United Nations News Blog @newzblogz.com

Forensic experts searched for evidence Wednesday in the hotel room where Pakistan's cricket coach died under what police called "suspicious" circumstances, but authorities said they had reached no conclusions about the case.

As the forensics team completed its work, investigators awaited the pathologist's findings on what killed Bob Woolmer, whose body was found a day after his team was upset by Ireland in the Cricket World Cup.

"There is no evidence it's a homicide, but we're waiting for further information from the pathologist before we make any more statements," Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields told The Associated Press.

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's top leader warned Wednesday his country will pursue "illegal actions" if the U.N. Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked. "Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal action...

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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked.

"Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal actions, we, too, can take illegal actions and will do so."

He did not elaborate on what the "illegal actions" could be, but Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the agreement under which the U.N. inspections are held.

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TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's top leader warned Wednesday his country will pursue "illegal actions" if the U.N. Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked.

"Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so."

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On Saturday, March 24, two prominent human-rights lawyers from Haiti will speak about the country's current political situation. The talk, which is sponsored by NAACP of Milwaukee, Peace Action Wisconsin and the Milwaukee chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, will be held at the NAACP meeting room, located at 2745 N. Martin Luther King Drive at 2 p.m. Mario Joseph and Brian Concannon Jr. are two of the most respected lawyers in Haiti, where the United Nations has troops. In 2004, President Bush forced out Haiti's elected government and since then many activists have been killed or injured.

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UNITED NATIONS - The chief investigator probing the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri on Wednesday backed the creation of an international tribunal to prosecute the alleged perpetrators.

Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz told reporters after briefing the Security Council on his latest report that a tribunal would be "the next logical step" because the commission he heads is a fact-finding body - not a judicial institution that can issue indictments and conduct prosecutions.

Without a tribunal, he said, "it would be complicated or difficult to justify the existence of the commission."

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Kent State became the home of the United Nations' General Assembly yesterday. The members debated various world issues, such as terrorism, AIDS, human rights and environmental protection and came up with solutions to most of the problems.

The College of Education, Health and Human Services and the Center for International and Intercultural Education co-sponsored the second annual Global Issues Seminar, in which more than 150 middle school students from 10 counties in Northeast Ohio were invited to the Kent campus for the day-long event. The seminar acts as a mock United Nations and shows students how the international organization handles different critical issues.

"Students are excited because they have become specialists in their country," said professor Bette Brooks, co-chairwoman of the seminar from the integrated social studies education program.

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In a tiny African village, elders meet to discuss where their families and livestock might best relocate to live near a source of water. The riverbed that served their community for generations is now parched and cracked, and there is no money for tools to search for well water. Brows crease with concern, because word has come that their neighbors miles away also face water scarcity following rainfall shortages for three consecutive years.

At the same time, here in Atlanta, experts gather at City Hall for a roundtable on the area's pending water crisis. The news that "Florida seeks control over Lake Lanier, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers," isn't putting anyone's mind at ease; and experts are warning that Atlanta will run out of water by 2015 unless drastic conservation methods start right away.

As bad as it seems, the good news is that we have time to turn the tide. We can adopt conservation measures here to keep our taps running. Our counterparts in hundreds of African, Asian and Latin American villages won't be so lucky ?- many of them don't have a working well or tap within miles. Without a concerted effort from those of us in richer nations, things will only get worse for men, women and children who live in arid nations becoming drier each year due to global warming.

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March 21: An investigation by Refugees International says the U.N. expects 1 million Iraqis to be displaced from their homes in Iraq this year. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.Nightly News

Andrea MitchellChief foreign affairs correspondentNBC News

WASHINGTON -

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the United States is pressing other countries to apply sanctions against Sudan to pressure Khartoum to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Darfur region.

Rice expressed frustration at the international response to calls for sanctions.

"I am somewhat disappointed that some in the U.N. have already said that they are unwilling to think about sanctions," she aid.

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Today is Wednesday, March 21, the 80th day of 2007. There are 285 days left in the year. Today?s Highlight in History:

On March 21, 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.

On this date:

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The world puts a tremendous strain on one of its most precious natural resources: water. Global water use - for consumption, sanitation, agriculture, urbanization and industrialization, among other needs - is increasing at more than twice the rate of population growth, the United Nations estimates. One in six people worldwide doesn't have access to the minimum recommended daily amount of freshwater. The theme of the 2007 U.N. World Water Day, celebrated today, focuses on this scarcity of wat...

www.unwater.org/wwd07

75 Percent of the Earth covered by water. But only a small fraction of it is available as freshwater.

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Professor Paul Kennedy, one of the worlds most respected historians, is a specialist in international relations and security issues at Yale University and author of the acclaimed 1987 book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers.

