The nation in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I am optimistic and worried. Optimistic because there is pressure on the House to produce. Worried because I know how difficult it is to get things through the Congress.”

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., after Congress adopted the first part of a much larger aid package sought by affected states to help homeowners and local governments recover costs associated with Hurricane Sandy Article, 1A

3 on plane die when it hits Florida home

PALM COAST, Fla. - Authorities say at least three people died when a small plane crashed into a house while trying to land at a central Florida airport.

The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed the deaths Friday afternoon.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot reported mechanical problems shortly after 2 p.m. Friday. The Beechcraft BE35, which had three people onboard, had been heading to Downtown Island Airport in Knoxville, Tenn., but diverted to the Flagler County Airport. FAA officials didn’t immediately know where the plane took off.

The Flagler County sheriff’s office reported that the plane hit a Palm Coast home just east of the airport a few minutes after the pilot’s call. The house caught fire and the home’s owner was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.

N.J. man charged in rape-and-kill plan

NEW YORK - A New Jersey man was arrested Friday on charges that he sought to pay $5,000 to a New York City police officer - later charged in a cannibalism case - to kidnap a Manhattan woman that he intended to rape and kill.

Michael Vanhise, 22, was charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping. He was arrested at his Trenton home, accused of agreeing to pay Gilberto Valle for the abduction last year when Valle was an active police officer.

Federal prosecutors and the FBI said Valle was supposed to kidnap the woman in New York and take her to Vanhise’s home in New Jersey, where she would be raped and killed.

They said Vanhise also participated in planning the kidnapping of a girl.

Vanhise also admitted e-mailing others about kidnapping, raping and killing women and children, the FBI said in court papers unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Vanhise’s lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment.

Pelosi defends Congress Flickr photo

WASHINGTON - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday defended an altered picture of Democratic women in Congress that was posted on her Flickr photo-sharing site.

The photo showed four House members who were not in the original picture, which was taken Thursday, when lawmakers were sworn in as members of the 113th Congress.

They arrived at the Capitol steps late, and their images were inserted with a computer program.

“It was an accurate historical record of who the Democratic women of Congress are,” Pelosi told a news conference. “It also is an accurate record that it was freezing cold and our members had been waiting a long time for everyone to arrive and ... had to get back into the building to greet constituents, family members, to get ready to go to the floor. It wasn’t like they had the rest of the day to stand there.”

Pelosi said the photo reflected the nation’s diversity because it included women from every community and religious faith.

There are 61 Democratic women in Congress, including Pelosi.

Defense pick likely Hagel, sources say

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator and Vietnam veteran, to be secretary of defense, officials said, setting up a confirmation battle with lawmakers and interest groups critical of his views on Israel and Iran.

White House officials said Friday afternoon that the president hadn’t formally offered the job to Hagel, but others familiar with the process said that the announcement could come as soon as Monday.

By nominating a Republican to run the Defense Department, Obama gives his second-term national-security team a bipartisan cast at a time when the White House is rapidly winding down the war in Afghanistan and planning for even deeper cuts in the defense budget.

But the choice also sets the stage for a possibly difficult confirmation fight over Hagel with Israel’s defenders in Washington, some of whom mounted a public campaign to head off his nomination in recent weeks, criticizing Hagel for his past comments calling on Israel to negotiate with Palestinians and for his opposition to some sanctions aimed at Iran.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/05/2013

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