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'Sophisticated' tunnel found along Arizona border

NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities in Arizona say they've found a 250-foot-long unfinished smuggling tunnel underneath the U.S.-Mexico border that has electricity, water pumps and ventilation.

Agents have found dozens of smuggling tunnels in Nogales since the 1990s, but Chief Border Patrol Agent Randy Hill says this tunnel is more sophisticated than other recently discovered tunnels, saying that those who were …

1 in 5 kids get little vitamin D, study says

At least one in five U.S. children aged 1 to 11 don't get enough vitamin D and could be at risk for a variety of health problems including weak bones, the most recent national analysis suggests.

By a looser measure, almost 90 percent of black children that age and 80 percent of Hispanic kids could be vitamin D deficient _ "astounding numbers" that should serve as a call to action, said Dr. Jonathan Mansbach, lead author of the new analysis and a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital in Boston.

The findings add to mounting evidence about vitamin D deficiency in children, teens and adults, a concern because of recent studies …

Economic barometer rises

NEW YORK An index of future economic activity rose in June to thehighest level ever, but the reading only slightly exceeded marketforecasts amid recent data suggesting economic growth may be coolingoff.

The 0.5 percent increase in the Index of Leading EconomicIndicators, released today by the Conference Board, comes as WallStreet waits anxiously for the Aug. 20 meeting of Federal Reservepolicy-makers. Signs of a surging economy could revive inflationfears and lead the Fed to increase interest rates.

June's advance follows a revised 0.2 percent gain in May and a0.3 percent increase in April. Wall Street had been expecting a Juneincrease of 0.3 percent.

…

England vs. Sri Lanka Scoreboard

HEADINGLEY, England (AP) — Scoreboard Friday after Sri Lanka's innings in the second one-day international against England at Headingley:

Sri Lanka

Mahela Jayawardene st Kieswetter b Swann 144

Tillakaratne Dilshan run out (Broad) 9

Dinesh Chandimal run out (Anderson) 5

Kumar Sangakkara st Kieswetter b Swann 69

Angelo Mathews not out 46

Nuwan Kulasekera c Pietersen b Bresnan 13

Jeevan Mendis not out 7

Extras: (5 lb, 11w) 16

TOTAL: (for five wickets) 309

Overs: 50.

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-45, 3-204, 4-271, 5-296

Did not …

US productivity growth slows, wage pressures rise

Worker productivity slowed in the summer while wage pressures increased, but both developments were better than expected and are unlikely to raise inflation alarms at the Federal Reserve.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that productivity, the key ingredient for rising living standards, rose at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the July-September quarter. That's down from the 3.6 percent growth rate in the second quarter, but slightly higher than the 1.1 percent increase initially reported a month ago and better than the 0.9 percent rise economists expected.

Wage pressures, as measured by unit labor costs, rose at an annual rate of 2.8 percent, after …

Surveyor warns land buyers to read small print

A Bath building surveyor has warned potential landowners to readthe small print before buying property.

Simon Ellis, of Ellis & Co Chartered Building Surveyors in WoodStreet, was recently contacted by a pair of new parents looking tobuild their dream family home on land bought at auction.

Phil and Kimberley Dickenson believed their search for theperfect property was over when they discovered a plot for sale whichwas billed in the auction brochure as 'potential building land' atBathampton.

But after successfully bidding against five other buyers atauction, they began talks with Mr Ellis who informed them theproperty was in a green belt area and that …

Peace without the Peacemaker is futile

At Tuesday morning's adult worship session, Nelson Kraybill called on Mennonites not only to make peace but also to name the Peacemaker.

The president of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., used the image of the "piano man," a mysterious person who recently appeared in Britain with a marvellous ability to play the piano but who can't or won't speak. Kraybill challenged the Mennonite Church not to be like the piano man, but to talk openly about Jesus.

He encouraged the church to imitate the growing Spanish-speaking Mennonite churches that witness through their daily relationships. "God, let us be virtuoso piano players and give us words to say who we …

Lange wins 40th World Cup bobsled race

Andre Lange of Germany won his 40th World Cup bobsled race in Saturday's two-man competition.

