■ Italy
PM investigated
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was humiliated on Tuesday when his government dropped an attempt to block an investigation into his business dealings. At the center of the affair is an investigation into an alleged US$91 million tax fraud by Berlusconi's companies. Last week Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, a member of the Northern League, told prosecutors he had intercepted their request for evidence from the US. It was argued that, since the prime minister was covered by the immunity law, the request might be illegal. The alleged fraud was after Berlusconi gave up running his business empire, but the prosecutors claim he knew of it.
■ United States
New terror warning issued
The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department issued public warnings on Tuesday of possible terrorist attacks against US citizens, including the possibility of suicide hijackings of passenger planes. Bush administration officials said the advisories were prompted in part by interrogations of captured terrorists of al-Qaeda. The Homeland Security Department said on Tuesday that intelligence agencies had "received information that al-Qaeda continues to be interested in using the commercial aviation system" and that the nation's airlines were warned last weekend. "We continue to investigate the credibility of this intelligence," the department said.
■ United States
Cigarettes `boosted'
A study found that some brands of cigarettes deliver a much more powerful nicotine "kick" than others, adding to suspicions that manufacturers deliberately blend tobacco to boost the addictive effect. Smoke from 11 brands of cigarettes was analyzed for a specific form of nicotine called "free base" that passes quickly into the bloodstream.. American Spirit, a brand owned by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, topped the list. It was followed by the French brand Gauloises Brunes, according to the study by Oregon Health & Science University chemist James Pankow.
■ United States
AIDS cases increase
AIDS cases are on the rise again in the US for the first time in a decade, federal health officials have warned, according to news reports on Tuesday. Cases of the killer-disease rose by 2.2 percent last year, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Washington Post reported. Safe-sex campaigns and powerful anti-viral drugs had helped stabilize the spread of the epidemic for a decade, and the cause of the apparent US increase was unclear, said the report.
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