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TALLAHASSEE - The Florida House passed Gov. Jeb Bush's "A-plus-plus" plan Thursday despite questions from opponents about its constitutionality. The bill, which passed 85-35, substantially revises Bush's 1999 A-plus education plan, adding subject majors for high-school students and enforcing performance-based pay for teachers. The bill now heads to the Senate... The House also approved a bill denying financial aid to foreign college students on temporary visas from all but Caribbean and Latin American countries. Amid Democrats' accusations of xenophobia, the House voted 96-23 Thursday for the proposal from Rep. Dick Kravitz, R-Orange Park, which would deny state-funded financial assistance to...

NYC Kindergarteners To Be Taught About AIDS Image Kerri Lyon Reporting Save It Email this Article Email It Print this Article Print It (CBS) GLENDALE HIV and AIDS have been taught in New York City classrooms since 1987 with the lessons mandated by the state. But this year, the city has revamped the curriculum, and parents said that it was without their input. Parents have now seen what their kids will be learning, and they have a lot of questions about whether its appropriate in the classroom. Susan Petschauer's third grade son Andrew is getting his first lesson in the...

Nairobi - Xhu is using his arms more than his rudimentary English to haggle with two determined African women who want a discount on the hair extensions he sells in his busy but grimy shop in a suburb of Nairobi. After his customers leave with their purchases, Xhu confides that his plastic extensions used by African women for braiding their hair are particularly popular, as is his Malaika (Kiswahili for angel) range of cosmetics for African women. Xhu's African customers see nothing wrong in buying African products made in China. 'I prefer the Chinese to the Indian shops here because...

Since last fall, the United States has halted military assistance to Mexico because of a dispute over whether U.S. citizens should be exempt from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. The sanctions were imposed in October after Mexico became a signatory to the Hague-based ICC, which was set up in 2002 to hunt down perpetrators of genocide and other crimes against humanity. Mexico was the 12th country from the Latin America-Caribbean area to be sanctioned by the U.S. under a law approved by Congress four years ago. In each case, the sanctions have been imposed without an official announcement. Jan...

3/6/2006 - Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras (AFPN) -- Airmen and Soldiers treated five Cuban citizens when their car crashed through the base’s perimeter fence March 1. The driver lost control of the car and ran off the road at approximately 6:15 a.m., rolling the vehicle several times and ultimately crashing through Soto Cano Air Base’s perimeter fence. The victims are among 300 Cuban medical personnel assigned in Honduras and were traveling to Comayagua from Tegucigalpa at the time of the crash. Base personnel responded quickly, as joint security forces secured the scene and medical element troops triaged the patients....

Common sense dictates that it is unwise to fund those who want to do you harm. It makes no sense to buy bullets for a gun that will be shot at you. In fact, it wouldn’t be out of line to say that funding those who have declared you are the enemy, for any reason, is a pretty stupid move. In light of this bit of logic, why is the United States, or any other free nation for that matter, still mulling the possibility of funding a Hamas-led Palestinian government? Recently, the US State Department, in response to declarations by...

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and US envoy David Welch in Ramallah Saturday, said after the meeting that Welch promised him that the US would not cut off financial aid to the PA, Israel Radio reported. On Friday, US President George W. Bush said Friday that Hamas leaders have "a choice to make," and that "if [Hamas] wants the help of America and the international community to build a prosperous, independent Palestinian state, they must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace." Abbas said Friday night in an interview to the...

An Iraqi army soldier checks the blood pressure of a local woman at the health clinic in Diyara, Iraq, Feb. 16, 2006. Iraqi army soldiers from 4th Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division, along with coalition forces medical personnel, provided medical supplies and assisted in the treatment of patients while in Diyara. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Johnathan Welborn Iraqi, Coalition Forces Provide First Aid, Supplies The mission brought the Diyara clinic facility closer to achieving its goal of becoming a completely functional clinic, capable of treating patients of all ages. By U.S. Army Cpl. Michael Molinaro 2nd Brigade...

LAST CALL – for you to contact your two Senators urging their support, without any new conditions, for the $200 million in aid to the Palestinians in the Emergency Supplemental. Information about the legislation and direction for advocacy was sent to you in the March 18 email alert, "Advocacy during Congressional Recess."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies have been secretly removing from public access at the National Archives thousands of historical documents that were available for years, The New York Times reported on Monday. The restoration of classified status to more than 55,000 previously declassified pages began in 1999, when the CIA and five other agencies objected to what they saw as a hasty release of sensitive information after a 1995 declassification order signed by President Bill Clinton, the Times said on its Web site.

The new Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council is expected to be sworn in this Saturday. Both President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have made clear that the United States will move to cut off aid to any Palestinian Authority (PA) government led by Hamas -- a group whose record of violence has earned it designation as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union as well as Israel. Recent backsliding by the mercurial Russian president Vladimir Putin notwithstanding, the communiqué issued on January 30 by the so-called Quartet (the U.S., the E.U., Russia, and the...

There are few things more distressing than aid intended to help the poorest actually causing them harm. For example, it is a sad irony that aid for HIV care is actually displacing far more valuable child immunization work in the wretched West African country of Sierra Leone. Rather than adding to capacity, the few competent staff are simply drawn away from these basic but vital services toward the high-profile, higher-paying HIV program. An integrated approach to aid giving must occur or more will die needlessly from good intentions. By varying estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO), The World Bank...

The Hamas team had not laughed so much in a long time. The team, headed by the prime minister's advisor Dov Weissglas and including the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, the director of the Shin Bet and senior generals and officials, convened for a discussion with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on ways to respond to the Hamas election victory. Everyone agreed on the need to impose an economic siege on the Palestinian Authority, and Weissglas, as usual, provided the punch line: "It's like an appointment with a dietician. The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but won't die," the...

BY CLAUDIA ROSETT Sunday, February 19, 2006 It's bad enough that North Korea's Kim Jong Il is starving his people while building nuclear bombs. But why are we helping him? In theory, we're not. But the U.S. has been by far the largest donor to the aid appeal under which the U.N. World Food Program has shipped $1.7 billion worth of rice, corn, wheat and sugar into North Korea over a decade. Last summer the regime declared itself self-sufficient in food, ordering the WFP to wind down operations by the end of the year. But North Korea also let the...

Aid projects in Africa may cause unexpected problems, including increased child malnutrition, Bristol researchers have found. A study published today shows how providing a tapped water supply to remote rural communities in Ethiopia had surprising effects. More children in the villages survived and the birth rate went up, meaning that already-scarce food and resources had to be shared among more people. This has led Bristol University's Dr Mhairi Gibson, who carried out the study, to conclude that improved access to contraception should be a major part of future projects. Dr Gibson, of the uni- versity's department of archaeology and anthropology,...

WASHINGTON, February 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The lead singer of the famous rock band U2 which just this week claimed an incredible five Grammy awards, has praised President George W. Bush and Americans for their generosity, especially post 9-11. His remarks came at the February 2 National Prayer Breakfast. [...] Bono offered some personal remarks about his struggle with faith and journey with God, and how he was led to be an advocate for the poor and those afflicted with AIDS. But unlike his colleagues in the entertainment field he did not condemn President Bush for efforts at poverty and...

GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- The Naval Historical Center’s (NHC) search for Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones' ship Bonhomme Richard received further support in early February, when it was recommended for funding through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration's competitive grant process. The NHC and Ocean Technology Foundation (OTF) plan to launch a search for Bonhomme Richard off the coast of England in July. "You cannot find an underwater archaeological site more important to the U.S. Navy than that of John Paul Jones' Bonhomme Richard," said Dr. Robert Neyland, head of the NHC's...

Personnel at the 249th General Hospital developed a close bond with the infant, badly burned on her face and head at two days old when a kerosene lamp exploded in her home. BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Feb. 7, 2006 — Soldiers from 249th General Hospital, Task Force Strength visited Zargona, a special Afghan girl who, in the first five months of her life, received inpatient care for life-threatening injuries. Zargona, like many Afghans, has only one name and was badly burned on her face and head at two days old when a kerosene lamp exploded in her home in May. "She's...

GM aid for pandemic flu vaccine Researchers are looking for the best and easiest to produce vaccine Scientists have used genetic modification in an early step towards creating a pandemic flu vaccine. The US Centers for Disease Control created the vaccine by putting a gene from a strain of the deadly H5N1 type of bird flu into a cold virus. This was then developed in cell cultures, rather than hens' eggs used in conventional vaccine development. Experts said the Lancet paper was technically interesting, but not immediately useful. Speed 'crucial'The growing incidence of cases of H5N1 in humans is hastening...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2006 – In four years, "Operation Homefront" has grown from a local San Diego effort to a national presence, continually increasing its ability to help military families. Volunteers from the Washington chapter of Operation Homefront show off a baby quilt at Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Wash. The group regularly donates quilts to new mothers whose husbands are deployed overseas. Photo by Janice Buckley   Back in early 2002, amidst a flurry of troop deployments after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. a group of military wives saw a need. "We realized how many families...