USA
A founder of a Colombian drug cartel that may have produced 80 percent of the US cocaine supply in the 1990s is scheduled to make his first US court appearance Monday in Miami. Gilberto Rod-riguez Orejuela, who has been imprisoned with his bother in Colombia for almost a decade, was flown to a Florida jail Saturday after being extradited. The cartel became notorious for hiding tons of cocaine in shipments of everything from hollow lumber to concrete fence posts. Prosecutors have more wiretap evidence against the accused's brother, but he may end up staying in Colombia to receive medical treatment.
In an Oval Office meeting with Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, President Bush praised Pakistani cooperation in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, despite the his guest's claim that the trail has gone cold. Paki-stan's military operation has shifted its focus to the northern part of the autonomous region along the Afghanistan border. In other developments, Bush nominated ex-New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik to head the homeland security department, received Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's commitment to stay on in his post, and accepted the resignation of Tommy Thompson as secretary of Health and Human Services.
US Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona called on Major League Baseball to move quickly to come up with a tighter drug-testing policy or face possible congressional action in the new year. The warning came after long-simmering allegations of player steroid use made headlines last week, with reports of grand jury testimony in The San Francisco Chronicle. In particular, the leaked testimony revealed that slugger Barry Bonds used substances he says he didn't know were steroids.
About 400 protesters gathered at the Ohio statehouse in Columbus Saturday to show support for a federal judge's ruling that a recount of the state's Nov. 2 presidential votes can proceed. Green and Libertarian party officials sued for the recount and are prepared to pay for it. John Kerry's campaign joined the suit. The plaintiffs said they're not disputing the outcome but want a complete accounting to address alleged irregularities.
