Japan will allow China time to negotiate with North Korea over its missile program by backing off on pushing for a sanctions vote against the isolated nation in the UN Security Council. Japan, the United States and European powers are pushing for sanctions; China and Russia are resisting in the hope that other pressure, including a nonbinding presidential statement from the Council, will be sufficient.

A judge ruled that the FBI’s search of Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-LA) congressional office was legal and that evidence gathered in the raid need not be returned. Jefferson is under investigation for accepting at least $100,000 in bribes from an FBI informant.

Four more U.S. soldiers were charged over the weekend with the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family, bringing the number charged to five. The alleged rape and murders took place on March 12 in the Iraqi town of Mahmoudiya. One other soldier was charged with dereliction of duty for failing to report the incident.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled today that an amendment to the state’s constitution barring gay marriage can be placed on the November ballot. In 2003 the same court struck down a law banning same sex marriage passed by the legislature as unconstitutional.

The trial of six of the top aides to former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic began today. The six are accused of committing atrocities in Kosovo that killed thousands of Albanians and prompted hundreds of thousands more to flee.

British medical company PowderMed is seeking government permission to begin trials of an avian flu vaccine. The Oxford-based company wants to administer its H5N1 vaccine to 75 volunteers in London using a needle-free system that uses helium to drive the it into the skin.

France’s Zinedine Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball Monday for being the World Cup’s best player. It’s sure to be controversial – why the head butt, Zizou?