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Last Friday, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani nuclear scientist, was freed from detention. Khan was detained under house arrest since 2004, he made a televised confession of selling nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea. He is widely regarded as the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program, and most famous as a national hero. Dr. Qadeer filed a petition at the Islamabad High Court against the government, to address his detention and house arrest. He was freed and now lives as a "free citizen," but the terms upon which he and the gover

The Coalition to Repatriate Omar Khadr held a press conference in Toronto on Wednesday, where Khadr's lawyer Dennis Edney unveiled his reintegration strategy for the sole Western citizen still held at Guantanamo Bay, in hopes that he can be returned to Canada. Edney presented his "plan of reintegration" for Khadr, which constituted maintaining distance from his controversial family while undergoing physical and psychological tests and counselling while the legal system decides whether to charge him under the Criminal Code of Canada. Nate Whitl

Despite legislation enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, more than one-third of television stations in the United States are planning to move ahead with the transition to digital television, according to reports. The transition, which was scheduled for February 17, has been pushed back to June 12, 2009, per the DTV Delay Act enacted on Wednesday. However, it left a loophole for broadcasters, allowing them to make the switch anytime between February 17 and June 12. "During these challenging economic t

An article in the February 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports on an unusual cause for an outbreak of low blood sugar among men in Singapore: illegal use of sexual performance enhancement drugs that were contaminated with a diabetes drug. Between January and May 2008, 149 men and one woman between 19 and 97 (mean age 51) were admitted to five public hospitals for unexplained low blood sugar. Similar cases were reported in media reports from Hong Kong. Seven Singaporean patients remained in a coma because of prolonged sugar

American Major League Baseball third baseman Alex Rodriguez, a star player for the New York Yankees, admitted in an interview on sports network ESPN that he used performance-enhancing drugs during 2001 through 2003. "I did take a banned substance, and for that, I'm very sorry," Rodriguez told ESPN's Peter Gammons. "When I arrived at Texas in 2001 I felt an enormous amount of pressure to perform." Last week, Sports Illustrated reported that the baseball player, nicknamed 'A-Rod', tested positive in 2003 for Primobolan and testosterone, two sub

Citing health reasons, the Mayor of Flint, Michigan, Don Williamson announced Monday at an 11:20 A.M. news conference that he was resigning from office effective Sunday February 15, 2009 at midnight. Williamson, age 75, indicated that he had multiple sinus infections and kidney stones since November 1 and his doctors wanted him to slow down by reducing his schedule. A number of events has lead to speculation about Williamson's resignation. His interim Police Chief, David Dicks, has been charged with defrauding the United States government stem

On Monday, France announced a rescue plan for its struggling automotive industry. The plan totals €6.5 billion (US$8.5 billion). The European Commission, which enforces European Union legislation, said the conditions may break EU rules. The plan calls for PSA Peugeot Citroën and Renault, the two largest French automakers, to receive a five-year loan of €3 billion at 6% interest, each. Meanwhile, Renault Trucks, which is owned by Volvo Group of Sweden, will receive a €500 million loan. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the funds shoul

The United States Senate passed a stimulus package worth US$838 billion on Tuesday, aimed at creating millions of new jobs and steering the economy out of the recession. The Democrat-controlled Senate passed the bill by a vote of 61-37, with only three Republicans supporting the plan. The move comes in the midst of a recession, which has claimed 3.6 million jobs in the US. Before the bill can be signed into law by the president, the Senate package first has to be reconciled with a different version of the plan that was adopted by the House of

Eluana Englaro, who had been in a persistent vegetative state since 1992 following an automobile accident, died Monday at the "La Quiete" clinic in Udine, where doctors stopped feeding her four days ago. The case has sparked a debate about euthanasia, as well as a political crisis. Euthanasia is illegal in Italy, however, refusing treatment is not. On Friday doctors removed her feeding tubes in accordance with a November 2008 ruling by the Constitutional Court of Italy that it was within her father's rights to order the cessation of feeding.

Tim Hortons, a popular Canadian express coffee and doughnut chain, has announced that they will be co-branding with another popular chain, Cold Stone Creamery, an American ice cream parlor chain. The deal includes a total of 100 new stores, at CA$121,690 (US$100,000) each. Each company will have 50 stores that they will build as, or convert into, dual-operation franchises. Each of the 50 stores will offer menus from each company and be located in 7 states, mostly in the Northeastern U.S.. Executives at Tim Hortons believe that mixing the t

A man in Boynton Beach, Florida located in the United States, was arrested for misusing the city's 911 emergency phone service. Jean Fortune, 66, called 911 to complain about a fast food order from Burger King he had not yet placed. On Monday Fortune called 911 to complain that the Burger King he was going to eat at did not sell lemonade. He also complained to 911 operators that the food he had yet to order, was going to take 15 minutes to complete. "You cannot dial 911 because you are unhappy with your burger, ok. I know you don't seriously

__NOTOC__ Michael Ray Aquino, a former Philippines National Police officer serving six years imprisonment in McRae, Georgia for espionage could now be eligible for immediate release after a United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit judge panel Friday modified a United States District Court for the District of New Jersey's judgment, ordering a resentence of the accused under more lenient guidelines. "I feel relieved for Michael Aquino and his family. We won the appeal. Michael will be resentenced. His new sentencing range will be 3