The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we

didn’t get concerning evidence that was leading up to the attack on the consulate.”

Republican Sen. John McCain,

after a private meeting in which U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice answered questions about her explanations about the cause of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya Article, 2AAlbuquerque police draw U.S. scrutiny

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The U.S. Justice Department will investigate the Albuquerque Police Department after a string of officer-involved shootings and high-profile abuse cases that allege the use of excessive and deadly force, officials said Tuesday.

The announcement of a civil inquiry comes months after the Police Department in New Mexico’s biggest city was the target of protests, lawsuits and demands for wide-scale agency overhaul from civil-rights advocates. The city has seen 25 officer-involved shootings - 17 of them fatal - since 2010.

In addition, the Albuquerque Police Department has been plagued in recent months by a number of high-profile cases alleging excessive force by officers, including some cases caught on video.

Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said investigators will look at policies and training in the department concerning excessive force, he said.

Naked 3 at AIDS-cuts protest arrested

WASHINGTON - Three women AIDS activists who said they wanted to highlight the “naked truth” about potential spending cuts in HIV programs were arrested Tuesday after taking their clothes off in the lobby of House Speaker John Boehner’s office.

The trio had the words “AIDS cuts kill” painted on their bodies and had linked arms with four men who also disrobed as part of the protest. The nude protesters, along with dozens of other clothed demonstrators, chanted slogans, including: “People with AIDS are under attack. What do we do? Fight back.”

The three women were arrested by the Capitol Police as they mingled with other protesters in the hall outside Boehner’s district office after putting their clothes back on.

The naked male protesters apparently had already left.

“People with AIDS are sick and tired of being pushed over the cliff,” said Jennifer Flynn, 40, of New York City, who was among those arrested. “We need to make sure they stop going after people with AIDS.”

Tobacco firms ordered to parade lies

WASHINGTON - A federal judge Tuesday ordered tobacco companies to publish corrective statements that say they lied about the dangers of smoking.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler previously had said she wanted the industry to pay for corrective statements in various types of advertisements. But Tuesday’s ruling is the first time she’s laid out what the statements will say.

Each corrective ad is to be prefaced by a statement that a federal court has concluded that the defendant tobacco companies “deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking.” Among the required statements are that smoking kills more people than murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes and alcohol combined, and that “secondhand smoke kills over 3,000 Americans a year.”

The corrective statements are part of a case the government filed in 1999 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Kessler ruled in that case in 2006 that the nation’s largest cigarette makers concealed the dangers of smoking for decades.

Obama meets new Mexican leader

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama hailed an “ambitious reform agenda” set forth by the incoming president of Mexico as he and President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto met Tuesday at the White House.

Obama said it was fitting that the men were meeting even before Pena Nieto takes office Saturday, calling it a sign of the close relationship between the two countries.

“What happens in Mexico has an impact on our society,” Obama said before the Oval Office meeting, which also included Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama said he had forged a close working relationship with outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderon and was confident he could establish a similar “close personal and professional relationship” with Pena Nieto, leader of Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 11/28/2012

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