Aruba Judge Keeps Gary Giordano in Jail 60 More Days in Robyn Gardner Case

Handout Photo(ORANJESTAD, Aruba) -- A judge in Aruba ordered Gary Giordano, the lone suspect in the disappearance of Maryland woman Robyn Gardner, to remain in jail for another 60 days while police press their investigation.

Gardner has been missing since Aug. 2. She was last seen at a restaurant with Giordano, the prime suspect in her disappearance. He is in an Aruban jail, but has not been charged with a crime.

Gardner's mother, Andrea Colson, issued a statement after the judge's ruling, saying, "We have faith and confidence in the Aruban Authorities and FBI, and know that they will fervently continue their efforts to find Robyn."

"This has been such a difficult time for all of us and your prayers have given us strength. We need to find our daughter. We pray that anyone who knows what happened that day will find the strength to contact authorities immediately. And we continue to ask everyone to keep praying for our Robyn so that she will be found soon," the statement said.

The Aruba prosecutor's office issued a statement urging "people who can give any information about the suspect...to contact the Aruban Police in person or via the special tip line 11141. Persons who want to volunteer information from outside of Aruba are asked to make use of the number 297-582-0695."

Earlier Wednesday, ABC News reported that Giordano and Gardner met online on the website "Adult Friend Finder," which describes itself as "the world's largest sex and swinger personals community," Gardner's friend told Aruban investigators.

ABC News reviewed witness statements given to Aruban investigators by Gardner's family and friends. A female friend of Gardner told investigators that Giordano, 50, and Gardner, 35, had previously planned a vacation together but Gardner backed out because of Giordano's "scary behavior."

Since Gardner disappeared, Giordano moved to redeem a reportedly $1.5 million insurance policy on Gardner. Witnesses and an Aruban Police report described him as uncooperative with investigators and eerily calm about Gardner's disappearance.

The witness statements also reveal more about Gardner. A friend and family member told police she was a "sneaky drinker," according to the witness statement.

Police also found Ambien, the sleep medication, prescribed to Gardner in the Marriott Hotel room where she was staying with Giordano. Giordano told police that he saw Gardner take a sleeping pill the day he claims they went snorkeling and she never returned.

Witnesses who saw Gardner the day she vanished described her as drunk and woozy.

The family member who told police she drank heavily said she was close to confronting Gardner about her allegedly excessive drinking.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Ex-IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn Released on Bail

Richard Drew-Pool/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was discharged from jail Friday and will temporarily reside in a downtown Manhattan apartment building owned by the security company responsible for monitoring him 24 hours a day.

Strauss-Kahn, who was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday on seven counts of sexual assault against a hotel chamber maid, was released from Riker's Island into the custody of private security firm Stroz Friedberg.

Under a bail agreement approved Wednesday, Strauss-Kahn will be allowed to stay in the corporate apartments of Stroz Friedberg and will be monitored around the clock by the company. He's expected to stay in the apartment for only three to four days while the family searches for a more permanent residence in the city. As part of his bail, Strauss-Kahn is required to stay in New York.

As authorities continue to investigate just exactly what happened during Strauss-Kahn's stay at the midtown hotel, a receptionist at the establishment alleges that after Strauss-Kahn checked in on May 13, he went up to his room and then called to ask her if she would like to join him for a drink, according to a report by the Daily Beast.

The following evening Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody by authorities aboard an Air France jet at John F. Kennedy International Airport, just as the doors were closing to take off on a flight to Paris.

Judge Michael Obus approved Strauss-Kahn's release Friday after he paid $1 million bail and an additional $5 million insurance bond, surrendered his passport and other travel documents, and arranged for round-the-clock surveillance.

Obus said the former IMF chief will not be allowed to leave the Stroz Friedberg building except in medical emergencies. Once a permanent location is found he will be permitted to leave under certain circumstances, provided the prosecution is given six hours notice.

Strauss-Kahn had planned to move into a furnished luxury apartment secured by his journalist wife Anne Sinclair. By Friday afternoon, however, it was clear that Strauss-Kahn would not be permitted to move into the Bristol Palace on Manhattan's Upper East Side, raising the prospect that he might spend the weekend in jail.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Taliban Members Escape from Afghanistan Prison

ABC News(KANDAHAR, Afghanistan) -- An estimated 476 Taliban members reportedly managed to crawl their way to freedom from the main jail in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Monday morning.

