asleepass

DIG IT What's happening on the Chicago gardening scene

2012-03-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

On Aug. 28, the Chicago Botanic Garden will conduct a classcalled "Discover Ornamental Grasses" on how to add attractive …

Realty agency buys properties

2012-03-15T03:49:00.000-07:00

Coldwell Banker Commercial Bennett Williams typically helps others buy real estate. Last month, four of the York company's executives made a major real estate investment of their own.

The executives agreed to pay $850,000 for 35 residential rental properties scattered around York. They are fixing up the apartments, several of which are not in good condition, and plan to continue renting them. Bennett Williams will manage the mostly singlefamily properties.

The company's executives also agreed to pay $150,000 for the business that had owned and managed these properties: C&W Management Realty of York. Bennett Williams will manage 60 other properties that C&W Management …

Gillett outlines philosophy at Montreal, Liverpool

2012-03-15T01:28:00.000-07:00

George Gillett Jr. has experienced the hostility of fans from Montreal to Liverpool but it never gets any easier.

The 70-year-old sports tycoon acknowledges the magnitude of his duty to supporters of the ice hockey, motorsport and football teams that rely on his investment.

"You feel a responsibility and an embarrassment on occasions when you haven't provided all that you might have," Gillett told The Associated Press. "There's a level of embarrassment and you want to correct that quickly."

Not just at Premier League football club Liverpool, but also in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and in NASCAR with Gillett Evernham …

40 years after Watts, a time to remember, rebuild: Activists try to teach younger generations riots' significance

2012-03-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES -- The arrest 40 years ago of 21-year-old MarquetteFrye quickly drew a crowd in South Los Angeles. Someone threw arock, then another.

For the next six days, urban black frustration boiled over.Buildings burned across Watts and neighboring communities. Thirty-four people were killed, looters emptied stores, and the NationalGuard patrolled the streets.

Today, on the corner where it began, there are no signs of theuprising that helped transform the civil rights movement frompeaceful protests in the South to violent clashes in the nation'smajor cities.

Teens who skateboard past abandoned couches and fading apartmentssay they've heard of "the …

Instant Messages; Quick online responses to Sun-Times stories

2012-03-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Another Stephen King?

[Allen Lee] did nothing worse than essentially write a "Law andOrder" episode or a Quentin Tarantino movie. . . . By the way, afterthe Virginia Tech shootings, we read all about how everyone [said]that there was something wrong with Cho because of his writing.Again, his writing was not any different than the most popular TVshows. Stephen King writes some pretty bizarre stuff, too -- shouldhe be locked up?

Jim McCoy

Get rid of the teacher

I sincerely hope that the parents in this district will have thecourage to demand that this teacher be dismissed and theadministration severely censured.

Bob

Losing trade …

D'Alessandro wants to stay with Internacional

2012-03-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (AP) — Amid celebrating his first Copa Libertadores title early Thursday, midfielder Andres D'Alessandro said he'd like to stay with Internacional to play in the Club World Cup in December for the first time.

But the Argentine doesn't rule out a transfer if a good offer arrives before then.

D'Alessandro was key in Internacional's 5-3 aggregate victory against Guadalajara in the final of the Latin American club championship. Internacional won 3-2 in front of its fans on Wednesday to secure its second title.

"Now all I'm thinking about is the Club World Cup," D'Alessandro said. "My goal is to stay so I can play in Abu Dhabi. I've never played in that …

Delta flight cleared after 'security threat' in NM

2012-03-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX (AP) — A Delta Air Lines flight from Detroit to San Diego was diverted to Albuquerque, N.M., on Sunday because of a security scare but authorities found "no suspicious devices" on the plane, an FBI spokesman said.

Agency spokesman Frank Fisher declined to clarify the nature of the "potential security threat" that caused Flight 1706 to land in New Mexico. He said agents searched the plane and interviewed the crew and 107 passengers before clearing the aircraft to fly again.

Albuquerque International Sunport spokesman Daniel Jiron also declined to say what the potential threat was. No one was arrested.

The flight was diverted at 10 a.m. MDT, and Jiron said it was …

Soft 'n Easy

2012-03-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of just how much money was raised by the political party election committees in 1999:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which provides financial support for the party's House candidates, was hesitant to say exactly how much "soft money" it collected or has on hand. The flood of those unrestricted "soft" donations - intended for use in "party-building activities" such as get-out-the-vote drives - seems to have overwhelmed the DCCC, if only temporarily.

