New Jersey pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck has agreed to pay $671 million to settle claims that it defrauded Medicaid and improperly marketed three of its drugs to doctors, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The settlement stems from two separate lawsuits filed in Philadelphia and New Orleans. The Philadelphia case alleged that Merck overcharged the federal Medicaid program [...]

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The French Senate and National Assembly Thursday approved the new EU reform treaty , properly known as the Treaty of Lisbon . The treaty now goes to French President Nicolas Sarkozy for signature. France's opposition Socialist Party had pushed for a national referendum regarding the ratification of the treaty, but the National Assembly Wednesday voted [...]

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Canadian Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish Thursday refused to issue an interlocutory injunction that would have prohibited the Canadian military from turning over detainees to Afghan authorities. Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) had requested the injunction, alleging that detainees may be subjected to torture in Afghan custody and that [...]

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Former Yukos executive and lawyer Vasily Aleksanian will be transferred from jail to a civilian clinic for medical treatment, Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service said Thursday. The announcement apparently reverses a Wednesday Russian court ruling denying Aleksanian temporary medical release . The European Court of Human Rights has called on Russia three times to move Aleksanian [...]

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US Attorney General Michael Mukasey Thursday rejected Democratic calls to launch a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into the CIA's admitted use of waterboarding on three terror detainees. In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Mukasey said that because the CIA had relied on a DOJ opinion that found waterboarding to be legal, it would [...]

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The Pakistani Interior Ministry has arrested two suspects for their alleged involvement in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto , officials said Thursday. The two men, identified only as Hasnain and Rafaqat, are said by the Pakistani government to be "two very important alleged terrorists." AFP has more. AP has additional coverage. In [...]

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