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It seems there are a lot of very stupid criminals around. What kind of dingdong would consent to being searched by police while carrying large quantities of illegal substances? It happens. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Police in Florida were within their rights to board a Greyhound bus and question passengers. Furthermore, when police came to two men wearing heavy clothing on a warm day, police had a right to ask permission to search their luggage and bodies. That police found bricks of cocaine strapped to the men's legs was not necessarily the question before the Court. The...

Mexico City, Jun 22, 2002 (EFE via COMTEX) -- U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow has expressed his government's concern about the refusal of some Mexican courts to extradite suspected criminals. "We are concerned that some district and circuit courts are not accepting U.S. assurances regarding life terms. They are not accepting our assurances," Davidow said on Friday. The Mexican courts, backed by the country's Supreme Court, have repeatedly refused to extradite alleged criminals to the United States unless they receive official assurances the suspects would not be subject to capital punishent or receive life sentences, which do not exist...

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe may be vilified by Western leaders, but the Chinese seem to be warming to the African dictator. Political observers in Harare claim that during a recent visit to the southern African country in early June a senior Chinese official handed Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party a gift of $1 million. The official, Wei Jianxing, was on a five-nation tour of Africa in his capacity as a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee. The observers question how the government will square the donation with legislation passed in 2001 that bans foreign funding for political parties...

BERLIN, June 22 (AFP) - Egypt is hoping to extract uranium from the Sinai peninsula with Chinese help with the aim of enriching it and making long-range missiles, Die Welt reported Saturday quoting western intelligence sources. The newspaper said Cairo denies such plans and that the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA ) said it was unaware of such developments. But the paper said there were increasing signs that Cairo was seeking to build nuclear wepaons. It carried a picture of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his last official visit to China in January, during which, according to Die Welt,...

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 21, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Archbishop George Carey of Canterbury, primate of the Anglican Communion, called John Paul II the "spiritual leader of the whole of Christianity." The leader of 70 million Anglican faithful made his assessment over Vatican Radio today after a papal audience. The Briton´s visit was charged with melancholy, because the 103rd archbishop of Canterbury plans to retire Oct. 31. Dr. Carey, 66, said his visit had a "highly personal" character "to express my gratitude to the Holy Father for the friendship we have been able to build in these past 11 years." "I have been...

BERLIN. In the 1980s, when Libya sent parcels to Europe, the contents were often lethal: Plastic explosives from Czechoslovakia and detonators from Switzerland to rip apart French passenger planes, or bullets to hit British police officers. In Berlin, a bomb planted by the Libyan secret service killed three visitors to the La Belle disco and wounded 250 others.   Today, the parcels sent by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have more conciliatory contents. An exhibition at the Staatsratsgebäude in Berlin presents a number of contemporary paintings (by artists including Mr. Gadhafi's son, Saif al Islam), as well as 30 sculptures, mosaics...

The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday expressed his hope that Iraq will return back the Kuwaiti properties of national manuscripts and others it has since 1990, noting he will discuss this issue in July during his meeting with the Iraqis. In a report to the UN Security Council, Annan said that Kuwait and Iraq agreed to return back the Kuwaiti properties since years and it seems that a great progress will be achieved shortly. He added that future talks with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri in Vienna on July four and five will be an opportunity to...

Hundreds of unemployed Palestinians marched in Gaza in protest of the Israeli blockade and lack of benefit from the Palestinian Authority. Protesters held empty dishes and pieces of bread, demanding justice, while holding signs that read "victims of occupation and negligence." Yesterday’s march was named "March of Hunger". About 1,500 Gazans, representing tens of thousands of unemployed Palestinians in Gaza took to the streets seeking to draw attention to their suffering. Israel had sealed the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, destroyed Palestinian economic infrastructure and it prevents Palestinians from seeking employment in Arab countries or inside Israel. Such action...

MOSCOW. June 21 (Interfax) - The Russian population decreased by 301,700 people, or by 0.2%, in January-April 2002 to 143.7 million people, the State Statistics Committee reported on Friday.    Compared to January-April 2001, the decrease of the population in Russia slowed down somewhat. In the first four months of last year, the Russia's population fell 308,800 people, which also amounted to 0.2% of the entire population. [RU EUROPE ASIA EEU EMRG ECI] va mg <>  

New York-AP) -- A man pretending to be a police officer made a big mistake yesterday when he pulled over a yellow cab -- driven by real undercover cops. Police say the man turned on a siren and displayed a fake badge after he pulled over the cops -- who had driven close to his S-U-V as they followed a suspicious car. Thirty-three-year-old Jarrod Kahn was arrested on charges of impersonating a police officer, criminal possession of a controlled substance, unauthorized use of a siren and dazzling lights on a vehicle.

American Victims of Mideast Terrorist Attacks The following is a listing of incidents in which Americans are known to have been killed by Middle East-based terrorists. The list will be updated as more information becomes available. The exact number of American casualties is difficult to calculate because of incomplete news reports regarding numbers and nationalities of those injured. The toll from the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center is also uncertain, but current figures place the number of dead above 3,000. The number of dead at the Pentagon and on the hijacked airliners numbered approximately 385....

