OxyContin: The Giuliani Connection

May 10, 2007 -- OXYCONTIN GUILTY PLEA

OxyContin: The Giuliani Connection

Rudolph Giuliani and his consulting company, Giuliani Partners, have served as key advisors for the last five years to the pharmaceutical company that pled guilty today to charges it misled doctors and patients about the addiction risks of the powerful narcotic painkiller OxyContin. (ABC News)

Guilty Pleas From OxyContin Makers

The manufacturer of OxyContin and three current and former executives pled guilty today for illegally misbranding its top-selling painkiller, OxyContin, in an effort to mislead and defraud physicians and patients. (ABC News)

Al QAEDA

Iraq Qaeda-Led Group Kills Abducted Officers-Web

The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, an al Qaeda-led militant group, posted a video on Thursday showing the killing of nine abducted police and army officers, after an ultimatum it gave to the Iraqi government expired. (Reuters)

Al-Qaeda In North Africa Drums Up Followers

The purported chief of the Al-Qaeda branch in North Africa urged his followers to join the "war between infidels and believers", in a videotape broadcast Wednesday on Al-Jazeera news channel. (Middle East Times)

U.K.

British PM Blair to Resign After 10 Years

British Prime Minister Tony Blair returned today to the Trimdon Labour Club in Durham, Northern England -- to the room where he launched his Labour leadership campaign nearly 13 years ago -- and announced that he would step down as prime minister and party leader June 27. (AP)

SAUDI ARABIA

Drug Smuggling Saudi Prince Gets 10 Years

A French court sentenced a Saudi prince to 10 years in prison for abusing his role in a large-scale cocaine smuggling operation. But the prince isn't likely to see the inside of a cell anytime soon. (ABC News)

IRAQ NEWS

U.S. Military Kills 3 Militants in Baghdad Raid

A U.S. air strike killed three militants in Baghdad on Thursday during a raid targeting cells suspected of smuggling in sophisticated bomb making components from neighboring Iran, the U.S. military said. (Reuters)

US Marine 'Shot Unarmed Iraqis'

A US Marine who led the unit accused of killing 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha shot five men as they stood with their hands in the air, another marine said. (BBC)

SYRIA

Syria Built Underground Missile Complex - Israeli Paper

Syria has built a fortified complex buried deep underground and cloaked in secrecy to manufacture and store ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel, an Israeli newspaper said on Monday. The complex includes 30 reinforced concrete bunkers, production facilities, development laboratories and command posts. (AFP)

Group Says Syria Kills 4 Militants on Iraq Border

An Islamist group claiming links to al Qaeda said on Thursday that Syrian security forces have killed four of its members while they were trying to cross into neighbouring Iraq, and vowed revenge. (Reuters)

AFGHANISTAN

U.S.-Led Raid Kills 40 Civilians In Afghanistan: Witnesses

At least 40 civilians were killed in an air strike in Afghanistan by foreign forces, witnesses said on Thursday, but the U.S.-led coalition said only rebels were hit and it knew of no other casualties. (Reuters)

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

Pakistan Erects Anti-Taliban Fence on Afghan Border

Pakistan has fenced a part of its 2,500 km (1,500 mile) long and porous border with Afghanistan to prevent incursions by militants, the army said on Thursday, despite opposition from Kabul. (Reuters)

U.S.

Amid FBI Probes, Senator Drops Controversial Project

Amid expanding FBI probes into public corruption in Alaska, the state's senior U.S. senator confirmed he is dropping support for a controversial program that is receiving scrutiny by federal investigators and prosecutors. (ABC News)

Is the U.S. Harboring a Terrorist?

