Washington in brief

U.S. says quarantined cattle don't have foot-and-mouth

WASHINGTON - Cattle the United States quarantined after noticing they had blisters in their mouths do not have foot-and-mouth disease, preliminary tests by the Agriculture Department indicate.

Peter Fernandez, associate administrator for the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, made the announcement late Friday after the quarantine led Mexico to close the U.S.-Mexico border to livestock trade.

He said scientists at the department's laboratory in Plum Island, N.Y., were still checking for other diseases. A department spokeswoman said final results will likely be released on Monday.

Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious illness that affects cloven-hoofed animals such as pigs and cattle, causing lesions, sores and fever. It is deadly for animals.

ARMY CHAPLAIN CHARGED: A former Muslim chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects has been charged with disobeying orders for improperly handling classified information, the military announced Friday. Army Capt. James Yee, who also has used the name Yousef Yee, was charged with two counts of failing to obey a lawful order, U.S. Southern Command announced. He is charged with taking classified information home and wrongly transporting classified information.

CONGRESSMAN HAS SURGERY: Rep. John Dingell, the longest serving House member, was recovering after undergoing surgery to replace a stent in an artery. Dingell, D-Mich., had the stent inserted in May to open a blocked artery. During a followup examination, doctors noticed the stent was narrowing and decided to replace it.

MOUSSAOUI CASE: Citing the need to discuss classified information, the government said the public should be banned from an appellate hearing on whether terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui has a constitutional right to question al-Qaida prisoners. The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals, in Richmond, Va., is expected to hear oral arguments during the first week in December after written briefs are filed.

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