The two-time world and Olympic champion and his partner Kevin Kuske finished the course in 1 minute, 52.60 seconds over two runs for their first victory this season.

The American pair of Steven Holcomb and Justin Olsen finished second, 0.25 seconds back. Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland, who won the first race of the season, took third.

Lange took the …

New Porsche is positively the `ultimate yuppiemobile'

Many consider even the base, $21,900 Porsche 924S to be a primeyuppiemobile.

If that's the case, then Porsche's new 928S 4 must be theultimate yuppiemobile. It stickers at a breathtaking $58,900.

That seems a lot for a car basically unchanged since itsintroduction in 1977. But Porsche is asking $38,500 for its 911model. Though entertaining, the 911 is an old turkey, introduced inthe 1960s.

The 928S 4 probably is too rich for the blood of most yuppies,unless they have affluent parents throwing money at them.

Yuppies, who bought Porsches decades ago before they were calledyuppies, mainly buy the 924S, $25,500 944 and $28,250 944S Porsches.

…

Dow Jones Director Resigns Over Deal

NEW YORK - German publishing executive Dieter von Holtzbrinck has resigned as a director of Dow Jones & Co. to protest the board's endorsement of a deal to sell the company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

In a letter included with a securities filing made by Dow Jones on Thursday, von Holtzbrinck said he was "very worried" that Dow Jones' "unique journalistic values will long-term strongly suffer after the proposed sale."

Dow Jones' board endorsed …

Obama salutes veterans this Memorial Day weekend

President Barack Obama saluted veterans and urged his countrymen to do the same this Memorial Day weekend, saying the nation has not always paid them proper respect.

In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said people can honor veterans by sending a letter or care package to troops overseas, volunteering at health clinics or taking supplies to a homeless veterans center. He said it could also mean something as simple as saying "thank you" to a veteran walking by on the street.

"We have a responsibility to serve all of them as well as they serve all of us," Obama said. "And yet, all too often in recent years and decades, …

Cangelosi happy Sox dealt him

Last place is last place?

Not if you're John Cangelosi, the White Sox outfielder who wastraded to the Pirates in spring training.

"We (the Pirates) are in last place but we have some talent anda positive outlook," Cangelosi said. "They stick with you here andtalk to you. The manager tells you whether he's pleased with you ornot.

"There's a good feeling in the locker room. Over there (Sox),it was like the Yankees. If you said something wrong. . . ."

Cangelosi's White Sox fate was sealed when Tony LaRussa wasfired and Jim Fregosi was named manager.

"I lost my confidence and he (Fregosi) got down on me,"Cangelosi said. "If I did do good, …

Oregon WWII vets honored by France

Three World War II veterans have been awarded the Legion of Honor by France for their military service.

The French consul general on Friday presented the award to 88-year-old Dale Reynolds of Lake Oswego, 84-year-old William Tankersley of Gold Beach and 87-year-old George Insley of Roseburg.

A fourth Oregon vet, Donald Malarkey of Salem, was out of the country but will also receive the honor.

Consul General Pierre-Francois Mourier declared each a knight of the Legion as he pinned the red ribbons and gold and white medals on their chests at the Portland Art Museum.

Insley flew more than 50 bombing missions. Tankersley was wounded three times as he fought across northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Reynolds was wounded twice as he fought in Lorient, Nantes and Saint-Nazaire.

___

Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

261 Killed, 10 Survive As Jet Crashes in Japan

NAGOYA, Japan A Taiwanese jet apparently trying to abort alanding crashed, exploded and burned beside an airport runway Tuesdaynight, killing 261 people. Ten people survived.

The crash of the China Airlines A300-600R Airbus was Japan'ssecond-worst aviation disaster.

Minutes before the crash, pilot Wang Lo-chi radioed that hewould abandon his landing attempt and try again, a Transport Ministryofficial said. The pilot gave no reason.

