High copays blamed as 1 in 6 Medicare recipients don’t fill prescriptions for new cancer drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a life-and-death struggle with kidney cancer, Rita Moore took her prescription for a new kind of chemotherapy pill to her local drugstore.

She was stunned when the pharmacist told her the cost for a month’s supply would be $2,400, well beyond her income.

Medicare drug plans that cover seniors like Moore are allowed to charge steep copayments for the latest cancer medications, whose cost can run to tens of thousands of dollars a year. About 1 in 6 beneficiaries aren’t filling their prescriptions, according to recent research that has put numbers on a worrisome trend.

Officials at Medicare say they’re not sure what happens to those patients — whether they get less expensive older drugs that sometimes work as well, or they just give up. Traditionally, chemotherapy has been administered intravenously at a clinic or doctor’s office. Pills, a relatively new option, are thought to represent the future of cancer care.

Moore, 65, was operated on in February for an advanced form of kidney cancer. She said both her cancer and kidney specialists agreed that a drug called Sutent probably offered the only chance to keep the disease in check. It’s a capsule taken at home.

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40 years after explosive leak of Pentagon Papers, secret Vietnam war study coming out in whole

WASHINGTON (AP) — Forty years after the explosive leak of the Pentagon Papers, a secret government study chronicling deception and misadventure in U.S. conduct of the Vietnam War, the report is coming out in its entirety on Monday.

The 7,000-page report was the WikiLeaks disclosure of its time, a sensational breach of government confidentiality that shook Richard Nixon’s presidency and prompted a Supreme Court fight that advanced press freedom. Prepared near the end of Lyndon Johnson’s term by Defense Department and private foreign policy analysts, the report was leaked primarily by one of them, Daniel Ellsberg, in a brash act of defiance that stands as one of the most dramatic episodes of whistleblowing in U.S. history.

The National Archives and presidential libraries are releasing the report in full, long after most of its secrets had spilled. The release is timed 40 years to the day after The published the first in its series of stories about the findings, on June 13, 1971. The papers showed that the Johnson, Kennedy and prior administrations had been escalating the conflict in Vietnam while misleading Congress, the public and allies.

As scholars pore over the 47-volume report, Ellsberg says the chance of them finding great new revelations is dim. Most of it has come out in congressional forums and by other means, and Ellsberg plucked out the best when he painstakingly photocopied pages that he spirited from a safe night after night, and returned in the mornings. He told The the value in Monday’s release was in having the entire study finally brought together and put online, giving today’s generations ready access to it.

At the time, Nixon was delighted that people were reading about bumbling and lies by his predecessor, which he thought would take some anti-war heat off him. But if he loved the substance of the leak, he hated the leaker.

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Dallas Mavericks win 1st NBA title, knock off Miami Heat 105-95, extend LeBron’s wait for ring

MIAMI (AP) — For Dirk Nowitzki, the resume is complete. He’s an NBA champion.

For LeBron James, the agonizing wait continues for at least one more year.

A season that began with Miami celebrating the signings of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — along with the promise of championships — ended on the very same floor, with the Dallas Mavericks hoisting the title trophy for the first time in their franchise history after beating the Heat 105-95 on Sunday night. The Mavericks won four of the series’ last five games, a turnabout that could not have been sweeter.

"I really still can’t believe it," said Nowitzki, who had 21 points and took home finals MVP honors.

He and Jason Terry, who led the Mavs with 27 points, were the two remaining players from the Dallas team that lost to Miami in the 2006 finals.

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Hilarious ‘Book of Mormon,’ moving ‘War Horse’ win big at Tonys; ‘Spider-Man’ still casts web

NEW YORK (AP) — A slew of acclaimed shows were up for Tony Awards in a remarkably competitive year, but a production that wasn’t even eligible still managed to cast a shadow — well, shall we make that a web? — over the proceedings.

On a night when the hilariously profane "The Book of Mormon" reigned supreme, the famously troubled "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" got attention both positive and negative at Sunday’s Tonys. There was a performance — certainly rare for a show that hasn’t even opened yet — plus a plug from its famous composers, Bono and The Edge. And of course, there were the obligatory "Spider-Man" jokes, without which no awards show would be complete.

There were jokes even about the ubiquity of "Spider-Man" jokes. Host Neil Patrick Harris said he would limit himself to a 30-second speed round, getting his biggest laugh with a quip about the show’s ousted original director: "Julie Taymor knew it was over when she woke and found the head of ‘War Horse’ in her bed."

Even Bono was making jokes, saying he and The Edge "used to be famous for being in U2." Then he introduced Reeve Carney and Jennifer Damiano, who play Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, and a new ballad they perform in the retooled show. (As for the flying Spidey himself? Not in sight.)

Still, the breadth represented by the evening’s nominees and winners showed that there’s a lot going on in Broadway theater that doesn’t involve comic-book superheroes.

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Former SF Bay Area transit officer convicted of killing unarmed man released from LA jail

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A white former San Francisco Bay area transit officer convicted of the fatal shooting of an black unarmed black man on an Oakland train station platform was released from jail early Monday after serving 11 months of a two-year sentence, officials said.