The prison's warden said the prisoners used a long tunnel to make their way outside and that authorities discovered it only after the breakout from the political wing of the building.

The warden admitted he and others didn't know if the tunnel was dug from outside or inside the Sariposa prison, which is considered the largest facility in southern Afghanistan.

In a statement, the Taliban said that 541 prisoners had actually escaped and that more than 100 were commanders.

This is not the first time Taliban members have escaped from the facility. In 2008, the Taliban freed 1,200 people from the prison, about 350 of whom belonged to the group.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Former Israeli President Sentenced to Seven Years in Jail

JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images(TEL AVIV) -- Moshe Katsav, Israel's president from 2000 to 2007, has been sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of rape and other sexual offenses brought against him last December.

He is the highest-ranking Israeli official ever jailed.

Judges said they handed down a severe punishment because Katsav sexually abused women over many years and while holding public office. Rape, they said, damages and destroys a person's soul.

The sentence is being praised in Israel as a victory for the country's legal system.

Lawyers for the former president plan to appeal the sentence.

Katsav reports to jail May 8.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Amanda Knox in Italian Court to Appeal 26-Year Sentence

Photo Courtesy - TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images(PERUGIA, Italy) -- A judge has agreed to review forensic evidence in the case against Amanda Knox, the young American woman convicted of killing her British roommate in 2007.

Knox was back in Italian court Saturday for the most important hearing since her conviction. The Seattle student is appealing her 26-year prison sentence, handed down for her involvement in the murder of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher. The prosecution is also appealing the ruling; it wants Knox to spend her life behind bars.

Knox’s lawyers have argued that the alleged murder weapon, a kitchen knife, did not have enough traces of her DNA.

“We know absolutely, unequivocally, simply, there was no evidence whatsoever of Amanda Knox in the room where Meredith Kercher was killed,” Knox’s lawyer, Theodore Simon, said.

"I saw [Amanda] yesterday,” said Knox’s mother, Edda Mellas. “She's okay. It is a very scary time for her. She's afraid the truth won't come out, but she's hanging in there.’’

A court in Perugia last year found Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, guilty of killing Kercher, whose semi-naked body was found in a pool of blood, her throat slashed.

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio

WikiLeaks Founder Assange to Be Freed on $315K Bail

Photo Courtesy - LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images(LONDON) -- Embattled Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is expected to be freed from a London jail Tuesday on $315,000 bail, but he won't be allowed to leave the country.

Assange was being held in solitary confinement -- for his own protection, the jail said -- on sexual assault charges, including rape originating out of Sweden since his arrest last week. Assange, the man who published a massive trove of classified U.S. diplomatic cables through his website, could also be the target of coming espionage charges from the U.S., one of his lawyers told ABC News last week.

If he is able to post the bond, Assange must surrender his passport and stay in the United Kingdom where he plans to stay with a friend, the London judge ruled Tuesday. He will have an electronic tag to verify that he is at that address overnight and must daily report to police.

The timing of the arrest earlier this week led a Wikileaks spokesperson, Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens and hundreds of Assange's supporters to claim the sex charges were part of a political effort to marginalize the Wikileaks founder in the face of the document drop, which has proved an embarrassment and potential security risk for the U.S. government.

But a lawyer for the two Swedish women accusing Assange said the charges are in no way politically motivated and the woman are angry at that suggestion.

Assange has denied the sex crimes charges and after his arrest, Stephens told ABC News Assange is ready "to vindicate himself and clear his good name."

Prosecutors may still appeal the bond ruling.

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio

Soldier in Custody After Detainee Death

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(KABUL, Afghanistan) -- A U.S. soldier is in custody after the shooting death Sunday of a Taliban insurgent in a holding cell at a jail in the Kandahar area.  The U.S. has launched a full investigation in the matter.

"The U.S. takes very seriously any mistreatment of detainees," said Rear Admiral Greg Smith, U.S. Forces Afghanistan Director of Communication.  "Our forces are trained to uphold the rights of persons in custody and any violation of those rights are fully investigated."

The detainee, who was captured by a partnered Afghan Coalition force during an operation in Arghandab district, was known to be a senior leader of the Taliban network in Arghandab.

U.S. Forces Afghanistan says it plans to keep the Afghan government informed throughout the investigation.

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio