assignmentinworld

Germany to Send Troops to Somalia

2012-03-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

BONN In a historic reversal of policy, German Chancellor HelmutKohl announced today that he plans to order 1,500 armed troops toSomalia to help with the United Nations-sponsored relief operation.

Germany has previously chosen to stay out of internationalmilitary missions. The explanation has been that its constitutionprevents its armed forces from deploying on non-North Atlantic TreatyOrganization turf.

Friedrich Bohl, Kohl's top aide, said the U.S.-led humanitarianmission in Somalia is not covered by the constitution as long asthere is no actual fighting going on. Germany's troops are to helpdistribute food.

The United States last week sent in the first …

Turkey puts repaired Hercules statue on display

2012-03-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is displaying a full statue of Hercules for the first time since a U.S. museum returned the top half after two decades of negotiations.

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts last month returned the top half of Weary Heracles, Greek for Hercules. Turkey says the top piece was stolen from an archaeological site in Turkey in 1980 and smuggled to the …

US: Attack on Afghan town Marjah launched

2012-03-15T01:39:00.000-07:00

Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines and Afghan troops swooped down on the Taliban-held town of Marjah before dawn on Saturday, launching a long-expected attack to re-establish government control and undermine support for the militants in their southern heartland.

The attack on Marjah climaxed the biggest joint Afghan-international offensive of the war and is the largest combat operation since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements here last December to turn the tide of the war.

Marine commanders say they expect between 400 to 1,000 insurgents to be holed up inside this southern Afghan town of 80,000 people in Helmand province, including more …

BY THE NUMBERS

2012-03-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

Current maximum suburban compensation: $6.65 an hour, no healthinsurance, no pension benefits.

Management proposal: an hourly wage increase of 30 cents the firstyear, 30 cents the second year and 35 cents the third year, takingwages to $7.60 an hour. The fourth year workers would receive healthcare benefits, but it wouldn't include their families, and therewould be no wage increase that year.

Downtown workers' new contract: …

LPS 1999--Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Loss Prevention Symposium

2012-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Prepared by the Loss Prevention Committee of AIChE's Safety and Health Division M.L. Griffin, Procter & Gamble Co., Symposium Chair; E. Scheier, Occidental Chemical Company, Symposium Vice Chair

Since 1967, AIChE's Loss Prevention Proceedings series has been one of the most reliable sources of practical information on reducing accidents in the chemical process and allied industries. The symposia provide a forum for practitioners from industry, academia, and government to share experiences, technological advances, and new ideas. The proceedings book presents a variety of "plant-proven" strategies for safer process operations and maintenance-from estimating and evaluating common …

Evacuations called off in Florida Keys

2012-03-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

Officials in the Florida Keys are canceling an evacuation order because new forecasts show Hurricane Ike veering south and west.

Many tourists fled the Keys this weekend as the storm closed in on the low-lying island chain. But as of 11 a.m. EDT Monday, the storm's track was taking it away from the Keys.

The evacuation orders will expire at noon Monday, and officials would like tourists to wait until Wednesday to come back. A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch remain in effect for the island chain.

Gulf Coast residents from Florida to Texas are keeping an eye on Ike's unpredictable path. The Category 2 storm has killed at least 58 people in …

Banking in the backwaters ; TCS finds a viable route to the unbanked Indian in the country's villages with the help of cloud computing.

2012-03-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

For Tata Research Development and Design Centre, also known asTata Innovation Labs, a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services(TCS), innovation entails meeting a critical need. It sometimes alsomeans adapting a project for a totally different market than it wasoriginally blueprinted for. For instance, how to adapt TCS' corebanking solution and banking software, branded BaNCS, with customersacross 80 countries, and take this solution directly to millions ofunbanked Indians upcountry.

To take on the particularly hairy problem of rural banking, TCSused its robust innovation infrastructure- a combination of internalresources and strategic partners including Tata Group companies …

Democrats Take Control of the Senate

2012-03-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - Democrats wrested control of the Senate from Republicans Wednesday with an upset victory in Virginia, giving the party complete domination of Capitol Hill for the first time since 1994.

