A student was kidnapped and sexually assaulted early Sunday morning before she escaped from the suspect's van, a spokesperson from the Saugus Police Department said.

The 20-year-old student repeatedly opened and closed a van door as the suspect drove down Route 1 in Saugus in front of a patrol car at about 3:00 a.m, said Lieutenent Mike Annese from the Saugus Police Department. This prompted police to pull the van over.

When police did, Annese said the student ran toward the cruiser saying she had been sexually assaulted.

Police arrested 36-year-old Faisel Abdi Ibrahim of Boston, a cab driver who was driving an unmarked 1999 green Ford Windstar when he allegedly picked up the woman.

Source: http://media.www.huntington-news.com/media/storage/paper600/news/2008/12/08/News/Web-Update.Student.Kidnapped.Rescued.Early.Sunday-3575818.shtml

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Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will pull double duty in the Obama administration, where he will serve not only as the Health and Human Services secretary but also oversee a new White House Office of Health Reform.

Jeanne Lambrew, who helped Daschle write a book about health care reform, will serve as deputy director of the new White House office. She also worked on health policy at the White House during the Clinton administration and currently serves as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/12/11/daschle_also_to_oversee_new_health_reform_office/

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President Robert Mugabe declared that Zimbabwe's cholera crisis was over Thursday, even as the United Nations raised the death toll from the epidemic to 783.

Cholera has spread rapidly in the southern African nation because of the country's crumbling health care system and the lack of clean water. The U.N. said 16,403 cases have been reported.

Last week, Zimbabwe declared a health emergency because of cholera and the collapse of its health services.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081211/ap_on_re_af/af_zimbabwe;_ylt=AtI0msbWQYgkqwCjBCEvcwdvaA8F