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(05/05/08 2:52am)
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra announced rap artist Ice-T will join the orchestra as part of a the worldwide premiere of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes’ poetry set to music. Ice-T will orate Hughes’ work “Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz” with the orchestra June 18 in a concert at Hilbert Circle Theatre in Indianapolis. \nRonald McCurdy, chairman of the jazz studies department and professor of music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and founder of the The Langston Hughes Project, composed the music that will accompany the poetry reading. This is the first time Hughes’ poetry has been set to music in this fashion. \n“It is a great honor to perform with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Ron McCurdy for this landmark event celebrating the brilliance of Langston Hughes,” Ice-T said in a press release. \nTo accompany the music and poetry on stage, a film screen will feature images by black artists and photographers. Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks and Harlem Renaissance artist Romare Bearden are among the artists to be featured. \nThe show will take place at 7:30 p.m. June 18 at the Hilbert Circle Theater. Tickets range from $18 to $70 and can be purchased at the Hilbert Circle Theater Box Office or by calling 317-639-4300 or online at www.indianapolissymphony.org.
(05/05/08 2:51am)
LOS ANGELES – “Iron Man” was pure gold at the box office.\nThe Marvel Comics adaptation, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the guy in the metal suit, hauled in $100.7 million during its opening weekend and $104.2 million since debuting Thursday night, the second-best premiere ever for a nonsequel, according to studio estimates Sunday.\nThe film also scored overseas with $96.7 million in 57 countries where it began opening Wednesday, putting its worldwide total at $201 million.\nThe movie, distributed by Paramount, is the first release by Marvel Studios, which has begun financing its own productions after such studio-backed hits as the “Spider-Man,” X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” flicks.\n“We could not have hoped for a better way for Marvel Studios to blast off,” said David Maisel, chairman of the unit, a division of Marvel Entertainment, which stands to pull in a greater share of box office receipts and merchandising money by financing movies itself.\nDebuting in second place with $15.5 million was Sony’s romantic comedy “Made of Honor,” starring “Grey’s Anatomy” heartthrob Patrick Dempsey as a man who tries to woo his best pal after she asks him to be “maid of honor” at her wedding.\n“Iron Man,” which won rave reviews from many critics, features Downey as billionaire arms designer Tony Stark, a boozy womanizer who builds a high-tech suit and becomes a superhero, mending his ways after he’s taken captive and sees firsthand the devastation his weapons cause.\nThe film is directed by Jon Favreau, and also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard.\nDespite the huge “Iron Man” opening, Hollywood’s overall business was down compared to the same weekend last year, when “Spider-Man 3” had a record debut of $151.1 million. The top 12 movies took in $154.1 million, off 15 percent from a year ago.\n“Nonetheless, ‘Iron Man’ did better than expected,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “This is certainly the shot in the arm the marketplace has needed.”
(05/02/08 2:20am)
A Concert for Change: Bloomington in support of Barack Obama\nWhen: 8 p.m. Sunday\nWhere: Buskirk-Chumley Theater\nMore Information: Local artists and musicians who support Barack Obama come together for a free concert. Tickets available at Sunrise Box Office and the Obama campaign headquarters located at Washington and Third streets.
(04/28/08 3:53am)
A wildfire that broke out in a popular hiking area blackened the steep slopes of the foothills near Pasadena and forced mandatory evacuations for 300 homes, authorities said Sunday. Two hundred homes around Sierra Madre were evacuated Saturday night and residents from 100 other properties were told to leave Sunday, Elisa Weaver of the Arcadia Fire Department said, as the wildfire continued to burn its way through dense brush. Sierra Madre is about 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles and just east of Pasadena. No homes were damaged, though a small outbuilding used for storing firefighting equipment was destroyed, Weaver said. Weaver said more than 400 firefighters were attacking the 350-acre fire, aided by two helicopters with two water-dropping air tankers on the way. The fire was 5 percent contained and was expected to burn for another two or three days.
