“No women, no beer, no fiesta,” a Peruvian mercenary said gloomily as he manned his post inside the Iraqi capital’s ultra-protected Green Zone.Around a thousand of his countrymen along with a handful of Chileans make up a security detail in this immense fortified sector of Baghdad, which houses the Iraqi government’s offices and the US and British embassies.The South Americans comprise a “third rung” of security, behind Iraqi regular soldiers and a unit of Georgians, members of the US-led coalition forces from the former Soviet republic.The Peruvians are employed by the private US security firm Triple Canopy based in Virginia, and they wear their employer’s uniforms emblazoned with the slogan: “Assess, Avert, Achieve.”They are barred from speaking to the media and so all those interviewed by AFP spoke on condition of anonymity. Their US superiors on site also refused to speak to a reporter, citing orders from their head office in the United States....
http://www.khaleejtimes.com
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Editor - 12:49:00 08-15-06
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 Hispanic activists sue over illegal-immigrant crackdown in Pa. town |
Hispanic groups sued Hazleton on Tuesday over one of the toughest crackdowns on illegal immigrants by a U.S. city.Hazleton, a city of about 31,000 people 80 miles from Philadelphia, voted last month to fine landlords $1,000 for renting to illegal immigrants, deny business permits to companies that give them jobs, and make English the city's official language.The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund said the lawsuit is the first in the nation against a city that passed an illegal-immigration ordinance. The group and other plaintiffs contend the measure violates the law and asked a federal judge to prevent its enforcement.Hazleton's ordinance inspired nearly a dozen local governments in eastern Pennsylvania — and several more throughout the nation — to consider their own laws on illegal immigration.Local officials see the Hazleton lawsuit as a test of their ability to take immigration matters into their own hands....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-15-immigrant-suit_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 11:52:00 08-15-06
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| Outrageous Olympia Traffic Impact Fee Case Appealed to United States Supreme Court |
Pacific Legal Foundation today asked the United States Supreme Court to strike down an unconstitutionally high "traffic impact" fee that the City of Olympia imposed on local developer John Drebick. Instead of focusing on the cost of traffic impacts that would be caused by Drebick’s specific project, Olympia officials imposed a fee based on projected citywide development over the succeeding six years."Mr. Drebick is being forced to pay for traffic impacts that have no connection to his project," said PLF attorney Meriem Hubbard, who represents Drebick. "That’s unfair—and it’s unconstitutional." The legal rule that controls this case was established in PLF’s landmark Supreme Court victory, Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1997), which held that any government condition on development must be closely related to the impacts caused by the proposed development....
http://Pacific Legal Foundation today asked the United States Supreme Court to strike down an unconstitutionally high "traffic impact" fee that the City of Olympia imposed on local developer John Drebick. Instead of focusing on the cost of traffic impacts that would be caused by Drebick’s specific project, Olympia officials imposed a fee based on projected citywide development over the succeeding six years."Mr. Drebick is being forced to pay for traffic impacts that have no connection to his project," said PLF attorney Meriem Hubbard, who represents Drebick. "That’s unfair—and it’s unconstitutional." The legal rule that controls this case was established in PLF’s landmark Supreme Court victory, Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1997), which held that any government condition on development must be closely related to the impacts caused by the proposed development....
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Editor - 11:40:00 08-15-06
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| German Troops for Lebanon? |
The cease-fire continues to hold in the Middle East. Now, though, it's time for the international community to cough up soldiers for a peacekeeping mission. Where will those soldiers come from? The guns in Lebanon have fallen silent. Refugees are returning to their homes in southern Lebanon & Israelis displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire are likewise returning to northern Israel. But the cease-fire is still tense & Lebanon is under international pressure to move troops into southern Lebanon as quickly as possible to monitor the cease-fire. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said the force could be on the north side of the Litani River by the end of the week but would need longer to take up positions south of the river. The international force, being assembled to strengthen the small U N mission that is currently in southern Lebanon, is likewise taking shape slowly. Both Italy & France have pledged troops as have Malaysia and Turkey. The German press on Tuesday is urging speed....
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,431812,00.html
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Editor - 11:29:00 08-15-06
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| Mugabe admits farm policy failed |
President Robert Mugabe admitted yesterday that Zimbabweans were "begging" for food because of his mass seizure of white-owned farms. After years of official assertions that his land policies would improve production and guarantee self-sufficiency, he conceded that many of those awarded white-owned farms were doing nothing with their gains. "If farming is not in your blood, switch to what you are good at," Mr. Mugabe told supporters in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. "We want those with land to use it. We don't want to keep begging for food." Zimbabwe has depended since 2001 on emergency supplies from the United Nations World Food Program. Almost 4 million people -- one third of the population -- needed help from the program last year. Food once ranked among Zimbabwe's main exports. The main reason for the switch from self-sufficiency to dependency is the transfer of commercial farms to those with no training, capital, expertise or equipment for farming....
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060814-113648-7356r.htm
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Editor - 11:21:00 08-15-06
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| U.S. Acknowledges That Car Bombs Triggered Gas Explosions in Shiite Neighborhood on Sunday |
Car bombs triggered gas explosions in a Shiite neighborhood two days ago, the U.S. said Tuesday, acknowledging that the attack was due to a hostile act. At least 63 Iraqis were killed and 140 wounded in the series of explosions Sunday night in Zafraniyah. Iraqi officials said the blasts were due to car bombs and a rocket attack from a Sunni neighborhood under U.S. control. But U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, insisted Monday that American experts had concluded that there was "no evidence" of anything other than a "significant gas explosion." That implied that the blast may not have been due to a hostile act. However, a U.S. statement Tuesday said the blasts were triggered when two car bombs detonated near a residential building, "causing a gas explosion" that collapsed the structure. It said the blast was among four car bombs that took place within a 30-minute period and within two miles of one another. "Four buildings and 20 shops were destroyed," ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2315888
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Editor - 11:11:00 08-15-06
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