■ UNITED STATES
Snow's cancer returns
A growth that was surgically removed from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, 51, was cancerous and the cancer has spread to his liver, the White House disclosed on Tuesday. Snow, a colon cancer survivor, underwent surgery on Monday to remove the growth from his abdomen and all indications going into the procedure were that it was not cancerous. Snow had his colon removed in 2005 and underwent six months of chemotherapy.
■ NETHERLANDS
Mushroom effects probed
The health minister will order an investigation into the health risks of hallucinogenic mushrooms, he said on Tuesday, after a teenage French tourist jumped to her death after eating them. Pressure for an outright ban grew in parliament after the girl, identified as 17-year-old Gaelle Caroff, jumped off an overpass earlier this month. Her mother, Nathalie, was quoted by De Pers newspaper as saying that hallucinogenic mushrooms were responsible for her daughter's death and should be outlawed.
■ MEXICO
Investigation office closed
A special prosecutor's office created by former president Vicente Fox to investigate political crimes was shut down on Tuesday without having attained any convictions. Regular federal prosecutors will now handle the office's open cases, including one against former president Luis Echeverria, who has been accused of genocide. The decision to shut down the office was made by Fox just before he handed power to President Felipe Calderon, but it took three months to take effect.
■ UNITED STATES
Family gets US$2.4m for son
Authorities in Bay County, Florida, have agreed to pay US$2.4 million to the family of a teenager who died last year after being roughed up in a state-supervised boot camp, an attorney for the family said on Tuesday. The settlement with the county where the camp was located brings the total settlement to more than US$7 million, including US$5 million that Governor Charlie Crist has asked the state to pay the family of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson, attorney Ben Crump said. Anderson's family initially had sued for US$40 million.
■ UNITED STATES
Rare eagle spotted
A threatened eagle native to coastal Europe and northern Asia has made a surprise appearance on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. "This is history in the making," said Brenda Zaun, a wildlife biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, who confirmed sightings of the white-tailed eagle. It is not unheard of to see the species outside of its range covering Norway, Iceland, Poland,Greece, Siberia and northern Asia. One eagle lived on Kauai for 17 years until its was reportedly killed by a helicopter, Zaun said.
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