USA
The White House was expected to ignore the Monday deadline set by the Senate Judiciary Committee to turn over memos and other documents written by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr. during the four years he served as deputy solicitor general under the first President Bush. Democrats on the committee have demanded Roberts' writings relating to 16 cases that came before the high court on such issues as the rights of women and minorities. They've signaled that the refusal to make them available will be an issue in Roberts' confirmation hearings, scheduled to open Sept. 6. The White House has given up more than 66,000 pages of his writings while he worked in the Reagan administration. But it has insisted that his work in the first Bush administration must remain confidential.
Three hundred seats were reserved in an Atlanta courtroom Monday for the victims of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing as admitted perpetrator Eric Rudolph was to be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Rudolph, who received a similar sentence last month in Birmingham, Ala., for the bombing of a women's clinic there, cut a deal with prosecutors. In return for not seeking his execution, he agreed to tell them where to find 250 pounds of stolen dynamite he'd buried during his years on the run.
A means of fusing adult skin cells and embryonic stem cells was announced by Harvard University researchers. Their preliminary findings were reported on the website of Science magazine. The scientists said the technique could lead to the creation of stem cells without first having to create and destroy human embryos, thus largely avoiding the "logistical and societal concerns" over such research. Legislation passed by the House would force taxpayer-funded stem-cell research that would destroy human embryos. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure next month, and majority meader Bill Frist (R) has said he supports it. President Bush, however, has pledged to veto it.
Dr. Robert Moog, who died in Asheville, N.C., is credited with helping to revolutionize music because of his development in 1964 of the lightweight, compact, portable synthesizer, an instrument that turned electronic currents into sound. It soon was in wide use by such pop artists as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead. In 2001, Moog was awarded the Polar, considered the "music Nobel Prize," for his work.
