AP Network News. I’m Tim Maguire.
Scott Peterson’s father takes the stand to plead before the jury that has a choice of life in prison or death for his son. Jan Sluizer joins us live from Redwood City, California.
--- Pat Harris, not Mark Geragos, is leading the defense team during Peterson’s penalty phase trial. First witness, Lee Peterson, talked about his son’s charity work at school where he was no trouble. His being an avid golfer and a hard worker. When asked how he feels about his son now, Lee Peterson said he loves Scott very much, respects him a great deal, and is deeply depressed and saddened for having lost Laci, and having his son in this kind of jeopardy is beyond belief.
Correspondent Jan Sluizer joining us live from Redwood City, California, where she is covering the closing phase of the trial of Scott Peterson.
Maker of Botox says it sold only two vials of the drug this year to a health clinic that gave injections to four people now hospitalized with suspected botulism poisoning. Florida doctors say they’ve gotten calls from concerned patients about the safety of the anti-wrinkle injections.
Pentagon increasing troop strength in Iraq before next month’s Iraqi elections. National security correspondent Lisa Meyer reports some of the troops come from a crisis-ready division.
--- The 82nd Airborne is used to being called to duty like this. During the run-up to elections in Afghanistan in October, members of the division were deployed to beef up security. In addition, at least two army brigades that are due to return home soon from Iraq won’t. Their tours of duty will be extended for a while to keep troop strength up in advance of Iraqi elections. Lisa Meyer, Washington.
Lawyers for army reservist Lynndie England, who is facing court-martial in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse case, try to get statements she made about the case thrown out. Estes Thompson reports from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
--- England’s defense is trying to get the judge to throw out statements she made after the pictures were discovered at Abu Ghraib, showing her holding a leash on a detainee and posing with a pyramid of prisoners.
This is AP Network News.
Tens of millions of people are infected with HIV around the world. Pandemic is especially brutal in Africa where almost 60% of the adults with the virus are women. The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says those figures are troubling.
--- The numbers that have been revised and now just came out in time for World AIDS Day are about 39.4 million people infected with HIV, 37.2 of which are adults, and 2.2 million are children.
Another service from Consumer Reports: while checking the ratings on the latest dishwasher, DVD player or automobile, you can now compare some of the nation’s most widely used prescriptions. The Best Buy Drug Website will be online in eight days, December 9th. It will be free. Some states already have such comparisons so that their Medicare managers can make decisions on what prescription drugs to cover under Medicare.