USA
More than 120 people were arrested and 11.4 million doses of steroids recovered in the largest crackdown on illegal steroids in US history, federal authorities announced Monday. The drug bust targeted distributors and involved raiding dozens of labs that manufacture growth hormone for sale on the black market. Above, US Attorney Robert Clark Corrente (r.) joined other officials in announcing the results of Operation Raw Deal.
Sales of existing homes fell 4.3 percent from July to August, pushing activity in the housing market to its lowest point in five years, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. The median price of these homes, however, edged up 0.2 percent to $224,500.
The US Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether voter identification laws unfairly deter poor and minority Americans from voting. The justices will hear arguments before the 2008 elections in a challenge to an Indiana law that requires voters to present photo IDs before casting their ballots as a way to combat voter fraud.
The overall national crime rate declined to its lowest level in 30 years, but violent crimes – murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault – rose for a second straight year, according to FBI statistics. Among reasons cited for the 1.9 percent jump in violent crimes: an increase in gang activity and a lack of will to confront gun-related issues.
A musician committed to the revival of country blues and a professor who studies doctor-patient relationships are among 24 new recipients of "genius grants," awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Above, recipient Deborah Bial, president and founder of the Posse Foundation, which helps colleges identify promising high school students by nontraditional means, poses in her Chicago office. Each new fellow receives $500,000.
The Senate voted Monday to spend $23 billion for a wide range of water projects. Restoration of the Florida Everglades and the hurricane-ravaged Louisiana coast are among the largest of hundreds of projects covered in virtually every state by the bill, which faces a possible White House veto.
Terrorism charges were reinstated Monday against Omar Khadr, a Canadian prisoner held more than five years at the Guantanamo naval prison in Cuba. A US military appeals court ruled that the case against Khadr was wrongfully discontinued by a military judge over his enemy combatant status Khadr is accused of killing a US soldier and wounding another in Afghanistan in 2002.
