Parliament dissolved
Sri Lanka’s president dissolved parliament Tuesday to make way for spring elections a day after authorities arrested a key opposition leader, crippling the only serious threat to the ruling party’s stifling grip on power.
No butts about it!
The British government is getting behind a plan to replace drafty open-backed hospital gowns with versions that preserve patients’ modesty. The country’s Design Council has asked designers and manufacturers to come up with replacements for the gowns, which it said often leave patients feeling exposed.
No sure thing in Pa. race
Political analysts said Tuesday they expect a competitive contest in the race to replace Rep. John Murtha (right), whose ability to steer federal dollars to his economically strapped district made him a powerful figure in Pennsylvania and beyond. A Republican win would not alter the Democrats’ majority in the House.
Tipsy ambulance theft alleged
Authorities say a drunken 24-year-old Illinois man stole an ambulance from a Wisconsin ski area with the patient and paramedics still inside. The sheriff’s department says deputies arrested the man. But it is unclear how he was stopped.
Evacuations in Calif.
Homeowners in mud-ravaged foothill towns north of L.A. packed their cars and fled Tuesday as evacuation orders took hold and a new winter storm approached. Officials issued evacuation orders for 541 homes on the hillsides of La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton and two canyons.
Toyota warning signs
The nation’s largest auto insurer, State Farm, said Tuesday it alerted federal safety regulators in late 2007 about a rise in reports of unexpected acceleration in Toyota vehicles, the latest warning sign to emerge about the massive recall.
