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University of California officials have formed search committees for three new administrative posts to help improve fiscal oversight and management following a compensation controversy. The new positions are a chief operating officer and a chief financial officer who will oversee non-academic functions within the UC Office of the President and a compliance officer who will ensure that university practices and policies are followed. A number of reviews into UC pay practices found that administrators routinely circumvented or ignored policies in order to secure better salary deals for top executives. Salary ranges for the jobs are still being finalized, a university...

The most important thing for any poor person trying to improve his or her condition is, of course, a job. It is the entry-level job that accords impoverished workers – even those with no skills, no references and no employment record -- the invaluable opportunity to succeed and to prosper. It is literally the first rung up the ladder of success. If that is true, then the most vicious conceivable governmental policy would be one that eliminates entry-level jobs, making it harder and harder for the poor to get a foothold in life. Yet that is precisely what the state...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2005 – The staff of the 8th Iraqi Army Division was certified today in counterterrorism operations and tactics, which means the Iraqis can plan and conduct operations against enemy forces with limited support of coalition forces, military officials reported today. Division units now are striving to achieve full combat readiness, officials said, adding that final coordination with local and central administration will be completed soon to finalize the process of battlespace transfer. Long-term training, including exercises and combat operations, officials noted, preceded the certification process. Before the division staff was certified, six battalions and two brigades of...

French Police Step Up Security After Tips Friday November 11, 2005 11:01 PM By ELAINE GANLEY Associated Press Writer PARIS (AP) - Authorities stepped up security Friday and placed restrictions on some public gatherings after tip-offs from Internet and text messages suggested ``violent actions'' over the weekend in the French capital. But as France marked Armistice Day commemorating the end of World War I, calls for peace in the restive poor neighborhoods of France rang out, from demonstrators in Paris to religious leaders at a Lyon-area mosque in the southeast. With a state of emergency in place, several hundred people...

US one step behind 'Iraqi phantom' By Adrian Blomfield in Dour (Filed: 28/10/2005) Some senior Iraqi officers call him a phantom. In certain western coalition circles, he is known as Macavity, the mystery Ba'athist. Six times in the last 10 months, US forces say they have come tantalisingly close to catching Izzat al-Douri, Saddam Hussein's former right-hand man and the second-most wanted fugitive in Iraq. Izzat al-Douri, Saddam's former right-hand man But each time he has managed to slip away, though on some occasions the Americans claim to have been so close that they found the dinner still on his...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2005 – Years from now, the Iraqi people may look on Oct. 15, 2005, as the beginning of their new lives under freedom. Iraqi voters go to the polls to decide on their new constitution - the first constitution in the country's history that is the product of a freely elected assembly. The referendum continues the process of establishing a democratic government in Iraq. U.S. officials say that a democracy in the heart of the Middle East will be an example to the rest of the region. Coalition officials want an Iraq that respects the rights of...

WASHINGTON - A major free trade agreement with Central American nations moved forward in the Senate Tuesday, although senators put off for another day how to deal with the sugar industry opposition that is the biggest obstacle to passage. The Senate Finance Committee accepted one change in conjunction with the Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, extending to service workers a federal program to assist workers displaced by trade competition. The panel also rejected, on a 10-10 vote, a proposal by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to ensure that labor laws are enforced, and it did not take up...

ASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - The continuing debate among Republicans over whether Donald H. Rumsfeld should remain as defense secretary grew more fractious on Sunday, as two prominent senators argued that removing Mr. Rumsfeld would disrupt the coming Iraqi elections, while a third, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, said he had "no confidence in Rumsfeld's leadership." Talk of the defense secretary's future dominated the television interview programs on a day when car bombs killed more than 60 people in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala. The debate was caught up in fresh accusations by both Democrats and Republicans about the...

<p>Except for the presidential election, the most important election this year will take place on April 27 in Pennsylvania. No, it's not the "American Idol" finals. It's even more important than that. That's the day of the Republican primary pitting a great Republican, Pat Toomey, against the 74-year-old, Ira Einhorn-defending alleged "Republican," Arlen Specter.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney set to appear in private before the 9/11 commission next week, Republicans are ramping up their criticism of the panel -- and Democratic member Jamie Gorelick in particular.</p> <p>Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, called on Gorelick to resign, becoming the first senator to do so. He told CNN that such a move would help the commission salvage its credibility.</p>

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has taken another step towards unilateral withdrawal, or the plan he calls "disengagement," by appointing IDF Maj.-Gen. Giora Eiland to head the team that will develop the plan. Sharon announced ten days ago that if the Palestinian Authority continues to refrain from fighting terrorism and the Road Map plan thus fails, he would initiate a unilateral withdrawal from some areas in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza). "At the same time," Sharon said, "in the framework of the Disengagement Plan, Israel will strengthen its control over those same areas in the Land of Israel which will constitute...

Kuwait takes 'first step' to democracy By Robin Gedye, Foreign Affairs Writer (Filed: 14/07/2003) The Emir of Kuwait removed the post of prime minister from the crown prince yesterday for the first time in the Gulf state's 42 years of independence in response to repeated calls for greater democracy. Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah appointed his brother, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, at present the foreign minister, as prime minister, the first time a person other than a crown prince has held the post. Liberals and Islamists hailed the decision, which followed parliamentary elections, as an "essential first step" towards greater...

<p>Within hours of Columbia's fiery end, NASA leadership and Washington politicians were declaring in no uncertain terms that, yes, human exploration of space must continue.</p> <p>It has often been in emotional and politically charged moments such as this one that NASA's course has been charted. From its start, NASA has been as much about patriotism and pride as science.</p>

First commercial Moon landing gets go-ahead Small step for commercialization of Moon surface. The first private Moon landing has won government authorization. The decision opens the door to the commercialization of the Moon's surface. The US State Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have granted TransOrbital, Inc. of La Jolla, California, permission to send its TrailBlazer probe to map the surface of the Moon and photograph Earth. The launch is scheduled for June 2003 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. "The Moon is ripe for commercial development," says Dennis Laurie, head of TransOrbital. "It's a lot closer than...