Jim Webb's squeaker win over incumbent Sen. George Allen gave Democrats their 51st seat in the Senate, an astonishing turnabout at the hands of voters unhappy with …

UAE signs $3bn deal with Boeing, Lockheed

2012-03-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday struck nearly $3 billion in deals with U.S. giants Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. to supply military transport aircraft, the latest in a series of high-priced contracts this week underscoring the Gulf nation's efforts to bolster its defenses despite economic woes.

The agreements announced at the 9th International Defense Conference and Exhibition included the purchase of four C-17 aircraft from Chicago-based Boeing and 12 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft produced by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, the official WAM news agency reported.

The deals _ making up most of a total $3.4 billion in contracts signed …

Nat Stuckey, 54; composed country hit `Sweet Thang'

2012-03-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Nat Stuckey, who wrote the country hit "SweetThang," died Wednesday of lung cancer at 54.

Mr. Stuckey had three No. 1 songs to his credit: "Sweet Thang,"recorded by Loretta Lynn and the late Ernest Tubb; "Waitin' in YourWelfare Line," recorded by Buck Owens, and "Pop a Top," recorded byJim Ed Brown.

Mr. Stuckey himself recorded "Sweet Thang" 20 years ago.

He performed for a time as a member of the Louisiana Hayridecountry music show in Shreveport, La. When he came to Nashville in1968, he signed a …

Wages, Benefits Up at 2-Year Best Pace

2012-03-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - Wages and benefits paid to American workers rose in the July-September period at the fastest pace in more than two years.

The Labor Department reported that its Employment Cost Index was up 1 percent in the third quarter, compared to a 0.9 percent rise in the April-June period. It was the biggest quarterly increase since a similar 1 percent rise in the second quarter of 2004.

The increase, which was above the 0.9 percent rise that economists had been expecting, was led by a big jump in the cost of employee benefits such as health insurance and pensions.

For the third quarter, benefit costs rose by 1.1 percent, up from a 0.8 percent gain in the second …

Lufthansa cancels more flights amid backlog

2012-03-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

Passengers with Deutsche Lufthansa AG faced more cancelations over the weekend as the airline worked to clear a maintenance backlog after the end of a strike by ground staff.

Lufthansa spokesman Michael Lamberty said that some 130 flights would be canceled on Saturday and the same number on Sunday _ in both cases, including 30 long-haul flights.

The five-day strike meant that several planes were awaiting maintenance or repairs by technical staff, and it would take time before all could be returned to service, he said. By Tuesday, Lufthansa plans to get the number of …

Phillies Lead East by 8

2012-03-14T01:47:00.000-07:00

Rookie Kevin Stocker broke an 0-for-14 slump with a tie-breakingsingle in the seventh inning that carried the Philadelphia Philliesto a 7-4 victory Thursday over the Montreal Expos.

The triumph enabled the Phillies to boost their lead over theSt. Louis Cardinals to eight games in the East.

With one out in the seventh, Wes Chamberlain singled off losingpitcher Tim Scott (4-2). Chamberlain took second on a passed balland scored the go-ahead run on Stocker's two-out single. ThePhillies added two insurance runs in the eighth when Mariano Duncanscored on a wild pitch and Dave Hollins hit his 13th home run.

Roger Mason (5-8) pitched two innings of shutout relief for thevictory. Mitch Williams worked the ninth for his 31st save.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 4: Jeff King's single over a drawn-inoutfield in the 11th inning scored Carlos Garcia with the winning runand lifted host Pittsburgh past St. Louis.

Losing pitcher Todd Burns (0-4) retired the first batter in the11th before Garcia, who went 4-for-6, hit a sinking liner that gotpast right fielder Mark Whiten for a triple. After Cardinals managerJoe Torre elected to walk Jay Bell and Orlando Merced intentionallyto set up a force at any base, King hit a line drive over leftfielder Bernard Gilkey's head on a 2-1 pitch.

