WASHINGTON

Coast Guard rescues Iranians for second time in five days

A Coast Guard cutter rescued six Iranian mariners from a vessel in distress in the Persian Gulf, the second time in less than a week that the U.S. military has come to the aid of Iranians at sea, an official said Tuesday.

The incident was another reminder of U.S. efforts to demonstrate the humanitarian value of its naval presence in the Gulf, which Tehran has threatened to close in retaliation for international nuclear sanctions.

Last Thursday, the U.S. Navy rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who had been held captive by pirates in the Arabian Sea, just outside the Gulf, for more than 40 days. That happened days after Tehran warned the United States to keep its warships out of the Gulf.

RALEIGH, N.C.

Panel: Forcibly sterilized people should get $50,000

Up to 2,000 people forcibly sterilized decades ago in North Carolina should get $50,000 each, a task force said Tuesday — the first time a state has moved to compensate victims of programs that weeded out those deemed undesirable.

The payout, which could total up to $100 million, still needs legislative approval. But the prospects for passage of some sort of compensation are promising, since Gov. Bev Perdue immediately embraced the recommendation, and the House speaker has come out in favor of payments.

From 1929 to 1974, more than 7,600 people in North Carolina were surgically rendered unable to reproduce under state laws that singled out people with epilepsy and others considered mentally defective. Many were poor, black women.

NEW YORK

Biotech companies offer same-day genome maps

A biotechnology company said it has developed a machine to decode an individual’s DNA in a day for $1,000, a long-sought price goal for making the genome useful for medical care.

Life Technologies Corp. said Tuesday it was taking orders for the technology, which it expects to deliver in about a year. The Carlsbad, Calif., company said three major research institutions had already signed up for the $149,000 machine.

Illumina of San Diego also introduced a technology Tuesday that it said will decode an entire genome in about 24 hours. Its statement did not estimate the cost per genome.

Doctors can use the machines to reveal vulnerabilities to certain diseases or tailor medical treatment.

MOSCOW

Space chief links sabotage, Russian satellite failures

Recent Russian satellite failures may have been the result of sabotage by foreign forces, Russia’s space chief said, in comments apparently aimed at the United States.

Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin stopped short Tuesday of accusing any specific country of disabling Russian satellites, but he told the daily Izvestia that some Russian craft had suffered “unexplained” malfunctions while flying beyond his nation’s tracking capabilities.

He spoke when asked about the failure of the $170 million unmanned Phobos-Ground probe, which was to explore one of Mars’ two moons, Phobos, but became stranded while orbiting Earth after its Nov. 9 launch.