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WASHINGTON (AP) — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (seh-BEEL'-yuhs) says the government is making "tremendous progress" toward fixing what she called a broken health system. The former Kansas governor made the comment at the White House today after President Barack Obama announced her resignation. Sebelius was blamed for the disastrous launch of the Healthcare.gov website, but the system ended up exceeding a goal of enrolling 7 million people for health insurance. Sebelius calls her work at HHS "the cause of my life."
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State regulators have linked earthquake activity in eastern Ohio to hydraulic fracturing for the first time. State Oil & Gas Chief Rick Simmers tells The Associated Press that the state has halted drilling indefinitely at the site near Youngstown where five minor tremors occurred in March. He says Ohio will require sensitive seismic monitoring as a condition of all new drilling permits within three miles of a known fault or existing seismic activity of 2.0 or greater.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Intelligence officials and militant commanders in Pakistan say clashes this week between two rival Taliban factions in the country's northwest have killed dozens of fighters. One senior Taliban commander puts the number of dead at 23, while intelligence officials say it could be as high as 43. The fighting is said to be the result of a power struggle between two men who want control of the Mehsud faction of the Pakistani Taliban, historically its largest and most powerful.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Squatters in Rio de Janeiro are clashing with police after a Brazilian court ordered the eviction of 5,000 people from abandoned buildings. Police began moving people out of the buildings this morning and some left peacefully. But many others fought police and set fire to parts of one building, a bus and a police cruiser. Officers have used tear gas and stun grenades to try to disperse the families. The O Globo newspaper reports that three people have been injured so far, but police aren't confirming the figure.
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Florida prosecutors say they'll have to drop some drug cases after the arrest of a former state crime lab analyst accused of stealing narcotics from evidence bags. State attorneys say it's unclear how many cases will eventually be dropped, but evidence in 35 of Florida's 67 counties may have been compromised. The ex-analyst faces charges of stealing and selling painkillers and other drugs that he was supposed to be testing for prosecutions.
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