USA
Pfizer Inc. tested medicine on children diagnosed with meningitis in Nigeria during a 1996 epidemic, violating international and local law, according to a report uncovered by The Washington Post. The confidential report by Nigerian medical experts found that Pfizer gave the unproven drug Trovan to about 100 children and infants without authorization. Five children died after treatment, but no evidence ties the deaths to Trovan, according to the report. Pfizer, the world's biggest drug company, told the Post it conducted the trial legally.
Six North Koreans were brought to the US with official refugee status Friday, the first since a 2004 law made it easier for North Koreans to apply, according to Sen. Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas. Four of the refugees were women who say they were victims of sexual slavery or forced marriages.
Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent whose leaked identity has been the focus of a federal probe, has signed a $2.5 million book deal, according to Publishers Marketplace. The industry website said that Crown, an imprint of Random House, plans to publish a memoir entitled "Fair Game" that will focus on her role in the American intelligence community.
Public virginity pledges have little effect on actual behavior, according to a new Harvard study. The study, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, found that 52 percent of virginity pledgers in a 1995 survey had disavowed their pledge within a year. Also, 73 percent of those who pledged and later reported sexual activity denied ever pledging.
40 percent of Americans adults play electronic games on a computer or console, according to a new AP-AOL poll. Men, younger adults, and minorities were most likely to play. 45 percent of gamers play over the Internet. Casual games like board or card games were the most popular.
In San Francisco, the Episcopal Diocese of California averted a potential criss Saturday by electing Mark Handley Andrus as bishop over three gay and lesbian candidates.
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D) of Rhode Island entered a rehab program Friday after publicly acknowledging he suffers from depression and abuses alcohol and prescription drugs. The admissions followed a car crash in Washington on Thursday.