A spokesman explained that the committee's latest report, filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Jan. 31, might appear a little confusing because the committee switched its …

Obama Aide Sorry for 'Monster' Comment

2012-03-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

An adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama apologized Friday for telling a Scottish newspaper that rival Hillary Rodham Clinton is "a monster."

Samantha Power, a foreign policy adviser to Obama's presidential campaign and Pulitzer Prize winner, was quoted in remarks she later attempted to retract as saying in The Scotsman newspaper that Clinton was stooping to low tactics to recover ground in the race to win the party's presidential nomination.

The Harvard professor is quoted as telling the newspaper Obama's team had been disappointed with Clinton's campaign win in Ohio on Tuesday.

"In Ohio, they are obsessed and …

Subaru's xt gives you so much extra

2012-03-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Subaru is about to introduce the most rapid and agile crossoversports utility vehicle in its class - the turbocharged Forester 2.5XT.

Already praised for its …

Obituaries

2012-03-14T06:42:00.000-07:00

OBITUARIES

Amir C. Assad, 41 West Lafayette, Indiana

Dorab Baria, 57 Duluth, Minnesota

William W. Dalee, 85 Southfield, Michigan

J. S. Hartman, 52 Cincinnati, …

Libyan leader returns to University of Washington

2012-03-14T04:22:00.000-07:00

SEATTLE (AP) — One morning last February, Ali Tarhouni, a professor at the University of Washington's business school, gave his microeconomics students some startling news: He wouldn't be teaching them anymore. He was off to help with the Libyan revolution.

He returned to the university for a brief visit Tuesday following a 10-month absence that saw him serve as the oil and finance minister in the transitional government, hold the hand of a dying 14-year-old boy, and stand bitterly over the battered corpse of Moammar Gadhafi.

"A year ago at this time, I was thinking about what coffee shop would I go to to have a good cup of coffee," Tarhouni said at a news conference. "I've …

Head of AU 'panel of the wise' says charges against Sudan leader could be mistake

2012-03-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

The chairman of the African Union's "Panel of the Wise" says genocide charges against Sudan's president could "lead to a lot of danger."

Former Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella leads an AU panel of distinguished citizens to promote efforts to prevent conflict in Africa.

"If we do not actually find a solution this might be an unconstitutional way of pushing aside a head of state," he said Thursday in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital and headquarters of the AU.

The Dutch-based International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir on charges of waging a campaign of genocide and rape in Darfur. It is the first time prosecutors at the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal have issued charges against a sitting head of state.

`Mr. Rogers' like Arsenio?

2012-03-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

How would "Mister Rogers" describe himself?

Fred Rogers, familiar to millions of viewers of his long-runningpublic TV program, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," knew the questionwas coming at a recent National Press Club lunch in Washington.

"It's a tough question, and I've thought a lot about it," hereplied with a grin. "I think maybe it might be Albert Schweitzer and Arsenio Hall." -

Senate panel OKs pay change

2012-03-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Legislators would no longer vote on their own pay raises under aresolution approved by the Senate Finance Committee.

Committee members Monday also unanimously endorsed a bill thatwould require a woman to wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion.

The pay raise resolution would require voters to change WestVirginia's Constitution so pay raise decisions are made by anindependent board rather than the 134-member Legislature.

The Citizens Legislative Compensation Commission, with membersappointed by the governor, currently recommends raises but has noauthority to implement them. The Legislature has not had an increasein its $15,000-a-year salary since 1995.

In 1999, the commission recommended that lawmakers receive $18,000a year. Gov. Bob Wise also recommended a similar raise in 2001.Senators and delegates rejected both proposals. Lawmakers, however,did vote in 2001 to increase the amount they receive for dailyexpenses and to attend interim meetings.

A divided committee backed the resolution offered by SenateMajority Whip Billy Wayne Bailey.

The Wyoming County Democrat said it was unfair to turn the salaryvotes into a political football.

"If you want a pay raise, vote for it and then stand up to theelectorate," said Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha."Don't hand it off to an obscure commission so you can escape theresponsibility."

Voters would have to approve the constitutional change in the 2004general election. Sprouse said the measure would be lucky to winsupport from 10 percent of the electorate. The resolution moves tothe full Senate.

