среда, 7 марта 2012 г.

PLUS NEWS

5 WHITES IN MANDELA GROUP: Five white members of South Africa'sParliament joined the African National Congress today to give NelsonR. Mandela's group what amounts to its first seats in government.The move followed a bitter clash between the five and their white,liberal Democratic Party, which objected to the efforts to align itwith the nation's main black movement. "We join the ANC to promotenon-racialism in practice," Jan van Eck, David Dalling, PierreCronje, Jannie Momberg and Rob Haswell declared in a joint statement.But Zach de Beer, leader of the Democrats, said the five lawmakerswould be expelled from the third-largest party in Parliament'sdominant white chamber. FBI, BLACKS IN ACCORD: Lawyers for more than 300 black agents todayannounced an agreement in principle with the FBI to settle complaintsof racial bias. The agency does not admit any discrimination in theaccord, which headed off a potential class-action lawsuit, but itdoes agree that "disparities" existed in some areas of its personnelsystem. Six blacks will be promoted to supervisory positions and getback pay, and another 80 will be given new positions or trainingunder the agreement. 2 ABORTION FOES SEIZED: Two anti-abortion ministers were arrestedtoday at a demonstration outside a women's clinic in Buffalo, N.Y.,and police confiscated a purported human fetus that one of thempushed in the faces of abortion-rights protesters across the street.The Rev. Robert Schenck, 33, was charged with disorderly conduct, andpolice sought to learn from a medical examiner whether the object wasa real fetus. Schenck's twin brother, the Rev. Paul Schenck, wasarrested on a trespassing charge. The Schencks are Assembly of Godministers at a church in suburban Tonawanda. About 200 activists oneach side of the issue took part in rallies in steady rain outsideone of four clinics targeted for closing by Operation Rescue. EQUALITY IN TAXATION: States may not tax military retirement paywhile exempting the pensions of their own retired government workers,a unanimous Supreme Court ruled today. It struck down a Kansasincome-tax provision that collected some $91 million from about14,000 military retirees. The ruling presumably will force the stateto refund the money, and could have a wider impact. About 1.2million military retirees nationwide receive $20 billion in pensionbenefits. Justices also heard the Census Bureau defend its decisionto count U.S. citizens overseas as residents of their home states ina case that will determine whether Massachusetts loses a House seatand Washington gains one. ITALY GETS PEACE TALKS: Italy will be host to the sixth round ofMiddle East talks under an agreement between the Israelis and Arabs,the State Department announced today. The United States and Russia,co-sponsors of the process, will be in touch with the parties to setthe date, department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said. Peace talksopened in October in Madrid, Spain, and resumed for three rounds inWashington, where the fifth round is to begin Monday. The parties sofar have made little progress on the key issues of arrangements forlimited self-rule for Palestinian Arabs in the occupied areas andArab recognition of the Jewish state. BUSH BELITTLES CHARGES: President Bush today shrugged off aDemocratic report that his administration has compiled the worsteconomic growth of any presidency since World War II. "I never reactto the liberal Democrats' tax and spend charge. It comes up everyyear," he said. The Democratic Study Group said the U.S. economy hasexpanded by only 1.8 percent after adjustment for inflation duringBush's three years as president. DRUNK CHECKS VOIDED: Letting police set up roadblocks to stopdrivers and check them for drunken driving violates citizens' rightsto be free from unreasonable searches, a split Michigan Court ofAppeals panel ruled today. The 2-1 majority said the check lanes setup May 17 and 18, 1986, in Saginaw County violated the stateconstitution.

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