Los Angeles Times
Nearly Half of Blacks, Latinos Drop Out, School Study Shows
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-graduate24mar24,0,6137422.story?coll=la-home-local
Explosion Rocks Texas Oil Refinery
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-032405refinery_lat,0,966128.story?coll=la-home-headlines
She Seems to Be Perfectly Happy
Sorenstam has won her last four tournaments, going into first LPGA major of the year, and new single status means she might play more.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lpga24mar24,0,1120817.story?coll=la-home-sports
Red Lake Reservation Readies Burial Rituals
Community mourns the loss of 10 of its own as concern for survivors, victims' families grows.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-shooting24mar24,0,177404.story?coll=la-home-nation
A Ray of Hope for Solar
How strange that solar energy remains a rarity in a state with such dependable sunshine, which beats down, wasted, on our rooftops. New legislation backed by the governor fixes gaps that plagued previous solar-construction bills and provides the first real chance for new-home solar to get off the ground.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-solar24mar24,0,1065833.story
The Sydney Morning Herald
Blast at refinery causes price rise
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Blast-at-refinery-causes-price-rise/2005/03/24/1111525296090.html?oneclick=true
A BP Oil official said 14 people died and 100 were injured in a massive explosion at the company's Texas City petrochemical refinery today.
The cause of the blast was not immediately known but it sparked a fire that was put out a few hours later, and workers were searching the rubble for survivors or bodies.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Oil-refinery-blast-death-toll-14-BP/2005/03/24/1111525254114.html
Terror suspects on loose, warns spy chief
March 24, 2005
Potential terrorists are on the loose in Australia because there is not enough evidence against them to take legal action, the nation's top spy said yesterday.
ASIO Director-General Dennis Richardson told the LAWAsia conference on the Gold Coast that fewer than one in 10 people known to be involved with terrorist groups in Australia was ever likely to face court.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Anti-Terror-Watch/Terror-suspects-on-loose-warns-spy-chief/2005/03/23/1111525211160.html
Wild weather prompts 900 calls for help
Wild weather lashed Sydney and surrounding areas today, with strong winds bringing down trees and power lines and heavy rain causing flooding.
State Emergency Service (SES) spokesman Phil Campbell said 924 calls for help had been received, mostly for water in houses caused by blocked gutters and spot flooding.
"There have been over 200 emergency workers on the road responding to leaks, fallen trees, trees blocking driveways and spot flooding," he said.
"We are still expecting some rain and gusting winds
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Wild-weather-prompts-900-calls-for-help/2005/03/23/1111525220144.html
Pill reduces breast cancer in high-risk women
By Nassim Khadem
March 24, 2005
Taking the pill at an early age can reduce the chances of breast cancer for women with a high genetic risk of developing the disease, Australian research shows.
The study of 2000 Australian women aged under 40 strengthens medical belief that the pill, far from having harmful side effects, actually protects women from cancer.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Pill-reduces-breast-cancer-in-highrisk-women/2005/03/23/1111525229088.html
Blair vows to keep the faith, but not US-style
March 24, 2005
The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, chose a meeting of evangelical Christians in south London to declare his opposition to US-style religious politics in British public life.
Mr Blair, battered by Conservative tabloid pressures on abortion, insisted on Tuesday: "I do not want to end up with an American style of politics, with us all going out there beating our chest about our faith.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Blair-vows-to-keep-the-faith-but-not-USstyle/2005/03/23/1111525229983.html
Blast kills two as crisis in Lebanon deepens
March 24, 2005
Lebanese Christian opposition leaders blamed the country's Syrian-backed security agencies yesterday for a series of bomb attacks, the latest of which killed two people in the Christian heartland north of Beirut.
The two were killed and five wounded early yesterday when a bomb ripped through a shopping centre in the coastal town of Kaslik, 20 kilometres north of the capital.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Middle-East-Conflict/Blast-kills-two-as-crisis-in-Lebanon-deepens/2005/03/23/1111525228865.html
'Healer' jailed for sex abuse with potatoes
March 24, 2005 - 1:22PM
A Maori healer who used traditional indigenous practices to treat patients has been jailed for three and a half years for sexually violating two patients with potatoes.