The abortion bill would require providers to tell women a daybefore the procedure about alternatives and medical risks, as well asabout a state Web site with pictures of fetuses in various stages ofdevelopment.

Doctors who violate the law once could spend a year in jail andlose their license for 90 days. Repeat violators could be foundguilty of a felony and receive five years in jail along with a five-year license suspension.

Wise vetoed a bill last year because it contained similarprovisions involving doctors. Language protecting physician privacyhas been added this year to assuage Wise's concerns.

The state would be required to spend $275,000 on the Web site andnew reporting requirements.

Alexander T. Bonkowski, Meat Researcher

2012-03-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Alexander T. "Al" Bonkowski Jr., 55, a former Chicagoan who was aresearcher in the meatpacking industry, died of cancer Saturday inhis Macon, Ill., home.

Mr. Bonkowski was director of meat, seafood and poultry forArcher Daniels Midland Company of Decatur, Ill. In that post, heresearched formulas for meat and wrote a number of articles for trademagazines. He honed his trade by attending night school, includingthe Illinois Institute of Technology, while working in Chicago forArcher Daniels and Vienna Sausage.

Born and reared in the Back of the Yards area, he attended SacredHeart grammar school and St. Rita High School.

Mr. Bonkowski worked for a railway equipment company and anothermeatpacking company before being hired by Vienna in the mid-1960s.He left to join Archer Daniels, then located in Chicago, in 1980. Hetransferred to the company's Decatur plant when it closed its Chicagofacility six years later.

In 1958, he married Theresa R. Pawela.

Besides his wife, survivors include a daughter, Katherine AnnWilliams; two brothers, Richard and Jerome; his father, Alexander,and a granddaughter.

Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. today in Holy Family CatholicChurch, Macon. Burial will follow in Mount Gilead Cemetery, Macon.

Euro 2008 Referees List

2012-03-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

The list of referees, assistants and fourth officials named by UEFA on Wednesday to work at next year's European Championship:

Teams of Officials

Konrad Plautz, Egon Bereuter, Markus Mayr of Austria

Frank De Bleeckere, Peter Hermans, Alex Verstraeten of Belgium

Howard Webb, Darren Cann, Mike Mullarkey of England

Herbert Fandel, Carsten Kadach, Volker Wezel of Germany

Kyros Vassaras, Dimitris Bozatzidis, Dimitris Saraidaris of Greece

Roberto Rosetti, Alessandro Griselli, Paolo Calcagno of Italy

Pieter Vink, Adriaan Inia, Hans ten Hoove of the Netherlands

Tom Henning Ovrebo, Geir Age Holen, Erik Raestad of Norway

Lubos Michel, Roman Slysko, Martin Balko of Slovakia

Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez, Jesus Calvo Guadamuro of Spain

Peter Frojdfeldt, Stefan Wittberg, Henrik Andren of Sweden

Massimo Busacca, Matthias Arnet, Stephane Cuhat of Switzerland

Fourth Officials

Ivan Bebek, Croatia

Stephane Lannoy, France

Viktor Kassai, Hungary

Kristinn Jakobsson, Iceland

Grzegorz Gilewski, Poland

Olegario Manuel Bartolo F. Benquerensa, Portugal

Craig Thomson, Scotland

Damir Skomina, Slovenia

Growing criticism of Congo vote

2012-03-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The chorus of voices calling into question the results from Congo's recent election is growing louder, and on Monday the country's influential clergy as well as the United Nations joined those that are now casting doubt on the victory of President Joseph Kabila.

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, the head of the influential Catholic Church in Congo, broke his silence to voice his concern. The church, which had deployed the largest observation mission, had earlier refused to disclose the results that their observers had tabulated, saying that their role was not political.

"After analyzing the results that were made public by the (election commission) this past Friday, Dec. 9, 2011, we could not help but conclude that the results are not founded on truth or justice," said Monsengwo on Monday.

He said that the church was willing to mediate the dispute between Kabila, who has been in power for 10 years and who was declared the winner of the November election with 49 percent of the vote, and longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, came in a distant second with 32 percent of the nearly 19 million votes cast.

Just 24 hours after the results were published, U.S. observers from the Atlanta-based Carter Center founded by former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement saying that the vote lacked credibility.

The country's election commission, which is led by a pastor believed to be close to the incumbent, had been under pressure to release results polling station by polling station so that candidates and election monitors could check the numbers being published against what observers had witnessed.

The commission didn't do so immediately, instead releasing preliminary results province by province, amalgamating thousands of voting sites.

It was not until Friday, the day that the final provisional results were released, that the commission gave out a CD-ROM to foreign embassies and to observation missions.

David Pottie, a senior observer with the Carter Center, said that in analyzing the detailed results, it became clear that in Kabila's home province, voter turnout was impossibly high, including some districts where 100 percent of registered voters had cast ballots, an impossibility in this enormous country where less than 2 percent of the roads are paved. In these same districts in Katanga Province, all — or nearly all — of the votes were cast for the 40-year-old Kabila, an equally unlikely prospect given that 11 candidates were in the race, said Pottie.

Also on Monday, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, known by its acronym MONUSCO, issued a statement voicing concern.

"MONUSCO notes with deep concern the findings of these observer missions relating to the significant irregularities in the management of the results process, in particular the counting and tabulation of the votes," it said. "MONUSCO strongly urges the Independent National Electoral Commission to undertake a timely and rigorous review of the issues identified by observer missions."

In his first public comments since the start of the election, Kabila told reporters on Monday that there is no reason to doubt the validity of the election.

"The credibility of these elections cannot be put into doubt. Were there mistakes, errors? Definitely," he said. "Definitely. Like in any other election — be it on the continent, or otherwise. But does it put into doubt the credibility of the elections? I don't think so."

While Kabila, controls the army, the 78-year-old opposition leader Tshisekedi controls the street, where he enjoys enormous popularity among the country's impoverished masses. Violence is feared if Tshisekedi orders his supporters to demonstrate. In a telephone interview over the weekend, he said that he was holding off as he waits to see if the international community is able to find a solution to the electoral crisis.

He also said that he rejects the results that were published, and considers himself the newly elected president. Already in London, over 130 people were arrested over the weekend after Tshisekedi supporters living in Britain led boisterous demonstrations, including a group that stormed the subway, pulling the alarms and causing one of the lines to be temporarily closed.

Although Tshisekedi has said he would not accept a Kenya- or Zimbabwe-style deal, diplomats that have seen him recently say he is looking for a concession from Kabila, possibly the post of speaker of parliament.

Monsengwo said there must be dialogue to avoid a grave crisis in the country and called on all to avoid violence.

"Since the results are provisional and must be confirmed by the Supreme Court, we ask the protesters to appeal, to resort to legal means and to not engage in violence," he said.

The November election was only the second democratic vote in Congo's 51-year history, and the first to be organized by the government rather than by the international community. From the start the vote was plagued by massive technical glitches, including the late arrival of ballots, some of which arrived three days after the vote was supposed to take place.

CBS calls for post-Rather 'News' notions from anyone -- even interns

2012-03-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK -- The college interns at CBS News were given achallenging assignment this summer: Develop ideas for a new "CBSEvening News" format.

CBS executives, of course, are doing the same thing, and some ofthem made presentations a few weeks ago.

Linda Mason, CBS News senior vice president for standards andspecial projects, said the assignment was done for the interns'education, even though the network is open to ideas from anywhere.

"This project was for their benefit, not for our benefit," shesaid.

The students took their job very seriously, dressing up in suitsfor Powerpoint demonstrations, Mason said. Most of the studentsargued in favor of more international news, she said.

CBS has been working behind the scenes to revamp the third-ratedevening news broadcast ever since Dan Rather announced last Novemberhe was stepping down as anchor, which he did in March.

Hedge crash

2012-03-13T03:54:00.000-07:00

Timsbury: A driver escaped unhurt when a car ended up upside downin a hedge between Timsbury and Camerton on Tuesday night.

Police were called to the stretch of road outside the Bombay KingIndian restaurant on the B3115 at 7.40pm to reports of a Rover 100on its roof.

A police spokesman confirmed no other vehicles were believed tobe involved and that no one had been injured.

Brazil's president pledges more troops for Haiti

2012-03-13T00:49:00.000-07:00

Brazil's president promised on Wednesday to send 100 additional engineering troops to Haiti and called for U.N. peacekeepers to focus on development as it struggles to pacify the troubled nation.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reviewed his country's troops, the largest contingent of a 9,000-member peacekeeping force in Haiti, and pledged technical assistance for agriculture during a seven-hour visit to the Caribbean nation's capital.

Addressing hundreds of Brazilian soldiers, Silva compared the four-year-old peacekeeping mission to a soccer game that has only reached halftime.