Braves 8, Mets 4: Ron Gant and David Justice each hit two-runhome runs and John Smoltz allowed just three hits in 7 2/3 innings topower visiting Atlanta past New York.

The victory move the Braves within 8 1/2 games of the idle SanFrancisco Giants in the West.

Smoltz (11-9) carried a one-hitter into the eighth inning beforeallowing Ryan Thompson's three-run home run. He finished with fivestrikeouts and three walks.

Rockies 4, Dodgers 1: Colorado completed the first four-gamesweep in franchise history by dumping host Los Angeles and extending itsclub-record winning streak to five games.

Astros 5, Padres 3: Luis Gonzalez tripled and scored thetie-breaking run on Andujar Cedeno's sacrifice fly in the sixthinning as visiting Houston tripped San Diego for its fifth victory inits last six games.

Festival tickets available ; In brief

2012-03-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

BRENTWOOD: Tickets are still available for the Brentwood Festivalbeing held next month.

The three-day event featuring The Boomtown Rats, minus Sir BobGeldof, and tribute acts From the Jam and The Kommitments will runfrom July 8 to 10.

The event, held at the Brentwood Centre and sponsored by theGazette, will host 300 different beers, food stalls and a fun fair.

For more information and to book tickets visitwww.brentwoodfestival.co.uk

Smith: `Bush's mega prison system simply stinks'

2012-03-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Smith: `Bush's mega prison system simply stinks'

There is something "stinking" in Texas and it is not a dried up cactus. It is Texas Gov. George W. Bush's mega prison system that holds more inmates than any of America's 50 states, Ald. Ed H. Smith (28th) said Thursday.

Referring to a recent study that said Texas has more prisoners than any state in the nation filled with mostly Black young men, Smith said: "I think it's terrible...wrong to have all those people in jail. Why does Texas have the biggest prison in the country?

"Anybody can be tough on crime, but, not everyone can put in a program that will reform people and make them productive," said Smith. "I think Bush's prison system stinks.

When you have people being dragged behind cars and killed because they are Black..., something is wrong," he said referring to James Byrd whose dragging death by white racists in Jasper, TX shocked the nation.

According to Gore, he has a plan that would include stronger gun laws, putting even more community police on the streets, an overhaul of the nation's justice system to "shut the revolving door for violent repeat offenders, revolutionizing our overloaded court system with more prosecutors and public defenders and a continued investment in community and juvenile crime prevention programs."

Gore vowed to test prisoners for drugs while they are incarcerated and to "break up the drug rings inside our prison system." He also vowed to expand drug treatment within the prisons and to make the inmates a "simple deal: before you get out of jail, you have to get clean, and if you want to stay out, then you'd better stay clean."

Smith also said Bush should stop executing people but rather spend taxpayers dollars on rehabilitating them. "Spend those dollars to try and reform these folks, not kill them with this death penalty...."

While Smith also wants Bush to "come clean" about his alleged former problem with drugs, Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) said: "That's not an issue. He's over that...cured. People put that stuff aside. A lot of people went through those kinds of things and are good law-abiding citizens.

"I don't think that is much of an issue as much as what will he be able to do with this country, and some of his policies dealing with his position on the death penalty, child care and who he will appoint to the Supreme Court..." are far more important, Burnett said.

Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

Scottish Football Results

2012-03-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Result Saturday in Scottish football (home team listed first):

Premier League

Hearts 1, Rangers 2

Celtic v Hamilton

Inverness v Aberdeen

Kilmarnock v Dundee United

Motherwell v St Mirren

St. Johnstone v Hibernian

Division One

Dundee v Morton

Falkirk v Cowdenbeath

Queen of South v Dunfermline

Raith v Stirling

Ross County v Partick

Division Two

Alloa v Forfar

Ayr v Livingston

Brechin v Peterhead

Dumbarton v Airdrie

Stenhousemuir v East Fife

Division Three

Albion v East Stirling

Berwick v Annan

Clyde v Elgin

Queen's Park v Arbroath

Stranraer v Montrose

Dell to buy 3Par for $1.13 billion

2012-03-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

Dell Inc. said Monday it's buying data storage company 3Par Inc. for about $1.13 billion cash.