Johannes Mehserle was set free from a Los Angeles County jail, where he served his time after his attention-getting trial was moved to Southern California, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Whitmore told The that Mehserle was released from custody at Twin Towers facility as of 12:01 a.m.

A judge ruled Friday that Mehserle should be given credit for time served and good conduct.

Mehserle, 29, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter last July in the shooting death of Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009. The incident was recorded by bystanders, and video posted online showed the Bay Area Rapid Transit officer firing a bullet into the back of Grant, 22, as he lay face down after being pulled off a train, suspected of fighting.

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Hundreds of firefighters working nightshift on Arizona wildfire face unseen dangers

EAGAR, Ariz. (AP) — Firefighter Jay Walter knows the sounds of danger in the pitch black of night — the crackling of burning embers, the whoosh of flames whipped by wind, the hair-raising thump of a burned tree hammering down on the forest floor.

The 32-year-old from the Phoenix area is a division crew supervisor overseeing hundreds of firefighters working the night shift on a huge eastern Arizona wildfire that’s been burning since May. Vigilance on the blaze is around the clock.

It’s dangerous during the day, but at night, things get even more dicey for crews protecting towns, putting out hot spots and beating back the blaze to keep it from advancing.

"It’s really dark out there," Walter said. "You don’t have the ability to see all the land and property around you."

Large trees weakened by fire pepper the forest floor. It only takes one gust to bring them down, sometimes too close for comfort.

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Work to foil attacks in Kabul takes place in remote mountains, far from Afghan capital

KHOSHI, Afghanistan (AP) — The hilly stretch of highway south of Kabul offers a picturesque view of Afghanistan’s jagged mountains topped with silvery traces of ice. But the road could also spell trouble for the Afghan capital.

It’s a dangerous smuggling route for weapons and bombs flowing into Kabul from southern Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Curbing that flow is part of stepped-up efforts to tighten security in areas that serve as gateways into Kabul, where insurgents like to stage high-profile attacks.

"This is kind of a choke point," Lt. Col. William Chlebowski said, standing on the road in Logar province, which is next door to the capital. "The stuff comes from Pakistan through here."

There have been about six suicide attacks in the first half of this year inside Kabul’s city center, down from 13 recorded by the U.N. during the same period in 2010. The reduction has been attributed to increased security inside Kabul and on roads leading into the capital.

Security, however, remains tentative, aid groups and other western workers are often under travel restrictions in the city and one large-scale attack can change feelings about how safe Kabul is today.

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Republicans meet in New Hampshire for first 2012 presidential debate that includes Romney

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republicans eyeing their party’s presidential nomination in 2012 are preparing for the first debate to include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Romney and six of his rivals are scheduled to meet Monday night at St. Anselm’s College in Manchester. It will be the first time Romney will share a stage with the contenders who are looking to take away his frontrunner status.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, businessman Herman Cain of Georgia and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia are set to participate in the debate. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania will also be on hand.

Romney skipped the campaign’s first debate.

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Pentagon chiefs’ speech exposes soul-searching on tap for aging, splintered NATO

PARIS (AP) — Created as a bulwark against Soviet expansion, NATO is facing an identity crisis as its members grapple with just how much its long and often-unpopular mission in Afghanistan and its new air campaign in Libya size up as national interests — or not — when many countries’ budgets are under strain.

In an unusually blunt parting speech Friday, outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called on the Atlantic allies of the U.S. to pay and do more to overcome the alliance’s military shortcomings — raising the question: What is NATO today, and what does it need to be?

The allies will be doing some soul-searching in the coming months, with Osama bin Laden dead, many European state coffers squeezed by high debt and slow economic growth, the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan about to start and tough questions about how long its air campaign over Libya could last.

The alliance has grappled with diverging internal views over whether NATO should be an instrument of "hard" combat missions — generally the U.S. view — or the preference among some in Europe for "soft" power, like "humanitarian, development, peacekeeping, and talking tasks," as Gates put it.

Ever since the Berlin Wall fell, NATO’s raison d’etre has been questioned. Now, with its hands in two military big campaigns in Afghanistan and Libya, the doubts about the alliance’s future have hit a new crescendo.

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As Congress returns to work, Weiner still refuses to resign and instead heads for treatment

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress returns to work on Monday, but at least one lawmaker won’t be there.

Rep. Anthony Weiner starts this week on a temporary leave of absence, in treatment for an undisclosed disorder at an undisclosed location. He spent most of last week embroiled in a sexting scandal.

Weiner has acknowledged exchanging messages and photos that ranged from sexually suggestive to explicit, with several women online. The latest to surface appeared on the gossip website TMZ.

Meanwhile, the No. 2 House Democrat spoke of Weiner’s "bizarre and unacceptable behavior" in sending the inappropriate pictures of himself. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland said it would be "extraordinarily difficult" for Weiner to be effective in Congress.

And the Republican Party chairman criticized Democratic leaders for not taking a more forceful stand earlier on the affair.

The photos posted Sunday were purportedly taken in the House members’ gym and show a shirtless Weiner with a towel around his waist and his hand on his crotch. TMZ said the photos were sent online to at least one woman.