"The second half is a time to take initiative, and the tactic of the game is to show our solidarity," he told the soldiers, who stood at attention in a drizzling rain.

More than 1,200 Brazilian soldiers have been posted to Haiti since chaos erupted in 2004 following the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They helped uproot gangs in the seaside slum of Cite Soleil, long a notorious hub for kidnappers and drug dealers.

Many Haitians praise the troops for improving security, but express frustration with the mission as impoverished communities wait for development to follow suit in a country where 80 percent of people live on less than US$2 (euro1.28) a day.

Thousands rallied against the U.N. during April riots over the soaring cost of food, shouting that peacekeepers and Haitian President Rene Preval should leave the country.

One of the seven people killed in the unrest was a U.N. police officer from Nigeria. Merchants in the clothing market where he was dragged from his car and executed shouted "Down with MINUSTAH!" after his death, referring to the mission by its French acronym.

The incident occurred shortly after Haiti's Senate dismissed the nation's prime minister _ in part, lawmakers said, for not setting a timetable for the mission's departure.

Preval warmly thanked the South American leader for his country's support during a morning meeting at the presidential palace. But he also stressed the challenges that remain, including a kidnapping wave that has averaged one abduction per day this year.

Mapping asthma

2012-03-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

Scientists at deCODE genetics (www.decode.com) have mapped the first gene shown to have genomewide links to asthma. A paper, "A Major Susceptibility Gene for Asthma Maps to Chromosome 14q24," was published in the online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics (www.ajhg.org). The Icelandic study involved approximately 1,000 microsatellite markers, nearly 600 patients, and 550 unaffected relatives.

Glucocorticoids, a widely used treatment for asthma, can have severe side effects, particularly in children. The study generated more than five million data points which led to the identification of key genes responsive to glucocorticoids. deCODE developed an expression-based assay test of seven genes that can predict glucocorticoid responsiveness with nearly 90% accuracy. That may allow doctors to prescribe the medicine that provides the most effective relief with the fewest side-effects. Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children and young adults. Its prevalence in most European and North American countries ranges between 5% and 20% of the population.

Suicide Car Bombing Kills 26 in Baghdad

2012-03-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's prime minister insisted Thursday there will be "no safe place in Iraq for terrorists," hours before a suicide car bombing killed at least 26 people in the Shiite neighborhood of Karradah and two rockets slammed into the heavy fortified Green Zone not far from the U.S. Embassy.

Angry Karradah residents took to the streets chanting "We want the Sunnis out!" after the blast, the second suicide bombing in three days in the neighborhood. The explosion destroyed three minivans, 11 cars and dozens of shops, as well as the local post office, according to a resident.

Seven charred bodies were visible in one of the vans, including that of a woman who was half out a window in an apparent attempt to escape the inferno. Another women dressed in black was seen screaming in front of her son's shop, where he was killed. Ambulances raced from the scene, at least one with the back door still open and bodies stacked in the back.

A second huge explosion later rattled the capital, but police said it was a controlled blast to destroy a second car explosive that had been disabled before its suicide bomber could detonate it.

As the rockets fell and bombs exploded across the Tigris River, the public address system inside the Green Zone compound could be heard warning in English that people should take cover because "this is not a drill."

Five people were wounded in the rocket attack, none seriously. Mortar and rocket attacks hit the zone frequently but reported casualties are rare.

The attacks came on a day that police reported 61 killed in sectarian violence nationwide, including the bodies of 22 torture victims dumped in Baghdad, and a parliamentary debate was suspended briefly after arguments broke out between Sunnis and Shiites over security.

Parliament held yet another raucous session, this time witnessing a heated exchange between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Sunni legislator and cleric Abdul-Nasser al-Janabi, who accused the Shiite-dominated government of carrying out purges against Sunnis, the minority sect in Iraq.

The prime minister was seeking support for his and President Bush's plan to crush sectarian violence in Baghdad.

Al-Maliki gave no details for the plan, which he named "Operation Imposing Law," nor did he say when it would begin. U.S. officials have indicated the security operation, to which Bush has pledged an additional 21,500 American soldiers, should start in earnest about Feb. 1. A brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division already has arrived for the mission.

The prime minister vowed to go after those behind Baghdad's rampant violence no matter where they try to hide and regardless of sectarian beliefs, promising at the same time to ensure the human rights of innocent Iraqis.

