In the news

Gov. David Paterson, a New York Democrat, will not face charges of witness tampering or any related offense for phoning a woman who later dropped domestic-violence charges against a top aide, David Johnson, though Johnson could still face prosecution, an investigative report said.

Sen. Olympia Snowe

of Maine said she will vote to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, becoming the fourth Republican to endorse President Barack Obama’s nominee alongside Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine.

Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state and a classically trained pianist, and singer Aretha Franklin performed a duet at Philadelphia’s Mann Music Center to raise money for urban children and awareness for music and the arts.

Ariel Sigler, 44, a Cuban political prisoner released as part of a deal between the communist government and the island’s Roman Catholic Church, arrived in Miami, where he greeted 100 well wishers who cheered as the paralyzed former boxer called for the overthrow of the Castro government.

Sen. Jon Tester, DMont., said lawmakers who oversee the budget of the U.S. Postal Service will block a proposal to reduce mail deliveries to five days a week and said cutting Saturday deliveries would be a hardship on people living in rural areas without producing major savings.

Randy Malone, 47, was arrested by Dona Ana County deputies after they found him naked along a New Mexico highway with burns on his right leg, back and buttocks and his prosthetic leg in flames, a fire that investigators say he accidentally set when he put a lit crack pipe in his pocket.

Jan David Clark, 63, charged with murder in Odessa, Texas, said from jail that his 59-year-old wife, Susan K. Clark, died in 2008 while he was doing an exorcism on her and that he shouldn’t have attempted the procedure alone.

Peter Orszag, the outgoing White House budget director, defended the Obama administration’s economic policies, saying in Washington that it would be “foolish” to try to slash the deficit before the recovery takes hold.

President Nicolas Sarkozy

of France ordered authorities to expel Gypsy illegal aliens after clashes with police this month and to dismantle their camps, calling them sources of trafficking, exploitation of children and prostitution.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/29/2010

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