Washington  - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a member of the top court in the United States, said Tuesday she will be undergoing chemotherapy after surgery last month for pancreatic cancer.

The 75-year-old Supreme Court justice said her surgery last month was a complete success and described the chemotherapy treatment as a precautionary move. Ginsburg, the only woman on the nine-member court, said she expected to continue working full-time.

Washington  - The construction of new homes in the United States unexpectedly surged in February, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, signalling that the housing downturn at the heart of the US economic crisis may finally have reached bottom.

Privately-owned housing starts in February were 583,000 at an annual rate, up 22 per cent from January but still down 47.3 per cent from the same month in 2008. Economists had expected a further monthly decline to 450,000 last month, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

San Francisco  - Actress Natasha Richardson was in serious condition at a Montreal hospital Tuesday after suffering head injuries Monday afternoon in a skiing accident, according to Canadian news reports.

The British actress, 45, is a member of the Redgrave acting dynasty and the wife of Liam Neeson. She suffered the injury at the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, according to People magazine online.

Los Angeles - Legendary protest singer Bob Dylan is getting some protests of his own over a portable toilet at his exclusive Malibu compound which neighbors say is fouling up the neighbourhood's ocean air, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Borrowing one of the folk bard's most famous lines, the report said that the stench "blowin' in the wind" had made members of one family ill and forced them to abandon their bedrooms on warm nights.

The family claimed that Dylan, 67, has ignored their complaints for six months.

Washington - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday defended his ambitious budget proposals, which have been strongly resisted by conservatives, telling skeptics that his plans were in line with the enormity of the problems faced by the country's economy.

"The challenges we face are too large to ignore," Obama said after a meeting with members of the congressional budget committees.

Washington, Mar. 17 : President Barack Obama has decided that he is too busy to attend the Gridiron's annual banquet later this month.

He will be the first president since Grover Cleveland to skip the white-tie-and-tails affair in his first year in office.

The official line from the Gridiron Club - a society of Washington reporters, columnists, and bureau chiefs - is, "We understand."

But some Gridiron veterans make clear they don't understand.