23 United States agents convicted, 2 others cleared in Italy

An Italian judge convicted 23 US and two Italian secret agents for the CIA's kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in 2003, as Washington expressed dismay over the ruling.

The Milan station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency in Milan at the time, Robert Seldon Lady, was sentenced in absentia on Wednesday to eight years in prison and the other Americans to five years, in the landmark trial.

Two Italians were given three-year prison terms following the first trial involving the transfer of a "war on terror" suspect by CIA operatives thought to have sent scores of people to countries known to practice torture.

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Senate health care bill to include public option

Health care legislation heading for the Senate floor will give millions of Americans the option of purchasing government-run insurance coverage, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on Monday, although he stopped short of claiming the 60 votes needed to pass a plan steeped in controversy.

Reid, D-Nev., said individual states would have the choice of opting out of the program.

His announcement was cheered by liberal lawmakers, greeted less effusively by the White House and noted with a noncommittal response by Democratic moderates whose votes will be pivotal.

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