Nation digest 04/20/04

Spanish prime minister gets chilly reception

WASHINGTON -- President Bush gave a chilly welcome to Spain's new leader Monday, suggesting his abrupt withdrawal of troops from Iraq would give "false comfort to terrorists." Bush said later he was sending diplomatic troubleshooter John Negroponte to Iraq as America's first post-war ambassador. In a five-minute conversation, Bush was said to have expressed regret that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was withdrawing his 1,300 troops so quickly, even though the Spaniard had campaigned on a pullout pledge. Spain's pullout will occur in four to five weeks, a military spokesman said. More pointedly, Bush "stressed the importance of carefully considering future actions to avoid giving false comfort to terrorists or enemies of freedom in Iraq," press secretary Scott McClellan said. Zapatero has rejected claims that withdrawing troops would appear to be appeasing terrorists.

Feds may relax airport security rule

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh International could become the nation's first major airport to get the OK to abandon the post-Sept. 11, 2001, rule that says only ticketed passengers are allowed past security checkpoints. Federal security officials are considering allowing people once more to say their hellos and goodbyes to friends and loved ones at the gate. Pittsburgh is a strong candidate for the experiment for two reasons: It has a centralized security checkpoint in one terminal. And it has a full-scale shopping mall that has suffered a drop-off in business because it is reachable only by ticketed passengers.

Mass. city saves millions with Canadian drugs

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Springfield has saved about $2 million over the past nine months by buying prescription drugs from Canada for city workers and retirees, the head of the program said Monday. Chris Collins, the city's insurance director, said about 3,000 of the 20,000 city employees, retirees and their dependents are participating in the voluntary program. Last July, the cash-strapped city became the nation's first to turn to cheaper Canadian drugs for its health plan. Federal law forbids the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, but thousands of Americans get their prescriptions filled across the border. Brand-name medicines can cost half the price in Canada because of tighter government controls.

Launch delayed of satellite to test Einstein predictions

LOS ANGELES -- NASA scrubbed the launch Monday of a satellite designed to test two of Albert Einstein's fundamental predictions about the universe. NASA called off the launch of Gravity Probe B just minutes before it was to leave Vandenberg Air Force Base. The mission was postponed for nearly 24 hours because officials were unable to verify whether some last-minute data had been loaded aboard the rocket. The satellite was built to test two of Einstein's predictions about space and time, and how the rotating Earth warps and twists the fabric that combines the two.

-- From wire reports