Senate Dems work to pass budget

Senate Dems work to pass budget

WASHINGTON

Senate Democrats neared approval of their first budget proposal in four years Friday, calling for almost $1 trillion in tax increases over the coming decade while sheltering safety- net programs targeted by House Republicans. The Democrats also would reverse automatic spending cuts that are beginning to strike both the Pentagon and domestic programs.

The nonbinding but politically symbolic measure caters to party stalwarts on the liberal edge of the spectrum just as the House GOP measure is crafted to appeal to more-recent tea-party arrivals.

Approval of the Senate version was expected to come long after dark — after dozens of votes on amendments.

Abortion vote set

North Dakota lawmakers on Friday approved a state referendum for this fall on a constitutional amendment that, if passed, effectively would block abortion by holding that life begins at conception.

In a 57-35 vote, the House followed the Senate’s action and approved the referendum, which will go before voters on the November ballot. Groups backing abortion rights said they will fight the referendum and, if needed, in the courts as well.

Feds, district reach deal on punishment

JACKSON, Miss.

The U.S. Justice Department said Friday that it has reached a deal with a Mississippi school district to end discriminatory disciplinary practices in which black students face harsher punishment than whites for similar misbehavior.

The agreement comes after a lengthy federal investigation that found that black public-school students in Meridian are five times more likely than whites to be suspended from classes and often got longer suspensions for comparable misbehavior.

Lebanon PM resigns

BEIRUT

Lebanon’s prime minister resigned Friday because of an impasse over a new election law and the Cabinet’s refusal to extend the tenure of the country’s police chief.

Najib Mikati’s resignation comes at a time of rising tensions and sporadic violence in Lebanon largely linked to the civil war next door in Syria. Lebanon and Syria share a complex network of political and sectarian ties that often are inflamed, and many fear that the war in Syria will bring violence to Lebanon.

Nitrous-oxide raids

LOS ANGELES

Hundreds of law- enforcement officers Friday raided Southern California auto-parts shops and other businesses suspected of illegally selling nitrous oxide for use as a recreational drug, in what federal authorities said was the nation’s largest such raid to date.

Authorities served search warrants on 17 businesses and nine delivery vehicles during the simultaneous raids in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, and three people were arrested on misdemeanor charges of misbranding a drug. A fourth person named in a federal warrant was being sought by authorities.

Kidney-trafficking case in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo

A European Union prosecutor has filed more charges against seven Kosovars on trial over an illegal kidney- trafficking scheme, while alleging that the key suspects consulted with top government officials on plans to perform the transplants.

The case is one of the most prominent organ-trafficking scandals to hit the Balkans in recent years, and the amended indictment marks the first time that the prosecution alleges a link between the suspects in the transplant ring and high-ranking Kosovo officials.

Combined dispatches