Belgium News Blog @newzblogz.com

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) The European Union approved an aviation deal with the United States on Thursday that opens up restricted trans-Atlantic routes to new rivals, but bowed to British concerns in delaying when the agreement takes effect.

The "Open Skies" deal will allow airlines to fly from anywhere in the EU to any point in the U.S., shedding limitations that also discourage them from charging what they like or combining with other carriers.

The EU said its 27 nations had unanimously voted for the deal, which will take effect March 30, 2008. European negotiators will now have to secure U.S. agreement to delay the pact, originally scheduled to begin Oct. 28, and want to push on with new talks to eliminate remaining barriers on airline ownership.

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Free exterior paint is available for city residents through Paint it Broward, the county's recycled paint program. The paint comes in five-gallon containers and five colors: beige, off-white, light gray, terra cotta and turquoise.

Color may vary between batches, so order in adequate quantity to ensure it's the same shade for the entire project. More than one color can be requested in the same order.

To order, call 954-973-6789 and leave your address, phone number, color selection and quantity of paint needed.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium – European Union governments on Thursday backed a deal with the United States that should boost the number of people flying across the Atlantic by opening up restricted routes to new rivals – but delayed when the agreement will take effect.

The EU said all 27 member nations backed the deal, but delayed the effective date until March 30, 2008 instead of Oct. 28 of this year. European negotiators will now have to secure U.S. agreement to the delay.

Britain effectively won its demand for extra time before opening up London Heathrow, the EU's busiest airport, to more carriers. Only four airlines – British Airways PLC, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and United Airlines – currently have the right to fly from Heathrow to the U.S., a lucrative route that represents around a third of all EU flights to the United States.

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A budding jazz scene has taken hold in the city over the last several years, and this year's Gainesville Jazz Festival marks the culmination of that trend. Once largely a showcase for local talent, the fifth annual Jazz Festival promises to bring in some big names this weekend, including the headlining Harry Allen and Joe Cohn Quartet from New York.

Allen, a saxophonist raised in Los Angeles and Rhode Island, has honed his skills with some of jazz music's greats, including such acclaimed guitarists as Kenny Burrell and Herb Ellis. Allen has also played with some mainstream musicians, including pop and folk artists like Sheryl Crow and James Taylor.

The festival's sponsor, Gainesville Friends of Jazz, started putting on monthly concerts 20 years ago. In that time, Harry Allen has been the single most-requested artist to be invited back, organizers say. Allen's guitarist, Joe Cohn, is an accomplished player in his own right, having attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He's the son of Al Cohn, a famed bebop guitarist.

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What a U.S. dollar buys (in commercial trades; consumer rates may be lower)

Country   March 8   Year ago   

Australia (dollar)   1.29   1.35   

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Memorial services will be held next month for Baron Reed, a San Francisco native and 29-year Pacifica resident who passed away March 11, 2007 at the age of 59.

He and his wife of 37 years, Judy had been vacationing in Palm Desert when he tragically fell to his death from a treacherous hiking trail.

Baron was a kind man with a loving, gentle and peaceful spirit who loved nature and the outdoors -- feeling the sun on his skin, walking on the beach, hiking a mountainous trail or exploring the rock formations in the desert.

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A meeting today in Brussels, Belgium, could lead to more direct flights and lower fares to Europe.

European Union transport ministers are scheduled to vote on an "open skies" pact with the United States that would lift restrictions on what trans-Atlantic routes airlines can serve. The intent is to increase competition and make travel more convenient and less expensive for consumers. Airlines from both sides of the ocean have generally accepted the proposed treaty, which would go into effect Oct. 28 if the U.S. Congress goes along. ...

But a handful of airlines with protected rights to serve London's Heathrow Airport have been more reluctant to embrace it fully. One of them: American Airlines Inc.

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S ometimes, the most important thing we can do is bear witness to the highs and lows we have lived, situations that may come to seem improbable as time passes.

That's why Maurice Merrick of King City is writing his memoirs.

That's why he is organizing a box full of old photos.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium --Billionaire Warren Buffett's company won EU regulatory approval Thursday to buy U.S. company TTI Inc., which distributes electronic components that other companies use to make a range of products.

The European Commission cleared the deal automatically after identifying no antitrust problem and receiving no complaints from rivals within a deadline of 25 working days.

The companies have not disclosed financial terms of the deal.

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SINT-NIKLAAS, Belgium -- Wouter Van Bellingen has the name, the lingo, the clothes and the upbringing of your typical Flemish alderman.

One thing sets him apart: Van Bellingen is black in a mostly white city, and for that reason, three local couples refused to let him conduct their City Hall weddings.

"It was the most primitive form of racism. Nothing but the color of my skin," Van Bellingen said of the snub. The 34-year-old alderman was adopted by a Flemish family at birth and never knew his Rwandan parents.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) ? Privacy and security need to be built into radio frequency identification tags before they become widespread, the European Commission said, announcing it would publish guidelines later this year.

RFID chips can be used to automatically identify and verify passports, luggage, livestock or pharmaceuticals and have a wide range of potential uses ? from telling doctors what medicines patients have been given to instantly pointing out expired food.

Advocates of the technology ? which for now is used mainly on cases of items in warehouses, not individual products ? laud its ability to speed inventory and checkout. But opponents say that because wireless chips can be read from afar, people and their purchases could be surreptitiously tracked.

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www_head: EuroNest brings taste of Europe to St. Louis Park

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) ? Bills, bills, bills ? You can't get away from them if you're a Belgian mobile phone user.

People can now make payments from anywhere ? even if the check is lost in the mail ? under a secure payment software, called m-banxafe, developed by payment card operator Banksys and the country's three mobile phone operators, Base, Mobistar and Proximus.

Customers receive an invoice by text message and confirm the payment using a secret code. To use the system, they need a Belgian bank account and a subscriber identity module, or SIM, card that will support the payment software.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Airbus is ready to start production of its first military transport plane, designed to give European countries better ability to respond to crisis without American help. The Airbus A400M airlifter program, expected to cost $24 billion, was launched in the 1990s in the wake of the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia, when European countries couldn't dispatch peacekeepers to a region right on their own doorstep without American assistance. At the time, the Clinto...

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BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission on Wednesday demanded that Denmark, Finland and Hungary change national rules that limit sports betting in their countries, saying it could take them to court if they do not respond within two months.

The Commission said it had received complaints that the three nations effectively block companies based in other EU countries from doing business there, citing restrictions such as the requirement for a state concession or license and limits to promoting or advertising betting and determining who can gamble.

The complaints came from a number of gambling companies and information gathered by EU officials, it said.

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I'm not exceedingly fond of the fast-casual concept, but Go Roma! Italian Kitchen takes it to the next level.Sure, you place your own order, pay upfront and get your beverage (free refills on soda, by the way), but the chocolate is Valrhona, the lady fingers are from Belgium and the beer and wine are imported, some of them, anyway.This one's definitely a cut above -- goat cheese pizza, smoked chicken salad, prosciutto pasta. Even the paper napkins are higher quality, and there's no plastic cutle...

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Monique Yin is months from starting her freshman year at New York University, but she has already chatted online with hundreds of classmates and met many of them, too.

As soon as Miss Yin, a 17-year-old high school senior from North Haven, Conn., received her acceptance letter in November through early decision, she logged onto Facebook, the social networking site, and created the group ?NYU 2011.? She gave it this simple description: ?Join this group if you are attending NYU next fall.?

So far, the group has more than 650 members ? incoming freshman from as far away as Belgium, Singapore and China, and ones from Long Island and Texas. By December, when Miss Yin attended a university orientation, classmates recognized her as the creator of the group. By February, 60 people from the group met in Washington Square Park. Later, some went ice-skating together; others shopped in Greenwich Village. This month, smaller groups have met in California and Philadelphia.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) ? EU regulators said Tuesday they would investigate in detail plans by French mobile phone operator SFR to buy Tele2 AB's French fixed-line telephone and broadband unit, saying they believed the deal could shrink competition in the French pay-TV sector.

SFR is jointly controlled by French media conglomerate Vivendi SA and British telecom company Vodafone PLC.