In his last tranmission, he said only: "Going around."

Survivor Sylvanie Betonio, a Philippine citizen, was quotedafter the crash by Fuji TV as saying passengers received no warningthat the plane was in trouble.

Flight 140 carried 256 passengers, including two infants - bothkilled - and 15 crew, bound from Taipei, Taiwan, to Nagoya. Mostwere from Japan or Taiwan.

The survivors, who included a 3-year-old boy, were criticallyinjured and were hospitalized. Officials said a Filipino, twoTaiwanese and seven Japanese survived. The boy's doctor, ToshioSugiyama, said the 3-year-old, Seiji Nakayama, was expected to live.

Witnesses told the Japan Broadcasting Corp. that the planeseemed be trying to climb out of an aborted landing when its rightwing hit the ground and the plane exploded.

Chang Tai-hsih, chief of the China Airlines branch in Japan, andothers discounted reports of engine trouble in Taipei before the1,180-mile flight to Nagoya.

About 3,000 police, firemen and troops lifted wreckage withcranes and searched by hand for bodies.

"When I got to the plane, it looked so bad that I thoughteveryone must have died. But then I heard a woman calling in painfor help and I called for a stretcher and we rescued her," saidTakahide Miyagi, an assistant fire chief.

The plane crashed several hundred yards to the right of therunway. Had it gone 200 yards more straight ahead, it would have hita housing area.

The jet ended up just short of hangars of an Air Self-DefenseForces base at the airport. The airmen's quick response was creditedwith saving lives.

Kenji Hayashi, airport manager for China Airlines, said thepassengers included 153 Japanese and 101 foreigners, many fromTaiwan. The two infants aboard were believed to be Japanese.

Fire official Yoshihito Horiba said many bodies were too badlymangled to identify even by age or gender. The bodies, wrapped inblankets, were placed in four large tents set up near the wreckage.

A spokesman for Airbus Industrie said the company plans to sendan investigative team to the site in Nagoya, 170 miles west of Tokyo.

The A300-600R, a twin-engine wide-body jet, has not beeninvolved in a crash before, but other A300 models have been involvedin six accidents.

Airport officials recovered a flight recorder Wednesday andbegan analyzing it for evidence.

US hopes China talks spur economic recovery, jobs

WASHINGTON _ With the global economy mired in recession, the United States and China begin talks Monday to seek a solution together despite tensions over currencies, the U.S. budget deficit and the huge U.S. trade gap with China.

Ultimately, how well the U.S. efforts succeed could help determine how fast the economy recovers and how many U.S. jobs might be created once it does.

Other issues, such as climate control and North Korean nuclear ambitions, also will command attention. Few expect the talks to bridge the sharp differences between Beijing and Washington. But both governments want to use the occasion to help build a less confrontational relationship.

Three years ago, Henry Paulson, then Treasury secretary, used the talks to press Beijing to let its currency, the yuan, rise in value against the dollar, to make it cheaper for Chinese to buy U.S. goods. U.S. manufacturers blame an undervalued yuan for record U.S. trade deficits with China _ and, in part, for a decline in U.S. jobs.

The U.S. efforts have yielded only mixed results. The yuan, after rising in value about 22 percent since 2005, has scarcely budged in the past year. Beijing had begun to fear that a stronger yuan could threaten its exports. Chinese exports already were under pressure from the global recession.

But the Obama administration intends to remain focused on the trade gap. It plans to stress at the talks Monday and Tuesday that China can't rely on U.S. consumers to pull the global economy out of recession this time. In part, that's because U.S. household savings rates are rising, shrinking consumer spending in this country.

"Perhaps the most important message we are going to have for the Chinese is that there has been a fundamental change in the U.S. economy," said a senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the meetings under rules that did not permit use of his name. "The U.S. economy is going to recover, but it is going to be a different type of recovery than what the Chinese have seen in the past."

For the United States, suffering from a 9.5 percent unemployment rate, the ultimate goal is to help put more Americans to work.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be co-leaders of the U.S. delegation, joined by their Chinese counterparts, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo.

