Dr. Julie Gerberding , Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) , testified before the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Wednesday in the wake of a tuberculosis scare that US interstate [...]

An Italian jury acquitted all five defendants accused of murdering banker Roberto Calvi Wednesday after almost two days of deliberation. Italian prosecutors have not yet decided whether to appeal the acquittal. Calvi, who was found hung under London's Blackfriars Bridge in June 1982, was known as "God's Banker" for his financial ties to the Vatican. [...]

Major General Nadeem Ijaz, the director general of Pakistan's Military Intelligence (MI) and a close relative of President General Pervez Musharraf, filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday alleging that suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry wanted Musharraf to dissolve the government and appoint Chaudhry leader of an interim government and also [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that victims of forced abortions are "statutorily entitled" to prevent their removal from the United States by requesting asylum under Sec. 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act . The court reversed an immigration judge's finding that the petitioner, Chinese national Tang Zi Zhi [...]

At least 39 "ghost detainees" have been held by the US CIA in secret detention facilities, according to a report jointly published Thursday by six leading human rights groups, including Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and Human Rights Watch. The report specifically identifies three detainees, [...]

The US Senate voted 49-48 Wednesday evening to approve an amendment to the proposed Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 , restricting the Y-1 temporary guest worker visa program to five years. An earlier attempt to limit the proposed temporary guest visa program was rejected by a 48-49 vote two weeks earlier. Senator Byron Dorgan [...]

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are investigating allegations that an army commander used Palestinians as human shields in the latest and highest-reaching probe into the banned practice, according to Israeli media reports Wednesday. Accused officer Brig. Gen. Yair Golan, commander of the West Bank army division and a potential candidate for military secretary under Prime [...]

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Wednesday ordered the dropping of all complaints previously lodged against approximately 200 journalists, opposition party members and pro-democracy activists who protested Monday against an emergency media ordinance. The protest took place in defiance of a government ban on unauthorized rallies issued by President Pervez Musharraf late last week, one day [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will fast-track its decision in a case concerning insurance companies' coverage of levee failure damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina , a judge said following oral arguments Wednesday. Judge Carolyn King , part of a panel of three judges who heard arguments in the case, [...]

The US Department of Defense (DOD) Wednesday announced the transfer of Abdullahi Sudi Arale, a suspected East Africa al Qaeda (EAAQ) courier captured in Somalia, to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay . Arale is accused of aiding various EAAQ-affiliated extremists in obtaining weapons and providing false documents to facilitate terrorists traveling to Somalia. DOD [...]