug a 100-foot-long ventilated and lit tunnel from a neighboring building into an Argentine bank and emptied the contents of up to 140 safety-deposit boxes, officials said Monday.

Authorities said three thieves entered a Banco Provincia branch in the Buenos Aires district of Belgrano on New Year’s Eve when it was closed and spent the weekend opening and emptying between 130 and 140 of the branch’s 1,408 boxes. The robbery wasn’t discovered until the bank opened Monday.

Bank executives didn’t say how much the thieves got away with because clients are not obliged to tell authorities what was in their safety-deposit boxes.

Pakistan PM tries to avert collapse

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s prime minister tried Monday to keep his ruling coalition in power after a key party said it was defecting to the opposition, leaving the government without majority support in parliament.

The loss of the second-largest party in the coalition creates new political turmoil that could provide another excuse to put off a military offensive against Taliban and al-Qaida militants — something the U.S. has been pushing its allies in the Pakistani government to do.

Associated Press