World/Nation 11/15/2013

• Philippine officials defend typhoon response

TACLOBAN, Philippines - The Philippine government on Friday defended its efforts to deliver assistance to victims of Typhoon Haiyan, many of whom have received little or no assistance since the monster storm struck one week ago.

"In a situation like this, nothing is fast enough," Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said in Tacloban, most of which was destroyed by the storm one week ago. "The need is massive, the need is immediate, and you can't reach everyone."

Government officials have given different death tolls, both actual and estimated, as a result of the storm.

Given the scale of the disaster, and infrastructure and communications problems, this is not unusual.

• Marines who died worked in dangerous jobs

SAN DIEGO - The job is one of the most dangerous in the Marine Corps.

The four Marines killed Wednesday while clearing unexploded ordnance at California's Camp Pendleton were bomb removal technicians. It is one of the few positions in which the Marine Corps allows team members to quit at any time. That's because their mental focus could mean the difference between life or death, either for themselves or their fellow troops.

Few quit, despite the inherent risks that come with finding and getting rid of unexploded munitions - whether on the battlefield or on a U.S. base, according to former bomb technicians.

The four were killed around 11 a.m. during a routine sweep to make a range safer for future training exercises at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, said a Marine official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. There was no live firing on the range at the time.

Base officials said they would not release details until an investigation into the cause of the accident is concluded. They released the names of the dead Thursday night.

• Secret Service faces new sex misconduct case

WASHINGTON - More than 18 months after a prostitution scandal in South America rocked the Secret Service, the agency in charge of protecting the president is investigating another case of suspected sexual misconduct in its ranks.

This time, two supervisory agents assigned to President Barack Obama's protective detail have been investigated for misconduct involving sexually suggestive emails sent to a female subordinate. The alleged misconduct does not appear to involve a breach of Obama's security.

According to The Washington Post, which first reported the inquiry Wednesday, supervisor Ignacio Zamora Jr. was reassigned. Timothy Barraclough, also a supervisor, remains with the presidential protection division.

The agency started investigating Zamora this spring after hotel staff at the upscale Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington notified the Secret Service that a bullet from Zamora's weapon was found in a hotel room, a federal law enforcement official said. The woman in the room identified Zamora as the agent who left the bullet, the official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal investigation.

• Boston crime boss sentenced to life in prison

BOSTON - Former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger was led off to prison Thursday for the rest of his life, accepting his punishment in stone-faced silence as a judge castigated the 84-year-old gangster for his "almost unfathomable" depravity.

Bulger's sentencing for his murderous reign in the 1970s and '80s brought to a close a sordid case that exposed FBI complicity in his crimes and left a trail of devastated families whose loved ones were killed by Bulger or his henchmen.

Many of the relatives had vented their anger at Bulger during the first day of his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, calling him a "terrorist," a "punk" and "Satan."

So when U.S. District Judge Denise Casper announced the punishment - two consecutive life sentences plus five years - there were no shouts of joy or applause from the families, just silence.

• FBI director does not oppose Benghazi queries

WASHINGTON - FBI Director James Comey told senators Thursday he is not opposed to Congress speaking with the survivors of the 2012 attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. That contradicts the Obama administration's position that such discussions would jeopardize the FBI's criminal case.

Comey's position on the politically charged issue seemed to surprise some of the senators who have unsuccessfully asked the administration for access to the survivors. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has said he will block President Barack Obama's nominees for Federal Reserve chairman and Homeland Security secretary if the administration does not give Congress access to the Benghazi survivors.

The FBI is leading the investigation into the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

• Study: Where, how early preemies born affects long-term health but risk a bit higher for boys

WASHINGTON (AP) - Boys are slightly more likely to be born premature than girls, and they tend to fare worse, too, says a new report on the health of the world's newborns.

"This is a double whammy for boys," said Dr. Joy Lawn of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who led the team of researchers. "It's a pattern that happens all over the world."

The gender difference isn't large: About 55 percent of preterm births in 2010 were male, the report found. Nor is it clear exactly why it happens.

The finding comes from a series of international studies being published Friday that examine newborn health and prematurity. About 15 million babies worldwide are born too soon, most of them in Africa and parts of Asia where survival is difficult for fragile newborns. Globally, about 1 million babies die as a direct result of preterm birth and another million die of conditions for which prematurity is an added risk, the researchers calculated.

Friday's report offers some of the first estimates of how many preemie survivors go on to suffer certain disabilities, and found that where these babies are born, and how early, determines their risk.

- Associated Press