Declan Butler, Reporter updates us on the situation of the six health workers facing death in Libya. The five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian medic were sentenced to death on the charge of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV, despite scientific evidence that the infections resulted from hygiene lapses and contamination of medical material. Butler reports that Libya’s Supreme Court will rule on the health workers’ appeal on July 11th and that the EU is working towards a settlement with the Libyan children’s families. He credits campaigns by scientists and others (in which Butler himself played an important role) with spurring diplomatic activity on the case, and is cautiously optimistic about a resolution. (Hat tip to Revere at Effect Measure for the link.)

Bloggers have also had their eyes on Capitol Hill this week:

• Ed Silverman at Pharmalot gives a rundown on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s markup of the PDUFA bill on drug review and safety, while Merrill Goozner at GoozNews laments what’s missing from it. In other FDA news, The Olive Ridley Crawl gives the agency 1.5 cheers for its final rule on dietary supplements.
• Senator John Kerry blogs at Gristmill about the process of getting the energy bill through the Senate, while Matt Madia at Reg Watch warns about a damaging provision in the bill that’s gotten little attention.
• Ellen Marshall at RH Reality Check hails the House’s passage of a measure that will provide contraceptives to overseas organizations that have been denied aid because of their stance on abortion (under the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule).

Elsewhere:

Tara C. Smith at Aetiology posed a question about communication between academics and journalists and got an avalanche of responses, including several blog posts. Coturnix at A Blog Around the Clock has compiled links to the posts and described his own experience with journalists.

Ken Ward at Gristmill (not to be confused Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward Jr.) explores the role of protest in the passage of federal environmental legislation.

Amanda at Enviroblog comes down on the side of cancer prevention, even if it means endorsing sunscreens containing nano particles.

Angry Toxicologist investigates reports of toxic vapors (not fumes!) in airplanes.

Benjamin Cohen at The World’s Fair interviews Michael Egan, author of a book on Barry Commoner, about science, environmentalism, and Canadians’ love of hockey (Part II here).

Mike at RealClimate reviews Chris Mooney’s new book Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle over Global Warming.

Ben at Technology, Health & Development points out a device that’s been reported to raise medication compliance rates dramatically.

Feel free to add more links in the comments.