The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I love Justice Marshall. But if you confirm me to this position, you will get Justice Kagan.

You won’t get Justice Marshall, and that’s an important thing.”

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan,

who once clerked for Thurgood Marshall, the court’s first black justice Article, 1A

Senate rites set for Byrd’s body

WASHINGTON - The body of West Virginia Democrat Robert C. Byrd on Thursday will lie in repose in the Senate chamber, where he served for more than half a century before returning home to West Virginia for a public funeral.

Byrd, who died early Monday at 92 after being hospitalized for dehydration, will be buried in Arlington, Va., near his late wife, Erma.

Byrd’s final appearance on the Senate floor, where he became famous for soaring oratory and record-setting speeches, will be as historic as the senator himself. A senator’s casket last lay in repose there in 1959, the year Byrd joined the chamber.

He was the longest-serving member of Congress ever and was third in line to the presidency.

Including North Dakota Republican William Langer in 1959, 46 senators have lain in repose in the Senate chamber. One additional funeral, the first, was held there for a New Yorker who never was a senator: George Clinton, Thomas Jefferson’s second vice president, lay in repose on April 21, 1812.

Bear attack shuts Kentucky woods

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A black bear that mauled a hiker eluded traps Tuesday, and a scenic area in the Daniel Boone National Forest remained closed to the public after the rare attack by an Appalachian bear on a human.

Wildlife officers hadn’t been able to find the animal that attacked, bit and shook Tim Scott of Springfield on Sunday in a remote area near Stanton in eastern Kentucky, state tourism spokesman Barbara Atwood said.

“They had a bear sighting yesterday. However, they could not confirm that it was the bear in question,” Atwood said. “But they feel confident the bear is still in the area.”

Scott, 56, survived and was released from a Lexington hospital Monday.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources said it was the first recorded bear attack on a person in the state.

Guyana man guilty in N.Y. airport plot

NEW YORK - One of four men accused of plotting to kill thousands and cause an economic catastrophe by blowing up John F. Kennedy International Airport pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Tuesday, the day before his federal trial was to begin.

Abdel Nur, of Guyana, admitted he provided material support to terrorists, a charge that was not in the original indictment against him. The lesser charge spares him a possible life sentence. Instead, he now faces up to 15 years in prison.

Nur admitted he told codefendants Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir and Russell Defreitas that he would provide them with protection and guidance on a trip to Trinidad and Tobago in May 2007 to buy supplies.

The four had been charged with conspiracy. A trial for Kadir and Defreitas is scheduled to begin today.

Ibrahim’s case was severed after he went on a hunger strike in prison and became ill. It was unclear when he would be tried.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 06/30/2010

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