(04/28/08 3:52am)
WASHINGTON – U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan can speak to their families by Web camera and fight insurgents using sophisticated electronic warfare. Yet when it comes to voting, most troops are stuck in the past.\nCommunities in 13 states will send overseas troops presidential election ballots by e-mail this year, and districts in at least seven states will also let them return completed ballots over the Internet, according to data compiled by The Associated Press and the Overseas Vote Foundation.\nThat still leaves tens of thousands of service members in far-flung military bases struggling to meet voting deadlines and relying largely on regular mail to get ballots and cast votes – often at the last minute because of delays in ballot preparations in some states.\nAdding an electronic boost to the process would ease those problems, but it raises security and privacy concerns.\nPentagon officials have been urging more states to move into the electronic age before November, a move that could help reverse recent trends in which thousands of military members asked for ballots but either didn’t vote or had their ballots rejected for flaws.\nThe push comes more than seven years after problems with overseas military voting set off an uproar in President Bush’s narrow 2000 victory. In Florida, where Bush squeaked out a 537-vote victory that gave him the presidency, questions were raised about several thousand overseas military votes that came in after deadlines and were counted in some districts but not counted in others.\nThis year, when war is a key campaign issue, the election results in any state – particularly one with heavy military voting – could turn on the votes of thousands of troops on the front lines.\n“The personnel that fight our wars, the people who are most affected by the decisions on the use of the military, are being systematically denied the right to vote,” said Bob Carey, a board member of the Overseas Vote Foundation, a voting rights group. “I find that pretty tough to swallow. If a president decides to deploy military troops somewhere, it’s these troops that are going to go.”\nCarey, a Navy reservist who has served in Iraq, noted that ballots are often not prepared and ready to be mailed until 30 to 45 days before an election. And since it can take more than two weeks for troops to get ballots by regular mail, they sometimes get them too late to meet voting deadlines.\nIndiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita, who is president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, said the use of e-mail is a controversial subject among his members. Yet, he said his state has had no problems using e-mail to both deliver and receive ballots from overseas voters.\n“The fact of the matter is, we’re voting in the same way we were voting in the 1850s,” Rokita said of many other states. While a number of states are looking at the e-mail process to speed up delivery of ballots to military voters, he said the issue “is tied up in the national debate on whether we need a paper trail. Some are so scared of technology, they want to be tied to a piece of paper.”\nIn most states that allow e-mail balloting, the voter must also follow up by mailing in the ballot. And states that permit e-mail balloting warn that it is not a secure way to transmit personal information.
(04/28/08 3:52am)
TIJUANA, Mexico – Massive gunbattles broke out between suspected drug traffickers who fired at each other while speeding down heavily populated streets of this violent border city early Saturday, killing 13 people and wounding nine.\nAll of the dead were believed to be drug traffickers, possibly rival members of the same cartel who were trying to settle scores, said Rommel Moreno, the attorney general of Baja California state, where Tijuana is located.\n“Evidently this is a confrontation between gangs,” Moreno told reporters.\nEight suspects and one federal police officer were injured in the pre-dawn shootings, none gravely, said Agustin Perez Aguilar, a spokesman for the state public safety department. The suspects are being held on suspicion of weapons possession among other possible charges.\nPolice recovered 21 vehicles, many with bullet holes or U.S. license plates; a total of 54 guns; and more than 1,500 spent shell casings at various points in the city where the battles broke out, Perez Aguilar said.\nAt one point, the alleged traffickers fired at one another as their sport utility vehicles sped down a busy six-lane boulevard lined with restaurants, car repair shops, medical offices and strip malls.\nBullet holes could be seen in the walls of a factory building and on the perimeter wall of a housing complex along the road, but no bystander deaths were reported. It was not clear how long the gunbattles lasted.\nA mall security guard who did not want to give his name for fear of reprisals said he heard hundreds of gunshots fired, some of which passed near him.\n“I hit the ground,” the guard said. When he got up again, he said he saw bullet holes in the wall behind him, a dead man lying in a pool of blood and 11 abandoned, bullet-ridden SUVs on the street.\nThe first shootout claimed seven victims. Three subsequent gunbattles – one outside a hospital – claimed five more, police said. The body of a man police believe to be the 13th victim turned up at a city hospital.\nTijuana, a sprawling metropolis just across the border from San Diego, California, is pervaded by frequent violence, much of it blamed on drug cartels battling for control of lucrative trafficking routes. The city is home to the Arellano-Felix drug cartel.\nIn January, eight people died in a gunbattle at a Tijuana safe-house apparently used by drug hit men to hold kidnapped rivals. In that confrontation, hit men holed up inside the house battled police and soldiers with automatic weapons for three hours.
