CANBERRA, Australia - The new Labor government in Australia plans to sign an international treaty on torture and to introduce legislation to make torture specifically illegal.Former Prime Minister John Howard's government refused to ratify the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture. Howard said Australia did not need the treaty because of its excellent reputation on human rights. Robert McLelland, attorney general in the new government, told the Sydney Morning Herald he expects the ... [full story]

LONDON - A British report said record numbers of middle-age women are getting pregnant as fertility treatments make it easier for them to conceive.Britain's Office of National Statistics reported a record 25,400 pregnancies in women age 40 or over in 2006, the Telegraph newspaper said Friday. Statistics showed more women in their late 30s are getting pregnant, up from 110,000 in 2005 to 115,000 in 2006."These statistics show how important it is to many people ... [full story]

TAMPA, Fla. - A troubled Florida jail was hit with more claims of abuse by corrections officers Friday.Paul King, a former teacher with a history of alcohol-related arrests, said that last July after an arrest for public intoxication he was restrained in a chair and his head covered with a hood, the St. Petersburg Times reported. He said deputies used paper to cover the windows of a holding cell so their actions would not be ... [full story]

SAN FRANCISCO - The federal judge in San Francisco who shut down the Wikileaks Web site for posting Swiss bank documents reversed his ruling Friday.U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White dissolved the injunction he imposed Feb. 15 and refused to extend a restraining order that required Wikileaks and its server to remove documents from Julius Baer & Co., the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The documents showed alleged moving of money into offshore accounts to dodge taxes.White ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Friday endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.The Hill reported that endorsement came as Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, is being criticized by rival Sen. Hillary Clinton on his foreign policy credentials. Rockefeller said Obama's opposition to the Iraq war in 2002 is among the reasons he chose to endorse him, the newspaper reported."The indisputable fact is Barack Obama was right about Iraq ... [full story]

BOSTON - Boston firefighters who took an examination for promotion to lieutenant in November will have to take the test again because of cheating claims.The Massachusetts Human Resources Division was unable to find evidence of cheating by any individual, The Boston Globe reported. But investigators found evidence that test takers brought cell phones into the examination room, made numerous trips to the men's room and talked while the test was being administered.The investigation was launched ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - A Bush administration official told reporters Friday President George. W. Bush expects to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq before the end of his term.The official said the "pause" in troop reductions requested by Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, would last four to six weeks, The Washington Post reported. The official briefed reporters under the condition that he be identified only as a senior administration official. "This is not ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - A Utah congressman is fighting against a proposed project that he says could turn the United States into a nuclear waste dump for the world.The Christian Science Monitor reported Friday that U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat, is battling efforts to allow the Utah firm EnergySolutions to import large amounts of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. "I recognize that small amounts of waste have been permitted entry into the U.S. in the past; however, ... [full story]

PRINCETON, N.J. - Republicans are divided on whether presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee should exit the race or continue to campaign for the nomination, a poll indicated.A Gallup poll found that 46 percent of likely Republican voters said they believe the former Arkansas governor should drop out, while 49 percent said he should continue to challenge Arizona Sen. John McCain for the nomination. Among conservatives -- a group that has largely criticized McCain on numerous issues, including ... [full story]

AUSTIN, Texas - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain Friday hammered his Democratic rivals om trade, a published report said.The Politico reported that the Arizona senator lashed out at Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois for their criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement. "I want to tell our Canadian friends, I want to tell our friends in Mexico and other trading partners around the world that I will ... [full story]