NATION IN BRIEF

In Study, 1 in 4 Girls Is Found to Have STD

CHICAGO -- At least one in four teenage girls in the United States has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health experts.

The overall STD rate among the 838 girls in the study was 26 percent, researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. They released the results at a Tuesday conference.

Disease rates were significantly higher among black girls -- nearly half had at least one STD, vs. 20 percent among both whites and Mexican Americans.

Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection of both abstinence-only sex education and the teenagers' own sense of invulnerability. Because some sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility and cancer, U.S. health officials called for better screening, vaccination and prevention.

Only about half of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex.

Waterboarding Veto Survives House Vote

House Democrats were unable to overturn President Bush's veto of a bill that would have prohibited the CIA from using waterboarding on suspected terrorists.

The vetoed legislation would have limited the CIA to using the 19 interrogation methods approved in the Army Field Manual, which bans the use of waterboarding, a technique that simulates drowning. CIA Director Michael V. Hayden has confirmed that the spy agency used the technique on three suspected terrorists in 2002 and 2003.

The House voted 225 to 188 to override the veto, 51 votes short of the two-thirds majority required.

Judges Set Rules for Misconduct Complaints

The federal judiciary's policymaking group said that it had approved the first set of binding, nationwide rules on how misconduct or disability complaints against federal judges should be handled.

The rules, which take effect in 30 days, set standards for such matters as the conduct of investigations, the rights and roles of participants in the process, potential remedies, and when the results should be made public.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, a 27-judge body led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., unanimously approved the rules following recommendations made in 2006 by a special committee chaired by Justice Stephen G. Breyer. His panel found that judges erred in handling misconduct complaints against their colleagues in nearly a third of 17 high-profile cases.

The rules partly came in response to criticism from members of Congress about the judiciary's ability to investigate and discipline itself, and calls by some lawmakers to create an inspector general position to investigate alleged misconduct.

Ind., Miss. Vote to Fill House Seats

INDIANAPOLIS -- The grandson of the late representative Julia Carson won a special election to succeed the Indiana Democrat in the House. Andre Carson (D) will become the second Muslim in Congress. Mississippi was also choosing candidates to fill two open congressional seats.

-- From News Services