(04/28/08 3:51am)
NEW YORK – Hundreds of angry people marched through Harlem on Saturday after the Rev. Al Sharpton promised to “close this city down” to protest the acquittals of three police detectives in the 50-shot barrage that killed a groom on his wedding day and wounded two friends.\n“We strategically know how to stop the city so people stand still and realize that you do not have the right to shoot down unarmed, innocent civilians,” Sharpton told an overflow crowd of several hundred people at his National Action Network office in the historically black Manhattan neighborhood. “This city is going to deal with the blood of Sean Bell.”\nSharpton was joined by the family of 23-year-old Sean Bell – a black man – and a friend of Bell who was wounded in the 2006 shooting outside a Queens strip club. Two of the three officers charged were also black.\nThe rally at Sharpton’s office was followed by a 20-block march down Malcolm X Boulevard and then across 125th Street, Harlem’s main business thoroughfare, where some bystanders yelled out “Kill the police!”\nFifty of the marchers carried white placards bearing big black numbers for each of the police bullets fired at Bell and his friends.\nSharpton urged people to return for a meeting this coming week “to plan the day that we will close this city down” with the kind of “massive civil disobedience” once led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.\n“They never accused Sean Bell of doing anything. Then why is he dead?” Sharpton asked, his voice roaring with anger. Authorities “have shown now that they will not hold police accountable. Well, guess what? If you won’t, we will!”\n“Shut it down! Shut it down!” the crowd chanted, standing up and applauding wildly.\nSharpton didn’t say exactly how they would protest the acquittals of the officers who fired the 50 shots. He said Bell’s supporters could demonstrate all over the city, from Wall Street to the home of Justice Arthur Cooperman, who on Friday acquitted the three detectives after a nonjury trial.\nSitting behind Sharpton as he spoke were Bell’s parents, his sister and Nicole Paultre Bell, who took her fiance’s name after his death.\n“The justice system let me down,” Paultre Bell told the crowd in a soft voice. “April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again. That’s what it felt like to us.”\nIt was her first public comment since she stormed out of a courtroom Friday after the NYPD detectives were cleared in Bell’s killing as he left his bachelor party.\nOne of Bell’s companions, Joseph Guzman, also spoke briefly on Saturday, saying: “We’ve got a long fight.”
(04/28/08 3:50am)
KABUL, Afghanistan – Militants firing rockets and automatic rifles attacked the Afghan president at a ceremony in Kabul on Sunday, missing their target but killing three and wounding eight others.\nThe Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault that sent President Hamid Karzai and foreign ambassadors scurrying for cover, underscoring the fragile grip of his U.S.-backed government.\nGunmen opened fire as a 21-gun salute echoed over the capital at an anniversary ceremony to mark the mujahedeen victory over the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.\nHundreds of people, including army and police that had formed an honor guard inspected by Karzai minutes earlier, fled in chaos as shots rang out. The president was hustled away, surrounded by bodyguards, and left in a convoy of four black SUVs.\nThe gunfire apparently came from a three-story guesthouse, popular with migrant laborers, about 300 yards from the stands where Karzai was seated alongside Cabinet ministers and senior diplomats, who all escaped unharmed. A U.S. Embassy official confirmed U.S. Ambassador William Wood was also not hurt.\nA lawmaker who was about 30 yards from the president was killed in the attack.\nResidents reported that a 30-minute gunbattle broke out between security forces and gunmen holed up in the guesthouse, located in a neighborhood of ruined mud brick buildings.\nDefense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak said three attackers were killed by security forces, and assault rifles and machine guns were confiscated.\nTaliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said six militants were deployed to target the president, and three of those militants died in the attack. He said they were armed with guns, rockets and suicide vests although no suicide bombings were reported.\nThe initial moments of the attack, which came as a marching band played the finale of the national anthem, were broadcast live until TV transmissions were cut. Hundreds of dignitaries could be seen diving for cover. Two lawmakers were hit by the gunfire. One of the men slumped back in his seat, while the other lay on the ground.\nLess than two hours later, Karzai appeared on state-run TV and said “everything is OK.”\nAppearing calm, Karzai said “the enemy of Afghanistan” tried to disrupt the ceremony but was thwarted by security forces. He said several suspects were arrested and smiled as he signed off his brief recorded statement.\nAbout 100 people were rounded up for questioning, an Afghan intelligence official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.\nAssociated Press reporters saw a half dozen people, who appeared to be migrant laborers from northern Afghanistan, sitting in the back of a police van outside the guesthouse, which was pocked with bullet holes. Windows were smashed, and police barred the reporters from entering.\nThe militant attack, the first in the capital since mid-March, came despite unprecedented tight security for Sunday’s celebrations. In January, three Taliban suicide attackers hit Kabul’s upscale Serena Hotel, killing eight people, including an American.\nFor days Kabul was ringed by checkpoints with security forces and plainclothes intelligence officials searching vehicles. The area where the ceremonies took place had been blocked by troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers, and was closed to the general public.\nThe live coverage of the assassination attempt will add to the sense of insecurity in the Afghan capital, which has been spared the worst of the violence as fighting has escalated between Taliban insurgents and NATO and U.S.-led forces.
(04/25/08 4:15am)
Ladies First vocal performance \nWhen: 8 p.m. Friday \nWhere: Buskirk-Chumley Theater \nMore Information: The group’s repertoire ranges from timeless oldies to chart-topping radio hits of today. General admission is $8 in advance and $10 the day of the show. Tickets are available at the Sunrise Box Office.
(04/24/08 4:10am)
Ladies First vocal performance \nWhen: 8 p.m. Friday \nWhere: Buskirk-Chumley Theater \nMore Information: The group’s repertoire ranges from timeless oldies to chart-topping radio hits of today. General admission tickets are $8 in advance and $10 the day of the show. Tickets are available at the Sunrise Box Office.
(04/24/08 4:01am)
As you are all extremely aware, summer is quickly approaching, and time is being taken from the studious concentration of physics, anthropology and comparative literature, and is being focused on beaches, booze and the burning sun. With this sudden approach of frivolity and potential summertime decadence, students may ask themselves, “Where will I find time for art?”\n“With all the time being required to visit museums and read stories I’ll be losing, I’ve been wondering whether or not I’ll be able to notice art this summer,” sophomore Matt Belt said. Many others have followed this sentiment, fearing that since they are no longer required to appreciate the finer things in life, they will soon drop into a veritable hellhole of summer fun and cookouts.\nBut don’t worry! This art appreciation expert is here to give you the tools you need to get the fullest experience of artistic living this summer. This whole semester, I’ve been here, helping you appreciate your walk to class in a way you’ve never felt before, and I’m going to give you a few last tips on how to get the most out of your postmodern summer.\nHit the books. Who said just because school’s out you should take a break from reading? With all the downtime you’ll have, you should at least try this as an activity. Most students agree that when you aren’t forced to read something, it becomes much more enjoyable. It’s either that or the “Rock of Love 2” marathon that you’ve seen three times already.\nGo to a show. Summer is the best time for venues of all performance media – film, music, comedy, you name it. Given the amount of spare time you’ll have, why shouldn’t you see a different movie at the theater every single night? And don’t forget your summer concert series wherever you are, let alone the plethora of festivals from Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza. It’s either that or jamming out to that crappy Mims CD in your car from last summer.\nMake art wherever you go. I can’t stress this one enough. As you may remember from columns past, I insist that art is everywhere, and if you don’t see it, you aren’t looking close enough. Just because school is out doesn’t mean you have the right to waste your time. Change up your routine this summer and see how much art you can put into it. If you do something that takes you by surprise, captures your complete thought or emotion, or speaks from inside you, you are in the presence of art.
(04/24/08 3:49am)
Cool sounds and hot beats will be flowing out of the IU Auditorium Saturday night.\nThe New Orleans Jazz Orchestra will be playing at 8 p.m. for one night only in Bloomington. The orchestra features some of the top musicians in jazz.\n“NOjO is an incredibly talented collection of some of the finest jazz and Dixieland musicians in the country,” IU Auditorium director Doug Booher said. “With Irvin Mayfield, the distinguished trumpeter as their leader, this band has brought the joyful music of New Orleans back to the forefront of American music.”\nAfter the devastating Hurricane Katrina, jazz has taken a bit of a back seat, but not in Mayfield’s life. Even after the hurricane took the life of Mayfield’s father, Irvin Mayfield Sr., the group leader thinks that “jazz is nothing less than the manifestation of all that American democracy represents.”\nMayfield has just released a new album called “Love Songs, Ballads and Standards,” which features classic hits from The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Norah Jones. It is his first album since Hurricane Katrina, representing his beloved city in numerous events including being a featured artist at Lincoln Center’s 2005 Higher Ground benefit concert that helped victims of the disaster. He is now recording and touring with the orchestra. The show will be a reminder of what was lost and what will soon be regained through post-Katrina \nNew Orleans.\n“The most important reason to come to the show is that this music will do nothing less than put a smile on your soul,” Booher said. “That’s just what music from New Orleans does for all who have the luxury of hearing it.” \nFor tickets and more information, go to the IU Auditorium Web site at www.iuauditorium.com.
(04/23/08 1:53am)
NEW YORK – As guest host of “Today,” first lady Laura Bush proved she can be as chatty and genial as the broadcast pros.\nEven better, she demonstrated how to keep it under control Tuesday. In the company of the NBC morning show’s fawning, overeager veterans, Bush brought a welcome air of restraint – while much of the time, her on-air companions might have seemed to the former teacher like schoolchildren on a sugar rush.\n“You did that so well, it’s obvious that we are overpaid,” news anchor Ann Curry marveled after Bush did a brief voiceover announcement.\n“Well, it’s been obvious we’re overpaid for a long time,” co-anchor Matt Lauer chimed in. “It didn’t take Mrs. Bush to prove that.”\nIn this unusual, much-promoted appearance, the first lady co-hosted the third hour of the four-hour “Today” sprawl, sharing her slot with Curry and Al Roker. \nBut her guest appearance was clearly pegged to the publication of “Read All About It!” a new book she co-authored with her daughter Jenna. They shared a more conventional interview segment earlier in the program, conducted by Curry. The book, aimed at youngsters, is intended to promote reading literacy, a favorite cause of Bush.\nA bit later, once Bush had taken on the mantle of host, a segment on “life as twins” brought back Jenna with her twin sister Barbara.\n“Jenna, how are you different from Barbara?” their mom asked.\nJenna Bush said, despite being very close to her sister, they were different in many ways.\n“Our parents raised us to be different,” she said.\nIn a pretaped feature appropriate for Earth Day, the first lady gave Curry a tour of the Bush home in Crawford, Texas, which was designed to be eco-friendly. Curry gushed about the beauty of the residence and its pastoral setting.\nBack in the studio, Curry and Roker plied Bush with up-close-and-personal questions such as the songs on her iPod playlist. To that query, Bush responded not with titles, but a tip.\n“A great place to take your iPod,” she advised, “is to the dentist.”\nThen it was time to don aprons for a cooking segment under the direction of New Orleans chef John Besh.\nWell, not exactly cooking. Besh officiated as Curry, Roker and Bush competed in a challenge to construct the best po-boy sandwich in 25 seconds. Bush was declared winner.\nFinally, Laura and Jenna Bush jointly interviewed children’s author R.L. Stine.\nDuring the program, Jenna Bush emerged as a star in her own right, demonstrating a gift for a clever line. She fielded questions about her marriage next month to longtime boyfriend Henry Hager. But when trying to convey the close relationship she shares with her twin sister, she cracked, “We’ve already told him that on every Christmas Eve I plan to still sleep with Barbara.”
(04/22/08 3:01am)
Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Hamas is prepared to accept the right of Israel to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.” But Carter warned that there would not be peace if Israel and the U.S. continue to shut out Hamas and its main backer, Syria. The former president spoke in Jerusalem after meeting last week with top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and his deputy in Syria. It capped a nine-day visit to the Mideast aimed at breaking the deadlock between Israel and Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip.
(04/22/08 2:59am)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A pro-Taliban leader who sent thousands of fighters against the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan was freed by Pakistan on Monday, and an official said his militant group signed a peace deal with the provincial government in the restive northwest.\nThe group, founded by radical cleric Sufi Muhammad, renounced attacks on government forces in the six-point accord but it will be allowed to peacefully campaign for the implementation of Islamic law in Pakistan, provincial government spokesman Faridullah Khan said.\nHe said the pact was signed by Muhammad’s deputy and eight other clerics and four officials, including three provincial government ministers.\nIt was not immediately clear if Muhammad’s son-in-law, cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who led a militant takeover in the northwestern Swat Valley last year, agreed to lay down arms as part of the pact.\nMuhammad was jailed in 2002 and was shifted to a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar five months ago because of poor health.\nAjmal Khan, the deputy superintendent of Peshawar’s main jail, said the government on Monday “issued an order for the release of Sufi Mohammad, and I have conveyed this order to him.”\nShortly after, Muhammad left the hospital in a vehicle under police escort, accompanied by followers wearing black turbans, said Zafar Khan, a paramedic at the hospital.\nMuhammad founded the Tehrik Nifaz-e-Sharia Mohammed Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law, which sent thousands of volunteers to fight in Afghanistan against the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime in 2001.\nSupporters of his son-in-law, Fazlullah, took control of much of the Swat Valley last year until Pakistan’s army won it back in a bloody military operation.\nThe group wants a Taliban-like system in Pakistan, including compulsory beards for men, mandatory veils for women and the outlawing of light entertainment such as music \nand television.\nPresident Pervez Musharraf outlawed the group in early 2002, and Muhammad was arrested when he returned to Pakistan after fighting in Afghanistan. He was sentenced in November 2002 to three years in prison on a weapons charge but had remained in custody.\nAn army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said the military was not involved in the government’s decision to release Muhammad.\nHe said 90 percent of the Swat Valley was peaceful, but the army was still conducting occasional search operations against militant holdouts and had recently set up a checkpoint at Fazlullah’s former headquarters to stop followers from slipping back in the area. No decision has been made to withdraw the army, Abbas said.\nAlso Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a law requiring candidates for parliament to have bachelor’s degrees, clearing the way for the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to run for a seat and possibly become prime minister.\nThe ruling was another sign of Musharraf’s dwindling influence. He introduced the degree requirement in 2002, supposedly to improve the caliber of lawmakers.\nSupreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar said the provision was “declared to be void” after a seven-judge panel heard arguments that it discriminated against a large portion of the Pakistani population.\nBhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who took over her party’s leadership after her December assassination, has indicated he might run for a parliament seat in June. Zardari has said he has a degree, but its nature is uncertain and his party acknowledged it was not sure if Zardari would qualify under the voided law.\nZardari has not ruled out becoming prime minister at \nsome point.\nBhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party is now leading a coalition government packed with Musharraf foes after routing loyalists of the U.S.-backed president in Feb. 18 elections. Musharraf’s popularity has plunged in the last year, especially due to anger over his alliance with the U.S. in the war on extremist groups.\nThe degree requirement was challenged by Nasir Mahmood, a politician from a hard-line Islamic party who plans to contest a parliament seat in a by-election, said his lawyer, Sen. Kamran Murtaza.
(04/21/08 4:00am)
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton was endorsed Sunday by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, whose owner and publisher, billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, personally funded many of the investigations that led to President Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. It was one of a handful of endorsements the New York senator has received from Pennsylvania newspapers before the state’s primary Tuesday. Most of the state’s major papers have endorsed Barack Obama. In its endorsement, Tribune-Review editors said Obama is too inexperienced to be president and that his recent comments about bitter voters living in small towns showed a lack of respect for middle-class values.
