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US Newspaper Distorts Farrakhan Visit to Cuba Havana, Mar 30 (Prensa Latina) When the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper reported on the recently concluded trip of Louis Farrakhan to Cuba it deliberately tried to mislead its readers by allowing US government officials to discredit the Nation of Islam minister. On the next to last day of his week long visit to Havana, Farrakhan and his delegation participated on the hour-and-a-half prime time Round Table, broadcast nationwide on Cuban TV and radio, something Black progressives could never have in the United States, even if they paid millions to try and buy the airtime....

Bolivia to Tax Oil Companies La Paz, Mar 29 (Prensa Latina) Bolivia announced a 60 to 70 percent tax increase for oil transnationals that have already recovered their investments, and a balanced treatment for those who have not yet done so. Energy Minister Andres Soliz said his ministry will perform audits to gauge volume of investments, production costs, and net profits to determine whether the corporations are able to meet the new taxes. The 2005 Oil law raised oil taxes and royalties from 18 percent to 50 percent, marking the end of the privatization trend inherited from the previous decade,...

HARRISBURG -- Mary Molinaro loves bingo, but it's been ages since she's played. "They smoke up a storm in those bingos. It gives me a headache," said Mrs. Molinaro, 72, of Glassport. That's why she's hoping for the passage of legislation that would prohibit smoking in all public workplaces, including restaurants, stores, sports arenas, bars and, yes, bingo halls. Violators would be subject to fines of up to $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation within one year and $500 for subsequent violations in the same year. Similar bills have been proposed over the last several years,...

Civil Suit Goes To Court: A Scorned Lover, Glue And A Naked Man POSTED: 5:43 pm EST November 2, 2005 UPDATED: 6:21 pm EST November 2, 2005 WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. -- Gail O'Toole was convicted of simple assault and sentenced to six months probation for acts she committed against her ex-lover. On Wednesday, the civil suit went to court, where O'Toole's ex-boyfriend claimed her "outrageous" and "inhumane" acts are worth thousands in damages. Ken Slaby said he was in love with O'Toole five years ago. He even admitted he was devastated when O'Toole broke it off. So, when O'Toole invited...

This is the last of a three-part series that examines the rapidly growing Hispanic population in Northeastern Pennsylvania. A 3-year-old girl with a small pink baseball hat reaches for a 7-month-old boy’s hand. She gives him a ring of toys, slowly so she doesn’t startle him. She smiles as his tiny hands fumble with the plastic toys. The girl is Mexican; the boy is white. She arrived from Yucatan, Mexico, just months ago and speaks only Spanish; he can’t yet speak. Their differences don’t matter. Kids will play. In the backyard of Grace Fellowship, a small evangelical church on Old...

This is the second in a three-part series that examines the rapidly growing Hispanic population in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Two teams race up and down the park’s outfield, wearing jerseys of different shades of blue. A group of young men stands along the fence, most clad in royal blue and white. They hold a flag with five blue stars. Their team, Honduras, plays against Uruguay. In Scranton. It’s just another Sunday of Scranton’s Hispanic International Soccer League, known to thousands of local Hispanics as el fútbol, the soccer game. Twelve teams, about 150 men, were in the league that ended July...

You can see it in Hazleton. There are new grocery stores on Wyoming Street. On their doors, signs thank you, Gracias por su compra. Well into the summer, a faded banner wishes you Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas. Below it, a U.S. flag declares with bold, blue English words: Proud to be an American. You can’t miss it in South Scranton, either. On Pittston Avenue, the sign outside a sky blue house announces Casa Latina, and offers a travel agency, money transfers, translations. The things one needs when living thousands of miles from home. “Styles by Connie” is painted in red...

Friday Sermon in Kerman City, Iran: If Jesus Were Alive He Would Not Justify America's Atrocities The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon in the city of Kerman by Hojjat El-Eslam Yahya Ja'fari. The TV channel of the district of Kerman aired this sermon on April 17, 2005 Hojjat Al-Eslam Yahya Ja'fari: As you know, the biggest problem of the Islamic world today is global Zionism and the Great Satan – America. They are our enemies, especially the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They do not understand [the language of] reason, they do not follow international law,...

DU has stopped allowing those who aren't registered to surf the forums... this is glorious... though I hoped to watch the meltdown from ground zero...

Gov. Ed Rendell acknowledged that his state police-chauffeured car was driven at dangerously high speed, calling the speed level "unconscionable" and promising that it won't happen again.Rendell said he believes a Philadelphia Daily News report that said turnpike troopers had clocked his Cadillac at speeds of more than 100 mph nine times since November."I'll make sure we put a stop to it," Rendell told today's editions of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.Rendell said he didn't know at the time that his car was going that fast but that he knew his driver, a state police bodyguard, was exceeding the speed limit. He...

<p>MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Once a week after school, a group of girls from well-to-do Mexican families troops to a meticulously kept house in the south of the capital for a class in how to become the perfect wife.</p> <p>Girls aged 13 to 18 sit eagerly through lessons in cooking, sewing, ironing, dressing, folding napkins, serving a formal dinner and adding feminine flourishes to a home, like a posy of flowers in the bathroom or initials embroidered on the towels.</p>