USA
Astronauts from the shuttle Discovery are prepared for another spacewalk Monday after a productive seven-hour outing Saturday, when two of them tested repair procedures and installed a new antenna on the International Space Station. NASA decided to extend the 12-day mission by one day since the next shuttle visit probably will be postponed until problems with heat-shielding tiles are solved. Engineers have now reviewed 90 percent of the shuttle's current tiles and found them able to withstand the forces of reentry. The remainder are expected to receive clearance Monday. Sunday, the crew removed 13 tons of accumulated trash from the space station to be returned to Earth for disposal.
Uzbekistan's government has informed the US military that it must move out of a strategically located base used in searching for Osama bin Laden and in regional relief operations, US officials confirmed over the weekend. According to The Wash- ington Post, the US has six months to move out of the Karshi-Khanabad air base, also known as K2. The American presence in Central Asia has caused tensions with Russia and China.
President Bush was declared "fit for duty" after undergoing his annual physical checkup at the National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Saturday. Tuesday, he anticipates signing the Central American Free Trade Agreement before leaving Washington to spend the rest of the month at his Texas ranch.
Michigan's Supreme Court overturned an appellate ruling and confirmed the public's right to stroll Great Lakes beaches whether or not lakefront property owners object. The justices agreed that owners of adjacent property may not deny access to people using the land between the water's edge and the ordinary high-water mark. About 70 percent of Michigan's 3,200 miles of shoreline on lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie abuts private property.
Members of the Oregon Legislature made their state the first to a require a doctor's prescription for cold medicines that contain an ingredient used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine. Moonshiner-style "meth labs" have made the drug a greater danger to American young people than marijuana, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said. Congress is considering legislation to put certain medicines used in making meth behind pharmacy counters.
In the first report of its kind, the Department of Justice estimated there were 8,210 incidents of rape and sexual abuse in US prisons last year. The report warns that this figure is probably low since victims often are reluctant to report incidents because of the fear of reprisal. Almost half of the alleged acts involved staff misconduct toward inmates, the report says. A federal commission will begin examining the issue next month.
