USA
The US admitted 1,608 Iraqi refugees into the country during the past 12 months, below a target of 2,000 that was revised downward from 7,000, according to State Department figures. Bureaucratic tie-ups have slowed the pace of processing.
More than 100 accidents and lost shipments have occurred since 2003 at labs that handle deadly microorganisms and toxins, according to an Associated Press review of confidential federal reports. The public was never at risk from the documented cases, but their frequency could suggest lax procedures, regulators said.
The Colorado Rockies scored three runs in the bottom of the 13th inning Monday night against the San Diego Padres to secure the last, undecided spot in baseball's playoffs, which begin Wednesday. The come-from-behind 9-8 victory, the longest one-game tiebreaker in major league history, returns the Rockies to the postseason for the first time since 1995. They will face the Philadelphia Phillies in a best-of-five-games series.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Monday that the department will use a congressional waiver if environmentalists try to slow the construction of fencing along the US-Mexican border. Some wildlife advocates worry that the fence could keep animals from freshwater supplies.
Federal authorities said they do not plan to file criminal charges but have begun deportation proceedings against Paul Henss, a former Nazi soldier and military dog trainer who lives in suburban Atlanta. Henss moved to the US 33 years ago and claims he didn't train the dogs to hurt concentration camp prisoners.
Smog-cutting technologies have helped reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from factories and power plants, which are the precursor to ground-level ozone, an average of 5 to 8 percent in 19 eastern states, the Environmental Protection Agency announced.
To promote farmers' markets in 16 states, the Department of Agriculture said it will make nearly $1 million in grants to local governments, nonprofit development corporations, and agricultural cooperatives.
Discus thrower Al Oerter, who died Monday in Fort Myers, Fla., was a four-time Olympic champion who won gold medals at successive Games, beginning in 1956. In recent years, he founded a program to showcase the art of Olympic athletes.