<p>In a move that is attracting national attention, gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich has announced that he supports the right of gays and lesbians to marry.</p> <p>The announcement, first reported earlier this week in Bay Windows and InNewsweekly, two Boston gay newspapers, sets the former US labor secretary apart from his major-party opponents. The four other Democratic candidates support Vermont-style civil unions, which provide most of the legal benefits of marriage but are not recognized by other states. Republican Mitt Romney opposes civil unions, but supports domestic partnership laws that would give gay couples access to health benefits and survivorship rights.</p>

Prayers requested during week of 6/16/02 Continued prayers for Lex and familyPrayers for EggsAckley's mother and familyPraise report--Update on NatureGirl's father-in-lawPrayers for VaBthang4's stepfather GaryPrayer request for JoePrayers for JohnnyGage's sister-in-law AngelaPrayer request for gwmoore's fatherPrayers for the wife of a friend Prayers requested during week of 6/09/02 Continued prayers for Betsy and for LeeMcCoy and familyPrayer request for Megan who lost her brother last summerPrayers for best friend during lossContinued prayers for Elizabeth SmartPrayers for AKA Elena with health problemsPrayer request for MotleyGirl70's best friend and family during lossPrayers requested for Elizabeth Smart still missingPrayer request for 8 year...

4 firefighters die in crash By Nancy Mitchell and Michael BeDan, News Staff Writer June 22, 2002 Four Oregon firefighters en route to help fight the Hayman Fire died Friday in a rollover accident on Interstate 70 just west of Rifle, and three others were critically injured. Details of the 5:15 p.m. accident were still sketchy late Friday, but the Colorado State Patrol said four others -- all believed to be firefighters -- also were being treated for serious to minor injuries at hospitals in Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction and Rifle. The firefighters were traveling east in a 15-passenger van...

WASHINGTON -- Created during the Cold War to protect the United States from surprise attack by the Soviet Union, the National Security Agency, the nation's army of eavesdroppers and code-breakers, finds itself in need of retooling if it is to help defend against far more elusive foes such as Al Qaeda terrorists. The difficulty of the secretive agency's new task was underscored by leaks this week that the NSA intercepted messages in Arabic the day before the Sept. 11 attacks that apparently foreshadowed that day of carnage. The agency, which intercepts billions of electronic communications each day, did not translate...

MADRID, Spain (AP) - A car bomb - the fifth explosion in two days - blew up in the northern city of Santander on Saturday, two hours after a package bomb went off on the southern coast. The two attacks coincided with the closing of the European Union summit in Seville and were the work of Basque separatist. No injuries were reported in the latest blast that went off at 2:47 p.m. in Santander, a northern coastal city 244 miles from Madrid. Earlier in the day, a package bomb exploded in a hotel parking lot in the southern coastal city...

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 6/22/02 ] Arab-American dollars shore up McKinney By MELANIE EVERSLEY Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Kenneth Lambert / AP Rep. Cynthia McKinney has a deep relationship with Arab-Americans. WASHINGTON -- The relationship that Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) shares with Arab-Americans runs deeper than her call for more attention to the Palestinian side of the Middle Eastern conflict. The DeKalb County congresswoman's connections stretch significantly into the pockets and purses of the Arab-American and Muslim communities. About one-fourth of the individuals who have contributed to McKinney's campaigns over the past five years have names that appear to be...

Man, 37, arrested in mailed threats LAFAYETTE -- A 37-year-old Rayne man accused of sending out hundreds of letters in April laced with white powder and strange, ranting bomb threats appeared before a federal judge Friday. If convicted, 37-year-old Stephen Michael Long could face life in prison. He was booked Thursday night with threatening use of certain weapons of mass destruction, mailing threatening communications and interstate wire transmission of threatening communications. Federal prosecutors Friday asked U.S. District Magistrate C. Michael Hill to keep Long in prison indefinitely until he can be tried. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Willis called Long...

LOXLEY, Ala. -- Authorities in Loxley, Ala., are investigating the alleged beating of a preacher by funeral mourners who didn't like his blunt eulogy. Glynis Bethel told The Associated Press that her husband -- the Rev. Orlando Bethel -- was attacked during a June 14 funeral and dragged out of the church. That's because Bethel told mourners the deceased was in Hell and that they were headed the same way. The dead man was Glynis Bethel's uncle. Orlando Bethel referred to him as a "drunkard and a fornicator." Glynis Bethel, who's also a preacher, says "the fornicators didn't like what...

A LITTLE OVER a year has passed since our last update on the future. The general outline remains about the same, but the specifics for some items has changed to become even more positive. For instance, just last month in an edition of Applied Physics Letters, U.S. researchers announced the creation of a new type of semiconductor material. It is based on a heretofore largely unexploited principle called spintronics. The field, in its infancy, takes advantage of the spin characteristics of electrons. In regular electronics, the focus is on the charge of an electron, but not its spin. This limits...