USA
Visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair won President Bush's agreement to pledge $674 million in new food aid to African nations threatened by famine. But Blair said he wouldn't ask Bush to back a more ambitious plan for lifting Africa out of poverty because "There are certain things we know they are not going to do." Blair seeks to push through a $25 billion aid package for Africa at next month's G-8 summit of wealthy industrial nations in Gleneagles, Scotland.
The disputed election of Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) was upheld Monday by a superior court judge in Wanatchee, Wash. Gregoire has served five months under a cloud of uncertainty. Defeated GOP candidate Dino Rossi, who lost by only 129 votes in a hand recount of 2.9 million votes cast, said he would not appeal.
The Senate, which has begun to move on confirming Bush's judicial nominees, was poised to vote on California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown for a federal appeals court post. If approved, she'd join Priscilla Owen as the second of three long-delayed nominees to progress due to the deal cut by centrist senators of both parties. Former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor's confirmation will come up after a vote on Brown.
Government financing of a new stadium proposal considered crucial to New York's bid to stage the 2012 Olympics was rejected Monday by a state financing board. By a 2-to-1 vote, it failed to approve $300 million in state money for the $2 billion facility in Manhattan. The decision doesn't mean the city's bid is dead, but places it in serious jeopardy, with the International Olympic Committee scheduled to choose a host next month. Paris is widely regarded as the favorite, with London, Moscow, and Madrid the other candidates.
The Justice Department declined to say whether the Drug Enforcement Administration plans a crackdown on people using marijuana to relieve pain after a Supreme Court ruling Monday that opened the door to prosecuting those in violation of federal narcotics laws. Authorities in states most affected by the ruling said they aren't interested in arresting people who use pot with a doctor's prescription.
G-rated movies are 11 times more profitable, on average, than their R-rated counterparts, according to results of a new study by the Dove Foundation, which encourages the production of wholesome family entertainment. The study examined the costs and revenues of the most widely distributed films between 1989 and 2003, when more than 12 times as many R-rated movies were released.
