Wisconsin
Girl becomes first to survive rabies
A unique combination of drugs has made a 15-year-old girl the first known human to survive rabies without vaccination, doctors said.
A team of physicians gambled on an experimental treatment and induced a coma in Jeanna Giese to stave off the usually fatal infection, said Dr. Rodney Willoughby, a pediatric disease infection specialist at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.
"No one had really done this before, even in animals," Willoughby said. "None of the drugs are fancy. If this works it can be done in a lot of countries."
Rabies, which attacks the brain and the nervous system, is considered untreatable with the appearance of symptoms, which include fever, headache, anxiety, loss of consciousness.
Willoughby said the treatment, which includes two anesthetics and two antiviral medications, will have to be duplicated in another patient before it can be credited as a rabies treatment.
New York City
Drug reform group rejects $200,000 grant
The Drug Policy Alliance, an outspoken advocate of reforming drug laws, said Wednesday it is returning a $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation rather than accept restrictions imposed in conjunction with new federal anti-terrorist guidelines.
The alliance is the second grant recipient to announce it is returning Ford Foundation money because of the provisions. The American Civil Liberties Union sent back a $1.15 million grant last month.
The alliance's executive director, Ethan Nadelmann, said he and his colleagues objected to a new clause in their grant pledging that the organization "will not promote or engage in violence, terrorism, bigotry or the destruction of any state."
Nadelmann said federal officials and politicians were moving "ever closer to linking drug policy reform advocacy with support for terrorism."
He cited a recent federal ad campaign that asserted that people who smoked marijuana were supporting terrorists.
Washington, D.C.
Reagan shooter denied longer unescorted trips
A federal judge Wednesday denied a request from presidential assailant John Hinckley Jr. to spend several days at a time away from a mental hospital.
But U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman said the man who shot President Reagan could continue making shorter, overnight visits with his parents without supervision, despite objections from prosecutors.
Hinckley had sought permission to stay four nights at his parents' home in Williamsburg, Va., every two weeks.
Officials at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington had suggested instead that Hinckley be allowed to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at his family's home before being granted regular visits. Federal prosecutors opposed both plans.
Afghanistan
Two U.S. soldiers killed in bombing
A bomb ripped through a U.S. patrol in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two American soldiers and wounding another, a reminder of the country's insecurity after a newly resolved hostage drama.
The troops were attacked near the town of Deh Rawood, 250 miles southwest of Kabul, in Uruzgan province, where the military has clashed repeatedly with Taliban militants.
A total of 110 soldiers have died since the United States attacked Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban and their al-Qaida allies in late 2001, according to U.S. government figures.
Israel
International observers for election approved
Israel will allow international observers to monitor upcoming elections to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority, Israel's foreign minister said Wednesday in another indication of easing of tensions since Arafat's death.
Since Arafat died on Nov. 11, Israel has scaled back military operations in Palestinian areas, and tensions have abated. Israel accused Arafat of promoting Palestinian terrorism and refused to deal with him.
Now the Israelis are walking a self-imposed fine line -- hoping a moderate Palestinian leadership emerges to resume negotiations, but keeping its distance before the Jan. 9 election.
Congo
Rwanda threatening to attack Hutu rebels
Rwanda has warned it will launch an attack "very soon" on Rwandan Hutu rebels sheltering in eastern Congo, the U.N. mission said Wednesday in Kinshasa, relaying a threat that raised fears of renewal of one of Africa's most devastating conflicts.
Asked for a deadline for Rwandan action, Rwandan President Paul Kagame told The Associated Press, "It should have been yesterday, not tomorrow."
Claiming Rwanda was coming under attack from rebels based in Congo, Kagame said, "At the appropriate moment we will certainly take measures."
Earlier, a U.N. spokeswoman in Kinshasa, Patricia Tome, said U.N. special representative William Swing "received a call from a Rwandan official informing him there would be an attack very soon ... by the Rwandan army on Congolese territory."