Sending Christopher Tuaupiki, 64, to prison, a judge in the High Court in the North Island city of Hamilton told him it was "sad that a good reputation had been shattered" when he was found guilty on five sex charges after a week-long trial, the Waikato Times newspaper reported.
During the trial, a 38-year-old widow gave evidence that Tuaupiki told her to lie on a bed naked and rubbed a raw potato "in circular motions everywhere" to remove a curse he blamed for her son seeing the ghosts of his dead father and grandparents.
The other woman, who consulted him as a tribal elder to ask her about Maori ancestors, said he gave her similar treatment, saying the potato would cure her breast cancer and liver disease.
Doctor's tests showed the 49-year-old did not have those illnesses.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Potato-pervert-jailed/2005/03/24/1111525270309.html
Chief judge hits back at court critics
By Michael Pelly, Legal Reporter
March 25, 2005
The judicial system is being undermined by lawyers who talk to the media, attorneys-general who do not defend the courts and "superficial and inappropriate performance indicators", the nation's top judge says.
The Chief Justice of the High Court, Murray Gleeson, said also that judges would soon "respond swiftly" to ill-informed criticism and attacks on individual officers.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Chief-judge-hits-back-at-court-critics/2005/03/24/1111525295865.html
The Boston Globe
Final appeal in Schiavo case
Parents ask Supreme Court to restore tube
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff March 24, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The parents of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain- damaged woman who has been slowly dying since her feeding tube was removed Friday, appealed last night to the US Supreme Court to have the tube reinserted.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2005/03/24/final_plea_nears_for_schiavo/
Reservation where 10 died has long known pain
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff March 24, 2005
RED LAKE, Minn. -- The television inside a weathered ranch house replayed familiar footage about the deadly shooting rampage that has stunned the Red Lake Indian Reservation -- scenes with wailing ambulances, grieving students, and grim-faced tribal leaders.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/03/24/reservation_where_10_died_has_long_known_pain/
Fugitive murderer held after 20 years on the lam
By Denise Lavoie, AP Legal Affairs Writer March 24, 2005
BOSTON -- A fugitive on the lam for the past two decades who lived a double life as an activist poet in Chicago pleaded innocent Thursday to a charge of escaping from prison and was ordered held without bail.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/03/24/fugitive_murderer_held_after_20_years_on_the_lam/
Pentagon eyes change at Hanscom
Ideas include turning site over to developer
By Bryan Bender and Matt Viser, Globe Staff And Globe Correspondent March 24, 2005
WASHINGTON -- One of several ideas the Pentagon is considering for Hanscom Air Force Base is to turn it over to a private developer, then rent space on the sprawling site in Bedford, allowing the military to continue working on its cutting-edge technologies, according to top armed forces consultants and officials familiar with Pentagon deliberations on base closings.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/03/24/pentagon_eyes_change_at_hanscom/
Woman convicted of cruelty gets back two horses
March 24, 2005
BENNINGTON, N.H. -- The state veterinarian says he cannot understand why a judge returned two horses to a woman convicted of animal cruelty.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/03/24/woman_convicted_of_cruelty_gets_back_two_horses/
DeLay goes on offense in ethics battle
By Larry Margasak, Associated Press Writer March 24, 2005
WASHINGTON -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay often plays defense in public in his fight against allegations of ethical misconduct, saying he didn't know about specific fund-raising practices under investigation in Texas or groups in Washington that paid for his travel.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/03/24/delay_goes_on_offense_in_ethics_battle/
Bobby Fischer, on Way to Iceland, Says Feels Great
By Kim McLaughlin March 24, 2005
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Chess legend Bobby Fischer made a brief stop-over in Denmark on Thursday on his way from Tokyo to Iceland, which granted him citizenship earlier this week enabling him to avoid deportation to the United States.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/03/24/bobby_fischer_on_way_to_iceland_says_feels_great/
Arab League seeks Israeli concessions
By Barry Schweid, AP Diplomatic Writer March 24, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Dismissing a U.S. overture, the Arab League's chief envoy on Thursday ruled out Arab diplomatic relations with Israel unless it comes to term with the Palestinians.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/03/24/arab_league_seeks_israeli_concessions_1111689240/
Kyrgyzstan opposition facing next move
By Bagila Bukharbayeva, Associated Press Writer March 24, 2005
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Shattered glass littered the floors, furniture and portraits of the president tumbled out the windows, and the young men who seized Kyrgyzstan's government headquarters Thursday took a break to divvy up packages of crackers they'd ripped out of a carton.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/03/24/kyrgyzstan_opposition_facing_next_move/
The Moscow Times
Fischer Assails Russia Over Chechnya
GENEVA --German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer called on Russia on Tuesday to investigate human rights violations committed by its security forces in Chechnya.
