Nation in brief

Senator will hold up Medicare confirmation

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota said Tuesday he will block Senate confirmation of President Bush's choice to run Medicare until the nominee answers questions about importation of drugs from Canada.

Mark McClellan, whose nomination was approved Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee, wants to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

But Monday, he refused a request from Dorgan, Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Debbie Stabenow of Michigan to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee.

The senators want to ask questions about McClellan's opposition to importing prescription drugs from Canada. But McClellan said he wouldn't answer questions before taking over the government health program.

A single senator can block a nomination from moving forward by placing a hold on it.

Also Tuesday, James Firman, president of the National Council on Aging, said the Medicare drug discount card will be complicated, but could offer seniors significant savings on their prescriptions.

"It's going to be complicated, but the savings are there if people can navigate through," he said at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II Tuesday chose Mary Ann Glendon, a female law professor at Harvard University and a bioethics expert, to head the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. She assumes the highest Vatican advisory post held by a woman.

The appointment of Glendon, who belongs to the U.S. Presidential Council on Bioethics, apparently fulfills a drive by the pontiff to raise the profile of women in church affairs. On March 4, the Vatican issued a statement at the United Nations asserting that women were "especially gifted" in rising above self-interest.

MADISON, Wis. - Police shot and killed a man Tuesday after he walked into a downtown day care center and attacked a worker with a knife.

The man entered the Red Caboose Day Care Center about 9 a.m. and got into a fight with a worker. Police arrived within minutes and confronted him.

No children were hurt, but the day care worker suffered multiple cuts and was taken to a hospital. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.

DEATH TOLL FROM WATER TAXI RISES: A second person has died as a result of the weekend capsizing of a water taxi in Baltimore Harbor, while recovery crews continue to search for the bodies of three missing people.

PAINTBALL SUSPECT ACQUITTED: Sabri Benkhala, the last of 11 defendants charged last year in an alleged conspiracy to aid terrorists, was acquitted Tuesday of supplying services to the Taliban and other charges stemming from his alleged role in what prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network." Prosecutors said the group used paintball games to prepare for a holy war.

N.J. OFFICIAL ORDERS STOP TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LICENSES: The day after New Jersey's first gay marriage was performed, state Attorney General Peter Harvey on Tuesday ordered Asbury Park officials to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and performing gay marriages - or face criminal charges.

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