Nation/world roundup

Immigration bill awaits Senate approval

WASHINGTON -- Senate supporters of landmark immigration legislation looked ahead Wednesday to passage of a measure along lines set by President Bush, but they also signaled a willingness to seek common ground with conservatives whose House version would be far tougher on millions of men and women in the country illegally. With Senate approval assured on Thursday, Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said, "Does anybody have a better approach? Not yet. But we're still open for business."

ACLU files complaints over government phone taps

NEW YORK -- A civil rights group filed complaints Wednesday in more than 20 states over allegations that phone companies shared customer records with the government's biggest spy agency.

The American Civil Liberties Union believes the phone program was the latest example of "a longer-term abuse of power by the executive branch," said executive director Anthony D. Romero.

The ACLU filed complaints with state utility commissions and attorneys general, and demanded the Federal Communications Commission look into the matter.

The group also placed full-page ads in eight large-city newspapers asking the public to join the complaints, saying in bold type: "AT&T, Verizon and Other Phone Companies May Have Illegally Sent Your Phone Records to the National Security Agency." Readers were urged to add their names to complaints on the ACLU Web site.

Indonesia case may be first 3-person chain of bird flu

GENEVA -- A family of eight infected with bird flu in Indonesia likely passed the disease among themselves, but world health officials said Wednesday there is no reason to raise its pandemic alert level.

It is the fourth -- and largest -- family cluster of bird flu cases likely transmitted from person to person since the start of the outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003, World Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl said.

But this case may mark the first time bird flu has passed from person to person to person, a top U.S. health official said.

The family members' close physical proximity is probably responsible for the spread of the disease, Hartl said.

"It fits the kind of pattern perfectly which we've seen so far," Hartl told The Associated Press.

California reinstates high school exit exam

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated the state's high school exit exam as a graduation requirement for this year's senior class, leaving 47,000 high school students who failed the test in danger of not graduating.

The high court ordered a state appeals court to hold hearings in the case, but with schools ready to hold commencement ceremonies as soon as this weekend, a resolution appeared unlikely before then.

This year's class was the first in which passing the test of 10th-grade English and eighth-grade math and algebra was required for graduation.

A group of students sued the state, claiming the test discriminates against low-income and minority students. On May 12, Alameda Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman invalidated the graduation requirement for 2006 graduates, finding that it discriminates against poor students and those who are learning English.

The high court stayed that ruling and ordered the 1st District Court of Appeal to hear the case, but did not say when -- leaving students who failed the test in legal limbo.

Families say Libya must honor financial commitment

WASHINGTON -- Families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 said Wednesday that Congress must ensure Libya abides by its agreement to pay the remainder of the $2.7 billion compensation owed to them.

Their plea comes a week after the Bush administration said the United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Libya and remove it from a list of terrorism sponsors.

In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing, and agreed to pay $2.7 billion to the families of the 270 victims. Part has been paid, but the final $2 million installment to each family is outstanding. This portion was to be paid when Libya was removed from the list.

Kara Weipz, of Mount Laurel, N.J., president of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, said several families met Wednesday with State Department officials to plead their case but came away with no assurances. State Department officials did not return a telephone call for comment.

"No settlement will ever take away our grief or anger, but this settlement is the only form of justice meted against the Libyan regime," said Weipz, whose brother, Rick Monetti, was one of 35 Syracuse University students killed on the plane. They were returning home after studying in London.

From wire reports. E-mail news@thesantaclara.com