Vivendi also owns the leading French pay-TV network Canal Plus, and the European Commission said this led it to believe that the deal "is likely to give rise to competition concerns" because it would combine two direct rivals as well as businesses involved in the same supply chain.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) ? EU regulators said Tuesday they charged several companies ? among them Sony Corp. ? with running a cartel to fix the price of professional video tape used for television.

Though the EU declined to identify the companies, Sony spokeswoman Sylvia Shin confirmed the Japanese electronics company had been charged and would make a formal response to the European Commission.

Other companies in the video tape business ? Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s Panasonic unit, Fujifilm Holdings Corp., Hitachi Maxell Ltd. and TDK Corp. ? either declined to comment on the record or did not return calls or answer e-mails.

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The 11-member French Chamber Orchestra, along with prize-winning violinist Kyung Sun Lee, will be the Sunday, March 18, offering in the 13th season of the Neskowin Chamber Music concerts.

L'Orchestre de Chambre Fran?ais, as it is called in France, is equally at home with baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary music, and takes a particular pleasure in bringing forgotten masterpieces to life.

In June 2005, they debuted at London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden. They regularly perform in Spain, Holland, Italy, Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic.

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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) ? The new Dutch transportation minister ordered a safety review of Segways and said he hoped to eventually lift a ban on the self-balancing scooters in public places.

Segways have been banned from all public roads, bike paths and walkways in the Netherlands since Jan. 1.

Camiel Eurlings, who took office Feb. 22, said Tuesday he was "positive as a minister about innovations, but we're going to approach this carefully."

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2006 Key Biscayne: 2nd round (lost to Jill Craybas).

Ht./wt.: 5-9/150.

Country: Belgium.

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Any publication worth its stout can pour you a Black and Tan, the classic two-toned beer elixir. But you don'ot have the leave the house to enjoy this gravity-defying creation. With the right ingredients and know-how, you can concoct one in your own kitchen, amaze your friends and make new ones.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

A pint glass

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Assistant English professor Mark Yakich sold his painting "Soutine As His Own Boy Baker" for $2,000, according to his Web site.

Yakich entered the painting with the title "Baker Boy" and won first place in a poster contest through Art Reach of Mid-Michigan in September of 2005.

The painting received attention when inquiries were made about the similarities between his piece and expressionist painter Chaim Soutine's painting "Le patissier de Cagnes."

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When a pair of customers first entered European Ski Antiques, Veronique Sepulchre greeted them, saying "This store is all about history."

Indeed, there is the chaotic feel of a small-town antiques store blended with the elegant displays of an upscale furniture boutique.

When owners William Smith and Mandana Jahangani of Sausalito, Calif., were remodeling their home on Donner Summit, they searched the area for unique furnishings. They realized that they could fulfill a need and decided to open their own store.

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Nineteen institutions (prominent among them the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Royal Academy of Arts in London; Oxford, Cambridge and Yale universities) have joined to mark the centennial of philanthropist Paul Mellon. The Washington components of the year-long celebration will be announced today at the National Gallery of Art.

The celebration will begin with an impressionist exhibition mounted in his honor, "Eug?ne Boudin at the National Gallery of Art," which opens Sunday.

Mellon (1907-1999) guided the gallery for 58 years. He also gave it $218 million and 900 pictures. "We thought of bringing them all together, but we couldn't," said director Earl A. "Rusty" Powell III. "There'd have been nothing left in the galleries. So we settled on Boudin. Paul loved Boudin's small paintings. They were one of his mini-passions. He gave us 26."

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You might be smarter than a fifth-grader, but how’s your quiz-show knowledge? Test your TV know-how.

Here are several milestone moments in the genre:

1957: Charles Van Doren becomes a celebrity in his four months as a contestant on “Twenty-One” (the show that eventually caused a national scandal) before losing to Vivienne Nearing on March 11 after being asked to name the kings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Jordan, Iraq and Belgium (as reported in The New York Times the next day).

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SEATTLE - The Hoopstars of South Sound qualified for the AAU National boys basketball tournament in an AAU regional qualifier held on Saturday and Sunday in Seattle.

