Given Money, Schools Wait on Rehiring Teachers

As schools handed out pink slips to teachers this spring, states made a beeline to Washington to plead for money for their ravaged education budgets. But now that the federal government has come through with $10 billion, some of the nation’s biggest school districts are balking at using their share of the money to hire teachers right away. With the economic outlook weakening, they argue that big...

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Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Moving From South Asia to U.S.

A dangerous new mutation that makes some bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics has become increasingly common in India and Pakistan and is being found in patients in Britain and the United States who got medical care in those countries, according to new studies.Experts in antibiotic resistance called the gene mutation, named NDM-1, “worrying” and “ominous,” and they said they feared...

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When Light Triggers Migraines

Light-induced migraine is common, and light often amplifies the pain after the headache has begun, Dr. David Dodick of the Mayo Clinic explains in response to reader questions on the Consults blog.Fluorescent Lighting, Computer Monitors and MigrainesQ.My husband gets disabling headaches from fluorescent lighting, even the new compact ones that look more like incandescent light. Also from looking...

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When the Doctor Doesn’t Look Like You

One night during my training, over dinner in the hospital cafeteria, a fellow resident and I had a discussion about the situation of one of our professors. Known for his blistering teaching sessions, this senior surgeon possessed the uncanny ability to sniff out lapses in memory or judgment among doctors-in-training. Early on in my internship, I showed up at one of his practice trauma resuscitations...

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G.M. Chief Stepping Down After Report of Strong Quarter

DETROIT — In a surprise development, General Motors’ chairman and chief executive, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., announced Thursday that he would step down as chief executive on Sept. 1 and be succeeded by Daniel F. Akerson, a G.M. board member and a managing director of the Carlyle Group.Mr. Whitacre, 68, said he would stay on as chairman until the end of the year, when Mr. Akerson would...

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Judge Allows, but Delays, Gay Marriage in California

SAN FRANCISCO — Same-sex marriage is legal again in California. Sort of.Eight days after ruling thatProposition 8 — a 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage — was unconstitutional, a federal judge on Thursday denied a motion to stay his decision, opening the door for untold numbers of gay and lesbian couples to wed in the nation’s most populous state. But the judge delayed...

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Judge Allows, but Delays, Gay Marriage in California

SAN FRANCISCO — Same-sex marriage is legal again in California. Sort of.Eight days after ruling thatProposition 8 — a 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage — was unconstitutional, a federal judge on Thursday denied a motion to stay his decision, opening the door for untold numbers of gay and lesbian couples to wed in the nation’s most populous state. But the judge delayed...

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India Faces Intifada-Like Revolt in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Kashmir — Late Sunday night, after six days on life support with a bullet in his brain, Fida Nabi, a 19-year-old high school student, was unhooked from his ventilator at a hospital here. He was the 50th person to die in Kashmir’s bloody summer of rage. He had been shot in the head, his family and witnesses said, during a protest against India’s military presence in this disputed province. For...

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