"We are full of hope. We have no other choice but to use force and any place where we receive fire will not be safe even if it is a school, a mosque, a political party office or home," he said. "There will be no safe place in Iraq for terrorists."

But al-Janabi took the floor and said al-Maliki's government had gratuitously and summarily fired former members of Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath party from government jobs, sentenced people to death for political reasons and detained without reason Sunni pilgrims returning from the hajj in Saudi Arabia this month.

He also accused al-Maliki of running a sham program to reconcile Sunni-Shiite differences that have produced a near-civil war in Baghdad and prompted the new security drive - the third since al-Maliki took office May 25.

"The firing of officers and civil servants under the pretext of de-Baathification should stop. What kind of national reconciliation are you talking about when you are implementing rules that marginalize" Sunnis, he asked.

"Stop sentencing innocent people to death because such sentences are politically motivated," al-Janabi implored, adding that Sunnis do not trust the government.

Al-Maliki counterattacked by implying al-Janabi was responsible for the kidnapping of 150 people in Anbar province, the Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad.

"This brother will trust the Cabinet when I come forward with your file and show that you are responsible. There are 150 people detained in Buhayrat area and you don't speak about them," al-Maliki snapped. Buhayrat is an insurgent stronghold in Anbar.

Legislators believed to be Shiites applauded the remark.

Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, then organized a short suspension of the debate, called a vote on the security plan - which was approved unanimously - and continued with normal business.

Al-Maliki refused to shake hands when al-Janabi approached him after the session.

Angry and insulting exchanges have become normal in Iraq's 275-member parliament, but the involvement of the nation's leader heightened the tension.

Parliamentary sessions previously were broadcast live, but the government has since ordered them to be aired with a 30-minute delay to allow editing.

During Thursday's session, state-run Iraqiya television stopped airing the session shortly after the exchange and later aired an edited version.

In his address al-Maliki also called on lawmakers to pass laws on distribution of the country's oil wealth and reverse measures that have excluded many Sunnis from jobs and government positions because of Baath party membership.

Al-Maliki also promised to stop the so-called practice of sectarian cleansing that has driven thousands from their homes.

"You should know that today or tomorrow we will detain every person who is living in the house of a displaced person in order to open the door for those displaced to return," al-Maliki said.

White House spokesman Tony Snow called the speech "a very assertive address. ... We certainly welcome that, because it demonstrates the kind of vigor we've been talking about and that the American people expect, and also responds specifically to concerns members of Congress have been expressing, in terms of the aims of and the determination of the government of Iraq."

Until Monday, parliament had not had a quorum since late November, when 30 legislators and five Cabinet members loyal to renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced a boycott of the government and the National Assembly to protest al-Maliki's meeting with Bush in Jordan.

The boycott was a blow to al-Maliki, who owes his job to support from the Sadr bloc in parliament.

On Sunday the Sadr legislators ended their walkout under threat that they would be ousted from the political process and that their allied militia, the Mahdi Army, could face wholesale attack by American soldiers in the coming security sweep.

MCC Canada letter calls for halt to bombing [Annual meeting]

2012-03-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

Delegates to the Mennonite Central Committee Canada annual meeting here November 23-24 sent a letter to the prime minister of Canada to raise concerns about the "war on terrorism."

"We feel that the bombing campaign, which Canada supports, continues to promote injustice towards the people of Afghanistan," said Ron Dueck, MCC Canada chair.

"As Canadians, we want to add our voice to those who are calling on our federal government to assume a stronger international role. We would like to see our country work towards a solution that would lead to world peace rather than contribute to a war that increases the suffering of many innocent people."

The letter was approved by the 35-member delegate body, which represents Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches, about 200,000 people. Drafted with the help of MCC Canada's Ottawa office, the letter raises the following concerns:

1) There seems to be far too much faith in the efficacy of military action. History shows that massive military action often makes things worse.

2) In many countries, including the Congo, Colombia, and Indonesia, millions of people has been terrorized, displaced and killed in recent years. This has riot aroused the world to action.

3) The injustice in the, international economic system should be recognized as one reason for the anger against the West. The financial aid that goes from rich to poor countries is small compared to the sums that flow from poor to rich countries, often to pay debt.

4) The war may cause a deterioration in inter-religious relations. This could have serious implications for Muslim minorities in western countries, and for Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries.