(04/21/08 4:00am)
WASHINGTON – President Bush, ahead of his trip next week to a summit with North American leaders, said Saturday that the House’s decision to block a vote on a Colombia free trade agreement was a “serious error” and urged Congress to reconsider.\nThe Bush administration has insisted that the deal would be good for the U.S. economy because it would eliminate high barriers that American exports to Colombia now face. Most Colombian products already are entering the United States duty-free under existing trade preference laws.\n“The situation is completely one-sided,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “Our markets are open to Colombian products, but barriers that make it harder to sell American goods in Colombia remain. If the free trade agreement were implemented, however, most of Colombia’s tariffs on American goods would be eliminated immediately.”\nDemocrats, however, have cited the continued violence against organized labor in Colombia and differences with the administration over how to extend a program that helps U.S. workers displaced by foreign competition.\nBush sent the agreement to Capitol Hill this month, but the House, led by Democrats, decided to eliminate a rule forcing a vote on the deal within 60 legislative days. The House’s decision probably kills consideration of the Colombia agreement this year, leaving it for the next administration.\nHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who initiated the rules change, blames Bush for submitting the agreement before a consensus was reached with congressional leaders on outstanding differences. She has said that whether the agreement is dead for the year depends on the good faith of negotiations between Democrats and the White House.\nPelosi denied that Democrats were seeking to block the trade agreement, but wanted to create a timetable for consideration of the bill that was sensitive to the concerns of America’s \nworking families.\n“Unfortunately, the speaker of the House has chosen to block the Colombia free trade agreement instead of giving it an up-or-down vote that Congress committed to,” Bush said. “Her action is unprecedented and extremely unfortunate. I hope that the speaker will change her mind. If she does not, the agreement will be dead. And this will be bad for American workers and bad for America’s national security.”\nBush, who is meeting Monday and Tuesday in New Orleans with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to talk about trade and other issues affecting the hemisphere, has staked out free trade as one of his chief economic legacies.\nHe won a bruising battle to implement the Central American Free Trade Agreement with six countries in Latin America as well as a number of individual pacts. Other agreements with Panama and South Korea are also pending.\nBush used his entire radio address to push the free-trade deal with Colombia, a key U.S. ally in South America.\n“Today, almost all of Colombia’s exports to the United States enter duty-free, but the 9,000 American businesses that export to Colombia – including nearly 8,000 small and mid-sized firms – face significant tariffs on their products,” Bush said.
(04/21/08 3:59am)
Israel killed seven Hamas militants in a series of airstrikes after the group detonated two jeeps packed with hundreds of kilograms of explosives at an Israeli crossing on the Gaza border.\nTwo of the militants were killed early Sunday.\nIsraeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the area of Saturday’s twin suicide attacks, which wounded 13 soldiers, and warned Hamas would “bear \nthe consequences.”\nHowever, an immediate Israeli offensive appears unlikely – Israelis are currently marking the Jewish Passover holiday and in May will celebrate their country’s 60th birthday.\nThe Islamic militant Hamas said Saturday’s attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing was part of a campaign to break the nearly yearlong blockade of the Gaza. Israel and Egypt virtually sealed Gaza after Hamas seized control of the territory by force.\nIn Damascus, former President Jimmy Carter met with senior Hamas leaders on Friday and Saturday, defying U.S. and Israeli warnings that doing so would grant the group legitimacy. Hamas officials said Gaza’s closure and a possible Israel-Hamas prisoner swap were discussed. They said the group did not respond to Carter’s request that it halt rocket fire on Israeli border towns or that it agree to talk to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishak about a prisoner exchange.\nFollowing the crossing attack, Israel targeted Hamas militants in a series of missile strikes, killing seven. Of those, five were killed Saturday and two early Sunday. Four Hamas gunmen were wounded in Sunday’s strikes in northern Gaza and east of Gaza City, medics said.\nA senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, warned the crossings would be targeted again. Saturday’s attacks “are the beginning of the explosions that Hamas has warned of,” he said. “If the parties don’t intervene quickly to save Gaza and break the siege, what is coming will be greater.”\nOn Saturday morning, Hamas militants drove an armored personnel carrier and two jeeps made to look like Israeli army vehicles toward the Kerem Shalom crossing under the cover of morning fog as Hamas pounded the border area with heavy mortar fire, said Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, the top army commander in the area.\nThe armored personnel carrier broke through the perimeter fence, enabling the two jeeps to enter the crossing. One jeep was detonated near an army watchtower and the second near a patrol. Thirteen soldiers were wounded in the second blast, including eight who were hospitalized. Four Hamas attackers were killed, the army said.\nGalant said Hamas apparently tried to cause a large number of casualties and to kidnap soldiers.\n“This is an attack the likes of which we have not seen since disengagement,” Galant said, referring to Israel’s pullout from Gaza in September 2005.\nIsraeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Hamas is showing disregard for the welfare of Gaza’s residents by attacking the crossings.