This is his keynote presentation at the Vail Valley Institute's 15th Annual Seminar on The American Empire: Can It Survive a World Without Borders?" that was held in Vail last June.

The measure of American power in world affairs has interested me for a long, long time.

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TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico - Alberto Alcantar scaled the Pyramid of the Sun before dawn Wednesday - the first full day of spring - to capture the full strength of the sun and revitalize his body, a ritual shared by countless Mexicans each year.

But as he pondered the massive archeological complex of Teotihuacan, the veteran tour guide felt something missing. "Like something is blocking my energy," he said.

Above him, authorities had built a wooden walkway to cover the pyramid's summit. Below and to his right, plastic orange fencing kept visitors from the top of the Pyramid of the Moon. To his left, a row of police and red tape reading "Danger" blocked much of the Avenue of the Dead, the complex's main thoroughfare.

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NEW YORK - Iraqi insurgents, guerrilla fighters and death squads are being trained in secret camps in Iran with the blessing of top Tehran leaders and at least three senior Iraqi political figures, an Iranian opposition figure said Tuesday.

Would-be Iraqi fighters are smuggled into Iran, schooled in everything from sniper techniques to explosive devices and sent back to Iraq to wage war on U.S.-led coalition forces, Alireza Jafarzadeh said at a news conference.

"The Iranian regime is secretly engaged in the organization and training of large Iraqi terrorist networks in Iran to heighten insecurity and instability and force the coalition forces to leave Iraq, which would in turn pave the way for establishment of an Islamic republic in Iraq," Jafarzadeh said.

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UNITED NATIONS The U-N's top envoy to Afghanistan is calling on the international community to do more to counter a resurgence of the Taliban.Tom Koenigs told the Security Council it needs to help develop Afghanistan, improve security there, and eradicate the poppy trade. Experts warn that Afghanistan's poppy crop will top last year's record-setting levels, and the profits will be used to fuel terrorism and increase the Taliban threat.Koenigs said progress had been made in northern Afghanistan, ...

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Today is Wednesday, March 21, the 80th day of 2007. There are 285 days left in the year.

Todays Highlight in History:

On March 21, 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.

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Russia is bringing home its technicians and engineers from Iran's unfinished nuclear reactor site at a time of growing international pressure on Tehran to curb its atomic ambitions, U.S. and European representatives said Tuesday.

Although both Russia and Iran officially say their differences are financial, the dispute has a strong political component that the West hopes could result in Moscow lining up closer behind U.S.-led efforts to slap harsher U.N. sanctions on Tehran for refusing to freeze uranium enrichment.

The representatives _ a European diplomat and a U.S. official _ said a large number of Russian technicians, engineers and other specialists were flown to Moscow within the last week, around the time senior Russian and Iranian officials tried but failed to resolve differences over the nuclear reactor outside the southern city of Bushehr.

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MONTEREY, Calif. - A special audit for a United Nations agency criticizes $2.15 million in no-bid contracts that were approved by former California State University-Monterey Bay president Peter Smith, who last week announced he was quitting his high-level UN job.

The audit released this week by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says Smith's selection of a Chicago consulting firm to reorganize UNESCO's education sector showed "preferential treatment" that violated agency financial rules.

Moreover, the report by the auditor-general of France also questioned why Smith chose Navigant Consulting, a large international consulting firm that specializes in financial, business and legal matters, for the big educational reform.

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NEW YORK - President Bush's former envoy to the United Nations says using military force against Iran would be preferable to allowing the country to acquire nuclear weapons.

John Bolton gained a reputation for speaking out during his 17 months as U.S. ambassador to the world body. But his remarks Tuesday night were some of his boldest yet, especially concerning Tehran.

"I believe that ultimately the only real prospect of getting Iran to give up nuclear weapons is to change the regime," Bolton told reporters after an off-the-record speech to the Hudson Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization.

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The Alexandra Nechita Show at Masterworks Gallery was a great success.

On March 3 and 4 an incredible crowd came to Naples' Masterworks gallery, where area art enthusiasts and collectors came out to marvel at the one-of-a kind masterpieces created by 21 year old artist Alexandra Nechita.

Families attended with their children, who came to paint with a master not far from their own age.

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NEW YORK — Iraqi insurgents, guerrilla fighters and death squads are being trained in secret camps in Iran with the blessing of top Tehran leaders and at least three senior Iraqi political figures, an Iranian opposition figure said Tuesday.

