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AP World - General News Albania increases security in fear of terrorist attacks Wed Mar 19, 5:07 AM ET TIRANA, Albania - The Albanian government plans to increase security and to intensify its fight against organized crime and trafficking in response to fears of terrorist attacks, according to a news release issued Wednesday. Smugglers and others taking part in organized crime often support terrorists financially or logistically, making it necessary to fight those problems along with boosting security, Prime Minister Fatos Nano said in a meeting late Tuesday, the government news release said. Nano asked all government institutions to take...

October 18, 2002 ORANGE COUNTY POLITICIANS JOIN FORCES FOR THE POWER OF THE RALLY MONKEY Congressional World Series wager promises tribute to Cowboy Gene Autry WASHINGTON — Though normally seated on opposite sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives, Reps. Loretta Sanchez (D) and Christopher Cox (R) have put politics aside today to challenge Reps. Nancy Pelosi D) and Tom Lantos (D) to a bet on the upcoming all-California World Series between the Anaheim Angels and San Francisco Giants. The Orange County legislators are wagering a trip to the Disneyland Resort against a case of Napa Valley wine...

There was Colette Avital, a Labor Party member of the Israeli Knesset, on a trip to Capitol Hill, worried about the prospect of war in the Middle East. Rep. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on International Affairs, took her by the hand, and, according to Ha'aretz, tried to reassure her with these soothing words: "My dear Colette, don't worry. You won't have any problem with Saddam. We'll be rid of the bastard soon enough. And in his place we'll install a pro-Western dictator, who will be good for us and for you." Good for us, and...

NEW YORK - The ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, Tom Lantos, has asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to conduct a formal probe into the operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency in the territories prior to the June 30 scheduled renewal of its mandate. "My concern is that, for too long, UNRWA has been part of the problem, rather than the solution, in the Middle East," Lantos wrote in a May 13 letter to Annan. "However initially well-intentioned, UNRWA camps have fostered a culture of anger and dependency that undermines both regional peace and the...