3par, of Fremont, California, makes products designed to minimize capacity and energy costs.

Dell is offering $18 per share for 3Par, an 87 percent premium over Friday's closing price for the company of $9.65. In premarket trading, 3Par shares surged to $17.88.

Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, expects the deal to add to its adjusted profit in fiscal 2012. It says it also plans to invest in added engineering and sales resources in 3Par.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close this year.

Heat Trade F Antoine Walker to T-Wolves

2012-03-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

Antoine Walker's turbulent time with the Miami Heat is over. The Heat traded the three-time All-Star forward to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday in a five-player deal that came one day after Miami completed a winless preseason.

Walker, backup center Michael Doleac, oft-injured forward Wayne Simien and a conditional first-round draft pick were sent to Minnesota for former Miami swingman Ricky Davis and center Mark Blount.

The deal gives Miami the third scoring option it wanted in Davis. The Heat will try to fit him in alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade - the 2006 finals MVP who'll miss a few more weeks while recovering from knee and shoulder surgeries.

Walker helped the Heat win the 2006 NBA title but hasn't always had the easiest time dealing with Heat coach Pat Riley's strict conditioning standards. He was briefly suspended last year because his body-fat measurement wasn't within team limits, and he came to training camp this month not in the shape Riley wanted.

"It's always difficult to get traded," said Mark Bartelstein, Walker's agent. "It's well-documented there were issues between Pat and Antoine that were out there hanging over everyone's head."

Walker did not play in Miami's final two preseason games. Riley said he kept him out of Tuesday's exhibition finale because, "I know what he can do."

So he'll do it for Minnesota now - or, perhaps, someone else.

The Timberwolves now have 18 players under contract and vice president for basketball operations Kevin McHale said another move is coming to trim the roster - indicating not all the new pieces will actually report to Minnesota.

"We have some other stuff that we're probably going to do inside this deal," McHale said. "A lot of business going on."

McHale said the deal was agreed to shortly after midnight Wednesday, or just a couple hours after Miami's preseason ended with a loss to San Antonio.

The Heat planned to bring Davis and Blount in for physicals with the hope they can practice Thursday. Miami was off Wednesday and players and coaches were not available for comment.

Walker averaged career-lows of 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 23.3 minutes last season for Miami, making only 15 starts. Walker came off the bench only 15 times in his first nine NBA seasons; he was a backup 126 times in 160 regular-season games with the Heat.

"He was part of that championship run, but the last year's been difficult," Bartelstein said. "There's always a lot of emotions. But it's part of the business that we're in and I think Antoine wants to have a great season. He's worked really hard."

Walker - who did not immediately return a call Wednesday - bristled earlier this season when his conditioning became an issue once again.

"We'll see when the time comes. Just got to play ball," Walker said after a preseason game two weeks ago. "Until then, it's October. I'll just keep working to get better and get in the best shape possible for Nov. 1. I'll be ready to go Nov. 1."

He is owed about $18 million over the next two seasons; the Timberwolves could opt out of his contract after that.

"Hopefully he comes in and is a professional," McHale said. "I know the last three or four weeks down in Miami haven't been all that pleasant."

Davis only appeared in seven games with Miami during the 2000-01 season, his year wrecked by injuries.

But he's been a solid scorer with Cleveland, Boston and Minnesota in recent years, averaging 16.0 points per game since leaving Miami - and is coming off a season where he hit a career-high 40 percent of his 3-point tries, another area where the Heat could use some help.

Blount, who is due about $8 million annually for the next three years, averaged 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds last season for Minnesota.

"I think it's going to allow the emergence or the ability for the emergence for some of these guys to step up and see who has leadership ability and have an understanding of what we're talking about, that we have to have a cohesiveness in the locker room," Minnesota coach Randy Wittman said.

Doleac was Miami's third-string center behind O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning, and Simien's career has been largely derailed so far by knee injuries and a nasty bout with salmonella poisoning that kept him off the floor for most of last season.