Would-be Iraqi fighters are smuggled into Iran, schooled in everything from sniper techniques to explosive devices and sent back to Iraq to wage war on U.S.-led coalition forces, Alireza Jafarzadeh said at a news conference.

"The Iranian regime is secretly engaged in the organization and training of large Iraqi terrorist networks in Iran to heighten insecurity and instability and force the coalition forces to leave Iraq, which would in turn pave the way for establishment of an Islamic republic in Iraq," Jafarzadeh said.

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For years Georgia has been one of the shining jewels of the Southeastern United States, with her lottery to handle the needs of education and tourism dollars to help with her economy, and so on. At the same time, Alabama has been... well, the butt of many jokes.

Several years ago, there was a sales job pitched to states to place their Medicaid programs in the hands of insurance: "Let the professionals do it" with the efficiency of private enterprise. Some states decided to do just that, Georgia being one.

There were others who listened to providers who warned of the pitfalls of such a move, and decided to continue to provide the Medicaid services themselves, Alabama being one of the these.

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To historians and others pondering Iraq, forecasting a final outcome for that sad land is like finding your way through one of its “shamal” sandstorms. You may not know where you’re headed, but you know it’s going to be dark.

The Middle East historian David Fromkin sees a breakup of the jerry-built nation. Phebe Marr, doyenne of Iraq scholars, sees “distrust and suspicion” too deep to overcome. “Bleak,” concludes Baghdad University’s Saad al-Hadithi.

“At the moment,” said the British historian Niall Ferguson, “a happy ending has a 1-in-100 look about it.”

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UNITED NATIONS The U-N's top envoy to Afghanistan is calling on the international community to do more to counter a resurgence of the Taliban.Tom Koenigs told the Security Council it needs to help develop Afghanistan, improve security there, and eradicate the poppy trade. Experts warn that Afghanistan's poppy crop will top last year's record-setting levels, and the profits will be used to fuel terrorism and increase the Taliban threat.Koenigs said progress had been made in northern Afghanistan, ...

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Anne Radday has been named a recipient of one of 60 Rotary International World Peace Fellowships awarded annually.

Stuart Sunrise Rotary sent out a request last year for applicants, and Anne's parents, Gil and Nancy Radday, of Stuart, passed on the word. Anne Radday will receive a two-year, $60,000 award toward her tuition, transportation, room and board to earn her master's degree from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan.

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In 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.In 1907, U.S. Marines arrived in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence.In 1960, some 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on demonstrators.In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings, killing at least 21.

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HATRA, IRAQ ? Remains of the giant columns, temples and fortifications of the 2,600-year-old city of Hatra tower over the Iraqi desert.

This was a major city along the Silk Road. Hatra sent caravans of traders throughout the Middle East with spices, woodwork and gems. It was a tolerant center of diverse religions that twice repulsed Roman invaders.

Now the 1st Battalion of the 37th Field Artillery Regiment from Fort Lewis does daily combat patrols in the area, and religious tolerance is hard to come by. Just a month ago, a suicide car bomber killed several people in the neighboring settlement of al-Hatra.

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Global warming is a serious enough problem without exaggerating it with dubious factoids.

One such factoid ? widely cited in the last couple years ? has to do with the shrinkage of snowpack in the Cascade Mountains. A number of people, including environmentalists and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, have been saying that half the snowpack in the mountains has disappeared in the last 50 years or so.

The Cascade snowpack is an essential source of drinking water and irrigation in this state, so the loss of half of it would be alarming, if true. If. In fact, there doesn?t seem to be any basis whatsoever for that 50 percent claim. It may have originated in an editing mistake in a 2004 scientific report from Oregon.

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UNITED NATIONS - Russia's U.N. ambassador on Monday angrily accused the U.N. special envoy in Kosovo of delivering an extremely one-sided and unhelpful sermon promoting independence from Serbia.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he was very upset that the envoy, Joachim Rucker, did not address the issue he was supposed to talk about in a report to the U.N. Security Council - the implementation of eight standards crucial to the province's future.

"He gave a sermon to the council about the final status, which we're not even discussing now," Churkin said afterward, his voice rising. "His remarks have been extremely one-sided and unhelpful."

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(3/19/07) - Circle your calendar. April 13th, 2036 could be a really, really bad day on planet Earth.

A group of astronauts and engineers warns that an asteroid may pass uncomfortably close to Earth that day. The chances it will actually hit are just one in 45,000, but even at those odds, the scientists warn, the United Nations should consider a response.

Potential Threat

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National anti-war protests mark 4th anniversary of U.S. invasion of Iraq

AP Photo/Don Ryan

People march in downtown Portland, Ore., Sunday, March 18, 2007, to mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war.

