NATION BRIEFS

WASHINGTON/White House at odds with another Ariz. law

The Obama administration on Friday urged the Supreme Court to review and set aside an Arizona law that sanctions employers who hire illegal immigrants, saying it would disrupt the "careful balance" that Congress struck in federal immigration law. The act is not the strict new Arizona law that President Barack Obama and members of his administration have criticized. That measure requires police to question anyone who appears to be in the country illegally. The law being challenged, the Legal Arizona Workers Act, imposes tougher sanctions than federal law for hiring illegal workers. If the court chooses to hear the case, its ruling could show how receptive the justices would be to arguments that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility that cannot be usurped by the states.

NEW MEXICO/Mother kills self with daughter in car

A California woman shot and killed herself while driving in southern New Mexico after her 9-year-old daughter refused her mother's request to kill her, authorities said. The girl told investigators that her mother began to breathe heavily - possibly from an asthma or emphysema attack - and handed over a 9 mm handgun. "She told her to shoot her. And she wouldn't," State police Lt. Roman Jimenez said. "The daughter said she has had these kinds of attacks before, but she'd never been suicidal." After the girl refused, the woman fired a shot into her own chest Thursday morning and the car rolled to a stop on the left shoulder of Interstate 10, about 25 miles west of Las Cruces. The girl was not injured. Neither alcohol nor drugs were believed to be a factor in the shooting.

ALASKA/NTSB probing close call of two planes

The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday it is investigating how a US Airways passenger jet flew within a third of a mile of a cargo plane at Anchorage's airport after the airliner's crew refused to make a turn they said would "put their flight in direct conflict" with the departing cargo jet. The near-collision occurred at about 12:10 a.m. May 21, when US Airways Flight 140, arriving from Phoenix, missed an approach and was turning to make a second landing try, the federal agency said in a news release. The plane with 138 people on board came within an estimated 100 feet vertically and one-third of a mile horizontally of the departing Cargolux Boeing 747-400, which was bound for Chicago. "The A319 crew refused the right turn because the turn would have put their flight in direct conflict with the B747," the NTSB said. The incident is the latest in a spate of close calls around major airports that have safety officials concerned.

HAWAII/First statewide ban on shark fins

Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to ban shark fins. Gov. Linda Lingle on Friday signed a bill prohibiting the possession, sale, trade or distribution of shark fins, which are used in pricey Chinese dishes. Exceptions will be made for researchers who have obtained a permit from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Lawmakers hope the new law will help prevent overfishing and extinction of sharks harvested for their fins. Many Chinese consider shark fins to be a delicacy, served in high-end Chinese restaurants in soup and as fillets in gravy. The bill passed the state Legislature earlier this year with broad support.