The Hoopstars finished fourth out of 12 teams to qualify for nationals in the 7th-grade division, which will be held during the AAU Summer Games in Knoxville, Tenn., beginning July 27.

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KEY BISCAYNE – One more Key Biscayne before she retires later this year. One more trademark split as she races to her forehand corner to retrieve a ball.

And, of course, before Kim Clijsters departs this place for the last time, one more hug for the woman handing out towels in the locker room, for the security guards she has befriended over the years, for the drivers who get players back and forth to their hotels and for a great number of other people at the Sony Ericsson Open, who are annually amazed that one of the world's finest tennis players could care this much about ordinary people.

LocalLinks

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KEY BISCAYNE – One more Key Biscayne before she retires later this year. One more trademark split as she races to her forehand corner to retrieve a ball.

And, of course, before Kim Clijsters departs this place for the last time, one more hug for the woman handing out towels in the locker room, for the security guards she has befriended over the years, for the drivers who get players back and forth to their hotels and for a great number of other people at the Sony Ericsson Open, who are annually amazed that one of the world's finest tennis players could care this much about ordinary people.

LocalLinks

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GENEVA -- The World Trade Organization will give the public a glimpse Thursday into the dispute between the U.S. and the European Union over subsidies to rival aircraft makers The Boeing Co. and Airbus.

Both parties spent months last year arguing over how to share information about government payments to companies. Now, the U.S. and the EU will allow the airing of their WTO proceedings, though the closed-circuit transmission will be carefully censored as many of the allegations involve information Brussels, Belgium, says is confidential.

The U.S. says the Toulouse, France-based manufacturer of jetliners has benefited from billions in illegal aid, development financing, contributions and debt relief from the 27-nation EU and its member states. Meanwhile, Brussels, seat of the EU, accuses Washington of providing vast amounts of hidden support to Boeing through military contracts.

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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Government opponents said Monday that the government forced the family of an opposition militant shot dead by police to bury him at their rural home to avoid demonstrations at a planned ceremony in the capital.The government insisted, however, that Gift Tandare — killed as police disbanded a prayer meeting organized by Zimbabwe’s political opposition — was buried in the countryside at the family’s request and that the state assisted with the funeral arrangements and expenses.

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From East to West, images of fantastic getaways across the globe

FORT WORTH, Texas - From a sculpture of a pigtailed girl with four eyes to a photograph of a self-conscious teenager on the beach, works in the "Pretty Baby" art exhibit demonstrate that childhood can be anything but simple.

The exhibit features the creations of more than a dozen artists from five countries - paintings, photographs and sculptures, and even 1970s home movies and a Claymation video. It runs through June 24 at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, its only appearance.

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ST. LOUIS (AP) - At just a hair over 17 inches tall, the miniature horse is more inclined to walk under fences than jump them. And her owners have sheltered the mare from ever gaining "circus-sideshow" or "one-trick-pony" status. As the world's smallest horse, 5-year-old Thumbelina, weighing in at 57 pounds, has a bigger mission: to raise $1 million for children's charities this year.

Handler Michael Goessling, son of miniature horse farmers Kay and Paul Goessling, says Thumbelina is the ideal child advocate. Her name comes from the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale of a woman the size of a thumb.

"When kids meet her in person, they want to talk to her and know what she likes and dislikes," Goessling said. "It's amazing because she is so loving with people. She craves attention."

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KARNI CROSSING, Gaza Strip - Hamas militants on Monday claimed responsibility for a shooting that wounded an Israeli civilian near the border with the Gaza Strip - the first serious violence after formation of the new Palestinian unity government.

The shooting dealt an embarrassing blow to Hamas political leaders, who have been trying to persuade the international community to recognize their coalition with the rival Fatah movement and lift a year-old economic boycott against the Palestinian government. It also exposed divisions within the Islamic militant group.

Israel said the attack proved the coalition was flouting international demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist, and accept past peace accords.