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For a long time now - indeed, since the first Earth Day in 1970 - self-styled "environmentalists" have been warning the rest of us that our planet is spinning its way toward ecological Armageddon.

It's a depressing litany: Melting glaciers, rising temperatures, violent weather, crop failures - and nearly all of it, we're told, the fault of human beings engaged in such unforgivable activities as creating businesses, driving cars and ... well, breathing.

"We humans are about as subtle as the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs," New Scientist magazine says. "The damage we do is increasing. ... We are heading for cataclysm." The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute finds "the key environmental indicators are increasingly negative." And Greenpeace predicts that "half the Earth's species are likely to disappear in the next 75 years."

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South Africa calls for 90-day 'time out' on sanctions against Iran

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- South Africa called Monday for a 90-day "time out" on sanctions against Iran and said a resolution drafted by six world powers should drop an embargo on arms exports and financial sanctions targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guards and an Iranian bank.

The proposals by South Africa, which holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month, were obtained by The Associated Press ahead of an informal council meeting Tuesday and the first formal discussion Wednesday on the draft resolution.

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U.S. grants Iranian president visa for U.N. address

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation, which includes 12 other senior Iranian officials and 26 security guards, he said. Another 33 visa requests, for airline crew and support staff, are expected to be processed shortly.

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      WASHINGTON — It was no doubt inadvertent, but it was hard not to find some symbolism in the moment Thursday in the Oval Office when President Bush seemed to forget that Vice President Dick Cheney was in the room.

      Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader who is soon to become the first female speaker of the House, and Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the Democratic whip, had come to the White House for lunch. As the two Democrats, Bush and Cheney sat in front of a fireplace, the president spoke about the importance of working together to get things done.

Brendan Smialowski, Getty ImagesRep. Nancy Pelosi, who will become the next speaker of the House, meets with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in the Oval Office Thursday.

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Bob Leonard returned to Indianapolis last summer, to the campus of Butler University for his 50th class reunion.

Go Bulldogs.

The speaker at the big dinner was men's basketball coach Todd Lickliter, an entertaining orator, Leonard thought.

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      WASHINGTON — A U.S. manufacturer of touch-screen voting machines confirmed Sunday it was being investigated by the federal government for alleged ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez but flatly denied any connection.

      Sequoia Voting Systems Inc., based in Oakland, Calif., said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, was conducting the formal inquiry into it as well as its parent software company, the Smartmatic Corp., at the firms' request after news articles suggested improper ties.

      The inquiry was focusing on last year's acquisition of Sequoia by Smartmatic, which is owned by three Venezuelans, and whether Chavez's leftist government has any influence over their operations. Smartmatic is based in Boca Raton, Fla.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has granted a visa to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, allowing him to travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.“It has been approved,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Monday.

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WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation, which includes 12 other senior Iranian officials and 26 security guards, he said. Another 33 visa requests, for airline crew and support staff, are expected to be processed shortly.

The approvals, which had been expected, were announced Monday after world powers agreed in principle to a new package of sanctions. Iran sought to speak to the council before members vote on a resolution to impose the new measures for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

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People gather in Portland, Ore., Sunday for a peace rally on the fourth anniversary of the beginning of war in Iraq.

(The Oregonian photo)

SEATTLE The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq brought thousands of anti-war marchers into the streets for largely peaceful protests around the country over the weekend, including several thousand demonstrators who paraded through downtown Seattle on Sunday to show their opposition to the war in Iraq.

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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan was hanged for crimes against humanity on Tuesday, the third top aide of the ousted president to go to the gallows since he was executed in December.

Ramadan was sentenced in November to life in jail for his role in the killing of 148 Shi'ites in the town of Dujail in the 1980s for which Saddam and two former aides were hanged. But an appeals court recommended he receive the death penalty.

"At 3:00 a.m. (2400 GMT) Ramadan was executed in Baghdad in the presence of his lawyer," said government spokesman Ali Dabbagh. "Ramadan did not say anything before he was executed. He was silent."

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Maj. Paul Ouellette of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (the FWC) chaired the Wednesday-evening workshop. The FWC administers Florida boating laws. He gave a PowerPoint presentation that included reference to state statute 327.60(2), which prohibits local authorities from regulating the anchoring of non-live-aboard vessels in navigation. He added that "in navigation" means any vessel in the water. Marco Island Police Chief Roger Reinke was among many who spoke during the pub...

Hey, that suggests a possible solution to the city's possible Sunshine Law e-mail problems. The city council could pass an ordinance exempting the city from the state Sunshine Law statutes; same principal. Viva home rule!

So it goes.

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Victims of human trafficking will have a safe place to stay in Southwest Florida.

