Nation briefs 4/18/06

Newer breast cancer drug has fewer side effects

WASHINGTON -- A newer drug prevents breast cancer in older, high-risk women just as well as today's standby tamoxifen -- but with fewer side effects, the National Cancer Institute announced Monday. Called raloxifene, the newer drug already is sold to treat osteoporosis. But the striking new results suggest that raloxifene may supplant its older cousin as the first choice for breast cancer prevention in postmenopausal women at high risk of developing the disease.

Shake-up of Bush senior advisers may be coming

WASHINGTON -- Signaling a possible shake-up among President Bush's senior advisers, the new White House chief of staff told top presidential aides Monday to expect changes that "refresh and re-energize the team." He invited anyone who is thinking of leaving before year's end to do so now.

'March' wins Pulitzer Prize for fiction

NEW YORK -- The 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction was awarded to Geraldine Brooks for her novel, "March." "March" imagines the life of John March, the fictional father in Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women."

-- From wire reports