In a speech to the UN Commission on Human Rights, he also voiced concern at "whippings, torture and the death penalty" in Iran, and at prolonged administrative detentions and executions in China.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/03/23/014.html
Kyrgyz president reportedly flees capital
Thursday, March 24, 2005 Updated at 9:44 AM EST
Associated Press
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan — Protesters stormed the presidential compound in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, seizing control of the seat of power after clashing with riot police during a large opposition rally. President Askar Akayev reportedly fled to Russia.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050324.w2kryg0324/BNStory/International/
The Seattle Post Intelligencer
Scientists recover preserved soft tissue from ancient dinosaur
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- For more than a century, the study of dinosaurs has been limited to fossilized bones. Now, researchers have recovered 70 million-year-old soft tissue, including what may be blood vessels and cells, from a Tyrannosaurus rex in Montana.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/apwest_story.asp?category=6600&slug=WST%20T%20Rex%20Tissues
San Juans disaster was narrowly averted
Captain in collision had health, alcohol ills
By ERIC NALDER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
It was about as close to a disastrous oil spill as you can get without having one -- and it happened in the San Juan Islands.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/oiltankers/217351_polarpuget24.html
Radio Beat: Local stations are tuning into podcasting
By BILL VIRGIN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
How do you listen to your favorite radio programs? And when?
The traditional answers were: On a radio receiving an over-the-air signal, and whenever the station decided to broadcast the program.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/217244_radiocolumn24.html
Radio Beat: Local stations are tuning into podcasting
By BILL VIRGIN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
How do you listen to your favorite radio programs? And when?
The traditional answers were: On a radio receiving an over-the-air signal, and whenever the station decided to broadcast the program.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/217244_radiocolumn24.html
State Supreme Court sides with news media in defamation case
By REBECCA COOK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- In a case that raised concerns about courts becoming "super-editors," the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a businessman can't sue a Spokane television reporter for omitting facts that might have made him look better in a critical story.
Defamation by omission is possible, the court said, but just because someone doesn't like a story doesn't mean it's defamatory.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20SCOW%20Defamation%20Ruling
Scientists confident of Yucca Mountain
By GEORGE F. WILL
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
YUCCA MOUNTAIN, Nev. -- Driving northwest into the desolate vastness of the Nevada Test Site where the nation's nuclear arsenal was tested, a spindly tower, outlined against a ridgeline, rises 1,527 feet out of the desert. That is the approximate height at which the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. The tower was used to study radiation effects on life at different elevations.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/217266_will24.html
Capitol Watch: Expand civil rights
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
A nearly 30-year effort to expand state civil rights protection should clear its penultimate legislative hurdle Thursday, as a Senate committee takes the vote to send the measure to the floor.
House Bill 1515 already has passed the House of Representatives and was heard yesterday in the Senate's Financial Institutions, Housing and Consumer Protection Committee. The committee chairwoman, Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, said she expects a committee vote on the bill as early as today. The legislation would add sexual orientation to the list of illegal bases for discrimination under state law. The current list includes race, color, creed, national origin, sex and disability. The bill carries an exemption to the state law for sharing, renting or subleasing property in which one lives.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/217258_civiled.asp
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