The meeting will include officials from various U.S. departments and agencies and President Barack Obama will address the opening session.

The Chinese are bringing a delegation of 150 officials, one of the largest ever to visit the United States.

Giant lobster roll rolls into Portland, Maine

What could be the world's longest lobster roll turned out to be even longer than expected.

The giant sandwich unveiled Sunday during Maine's Old Port Festival in Portland measured 61 feet 9.5 inches (18.83 meters) _ more than a foot (30 centimeters) longer than organizers were aiming for. It also included a few extra pounds of lobster meat _ 48 pounds (21.77 kilograms) in all, plus four gallons (15 liters) of Miracle Whip and a special blend of herbs and seasonings.

A local roller derby team helped carry the sandwich to the festival, where it was cut into sections and sold to raise money for a youth association.

The association intends to get the roll certified by Guinness World Records.

NARAS president leaves on low note

For a group beset by controversy, Michael Greene's resignationover the weekend as president of the National Academy of RecordingArts & Sciences was long overdue.

During his 14-year reign as president, Greene, 52, a former saxplayer with Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, became one of themost powerful executives in the music business, credited with turningthe Grammys into a lucrative franchise on network TV. But he was alsoone of the most controversial.

Egotistical, abrasive, and condescending to anyone who dared toquestion him, Greene made headlines in recent years for much-publicized feuds with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas over Grammy events hosted in those cities.

Greene was a target of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by the LosAngeles Times that accused him of mishandling money earmarked forMusiCares, a charity that he initiated to help musicians withouthealth insurance. And in February, NARAS paid $650,000 to settle asuit filed against Greene by a former employee for sexual harassment.

The public face of a group with some 17,000 members, Greene wasprimarily known to music fans as the guy who always spoke too longduring the last half hour of the annual Grammy telecast. This year,he deviated from his vetted and preapproved speech to deliver apersonal diatribe about the evils of downloading music from the Net.

Greene leaves NARAS with an estimated severance of $8 million--anextraordinary figure that could fund many high school music programsand provide health care for a lot of indigent musicians, two ofNARAS' worthiest causes.

While none of the movers and shakers in the Chicago chapter, oneof the nation's most active, would speak on the record, someprivately defended Greene's salary and reputation by noting thatNARAS was a poorly organized group before he took charge, and hiscompensation was in line with that of any CEO who built a successfulnational corporation.

But Chicago insiders also grant-ed that it was time for Greene togo, because over the last few years, he seemed to be doing NARAS asmuch harm as good.

Formed by musicians and recording professionals in the mid-1950swith the mission of honoring artistic excellence, and structured likethe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (sponsors of theOscars), NARAS was a notoriously conservative group until the early1990s.

It ignored major rock artists such as Bob Dylan and the RollingStones through the '60s, when they were doing their finest work, andit remains overly susceptible to industry hypes at the expense oftruly innovative independent artists.

Greene made some strides in changing that. But more of the hardwork has been done by dedicated volunteers at the local level.

Under the stewardship of Central Region director Griff Morris andlocal members and trustees such as Neil Tesser, Steve "Silk" Hurley,Kurt Elling and Cathy Richardson, NARAS has reached out tounderground musicians in the city's indie-rock, house, hip-hop andjazz scenes. It has sponsored educational panels for local musiciansand high schoolers, and it launched the Local Heroes Awards to honorChicago greats.

Here's hoping that the next national president will care as muchabout music as the people at the grass-roots level, and that he orshe will use those qualities to provide the next logical step inNARAS' evolution.

