News Briefs

IOM increases efforts to end slave-like child labor in Ghana: Air Force tests the biggest conventional bomb ever built: The Air Force tested a 21,000-lb. conventional bomb yesterday at Eglin Air Force Base in northeastern Florida in a bid to gear up the military for a possible confrontation in Iraq, according to the Associated Press (AP). According to the Pentagon, the successful test saw the first live explosion of the biggest conventional bomb ever built. The Pentagon hopes that, in the event

World News

Hussein denies alleged Iraqi link with al-Qaeda network Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has denied U.S. and U.K. allegations of links to Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, according to the BBC. The statement comes on the eve of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s report to the U.N. regarding Hussein’s attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction and flout U.N. investigations. “If we had a relationship with al-Qaeda, and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it,

Amherst needs to fix email's unreliaibility, NOW!

Seriously, this “gift that keeps on giving” is becoming more than the proverbial pain-in-the-ass; it’s downright problematic. In the past 10 days alone, email has been down at least six times for significant periods: last Sunday night, last Monday night/Tuesday morning, Wednesday night/Thursday morning, Thursday evening, Saturday afternoon and even Saturday night-and those were only the times that I actually tried to use it. I can’t even imagine how many other times the system actually failed pe

News Briefs

Jenin, Israel Investigation of assault on refugee camp may be disbanded Investigation of assault on refugee camp may be disbanded Investigation of assault on refugee camp may be disbanded After more than a week of political wrangling, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan may disband a UN fact-finding mission to look into Israel’s assault on the Jenin refugee camp, according to the BBC. Israel’s security cabinet decided not to cooperate with a UN inquiry until six Israeli demands

News Briefs

Amid peace talks, cycle of violence in Middle East continues The level of violence in the Middle East escalated again yesterday. Israel retaliated for a weekend of violence and Palestinians responded with suicide bombings, missile launches and sniper attacks on Israeli civilians. Israeli aircraft pounded targets in Gaza and the West Bank yesterday, killing two members of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s elite security force and a Palestinian policeman. This new wave of violence came after an

News Briefs

Phoenix, Arizona McCain recuperating after malignant growth removal McCain recuperating after malignant growth removal Arizona Senator John McCain had a melanoma removed from his nose on Monday at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. Although originally reported that the growth was a “non-malignant melanoma,” press secretary Nancy Ives explained that it was, in fact, malignant, according to CNN.com. Doctors from the Mayo Clinic explained that when a melanoma is caught at its earliest stage-as

News Briefs

Nigerian mother to be stoned for committing adultery Sufiyatu Huseini awaits death by stoning as sentenced by an Islamic court in Sokoto, Nigeria for committing adultery. The only evidence brought against her is her 10-month-old daughter, Adama, who was born out of wedlock. A judge mandated that the sentence be carried out as soon as Adama is weaned, according to The New York Times. Awaiting an appeal and maintaining that she was actually raped, it is unlikely that Sufiyatu will be acquitted. H

News Briefs

American ground troops enter Northern Afghanistan At a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that there is a “modest” number of U.S. ground troops in northern Afghanistan for “liaison purposes, coordination and targeting.” Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem described the troops’ presence as a “measured risk” in a campaign that the U.S. has committed to “for as long as it takes.” U.S. airplanes launched another round of air strikes early Tuesday on the Tali

News Briefs

Saudi Arabian government severs ties with Taliban The kingdom of Saudi Arabia declared yesterday that it was severing diplomatic ties with Afghanistan because “the Taliban have ignored all of the contacts and the attempts by the kingdom to persuade them to stop harboring criminals and terrorists and training them and inciting them and making its land a refuge and haven for them,” according to The New York Times. In the past, Saudi diplomats have given the Taliban special leeway; however, the Sa

News Briefs

Six dead during U.S. training exercise in Kuwait A joint U.S.-Kuwaiti investigation is underway after a U.S. Navy fighter jet accidentally dropped a bomb in Kuwait Monday, killing five American soldiers and an army major from New Zealand and injuring many more. Pentagon officials are speculating that the bomb detonated in the wrong place because of “poor targeting, rather than pilot error or a technical malfunction,” according to The New York Times. This means that either the pilot was given er

News Briefs

Sharon next Prime Minister after landslide victory Conservative party leader Ariel Sharon is set to become Israel’s next prime minister with a formidable victory over incumbent Ehud Barak. “It’s a critical time,” said one Israeli in the Jerusalem Post, echoing the nation’s growing concern with the Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed of recent months-the worst in decades. Tuesday’s elections are seen as the next step in Mideast peacemaking, as Israelis choose between the former general Sharon, who ref

'Any Given Sunday' Hits Hard On And Off Field

On a team full of personalities such as a hard-hitting Lawrence Taylor and “too cool” running back LL Cool J, Foxx assumes the leadership role from an over-the-hill, newly injured Dennis Quaid. The plot is split between daily travails on the football field and the lives of the players off the field. The movie addresses career lengths and personality clashes between players and coaches in a world of stardom and fast money. The characterizations emphasize the animalistic nature of the players (on