In the 231-year history of the United States, only once has a federal court banned a doctor from participating in state executions. The doctor was Dr. Alan Doerhoff of Jefferson City, Mo. Before he was ordered out of Missouri's execution chamber, Doerhoff testified that he is dyslexic and "not good with numbers." Testimony last year showed that he had trouble preparing and administering the sedative used in executions and failed to meet standards called for ... [full story]

Maybe President Bush did betray his bias for the military over the economically distressed in his choice of vetoes last week. He sent back a $606 billion spending bill funding education, health and labor programs but signed a $471 billion defense appropriations bill funding the Pentagon, minus Afghanistan and Iraq operations. But Congress gave him an opening so large that any president would feel tempted to drive a veto truck through. That would be 2,000 ... [full story]

It may be appropriate for a federal court to decide who in government has the authority to set fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, but it is well beyond the role of the court to take on the job of setting those standards itself. But that's what the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco is trying to do in ruling that federally approved fuel efficiency standards for light trucks are not stringent enough; wrongly excluded sport ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- Hamas militant Ayad Abu-Shehadam was sentenced Monday in Israel to 450 years in prison for bombings in Beersheba that killed 16 people.A military court convicted Shehadam of preparing the suicide bombs used in the Beersheba attack in 2004 and in a failed attack against a cafe in Jerusalem, Ynetnews.com reported.Officials also said Shehadam was linked to 16 other attacks in Israel in 2003 and 2004.Shehadam, reportedly a senior Hamas operative, was arrested by ... [full story]

BRUSSELS -- Violence is increasing again in Sudan's Darfur region and humanitarian agencies have less access to victims of the conflict, a human rights group said Monday.The International Crisis Group also said a political settlement remains far off, and that a multi-country peacekeeping force is not yet effective.Confrontations have increased and the warring parties have splintered into more factions than there were in 2003 and 2004, the region's most intense period of fighting, said the ... [full story]

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Searchers looked for bodies Monday in the Bay of Bengal following reports Bangladeshi migrants drowned in an illegal human smuggling operation.Police said only one body had been recovered off Shah Parir Dwip, but local fishermen reported seeing other bodies floating they couldn't reach, the Bangladesh Daily Star reported Monday.Officials said motorboats shuttled more than 200 people to a trawler bound for Malaysia, but the trawler became top-heavy and capsized, the report said.Panicked ... [full story]

BUDAPEST, Romania -- Romanian voters cast ballots in their first European Union elections Sunday.The election will determine the makeup of the country's 35 representatives in the European Parliament, Voice of America reported.Romania joined the European Union Jan. 1. A vote was scheduled for May, but was postponed because of conflict between President Trajan Basescu and Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, VOA said.The president's centrist Democrat party is expected to win about 40 percent of the ... [full story]

YANGON, Myanmar -- Thousands of Buddhist monks, a fixture in Myanmar's monasteries and temples, have vanished in the wake of the September crackdown by the military junta.A report in the Dec. 3 issue of Newsweek says the few foreigners, who managed to visit the country since September, have noted how empty these places look in cities like Yangon, formerly Rangoon, and Mandalay."What has happened to all the monks?" Shari Villarosa, charge d'affaires at the U.S. ... [full story]

PARIS -- Riots broke out in north-suburban Paris after two teenagers on a stolen motorcycle hit a police car head-on and were killed, European media reported Monday.Police in Villiers-le-Bel called for reinforcements after the accident Sunday and denied there had been a chase involved, Euronews.net reported.Soon after the crash, youths set fire to the town's police station and, in neighboring Arnouville, the police station also came under siege, a BBC correspondent reported.The rolling violence injured ... [full story]

MOSCOW -- The date for Russia's presidential election was set Monday for March 2, with campaigning to begin Dec. 2."Documents for registering candidates with the Central Election Commission can be submitted from Dec. 12 to Jan. 16, the media campaign will run Feb. 2-29, and candidates can publish their political manifestos Feb. 2-10," the commission's Chairman Vladimir Churov said.While numerous campaigns have been launched to amend the constitution to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to ... [full story]