Minnesota will get a first-round pick from Miami sometime before 2011. The pick is lottery-protected in 2008, protected through the No. 10 selection in 2009, through the No. 6 slot in 2010 and not protected thereafter.

The trade means the Timberwolves have just three players who've been with the team more than one season: Mark Madsen, Rashad McCants and Marko Jaric.

---

AP Sports Writers Jon Krawczynski and Dave Campbell in Minnesota contributed to this report.

Tom Hanks stars in The Ladykillers

2012-03-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Academy Award winner Tom Hanks returns to his comedic roots and teams up for the first time with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) for his first laugh-out-loud comedy in more than a decade. The Touchstone Picture is retelling the critically acclaimed 1955 comedy, The Ladykillers.

Hanks stars as Goldthwait Higginson Door, Ph.D., a charlatan professor who's assembled a gang of so-called "experts" for the heist of the century. The thieves: experts in explosions, tunneling, muscle, and the critical "inside man." The base of operation: the root cellar of an unsuspecting, church-going little old lady named Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall). The ruse: the five thieves need a place to practice their church music. The problem: it quickly becomes evident that Door's thieves lack the mental capacity to do the job. The bigger problem: they have all seriously underestimated their upstairs host.

When Mrs. Munson stumbles onto their plot and threatens to notify the authorities, the felonious five decide to do her in. After all, how hard can it be to knock off one old lady?

The Ladykillers is written for the screen and directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. Ethan & Joel Coen, Tom Jacobson, Barry Snowfield, and Barry Josephson produce the film.

The Ladykillers may kill you," says two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, who teams up with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel Coen & Ethan Coen for their hilarious new comedy, The Ladykillers. "Everybody out there is looking for an unpredictable film. This should be it."

"We're very lucky to have Tom Hanks in this film," notes Joel Cone. The filmmaker brothers' latest comedy is the story of the heist of the century that goes bust when the thieves get more than they bargained for from their old lady landlord. "It occurred to us that Tom, who is someone we've wanted to work with in the past, but not really knowing in what capacity, would be really interesting in this part. The fact that he hasn't made a comedy in a while made it even more special for us."

"I'm not quite sure how we knew that Tom would be just right for the part -- Dorr is very different than anything he's done in the past," says Ethan Coen. "But as it turned out, I think we were right. His comic timing is perfect, He's as funny as he's ever been."

It also helped that the part is a good one - with shades of the role made famous by Alec Guinness. The 1955 version of The Ladykillers starred Guinness as the mastermind (of sorts) whose caper plot goes bust when the unwitting old lady from whom they rent a room catches on. "Doing 'The Ladykillers' is like interpreting 'Richard III,'" says Hanks

Hanks' co-star is Chicago actress Irma P. Hall who is recovering from a serious accident she encountered recently. She appears as the little old lady who rents the room to the culprits.

Though Mrs. Munson may seem at times a very innocent and sweet little lady, she's no pushover. "She's the rock that they all beat their heads against futilely, explains Ethan. "She knows what's right and she's never given to doubt or self-doubt or any kind of doubt."

After auditioning for Joel and Ethan before the movie went into production, Irma "was sure that she didn't get the part." I only read a couple of lines and after that we started talking," recalls Hall about the audition process. "And I said to myself, they don't even want to hear me read. I can forget this."

"We did torture Irma a little bit, unfairly," admits Joel. "In fact she was the first person we saw for the part and she was so good and so impressive but we thought, are we going to cast the first person we see? So we went through the ridiculous exercise of seeing lots of people. But Irma had the part from the beginning even through she didn't know it and we didn't realize it.

"We were really lucky with Irma," concludes Ethan about her strengths as an actress. "She sort of goes toe to toe with Tom and beats him over the head. Kind of like Ruth Buzzi with her purse, in a figurative way."

Irma, like her co-star Tom Hanks, responded immediately to the screenplay. "it's so well-written," she concurs. "The humor comes out of real people. Each character is so well defined and you care about them -- you care what happens to them. And it's an American story. You really get the sense of that. It's rooted somewhere."

