Republican Sandoval withdraws as possible US Supreme Court pick

Reuters, Washington

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a moderate Republican, took himself out of consideration for appointment to the US Supreme Court on Thursday as Senate Republicans dug in on their vow not to act on any nominee by President Barack Obama.
Asked if the White House was disappointed by Sandoval's decision, Obama spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, "He's obviously entitled to make decisions about his own career."
Sandoval's name surfaced as a possible nominee on Wednesday, but Senate Republicans quickly said they still would not hold hearings or vote on any Obama nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the Feb. 13 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Obama's appointee could pivot the court to the left for the first time in decades.
Sandoval, a Mexican-American who was Nevada's first Hispanic governor, did not offer a reason for his withdrawal.

Woman takes own life after poisoning two children

        Quarrel with Husband

Our Correspondent, Manikganj

After giving poison to her two children, a woman allegedly committed suicide by taking poison over a quarrel with her husband in Hargaj-Beparipara village of Saturia upazila on Thursday night.
The dead, Rahima Akter, 28, was the wife of Rahim Uddin.
Their daughter Taslima Akter Meghla, 8, and son Akash, 5, are fighting for their lives at Manikganj Sadar Hospital.
Locals said Rahima's husband is a construction worker. They have two kids. Rahima and her husband Rahim often quarrelled with each other over family affairs. On Wednesday night, a quarrel broke out between the two again.
Following the quarrel, Rahima first administered poison to her children around 9:00pm on Thursday, telling them that it was medicine for cough. She then took poison herself. When their neighbours noticed it, they took the three to Saturia Upazila Health Complex.
Nobody was at home during the incident, according to locals.   
On-duty doctors declared Rahima dead and referred the two kids to Manikganj Sadar Hospital as their condition was critical.

Doctor Anisur Rahman of the hospital said they found the presence of pesticides in the stomachs of the children. They were giving treatment properly, but they were not out of danger.
Rahima's husband Rahim went into hiding soon after the incident.
The body of Rahima was sent to Manikganj Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy, said Habibullah Sarker, officer-in-charge of Saturia Police Station.
A case was filed.

'Space-saving' burials in China

BBC Online

People in China are being encouraged to opt for vertical burial or cremation under new government funeral guidelines aimed at coping with land scarcity.
It's hoped the guidance, issued by nine government departments, will promote environmentally friendly forms of burial that take up little or no land. These include burial at sea and tree funerals - where ashes are interred beneath a newly planted tree.
Shared family tombs and arranging coffins vertically also get the nod, as do smaller plots and gravestones. The guidelines stress that the funeral traditions of ethnic minorities should be respected.
Rapid development and urban growth has put pressure on the country's land resources, but state-run China Daily says previous attempts at reform have fallen foul of deep-rooted Chinese burial customs, despite measures such as a cremation competition.
Cremation rates actually fell slightly between 2005 and 2012, from 53% to 49.5%, according to the Ministry for Civil Affairs, which wants it to reach 100% by the end of 2020.
The government has urged members of the ruling Communist Party to "take the lead" or face punishment.
The move has been met with outrage on social media, with thousands of comments posted on the Sina Weibo microblogging site.

"Has the government lost the plot?" one user exclaims, while another complains: "Even after life, death must be regulated." One person draws parallels with the country's chronic housing shortage: "No place to live during this lifetime, after death it's the same."
But some are more philosophical. "Everyone dies - I don't mind what happens to me after death," one user says.