 A federal appeals court told the Bush administration Friday that it does not need to immediately restart a housing program for thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims. The ruling suspends an order by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who said last month that the Federal Emergency Management Agency violated the Constitution when it eliminated short-term housing assistance. Leon said the agency didn't explain its reasoning and provided victims only confusing computer-generated codes to explain its decision. Under Leon's order, FEMA appeared on track to restore housing payments to families in Texas. "Maybe we can get this thing jump-started and get these people a roof over their heads before Christmas," Leon said Monday. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com
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Editor - 09:27:00 12-23-06
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 Christians elated over cash award |
A Christian couple awarded £10,000 after being questioned by police about their views on homosexuality have spoken of their victory. Helen and Joe Roberts, of Fleetwood, Lancashire, were questioned after they tried to display Christian literature next to gay rights' leaflets. Retired carpenter Mr Roberts, 74, said he and his wife were absolutely elated about the out-of-court settlement. The pair had been quizzed for more than an hour by police. Mr Roberts claimed the incident last December had breached their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion. The couple had asked for Christian literature to be displayed alongside gay rights' literature and "were astonished" when Wyre Borough Council refused. During a call to the council to complain Mrs Roberts expressed her religious belief that homosexual practice was morally wrong. That led to the council informing the police, who then sent two officers to the couple's home to interrogate them on their views....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/6205897.stm
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Editor - 09:21:00 12-23-06
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| Overtime Gives About 6,000 California Prison Guards 6-Figure Salaries; 1 Earns $253,000 |
About 6,000 California corrections officers earned more than $100,000 in the last fiscal year thanks to overtime work in the strained prison system, and one brought in more than a quarter of a million. Overtime added $220 million to the $453 million base pay for those prison workers, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. More than 900 of them earned $50,000 or more in overtime alone. Overtime costs have soared since the officers' current labor contract took effect five years ago, rising 24 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to the same point last year, the newspaper reported. "This business of overtime is just out of control," said Lew Uhler, president of the Sacramento-based National Tax Limitation Committee. "If you had a comparable situation in the private sector, the management would have been fired long ago." ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2748123
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Editor - 09:15:00 12-23-06
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| Sudan 'accepts UN Darfur force' |
Sudan will agree in principle to the deployment of UN troops as part of an expanded peacekeeping force in Darfur, a top Sudanese envoy has confirmed. Negotiator Sadig al-Magli told the BBC the deal showed his government's commitment to peace - although he said the size of the force was not settled. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has until now opposed any involvement of the UN in the western region. Nearly four years of fighting in Darfur has killed some 200,000 people. More than two million people have been displaced. The conflict began in early 2003, when a rebellion by local groups triggered a counter-offensive by the army and government-backed Arab militias. The UN has been urging Sudan to implement a plan to strengthen the existing African Union (AU) force with dozens of UN experts. The force is then to be expanded into a hybrid force, with UN troops providing logistical and other support. The aim is for most troops to come from African countries. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6204489.stm
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Editor - 09:11:00 12-23-06
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| US raid kills 'Taleban commander'. |
A senior Taleban commander and associate of al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, has been killed in Afghanistan, the US military says. Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Usmani's vehicle was reportedly hit in an air strike in Helmand province in south Afghanistan. The US said Mullah Usmani was the chief Taleban military commander in southern Afghanistan - scene of heavy clashes between the Taleban and US-led forces. A Taleban spokesman is said to have dismissed reports of his death. An Islamist insurgency spearheaded by the resurgent Taleban militia is at its strongest in the southern Afghan provinces bordering Pakistan. US military spokesman Col Tom Collins said Mullah Usmani "had been deeply involved in terrorist acts against the people of Afghanistan, Nato and the government". "He was a top commander of Taleban operations in the south and now he's no more." We kill so many of them, but they just get stronger. The Russians did the same, and still lost...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6205519.stm
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Editor - 09:09:00 12-23-06
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| Archbishop attacks Iraq strategy |
The Archbishop of Canterbury has accused the UK government of placing Christians in the Middle East at risk through its actions in Iraq. Dr Rowan Williams, head of the Anglican church, said there had been a growing number of attacks on Christians. He is on a pilgrimage to the region with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England & Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. The government said its policy in Iraq was not the cause of such attacks. "It is the intolerant extremists that are inflicting the pain & suffering in Iraq & other parts in Middle East," a Foreign Office spokesman said. Dr Williams told BBC there was "no doubt" that life for Christians in Iraq had become more difficult since the invasion. "What we have seen in the last year or so in Iraq has been attacks on Christian priests, the murder of some Christian priests, and the massive departure of large numbers of Christians from Iraq," he said. "The situation has got worse since Saddam fell."...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6205299.stm
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Editor - 09:01:00 12-23-06
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