Nation and world in brief

| New Mexican wire services

5/8/2008 -

'Santa' arrested on child sex charges

NEWARK, N.J. — A rare international alert seeking a man shown in dozens of raw child porn images quickly led to the arrest of a small-time actor, who painted faces at children's parties and performed as "the best Santa Claus anyone has ever seen."

Wayne Nelson Corliss told authorities he had sex with three boys in Thailand six years ago, an experience he described as "euphoria," a prosecutor said Thursday at Corliss' first court appearance.

The arrest of the bespectacled, gray-haired 58-year-old at his Union City apartment late Wednesday capped a two-day global manhunt, just the second time Interpol has sought the public's help in tracking down a suspected pedophile.

Bush in Texas for daughter's wedding

CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush stuck out his right elbow Thursday, jokingly demonstrating how he'll escort his daughter down the aisle at her wedding this weekend.

He made the gesture at Andrews Air Force Base before boarding Air Force One for the flight to Texas, where Jenna Bush will be married Saturday before about 200 guests at the family's secluded ranch. Asked if he was excited, the president smiled and gave a thumbs-up.

First lady Laura Bush is already at the ranch getting ready for the outdoor wedding on the 1,600-acre spread in central Texas. Jenna Bush, 26, is tying the knot with longtime boyfriend Henry Hager, who turns 30 today.

Settlement reached on MTBE pollution

MELVILLE, N.Y. — Water suppliers have reached a landmark settlement with more than a dozen oil companies over contamination of groundwater by the fuel additive MTBE.

If approved by a federal judge in New York, the settlement filed Wednesday would award $423 million to 153 water suppliers in 17 states. The oil companies — among them Shell, Chevron, BP Amoco and Hess — also would be required to bear cleanup costs for wells that become contaminated by methyl tertiary butyl ether in the next 30 years.

A fuel oxygenate intended to make gasoline burn more cleanly, MTBE was used in states with air-quality problems in the 1990s and early 2000s. But the additive turned out to have a downside: When released by gas spills or leaking storage tanks, it quickly moved through groundwater to pollute local water supplies.

Putin takes up new place in power

MOSCOW — Former President Vladimir V. Putin was appointed Russia's prime minister Thursday, securing a new place in power a day after leaving the Kremlin. His appointment was the final stroke in a choreographed transition that allows the former KGB officer to leave the Kremlin without completely relinquishing authority.

Forced out of the presidency by constitutional term limits, Putin on Wednesday handed off his title to a longtime protégé, Dmitry Medvedev, who in turn nominated his old boss as prime minister.

Bolivia's Morales to stand for recall

LA PAZ, Bolivia — President Evo Morales has agreed to stand for election in a nationwide recall vote, gambling that Bolivians will re-elect him after just two years in office.

Congress on Thursday passed a bill ordering the recall referendum, but did not set a date. Morales says he will sign the bill. The measure would require Morales and Bolivia's nine state governors to win both a greater percentage and total number of votes than they did in 2005. If they fall short, they will face a new general election.

More than half of U.S. diabetics have arthritis

ATLANTA — More than half of U.S. adults with diabetes also have arthritis, raising a serious obstacle for diabetic patients urged to exercise, according to a government study.

The survey of nearly 800,000 people is the first extensive look at the overlap between the two conditions, said Dr. John Klippel, president of the Arthritis Foundation. And its findings highlight a significant challenge: Most diabetics are told exercise is important to their health, but experts say many of them don't do it.

People with diabetes who exercise have better control of their blood sugar and a much lower risk of heart disease complications. But the new research suggests many diabetics see themselves as unable to exercise because of arthritis, said Julia Simard, a Harvard School of Public Health researcher who has studied rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.