Does a terrorist live in Miami -- not in hiding, but, in fact, quite celebrated by some and very well known by the Bush White House? Is the administration actually allowing a terrorist to live in the United States? (ABC News)

No Child Left Behind Scandal Widens

A scathing report issued today documents "substantial financial ties" between key advisors of Reading First, a controversial federal reading grant program, and publishers who benefited from the program. (ABC News)

PAKISTAN

12 Arrested In Karachi For Plotting May 12 Attack

Karachi police have arrested 12 suspects allegedly planning an act of terrorism in the city on May 12, Geo television reported. According to police officials, the 12 suspects had confessed they planned a terrorist attack in Karachi on May 12, when the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) is due to visit the city. (Daily Times)

3 Suicide Bombers Enter Islamabad

A group of three suicide bombers from restive Waziristan have reached Islamabad to target government and military installations, Daily Times has learnt reliably. (Daily Times)

ISRAEL/FRANCE

'Israel, France Made Secret Deal To Produce N-Bomb'

Israel and France once made a secret deal to produce a nuclear bomb together, according to a new biography of Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres. (Daily Times)

GERMANY

German Government to Spend Millions Piecing Together Spy Past

After several years of uncertainty, the German government has decided to spend some 6.3 million euros on a new pilot project that will put together the most complex jigsaw puzzle in the world. (ABC News)

In Run-up to Summit, Police Raids Bring Early Violence

Thousands of people took to the streets last night in Berlin and Hamburg to protest German police raids against anti-globalisation activists officials suspect of plotting to violently disrupt next month's G8 summit in northern Germany. (ABC News)

SOMALIA

Somali Police Ban Muslim Women's Veil

Somali security forces are seizing and even burning Muslim women's veils to stop Islamist insurgents from disguising themselves for attacks, authorities and witnesses said on Wednesday. (ABC News)

IRAN

Americans Detained in Iran

An Iranian-American scholar from a Washington-based think tank was arrested yesterday in Iran after months of house arrest, the State Department confirmed today. (ABC News)

CHINA

China Military Ties With ASEAN No Threat, U.S. Says

China's bid for closer military ties with Southeast Asia is a "positive overture" and does not pose a threat to U.S. interests in the region, a top U.S. military commander said on Thursday. (Reuters)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Ayoon wa Azan ( Miscalculation or Misjudgment )

By Jihad el-Khazen

News has been batted around over the past weeks of an imminent war between Syria and Israel, with summer being the most likely date. While I cannot give a certain opinion, I can say that there is no smoke without fire. (Al-Hayat)

Iraq War Debate Cited As Aiding Terrorists

By Bill Gertz And S.A.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday told Congress that al Qaeda will establish a stronghold in Iraq's Anbar province if U.S. troops pull out prematurely and that the group is reacting to the war debate in Washington by stepping up attacks. (The Washington Times)

Iraq and Turkey: Rituals of Signs and Transformations

By Mshari Al-Zaydi

Iraq is seeking a national secular solution to save the country from complete disaster, while in Turkey, the army wields its stick at Islamists who threaten the principles of the Atatürk's state—a paradox that calls for contemplation. (Alsharq Alawsat)

Silence on Guns

The tragedy of our runaway gun culture can only deepen now that it's clear the new Democratic Congress operates in fear of the gun lobby's well-practiced demagoguery and rich campaign treasury. A collective silence descended on the Capitol after the pro forma expressions of outrage over the Virginia Tech gun massacre. (NY Times)

Liberal Arab Authors Criticize Support for Terrorism in Arab and Muslim Society

Three liberal Arab authors recently criticized the support for terrorism that exists in Arab societies. In an article on the liberal Arab website Elaph, Iraqi author Riyadh 'Abd asked why it is that Cho Seung-Hui's family apologized for their son's actions while the families of jihadi suicide bombers are proud of their children. Another article, also prompted by the massacre at Virginia Tech was written by Saudi author Rim Salih, who responded to other writers claimed that there was nothing unique about Islamist terrorism. In a third article, published in the UAE daily Al-Ittihad, Kuwaiti columnist Khalil 'Ali Haydar discussed the differences between Islamist terrorism and other kinds of terrorism, arguing that the degree of sympathy for terrorism in the Arab and Muslim world is greater than elsewhere.The following are excerpts: (MEMRI)

The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.