Portuguese Football Standings

Standings Saturday in the Portuguese first-division football league:

GP W D L GF GA Pts

Benfica 15 11 3 1 39 9 36

Braga 15 11 3 1 21 6 36

FC Porto 14 9 2 3 27 11 29

Sporting 15 6 6 3 16 11 24

Nacional 15 7 3 5 22 26 24

Guimaraes 15 6 4 5 14 15 22

Leiria 14 5 5 4 17 13 20

Rio Ave 15 4 7 4 13 12 19

Maritimo 15 5 4 6 23 20 19

Naval 14 4 3 7 9 17 15

Pacos Ferreira 14 3 5 6 12 15 14

Academica 14 3 4 7 18 23 13

Setubal 14 3 2 9 7 27 11

Leixoes 15 2 5 8 13 26 11

Olhanense 14 1 7 6 11 21 10

Belenenses 14 1 7 6 7 17 10

FFA head says FIFA bid process frustrating

SYDNEY (AP) — The head of Football Federation Australia says allegations of widespread bribery to obtain the 2022 World Cup hosting rights meant "I could have stood on my head for 24 months and we still couldn't have got it."

FFA chairman Frank Lowy led Australia's bid for the 2022 hosting rights that cost Australian taxpayers about $45 million.

New allegations were disclosed to a British House of Commons committee that six FIFA officials offered to work as fixers for Qatar's bid to host the World Cup, suggesting that "huge bribes" be paid as part of a strategy to win the bidding rights.

Australia received only one vote and was eliminated in the first round. Qatar went on to beat the United States 14-8 in fourth-round voting.

England's 2018 bid received two votes, with Russia going on to win the right to host in 2018.

"Out of the 44 votes for the two World Cups, Australia, England and America received (a total of) four votes," Lowy told The Australian newspaper Thursday.

"So we were in good company. We had taken precautions before we started the process on who will be in the competition. With China not in, it was one of the conditions why we moved forward. Had they been in, we would certainly have had second thoughts (of pressing ahead)."

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Wednesday that Australia had worked "long and hard" on its bid.

"We were very disappointed," she said. "We put in a bid which was impressive and we pursued that bid in an ethical and impressive way."

Asked whether she would pursue a new vote, Gillard said: "Ultimately this is a question that needs to be directed to FIFA the governing body."

FIFA has said there was no chance the vote for the hosting rights would be held again.

First step for future scholars: Area schools host visits from next years

Many elementary schools across Kanawha County opened their doorsto parents for kindergarten registration last week. A number ofelementary schools will continue the kindergarten round up or sign-ups this week. As part of the registration process, J.E. RobinsElementary Principal Henry Nearman allowed parents and communitymembers to tour his school and see some recently completed upgrades.Some of the improvements to the West Side area school include a newsecurity system and a renovated gymnasium and cafeteria area.

Eula Rollins reads a story to her granddaughter, Sariya Rollins,4, while they wait in the hallway of J.E. Robins Elementary Schoolfor kindergarten sign ups. The elementary school held itskindergarten registration last week.

J.E. Robins Principal Henry Nearman shows off renovations to theschools gym and cafeteria. As part of the kindergarten sign ups often referred to as a round up Nearman allowed parents to tour theschool and its recently completed improvements.

Secretary Bethe Dailey lets her grandson, Viktor Caven Dailey, 5,help her with some office work. Viktor will be attending kindergartenat the West Side area elementary school next year.

Henry Moore, 4, of Charleston, wears special glasses that blockone eye while he takes a vision test at the school.

Pending EU deal to take Iran group off terror list

European Union diplomats have reached tentative agreement to remove an Iranian opposition group from the 27-nation bloc's list of terrorist organizations, officials said Friday.

A final decision on the status of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran is up to the EU foreign ministers, who meet Monday, said a diplomat who asked not to be named in line with standing practice.

Another official dealing with the matter confirmed that the panel of EU ambassadors had agreed to recommend that the group be removed despite protests by Iran, where the Mujahedeen are an illegal opposition group.

The move could further complicate EU relations with Tehran at a time when the two sides are negotiating on that nation's nuclear program, which the European Union and the United States fear is being used to build atomic weapons.

The Mujahedeen have been on the U.S. State Department's terror list since the mid-1990s.

They were placed on the EU list in 2002. If the foreign ministers agree to remove the Paris-based group, it will be the first time an organization has been "de-listed" by the EU.