"We've done lots of punches and hitting and fight scenes in movies, but Irma hauled off and walloped Marlon for real," says Joel. "To Marlon's credit, there are very few actors who a) would sit still for that, and b) on take 2, wouldn't flinch, anticipating that they might be walloped again."

"At one point, she hit me, and she slapped the character out of me," laughs Wayans. "I was knee deep in my character and was thinking, "Hey, Irma? Can we talk about this? We're friends, right?'"

"The really amusing thing was after the whole thing was over," recalls Joel, "Irma went up to Ethan and was bragging about the fact that she'd been trained in stage combat."

"It was news to Marlon," quips Ethan.

She brought out some historical facts about her concepts saying, "When I was teaching school, I taught a lot of mischievous little boys. That's my character's attitude toward the professor and his friends -- they're just mischievous little boys."

Article copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

Knicks hit team-record 20 3s, rout Grizzlies

2012-03-13T04:10:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Toney Douglas tied a franchise record by making nine of the New York Knicks' franchise-record 20 3-pointers, scoring 29 points in a 120-99 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night that snapped a three-game losing streak.

Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points and Chauncey Billups added 18 for the Knicks, who were 20 of 36 (55.6 percent) from behind the arc and moved back ahead of Philadelphia into sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Wearing green uniforms for St. Patrick's Day, the Knicks looked much better than they did during their slide. Douglas' sneakers were the wrong shade of green — sort of like the Hulk — but everything else was perfect. His ninth 3-pointer, with 17 seconds left, gave the team a record total and allowed him to match Latrell Sprewell and John Starks on the individual game list.

Mike Conley scored 16 points for the Grizzlies, whose lead was sliced to one game over Utah for the final playoff spot in the West.

Amare Stoudemire scored 16 for the Knicks, who shot 52 percent overall and were 18 of 21 at the free-throw line.

New York had dropped three straight since Anthony's jumper with 0.5 seconds left in a 110-108 victory at Memphis on March 9, allowing an alarming 117.3 points per game during the skid, which included a home-and-home sweep by a sub.-500 Indiana team.

The defense was better, but the story was the record-breaking perimeter game.

The Knicks turned an eight-point halftime lead into a blowout by hitting seven 3-pointers in the third quarter. Billups hit two early in the period and scored 12 points, while Douglas closed the quarter with two in the final 34 seconds as New York build a 92-74 lead.

Their previous record of 19 3s also came against the Grizzlies on Nov. 12, 2008.

It was a sorely needed win for a Knicks team that has been inconsistent while Denver has rolled since their blockbuster trade involving Anthony last month. The Knicks are now only 7-6 since, even though the struggles ultimately have meant nothing to their playoff hopes.

The Knicks are still in sixth, just as they were when the deal went down, and haven't been lower than that since they were seventh through games of Dec. 2, according to STATS, LLC.

Yet that's done nothing to relax a fan base with bulked-up expectations since acquiring a second star to pair with Stoudemire. Coach Mike D'Antoni joked the fans that are panicking should "take some Prozac or something."

"Hang in there, we're hanging in there, we're pedaling as fast as we can pedal," he said before the game.

"The biggest thing, and I'll just keep repeating," he added, "is that we're not going to get caught up in the hysteria and we're going to be who we are, we're going to play as well as we can and get it together and hang in as a group and try to make the playoffs and then try to do as good as we can."

No worries this time from the fans, who were too busy chanting Douglas' name in the final minute.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first quarter, which ended in a 29-all tie. Douglas, who makes the Knicks so much more dangerous when his outside shot is falling, was 5 for 6 from behind the arc for 15 points in the second period as New York took a 59-51 halftime lead.

NOTES: The Knicks are 2-0 this season in their green uniforms, which they wore while beating Chicago on Christmas. ... Memphis G Jason Williams had an MRI on his back that revealed no structural damage. He continues to be listed as out with lower back soreness. ... Stoudemire, Anthony and Billups will be featured on a segment of NBA TV's "True NBA" news magazine program next Monday night. The trio sat down with former Georgetown coach John Thompson for the interview.