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In the Morgan Junction, loyal customers came together generously offering up generators to keep the doors open during recent wind storms. Friends gathered on communal couches in the English-style setting and toasted pints to the new year. Stories, laughter and the sound of clinking glasses from 'round the world filled the air.Something's brewing at Beveridge Place Pub. And it's more than your average beer."We created this pub to be an extension of the community, a comfortable place where adults ...

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— The United States challenged Palestinian leaders Monday to explain an ambiguous stance on violence against Israel, amid signs that U.S. and European governments may disagree over whether to embrace the new coalition government.

In a marriage of convenience meant to end a bruising international aid boycott, Islamic Hamas militants will govern alongside a secular, Western-backed Palestinian president.

The coalition's political platform announced Saturday stops short of meeting the terms of international donors and would-be peacemakers that Palestinian leaders renounce violence, accept Israel's right to exist and abide by previous agreements the Palestinians made with Israel and others.

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If your office is decimated by spring break vacations this week, just grin and bear it. Most will be back in the grind within days.

Most workplaces, cut to the cost-efficient bone, have to scramble to cover for vacationing workers — but not all that often.

Actually, U.S. workers don’t take many vacation days, especially compared with vacation durations in other industrialized nations.

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    HARARE, Zimbabwe -- A Zimbabwean opposition legislator was badly beaten yesterday as he tried to travel to Belgium, a day after his colleagues were stopped from taking a medical trip to South Africa, an official from his party said.

    Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, was at Harare airport on his way to an Africa, Pacific and Caribbean-European Union parliamentary meeting when about eight men pounced on him.

    "He was badly beaten by men who jumped out of two unmarked cars at the airport," Mr. Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango, told Reuters news agency.

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As Portland grows more skyscrapers, those who live and work in them get more views: the snowcapped volcanoes, the verdant West Hills, the meandering Willamette River, the neighbors in the high-rise next door . . . and the roofs of shorter buildings below.

Black, gray, silver and white, they look like airborne parking lots, only without the cars. Far worse, most perform like parking lots, too -- heating up to 175 degrees in summer, while channeling the winter rains into the sewer system.

Tom Liptan and Sean Hogan would like to change that, by turning building tops into ecoroofs.

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LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Angola's civil war raged for almost a decade. In Sierra Leone, the war lasted more than eight years. From 1989 to 2003, Liberia was embroiled in civil war, and Côte D'Ivoire, whose present Unity Government has been described by some international observers as "unstable," has seen repeated uprisings since 1995.

What do these countries have in common? One thing is the way their coups and civil wars have been financed, mostly from the sale of illicit diamonds abroad.

Though Lancaster County is far from western Africa, several local jewelers have taken steps to ensure their diamonds arrive through reputable sources. And with the recent release of films like "Blood Diamond" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as 2005's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" from Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West, local consumers also are going out of their way to make sure the diamonds they buy are conflict-free.

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"An attractive woman lawyer with a knowledge of kings Monday night dethroned Charles Van Doren from his 14-week reign as ruler of NBC's 'Twenty-One' television quiz program."

"By bumping Van Doren off the show, Mrs. Vivienne Nearing, a 30-year-old blonde, picked up $14,000 and replaced the Columbia University instructor as star of the show," the Associated Press article continued on Tuesday March 12, 1957. "It dropped Van Doren's overall winnings to $129,000, but still left him television's top winner on any single quiz show."

That's what readers of the article published on page 26 of The Repository 50 years ago learned the day after Van Doren's final show. Except Van Doren's entire stint on the show, right up to his stumbling over the answer to a question about the king of Belgium, was a fraud.

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - The spokesman for Zimbabwe's main opposition leader was assaulted by security forces as he tried to leave the country Sunday, an opposition official said, accusing the government of continuing to target dissident activists.President Robert Mugabe's government is under increasing international criticism for its treatment of the country's opposition. Activists say the government has been disrupting their gatherings and beating and det...

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HARARE, Zimbabwe - Government opponents said Monday that the government forced the family of an opposition militant shot dead by police to bury him at their rural home to avoid demonstrations at a planned ceremony in the capital.

The government insisted, however, that Gift Tandare - killed as police disbanded a prayer meeting organized by Zimbabwe's political opposition - was buried in the countryside at the family's request and that the state assisted with the funeral arrangements and expenses.

