National briefs 5/3

Senate confirms director for health institutes

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Thursday confirmed Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the next director of the National Institutes of Health.

The Algeria-born radiologist will take over the nation's premier biomedical research agency. The voice vote on the Senate floor came just hours after the Senate health committee approved the nomination.

Ridge briefs senators while spurning hearing

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge informally briefed senators Thursday in a session that seemed part news conference, part hearing. But it was mostly political theater in the continuing duel between Sen. Robert Byrd and the Bush administration.

Ridge's 50-minute appearance coincided with a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on domestic security to which he had been invited to testify by Byrd, D-W.Va., the panel chairman.

Virginia governor says 'sorry' for sterilizations

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Gov. Mark R. Warner apologized Thursday for Virginia's forced sterilization of thousands of people from 1924 to 1979, calling it "a shameful effort" that must never be repeated.

Virginia conducted about 7,450 sterilizations under the banner of eugenics, or selective human breeding and social engineering. On Thursday, it became the first of the 30 states to apologize.

Court: Nike can be sued because of ad campaign

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court ruled that Nike Inc. can be sued by a man who claims the company broke advertising laws with an ad campaign that defended the wages, treatment and safety conditions of workers at overseas factories.

In a split decision Thursday, the court overturned a lower court ruling that said Nike's efforts to quell accusations of worker mistreatment did not constitute commercial speech.

"Our holding, based on decisions of the United States Supreme Court, in no way prohibits any business enterprise from speaking out on issues of public importance or from vigorously defending its own labor practices," the court wrote. "It means only that when a business enterprise, to promote and defend its sales and profits, makes factual representations about its own products or its own operations, it must speak truthfully."

Putting babies in adult beds labeld dangerous

WASHINGTON -- Putting babies to sleep in adult beds exposes them to hazards that include suffocation and falls, government officials warned.

More than 60 children younger than 2 die each year after being placed to sleep in adult beds, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. Nearly all the deaths involve children 12 months or younger who suffocate.

A campaign being announced today is intended to promote safe sleeping practices for babies.

-- From wire reports