The nation in brief

House GOP clears way for Obama-suit vote

WASHINGTON -- Republicans cleared the way Thursday for a House vote on legislation authorizing a lawsuit accusing President Barack Obama of failing to implement the 4-year-old health care law as it was written.

The vote in the Rules Committee was 7-4, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed.

Republicans say the lawsuit is necessary because Obama is exceeding his authority as president by failing to carry out legislation that Congress passed and he signed into law.

Democrats countered that the suit is a political maneuver designed to improve Republican prospects in the November elections. In a statement released shortly after the vote, the party's House leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, said constitutional law experts have said the suit is without merit.

Even so, Democrats conceded that majority Republicans have enough votes to prevail when the measure comes to a scheduled vote in the next few days, shortly before lawmakers begin a five-week vacation.

Republicans have long claimed that Obama has selectively enforced the health care law, pointing to a series of executive orders he has issued since its enactment. The administration disputes that view.

Guatemalan sees aid as part of influx fix

WASHINGTON -- Guatemala's president said securing the U.S. border is only a partial solution for dealing with the influx of illegal aliens, as he made a plea for help in dealing with drug trafficking and boosting economic growth.

"If we don't talk about the underlying causes, crises will continue to occur," President Otto Perez Molina said Thursday at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington. "If we had aggressive cooperation from the United States, I am sure we could accomplish much more."

Perez Molina is in Washington this week with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren for meetings on Capitol Hill and at the White House today with President Barack Obama.

A surge of more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S. border this year has created what the White House has called a humanitarian crisis. Obama's request for $3.7 billion to temporarily house and process the children and expand enforcement has been rejected by congressional Republicans, who are proposing to provide less than half the money.

In suit, Alabaman says penis amputated

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- An Alabama man who went into surgery for what was supposed to be a routine circumcision filed a lawsuit contending doctors mistakenly amputated his penis, but a hospital said Thursday the claims were without merit.

The lawsuit, filed in state court Tuesday, says Johnny Lee Banks Jr. went to Princeton Baptist Medical Center last month for a circumcision that went wrong.

Banks' penis was gone when he awoke after surgery, according to the suit, yet no one ever warned that amputation could result from the procedure.

Banks and his wife, Zelda Banks, are seeking an unspecified amount of money in the complaint. The suit accuses the defendants of medical malpractice, negligence and other wrongdoing.

A statement released by hospital spokesman Kate Darden said the allegations lacked merit.

"We intend to defend all counts aggressively," said the statement from Baptist Health System Inc., which operates the hospital in Birmingham. The hospital declined further comment.

Banks never received an explanation of what led to the amputation of his penis, according to the lawsuit, and the complaint doesn't say what might have happened.

'Accident' remarks played in murder trial

DETROIT -- A suburban Detroit man who killed an unarmed woman on his porch immediately suggested to police it was an accident and that he didn't know his shotgun was loaded, according to recorded remarks played in court Thursday.

Theodore Wafer, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, met officers outside his Dearborn Heights home after they responded to his 911 call around 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 2.

"I didn't know there was a round in there," Wafer told Sgt. Rory McManmon. "I don't get it. Who's knocking on your door at 4:30 in the morning? Bang, bang, bang -- somebody wanting in."

Wafer, 55, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Renisha McBride, who appeared on his porch 3 ½ hours after crashing her car a half-mile away in Detroit. An autopsy revealed she was drunk.

Wafer's lawyers say he shot McBride in self-defense. Prosecutors, however, say he should have called police if he feared for his safety.

-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS

A Section on 07/25/2014

Upcoming Events