Opposition spokesman Eliphas Mokunoweshure called the government explanation "nonsense."

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— Parvin Karimvahed, Above, recounting the 1987 chemical attack on the Kurdish town in Iran that caused burns on her body, left, and killed members of her family.

SARDASHT, IRAN — The roots of Iran's nuclear ambitions wind through this mountaintop town of pine trees and streams along the Iraqi border. Here, on a crystal-clear afternoon 20 years ago, Saddam Hussein's warplanes unleashed a poisonous rain of chemical weapons, killing as many as 113 civilians and injuring thousands more.

The victims gasped and vomited on rusting buses as they were rushed to hospitals. They dropped dead on the cobbled streets of the town center. They cried out as their eyes burned and skin bubbled.

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Wescar Inc. has been quietly investing in and developing Central Florida

real estate since 1981, when Louis Geys brought his family to the region from

Now the company is working on its second quarter century in business in the

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ST. CHARLES — Lina Takcs was destined to be a global culture advocate, language teacher and travel host.

She was born in Bordeaux, France, to Italian parents who stressed education. By the time she was in high school, she spoke French, Italian and English fluently.

As a teacher at an all-girls Catholic school in Bordeaux, Lina escorted her students on tours of the United States and Europe. She eventually performed the same function for independent student exchange organizations.

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The Greeley-Evans School District 6 school board last week approved the appointments of Terry Zubler as principal of Ann K. Heiman Elementary School and Margaret Crespo as principal of John Evans Middle School for the 2007-2008 school year. The two will take over for retiring principals Greg Voelz at Heiman and Karen Wangsvick at Evans.

Crespo has been a teacher, counselor, assistant principal and principal in New Jersey and Arizona. Her most recent principal position was with Dysart Unified School District, where she was directly responsible for planning and opening a new high school that was home to an International Baccalaureate program. Her new school in District 6, John Evans, recently launched an I.B. Middle Years program. Crespo is fluent in English and Spanish.

Zubler is currently the principal of Tarkington Traditional Primary School in South Bend, Ind. Over the last four years, the school has continuously improved on the state standards tests in reading, language arts and mathematics. His school was named an "exemplary progress school" on the state performance report. Zubler has nearly 30 years of experience as an elementary school teacher.

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FORT WORTH, Texas -- From a sculpture of a pigtailed girl with four eyes to a photograph of a self-conscious teenager on the beach, works in the ''Pretty Baby'' art exhibit demonstrate that childhood can be anything but simple.

The exhibit features the creations of more than a dozen artists from five countries _ paintings, photographs and sculptures, and even 1970s home movies and a Claymation video. It runs through June 24 at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, its only appearance.

Museum curator Andrea Karnes said she created the show after studying how artists' images of children changed through the centuries. Since the Renaissance, youngsters had been portrayed as pure and idealized, but in the mid-20th century they began showing up in art in more realistic and sometimes controversial ways.

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WELLINGTON — Wellington's Margie Engle captured the 25,000 euro Medium Tour Final 1.50m Classic on the final day of the Winter Equestrian Festival at Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club.

The 10-time AGA Rider of the Year outrode seven others in the jumpoff aboard one of her prize horses - Hidden Creek's Perin - for the title. The two stopped the clocks at 33.06 seconds in the final round.

Individual 2004 Olympic gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil - atop Rufus - took second and Francois Mathy of Belgium was third.

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FORT WORTH ? From a sculpture of a pigtailed girl with four eyes to a photograph of a self-conscious teenager on the beach, the works in the ?Pretty Baby? art exhibit show that childhood can be anything but simple.

The exhibit features more than a dozen artists from five countries ? their paintings, photographs and sculptures, and even 1970s home movies and a Claymation video. It opened Feb. 25 and runs through June 24 at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, its only venue.

Museum curator Andrea Karnes said she created the exhibit after studying how artists? images of children changed through the centuries. Since the Renaissance, youngsters had been portrayed as pure and idealized, but in the mid-20th Century they began showing up in art in more realistic and sometimes controversial ways.

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