The United Nations already has begun deploying an additional peacekeeping brigade to the border region under threat, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Israel
Canadian convicted of planning attacks
A Gaza-born Canadian citizen pleaded guilty Wednesday to planning attacks on Israelis in North America and was sentenced by a military court to four years in prison, the Israeli army said.
Jamal Akkal, 24, was arrested in Gaza on Nov. 1, 2003, and charged by the military with conspiring to commit manslaughter. Prosecutors said Akkal planned to attack Israeli officials traveling in the United States as well as stage bombings at Jewish targets in North America.
Akkal previously denied the charges, claiming a confession he gave was made under duress.
Under Wednesday's plea bargain, Akkal was found guilty of conspiring to commit manslaughter and receiving paramilitary training, the army said. He was credited with time served since his arrest, and a second charge of receiving paramilitary training was dropped. Akkal, who was also fined the equivalent of $450, had faced up to 21 years in prison.
Washington
Republican keeps lead in election recount
Republican Dino Rossi held onto his lead in the Washington governor's race Wednesday by a mere 42 votes out of more than 2.8 million cast after a statewide recount in an election that has become one of the most intriguing story lines of this political season.
Democrats are expected to demand another recount, meaning the outcome of the nation's last undecided race for governor may not be known until after Christmas. It is the closest gubernatorial election in Washington history.
Rossi's campaign declared victory and urged Democratic Atty. Gen. Christine Gregoire to concede, saying there was no point in dragging the state through a third count.
"As far as we're concerned, Dino has won. Dino has won twice," said jubilant Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane. "It remains to be seen what Christine Gregoire will do after losing two counts."
Indiana
Student slashes five high school classmates
A student carrying a machete and another knife slashed five classmates Wednesday morning as they watched a Spanish class video, authorities said.
Eight Valparaiso High School students were taken to the hospital, including the accused attacker, a 15-year-old freshman, Police Chief Michael Brickner said. All but one of those injured were released by Wednesday afternoon, he said. Five suffered cuts, and the others complained of pain from other injuries, authorities said.
Authorities did not release any information about a possible motive for the attack, which happened as classes were starting at the school some 20 miles southeast of Gary.
Brickner said that before carrying out the attack, the student asked his teacher for permission to close the classroom door. He shut the door and then started swinging the weapons at his classmates, the police chief said.
Washington, D.C.
Two more top CIA officials leaving
Two chiefs of overseas divisions at the CIA are leaving, according to a federal official -- the latest changes at the spy agency that has has been in turmoil since new Director Porter Goss took over.
The chiefs of the Europe and Far East divisions -- two critical regions of the world for the spy agency -- are retiring, the official told The Associated Press Wednesday night on condition of anonymity. The departing CIA officials' names were not released because they work undercover.
The two officials were in the highest level of clandestine service, the directorate of operations, The New York Times reported on its Web site Wednesday night.
The retirements come almost two weeks after two other top officials -- CIA's Deputy Director for Operations Stephen Kappes and his immediate deputy, Michael Sulick -- announced they were leaving the CIA.
Earlier this month, the agency's No. 2 official, John McLaughlin, also retired, citing personal reasons.
Former officials have described intense friction within the agency with Goss now in charge.
Houston
Protein dose prevents heart attack damage
Texas scientists working with mice say a single dose of a common protein appears to protect the heart muscle from extensive damage after a heart attack.
The protein, known as thymosin beta 4, is produced by tissues throughout the body and is already known to help heal skin wounds. The researchers in Houston now are planning a clinical trial as early as next year in which paramedics would give the protein to heart attack victims in the ambulance to provide heart cells with early protection.
Scientists who did not contribute to the experiment said the protein might work better and more easily than trying to isolate and implant stem cells to repair the heart and restore its function. Thymosin also would not create the same political controversy as stem cell research.
Details of the mouse experiment appear in today's issue of the journal Nature.
Researchers said other questions about thymosin must be resolved before it could be used as a heart attack remedy. For example, the protein is known to help cancer cells spread throughout the body, and physicians would not want a medication that carries such side effects.
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