USA

The Supreme Court announced it will not consider reinstating mealtime prayers at a state-funded military college in Virginia, turning aside an appeal from state officials hoping to preserve the tradition. Justice Antonin Scalia blasted the decision, calling the case vital to the nation's ongoing look at church-state questions. The decision means a lower court ruling that the prayers are unconstitutional will stand.

One of the most closely watched Republican races in the nation will be decided Tuesday as primary voters in Pennsylvania choose between US Sen. Arlen Specter and US Rep. Pat Toomey, an outspoken conservative who steadily has been closing the gap between them. Specter, a four-term incumbent, appeared to be a shoo-in for reelection until recent polls indicated his lead had shrunk to five percentage points. Specter has been labeled too liberal on such issues as abortion, but was endorsed by President Bush and the state's other GOP senator, Rick Santorum.

State prosecutors were preparing to rest their case against Oklahoma City bombing defendant Terry Nichols as testimony moves into its sixth week. Remaining witnesses include scientists who are expected to link evidence found at the scene to items in Nichols' home. Nichols, serving a life sentence for the deaths of eight federal agents in the 1995 blast, which killed 168 people, is now charged with 161 counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Bush urged Congress to ban taxes that consumers pay for broadband service, which enables high-speed Internet connections, in a campaign stop in swing-state Minnesota. Addressing the uneven job market, he also proposed to digitize health records for most Americans within 10 years and to pump $350 million into research to move hydrogen fuel technology from the lab to the showroom.

A bipartisan election assistance commission recommended banning a "touchscreen" voting model made by Diebold Inc. for use in California Nov. 2. Computer scientists criticize the ATM-like machines as unreliable, saying they can crash, malfunction, and fall prey to hackers and viruses. A series of malfunctions in primaries nationwide has prompted legislation in more than 20 states that would require a paper record of every vote cast.

A motor home blaze in Riverside County, Calif., sparked a 2,085-acre wildfire Sunday that destroyed two other mobile homes and nine vehicles. About 400 homes remained threatened Monday.