The European Court of Justice has repeatedly ruled that EU governments have failed to prove the group is a terrorist outfit.

The People's Mujahedeen, known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, is the military wing of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is based in Paris. The council said it is dedicated to a democratic secular government in Iran.

It was founded in Iran in the 1960s and helped followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrow U.S.-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979.

But the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq fell out with Khomeini, and thousands of its followers were killed, imprisoned or forced into exile.

The group insists that its terrorist designation is unfair, saying it renounced violence in 2001 and hasn't kept any arms since 2003.

The group had established a camp for about 3,500 members in Iraq, which its forces used to launch cross-border attacks into Iran. After U.S.-led forces overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003, American troops removed the group's weapons and confined its fighters to the camp.

Although the U.S. has branded the group a terrorist organization, Washington does not want its members deported to Iran. However, the Iraqis have been unable to find a third country to take them in.

Iraq has controlled the camp since Jan. 1, but U.S. troops are still there watching over the camp.

Zach Johnson wins Texas Open

Zach Johnson found his putting touch in time for a season-salvaging victory in the Texas Open.

"I've been working on my putting over the last six weeks with my teachers and it really paid off this week," Johnson said. "I had a tough year, but the putts started to fall into today and that why I'm at the top of the leaderboard."

The 2007 Masters champion who entered the week with only one top-10 finish this year, Johnson followed his third-round 62 with a 64 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory over Charlie Wi (61), Mark Wilson (63) and Tim Wilkinson (64).

The win in the Fall Series event, capped by a 5-foot birdie putt on 18, was his first on the PGA Tour outside Georgia. In addition to the Masters, he won the 2004 BellSouth Classic and 2007 AT&T Classic.

"This week I was just concentrating on the process not the outcome," Johnson said. "I had six weeks off this fall (after not qualifying for the FedEx Cup playoffs) and I just rededicated myself to getting back to what I used to do."

Wi parred the final two holes.

"I didn't look at the scoreboard until I got to the 15th hole. I knew Zach was close, but I was playing very good," Wi said. "I was very happy to make those birdies on 15 and 16. I wish I could have made one more."

Third-round leader Rory Sabbatini shot a 72 to finish seven strokes back at 12 under.

Johnson never trailed on the back nine, but both Wi and Wilkinson keep the pressure on with birdies putts of their own. On the par-4 18th hole, Johnson hit his drive more than 300 yards and put his 9-iron approach to 5 feet.

"I'm not proud of many shots, but I was proud of that one," Johnson said.

The ensuing walk up the 18th fairway was a filled with smiles and waves for the crowd, while his wife and young son waited behind the green.

"Hopefully this is the first of many to come," Johnson said.

(This version CORRECTS SUBS 4th graf to correct to "Fall" sted "Falls.")

Jones, Stroger group demands jobs facility here

Fed up with complaints from both Black and Hispanic unemployed workers who are demanding a piece of the contractual pie, Senate President Emil Jones Jr., and a multiracial coalition on Tuesday demanded that unions build a jobs skill center in Chicago.

Jones was joined at a press conference at the James R. Thompson Center by Cook County Board President John H. Stroger Jr.; Comms. Bobbie Steele and Deborah Sims; Senators Rickey Hendon (D-5th); Miguel del Valle (D-2nd), Mattie Hunter (D-3rd) and James C. Meeks (D-15th); Rep. Monique D. Davis (D-27th); Alds. Ed Smith (28th), Todd Stroger (8th), Walter Burnett (27th), Leslie Hairston (5th), Anthony Beale (9th); Rep. Arthur Turner (D-9th) and many others.

Jones vowed to "fix" this "obvious disconnect" between elected officials approving contracts and the lack of diversity in the construction and trade skills industry.

Agreeing was Stroger who said: "It is important for the unions to build a jobs training center in Chicago to make the school accessible to Hispanics and Blacks who live within the city.

"When the unions moved the jobs training center out of Chicago, it sent a message to young Blacks and Hispanics that there was no room for them" in this industry, Stroger said.