Top 20 shark-catching nations accused of failings

2012-03-13T01:03:00.000-07:00

ROME (AP) — Two environmental groups have accused the 20 countries that catch the most sharks of failing to fulfill promises to better conserve the animals.

In 1999, more than 100 governments adopted a plan of action at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to try to stem overfishing of sharks since 30 percent of all shark species are threatened or nearly threatened with extinction.

They pledged to develop national action plans, among other things.

Non-governmental groups Traffic and the Pew Environment Group said only 13 of the top 20 shark catching countries had developed national plans, and that it was unclear if such plans had done any good where adopted.

The report was issued Thursday before a meeting next week of the FAO's fisheries committee.

Iranian protesters bash US and Britain in rallies

2012-03-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Demonstrators chanted "Down with America" outside the former U.S. Embassy and pelted the British diplomatic compound with eggs and tomatoes Thursday in separate rallies held under tight security but without challenges from opposition groups.

The protests outside the former American Embassy were well-scripted events to mark the anniversary of the 1979 storming of the site — which began a 444-day hostage crisis and severed Washington's ties with Iran.

Despite the familiar chants against the United States, protesters did not appear to burn U.S. flags in what could be a rare nod of approval to Washington for adding an Iranian militant group to it's terrorist list.

The anti-British demonstration, however, included the Union Jack going up in flames. The protest appeared to be reaction to Iran's announcement that it arrested four suspected members of a Kurdish rebel group with a top official allegedly living in Britain.

Last year, the annual pro-government event outside the brick walls of the former U.S. Embassy brought clashes and chaos to central Tehran after protesters held counter-marches over their claims of massive vote rigging in the presidential election.

But it was among the last major displays of opposition anger on the streets. Embattled authorities began stepping up their crackdowns and threats to quell the most serious domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

This year, security forces were on high alert for any hint of dissent. Hundreds of anti-riot police joined regular units to fan out across major squares and traffic junctions across Tehran.

The opposition Jaras website posted a statement applauding the "brave" takeover of the U.S. Embassy to protest American support for the pro-Western shah, who had been toppled by the Islamic Revolution months earlier.

Washington cut diplomatic ties after militant students stormed the embassy, holding 52 hostages for 444 days.

But the Jaras statement also warned Iran's leaders to "learn a lesson" from the power of protesters in the Islamic Revolution and "don't go farther down the path of selfishness and despotism."

Outside the former embassy, crowds — including many school children bused to the event — chanted anti-American slogans and taunted effigies of Uncle Sam and President Barack Obama.

But protesters did not burn U.S. flags, which has been a feature of rallies to mark the embassy takeover for the past three decades. It was not clear, however, whether this was officially sanctioned restraint.

Iran on Thursday welcomed the U.S. State Department decision to put the Iranian Sunni militant group Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, on the U.S. terrorist list — which includes al-Qaida and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Jundallah, which is fighting for Sunni rights in predominantly Shiite Iran, has been blamed for a series of attacks including a mosque bombing in July that killed about 30 people.

Sadegh Zibakalam, a professor of political science at Tehran University, said the absence of burning U.S. flags at the rally could be "a sign of respect" by Iran's leaders.

But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday did not signal any softening of Iran's position on uranium enrichment — the central source of tension between Tehran and Washington — before possibly restarting talks with the United States, Britain and other world powers on the issue.

The rally outside the British Embassy was staged just hours after Iran said it arrested four suspected members of Kurdish rebel group with links to Britain.

State-run Press TV quoted a statement from Iran's Intelligence Ministry saying the arrested men are part of a faction known as the Koumaleh Party. It claimed the men were based in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and received orders from a Koumaleh commander going by the name Jalil Fattahi. Iran says Fattahi lives in Britain.

The British government dismissed the allegations as "another in a long line of slurs against the United Kingdom from the government of Iran."