(04/21/08 3:58am)
NEW YORK – Pope Benedict XVI began the final day of his American journey by blessing the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and pleading with God to bring “peace to our violent world.”\nThe visit by Benedict to ground zero was a poignant moment in a trip marked by unexpectedly festive crowds anxious to see the former academic who for three years has led the world’s Roman Catholics.\nBenedict was driven in the popemobile part-way down a ramp now used mostly by construction trucks to a spot by the north tower’s footprint. He walked the final steps, knelt in silent prayer for a few moments, then rose to light a memorial candle.\nAddressing a group that included survivors, clergy and public officials, he acknowledged the many faiths of the victims at the “scene of incredible violence and pain.”\nThe pope also prayed for “those who suffered death, injury and loss” in the attacks at the Pentagon and in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa. More than 2,900 people were killed in the four crashes of the airliners hijacked by al-Qaida.\n“God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world,” the pope prayed on a chilly, overcast morning. “Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.”\nBenedict invited 24 people with ties to ground zero to join him: survivors, relatives of victims and four rescue workers. He greeted each member of the group individually as a string quartet played in the background. In his prayer, he also remembered those who, “because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries and illness.”\nNew York deputy fire chief James Riches, father of a fallen Sept. 11 firefighter, said the pope’s visit was important and gave him “a little consolation.”\nHundreds of people stood just outside the site, behind police barricades, hoping for a glimpse of the pope.\nThe site where the World Trade Center was destroyed is normally filled with hundreds of workers building a 102-story skyscraper, a memorial and transit hub. It bears little resemblance to the debris-filled pit where crews toiled to remove twisted steel and victims’ remains.\nThe remains of more than 1,100 people have never been identified.\nBenedict was joined by New York Cardinal Edward Egan, alongside Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York Gov. David Paterson and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. The land is owned and managed by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.\nBenedict has addressed terrorism several times during his six-day visit.\nIn a private meeting with President Bush, the two leaders “touched on the need to confront terrorism with appropriate means that respect the human person and his or her rights,” according to a joint U.S.-Holy See statement.\nBenedict has been critical of harsh interrogation methods, telling a meeting of the Vatican’s office for social justice last September that, while a country has an obligation to keep its citizens safe, prisoners must never be demeaned or tortured.\nAddressing the United Nations on Friday, Benedict warned diplomats that international cooperation needed to solve urgent problems is “in crisis” because decisions rest in the hands of a few powerful nations.\nThe pope also insisted that the way to peace was by ensuring respect for human dignity.\n“The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and increasing security,” the pope said.\nThose whose rights are trampled, he said, “become easy prey to the call to violence and they then become violators of peace.”
(04/18/08 3:22am)
Authorities in India sealed off the center of their normally frenetic capital Thursday with 15,000 police to protect the Olympic torch relay from anti-China protesters who held their pro-Tibet demonstrations elsewhere in the country. By the time the torchbearers had traversed the shortened New Delhi route of the round-the-world relay, protesters had come nowhere near the Olympic flame, and only a few hundred selected guests had managed to see it at all.