The Supreme Court refused Monday to directly consider whether the drug combination used in executions across the country amounts to unconstitutional cruel punishment.The justices had already agreed to hear arguments in April in a case brought by Florida death row inmate Clarence Hill about the procedure for lethal injection challenges to be filed in federal court.Monday’s decision, which came on a separate appeal by Hill’s lawyer, has little practical significance because Hill’s other case is still pending.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com censor News |
Editor - 09:08:00 02-27-06 |
Immigrants barred by triple fences and double standards Southern Californians rely on cheap Mexican workers, but are spending millions to keep them at bay |
ON THE United States’s southwestern border with Mexico, politicians are no longer sitting on the fence about illegal immigration. Instead, with elections looming, they are busy spending huge sums building real ones to stem the flow of an estimated 500,000 undocumented workers from Mexico each year. Federal funding of $30 million (£17 million) has just been allocated for completion of a third fence, running in parallel with two barriers set up around San Diego in California over the past decade. A congressional plan to spend a further $2.2 billion, extending double-fence fortification 800 miles eastwards, awaits approval. But these are precisely the type of low-wage construction projects that America usually gets Mexicans to do. Indeed the Golden State Fence Co, which calls itself “the top fence contractor in California,” was recently caught, for the second time in as many years, employing illegal immigrants. Federal investigators have found that 157 of its employees, roughly a ... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2060156,00.html
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Editor - 08:58:00 02-27-06 |
Katrina survivors sue to stay on cruise ship They allege FEMA hasn’t provided adequate alternative for shelter |
About two dozen hurricane evacuees living on a cruise ship south of New Orleans were taking the federal government to court Monday in a bid to keep the ship docked and the government paying for it.Their lawsuit claims the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to provide alternative housing and had shown no evidence it would by Wednesday, FEMA’s deadline for releasing the cruise ships it had rented.“FEMA has bungled its assignment,” the lawsuit alleges. “FEMA acted incompetently before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina struck, and failed to heed warnings and take preventive actions that could have saved lived and alleviated suffering.”... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11589975/from/RSS/
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Editor - 08:53:00 02-27-06 |
Microsoft unveils Vista editions |
Microsoft is planning six versions of the next incarnation of its Windows operating system. Three versions of the software, called Vista, will be for home users, two will be for businesses and one will be for emerging markets. One of the home versions of Vista will include features that let users store and play back TV shows. No fixed date has been given for the release of Vista but it is expected to be launched by the end of 2006. Vista, which was known as Longhorn during its long development, is a major re-working of Windows that makes changes, among other things, to the way the operating system looks and how it handles networking and sound. Microsoft said the six versions were designed to match the demands different users have for its software. No details have been given about the pricing of the separate versions. The six versions are: ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4754462.stm
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Editor - 08:50:00 02-27-06 |
National Guard hurting, governors say |
Governors of both parties said Sunday that Bush administration policies were stripping the National Guard of equipment and personnel needed to respond to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, forest fires and other emergencies.Tens of thousands of National Guard members have been sent to Iraq, along with much of the equipment needed to deal with natural disasters and terrorist threats in the United States, the governors said at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.The National Guard has a dual federal-state role. Governors normally command the Guard in their states, but Guard members deployed overseas in support of a federal mission are under the control of the president.... http://www.startribune.com/484/story/272356.html
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Editor - 08:47:00 02-27-06 |
Deadly bird flu spreads to Niger |
Niger has become the third African country to have confirmed cases of the deadly strain of bird flu, experts say. Test results have confirmed several cases of the H5N1 virus, said the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, has a long border with Nigeria, where bird flu has killed thousands of chickens. No human cases of the H5N1 strain have yet been found in Africa but the UN has warned of a possible regional disaster. The H5N1 strain was found in domestic ducks near Nigeria's border, the OIE said. "We've been officially informed that the presence of the virus has been notified on the sample from Niger but we are waiting for official documents to know... what type of strain it is," said Niger's government spokesman Mohamed Ben Omar. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4755042.stm
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Editor - 08:43:00 02-27-06 |
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