The reported arrests follow increased violence in the Kurdish area of western Iran, where various groups have been battling for decades for more autonomy and freedoms. The fight mirrors a wider and bloodier campaign by Kurdish rebels in Turkey since the 1980s.

The claims further strain Iran's tense relations with Britain. Iran has long accused the British of supporting opposition groups, a charge that London denies.

"There is a long history of baseless Iranian allegations against the U.K.," a British government statement said.

The Iranian statement did not give details of the slayings allegedly linked to the arrested men.

Last month, gunmen opened fire on a police patrol in Sanandaj, the main city in Iran's Kurdistan province, killing four officers and a bystander.

____

Associated Press writer Raphael G. Satter contributed to this report from London.

DCFS adoption surge is cheered

2012-03-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

SPRINGFIELD Illinois' child welfare agency nearly quadrupled thenumber of children placed into permanent homes during the last yearin a record-setting pace praised even by longtime critics.

During a 12-month period ending in June, the state Department ofChildren and Family Services moved 9,514 children into permanenthomes. That compares with 2,414 between mid-1997 and mid-1998.

"It's kind of amazing," DCFS Director Jess McDonald said. "Inlarge jurisdictions, no one has seen anything like this. It's nothappening in New York, Los Angeles or big cities anywhere. You go tothe suburban (Illinois) counties, and you'll find it, too."

In Cook County, adoptions and guardianships rose to 7,543 betweenmid-1998 and last June, a hefty increase from the 1,196 during thepreceding 12-month period.

"By and large, what DCFS has done is excellent. They should getall the credit in the world, and I give that to them," said CookCounty Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, a frequent critic of theagency.

From mid-1998 to mid-1999, 7,315 DCFS wards were adopted, triplethe number of adoptions two years earlier.

McDonald attributed the increases to a combination of factorsorchestrated by the state's judicial and legislative branches.

In the child protection division of Cook County Circuit Court,court calendars have been expanded and the number of hearing officersincreased under Presiding Judge Nancy Salyers, McDonald said.

The system also is operating under a 1996 state law that allowsjudges to terminate parental rights in a year, rather than 18 months,speeding up the adoption process.

McDonald also praised efforts by the Chicago Sun-Times and twoChicago television stations to publicize adoptions. Each Wednesday,the Sun-Times runs its "A Family for Me" column in the Showcasesection, highlighting a child seeking adoption.

"All children have a right to loving, permanent homes where theycan experience the stability and support necessary to succeed inlife," said Gov. Ryan.

"My administration has made improving the living conditions ofchildren in the child welfare system a priority."

Dollar falls against euro

2012-03-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) — The dollar is falling against the euro on reports that European officials are working on a plan to protect banks and other countries from a Greek default.

Investors are hopeful that the plan, reported in British newspapers, could help resolve Europe's debt crisis. However, some European officials have denied that such a plan exists.

In late morning trading Monday, the euro rose to $1.3513 from $1.3467 late Friday. The British pound rose to $1.5542 from $1.5431. The dollar also fell to 76.35 Japanese yen from 76.72 Japanese yen and to 0.9016 Swiss franc from 0.9070 Swiss franc.

Georgia pulls away from SC Upstate, 72-48

2012-03-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

Georgia pulled away with a 24-6 run in the second half and beat turnover-prone South Carolina-Upstate 72-48 on Friday night in the Spartans' first game against an SEC team in 23 years.

Zac Swansey and freshman Travis Leslie each had 11 points for Georgia (1-0), which had 20 steals in its opening win. Ricky McPhee and Terrance Woodbury each added 10 points.

The Bulldogs led only 30-26 just three minutes into the second half before taking control with the 24-6 run for a 54-32 lead. Terrance Woodbury capped the run with a fast-break dunk.

Carter Cook led South Carolina-Upstate (0-1) with 11 points. Bobby Davis added nine points and 12 rebounds.

South Carolina-Upstate committed 29 turnovers in its first game against a Southeastern Conference team since losing at Mississippi on Nov. 30, 1985.