Anna Rodriguez, founder and CEO of The Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, said the group received a commitment last week from an anonymous donor for more than $1 million.

The money will be used to build four shelters across the state to house victims of trafficking. The first shelter will be built in Southwest Florida. The coalition is based in Bonita Springs. Five to 10 acres east of Interstate 75 with an existing building that can be remodeled are being considered.

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OKLAHOMA CITY New Mexico Governor and Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson pays a visit to the Sooner State today.At a private fundraiser in Oklahoma City, Richardson said Oklahoma will play a key role in determining the Democratic nominee in 2008 because of the state's early February primary.Wearing cowboy boots with his blazer and tie, the 59-year-old Richardson touted his political and foreign policy experience.Born in California and raised in Mexico City before attending high scho...

Friday Night Lights

Deal No Deal

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WEST PALM BEACH — Stephanie Nyombayire came to Palm Beach County on Sunday to speak about genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

The Rwanda native gave an interdenominational audience at the United Methodist Church of the Greater Palm Beaches her qualifications to speak on the subject, which has cost more than 400,000 lives in three years, according to the United Nations.

More local news

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The annual cost to the United States of the war in Iraq is more than $100 billion (and worldwide embitterment).Now the money goes to the U.S. military and U.S. contractors in Iraq. I advocate bringing our military and contractors home and using the money to directly pay Iraqi police and contractors to rebuild their country. Do this over two years and put the billions saved into a trust fund, to be used as follows:

 Pay Iraqi policemen several times the average local wage. His job is dangerous and critical to stability in Iraq. He must be unbiased and protect all Iraqis from terrorists, insugents and criminals. If he fails, he loses his job and is replaced. Will this work? Is it a bribe? Perhaps, but our current path has failed. In the past, Iraq was built by Iraqi contractors and citizens. Yes, they hired some foreign help, and they can do that again. Pay Iraqi contractors and citizens to rebuil...

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Goings-on in the local business communityPeople on the Move

Karen Stutheit has joined the Albany office of RE/Max 2000. Stutheit has more than 30 years’ experience in real estate, specializing in commercial property, land development and exchange transactions. She is a member of the National Association of Realtors and the Professional Standards Committee, and serves on the Linn County Board of Property Tax Appeals.nStacey Hovelsrud has joined LandAmerica Lawyers Title in Albany as a sales representative. She has more than 16 years of experience in...

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WADI ANKA, Sudan - Ahmad Salaheddin is an Arab who has crossed the ethnic divide in Darfur's bloody war to fight alongside ethnic African rebels. His fellow rebels jokingly call him a "janjaweed" - one of the Arab militiamen who are their fiercest enemy.

His presence, along with several other Arabs in a unit of the main rebel group in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Army, is a sign of the complexity of the ethnic bloodshed in the western Sudanese region.

The fight in Darfur is usually defined as between Arabs and ethnic Africans: the ethnic Africans launched a rebellion in 2003 and the Arab-led Sudanese government is accused of arming Arab tribesmen in Darfur to help put it down.

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On Feb. 17, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, accused a leading member of the Sudanese government - Ahmed Haroun, deputy minister of what Sudan calls humanitarian affairs - of "criminal responsibility" for mass murders, mass rapes and other "inhuman acts" against black Muslims in Darfur. President George W. Bush accurately calls these horrors acts of genocide.

Also charged with these crimes by the International Criminal Court is Ali Kushayb, the primary leader of the Khartoum governments hired Arab militia - the Janjaweed, which have been the frontline perpetrators of the mass murders and rapes, some of which have included children. The other named ICC target, Haroun, has been the chief supplier and paymaster of the Janjaweed.

This issuance of the warrants and summonses for these two heavily documented suspects of genocide will not end the accelerating pace of what the impotent United Nations has called the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Sudans Minister of Justice - as defined by this infamous government - Mohamed Ali al-Mardi, has indignantly declared:

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Cheryl Burke's got the moves. And she's definitely in the groove.

So cue Abba's greatest hit for Burke, the dancing queen of ABC's foot-tapping, swivel-hipped sensation, "Dancing with the Stars." It boogaloos back into the prime-time ballroom for a new season at 8 tonight on ABC.

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JERUSALEM - Israel will not talk peace with the new Palestinian unity government, charging it does not recognize Israel and renounce violence, but there were initial signs the West would adopt a more conciliatory approach.

In a break from the Israelis, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem said the U.S. wouldn't rule out contact with non-Hamas members of the new government.

The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday endorsed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's hard line, urging the West to maintain harsh economic sanctions imposed with last year's election of the militant Islamic Hamas.

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