Nation - Thursday

S.C. leapfrogs Fla. on primary vote

South Carolina Republicans moved their presidential primary to Jan. 19 from Feb. 2, countering Florida's earlier move to Jan. 29. South Carolina's shift to protect its turf as the first primary in the South could trigger a chain reaction. New Hampshire is required by state law to hold its primary a week before any other. Iowa is also expected to move up its caucus, now set for Jan. 14.

Air passenger screening revised

The gov't unveiled a third revision of its proposed airline passenger screening program, stripped of controversial data-mining elements that had aroused privacy concerns. The proposed system would transfer the matching of passengers against the terrorist watch lists from the airlines, which do it now, to Transportation Security Administration officers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pared its prediction for Atlantic hurricanes this season to nine from 10, but as many as five could be severe, with winds of more than 100 mph. The black-footed ferret, once the rarest mammal in the world, has made an astonishing comeback in Wyoming after a captive breeding program, researchers said.