"We do not generally write these kinds of letters," said Dueck. "But our constituents want us to reinforce our thoughts and ideas to the government."

The letter urges the Canadian government to call for a halt to the bombing of Afghanistan and to oppose the bombing of any other countries.

"We believe the task of bringing to account those who perpetrated the September attacks can be effectively pursued through the UN and other multilateral procedures," says the letter.

Once at the top of the red-hot property market, UK real estate brokers feel the pinch

2012-03-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Slick, well-dressed, and widely loathed, real estate brokers prospered in Britain's galloping property market for much of the past decade.

But with prices drooping and sales volumes shrinking, the brokers, known here as estate agents, are having to work harder to cut their deals. Many have already lost their jobs.

Some are even getting a little sympathy. But only a little.

"Yeah, we're hated," laughed Shane Jackson, a sales director with Atkinson McLeod, an east London estate agency just outside the capital's bustling financial district.

Jackson and his colleague Andrew Groocock described a period in which properties used to sell within 24 or 48 hours, even at what Groocock delicately called "a slightly inflated price."

"We've been spoiled for the last two or three years in this area," said Groocock, as he looked back fondly on the end of the boom times. "People were desperate."

Now that the global squeeze on credit has burst Britain's property bubble, many brokers find themselves facing hard times.

Brokers' incomes are falling, according to Trevor Kent, a former president of the National Association of Estate Agents and a well-known property pundit. Kent estimated that the average agent might have started off making 50,000 pounds (US$100,000) a year in boom times _ most of that on the 2 to 3 percent commission brokers make on sales.

"Suddenly they're down to 30,000 (US$60,000) or 25,000 (US$50,000)," he said. "Some agents have not made a sale in two months."

Figures released almost daily by banks, consultancies, and trade bodies show why.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said Tuesday that lending to first-time buyers and existing home owners in the first quarter dropped to the lowest level in 30 years, reflecting a sharp drop in the number of homes changing hands. New home loans for first-time buyers and homeowners slumped in March by 48 percent compared to a year earlier.

The number of house-hunters on agents' books has fallen as mortgage approvals have plummeted, the NAEA said. In the spring of 2006, the average broker was closing a deal nearly every other day. Now the figure has fallen to seven a month, the association said.

Fewer sales mean large scale job losses, according to a report put out by the Center for Economics and Business Research last week. The center predicted that 15,000 estate agents and others involved in property management would disappear this year, out of 290,000 jobs.

"Although unlikely to be the victims of the credit crunch that will garner the most sympathy, estate agents and others involved in managing real estate are likely to find the next 12 months particularly tough," said Jorg Radeke, one of the report's authors.

"No one sheds a tear" when an agent is thrown out of work," said Peter Watts, who has covered property for TimeOut London, where the average home price reached nearly 360,000 pounds (US$720,000) earlier this year. People struggling to pay giant mortgages "kind of take pleasure in watching estate agents hitting the ground with a bump," he said.

But Watts said the schadenfreude was unwarranted. He said estate agents had unfairly copped the blame when buyers or sellers hiked prices or slashed offers in a "vigorous and cutthroat market."

Jackson agreed, saying England's monthslong process of formalizing home sales encouraged buyers and sellers to try to cheat each other at the last minute, leaving estate agents to shoulder the blame.

"Their profession is almost as maligned as murdering and raping, and all they've ever tried to do is put a roof over our heads," a Daily Telegraph editorial said last year.

But then again, the fast-talking brokers also have a reputation for sharp dealing. An undercover British Broadcasting Corp. report, aired in 2006, allegedly showed staff at major agencies faking signatures, forging documents and fleecing buyers to squeeze as much cash as possible out of each sale.

Groocock said lack of licensing or industry rules were to blame for the rogues. He said his agency rigorously trained and registered its employees but that others did not.

"You're handling someone's most valuable asset, and yet you don't actually have any qualifications to do so," he said, describing rogue estate agents.

The property industry has recently endorsed his view, saying in a recent report that a body should be set up with the power to screen brokers, enforce professional standards and ban unscrupulous estate agents. It also called for ways to shorten England's ponderous home sale process.

Meanwhile, Groocock said the slowdown had not affected his sales, although some properties now take more than a month and some 30-40 viewings to make their asking price, he said.

Groocock said he relished the challenge. "It means that you're motivated, you're actually doing something to earn your fee," he said.

"It's back to being a proper estate agent."