Like Jones, Hairston and Davis, Stroger said he too is opposed to Blacks getting contracts and then subletting to white firms that hire their own people.

"African Americans who are getting contracts should try to make jobs available to young African Americans" so they too can grow economically as apprentices in the trade, Stroger said.

Ironically, the demand for job and contract fairness comes on the eve of a City Hall protest by the Workship Coalition which is demanding an investigation into front firms and pass-through companies.

Davis said her coalition's purpose in uniting "is to improve the economic opportunities of African American people who have been totally shut out of the job market."

Referring to several major public works projects including the Dan Ryan, Davis said there is a paucity of Black workers. She too is opposed to Black contractors subletting to white firms that don't hire African Americans.

Jones laid out his argument for a Chicago-based jobs skills center saying there are about 20 unions that are a part of the Cook County Building Trades and explained that there are 9 million people who are employed in the overall construction industry in the U.S.

There are 6.1 million employed in the construction trades of whom 431,000, or 7 percent, are African Americans, and 1 million employees work as construction laborers in the nation.

Hispanics number 1 million in the construction trades, and they represent 16.4 percent of those in the construction trades. There are 480,418 Illinois workers in construction, extraction and maintenance occupations, and 80,245 who work in construction extraction and maintenance occupations in Chicago.

"Where is the disconnect? The Minority Business Enterprise contracts are not translating into training, job opportunities, and union membership for minority constituents in Illinois," said Jones.

Another key piece to solving this disparity is demanding diversity. Jones said: "We have to deal with the problem of our people getting into the skills union.

"We want to have a Washburne training facility with the union involvement so our young people can get into these unions...so they can become gainfully employed.

"We're demanding that the unions have a facility in Chicago so our young people can have access" to this skills program, said Jones.

"We've met with the unions from the Cook County Building Trades who don't want to come to" Chicago with such a program, Jones said. "We are demanding this."

Article copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

Photograph (John Stroger and Emil Jones)

Warriors Snap Mavs' 17-Game Win Streak

OAKLAND, Calif. - Mickael Pietrus scored 20 points and the Golden State Warriors emphatically snapped the Dallas Mavericks' 17-game winning streak, dominating the league leaders throughout a 117-100 victory Monday night.

The seventh-longest winning streak in NBA history ended with the Warriors' fourth straight win over the defending Western Conference champions - and shockingly, it wasn't even close.

Dirk Nowitzki scored just 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting, made seven turnovers and got a technical foul while sitting on the bench for the Mavericks (52-10), who hadn't lost since Jan. 25 at Chicago.

Jason Terry scored 16 points, but Dallas never was competitive in just its third loss in three months. Eight players scored at least eight points for Golden State, including 16 apiece from Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Andris Biedrins and Jason Richardson.

The Mavs beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 36 points Sunday night to improve to 38-2 since Dec. 11, but played awful defense against the Warriors' up-tempo offense while falling behind by 17 in the first half and 29 in the third quarter.

The Mavericks are the first club in NBA history with three winning streaks of 12 games or longer in the same season, but they'll have to start another one Wednesday night in a showdown with Phoenix, which also won 17 straight earlier this year.

Daimler says January auto sales rise 16 percent in January

Automaker Daimler AG said Wednesday that sales of its Mercedes-Benz cars helped the company increase global sales by 16 percent in January from the same time last year.

The Stuttgart-based maker of Mercedes-Benz, AMG, Maybach and Smart said it sold a record 90,400 cars last month compared with 77,700 sold in January 2007.

By brand, the company said it sold 82,300 Mercedes cars in January, up 12 percent from the 73,500 sold a year earlier, led by demand for its C-Class sedan and station wagon models. Demand was strong in the United States, where sales rose 7 percent to 18,300 cars from 17,100 in 2007. In Asia, Mercedes-Benz sales rose 19 percent to 11,700 cars. In Germany, the company's home market, sales were up 13 percent to 15,500 cars.

Sales of the Smart fortwo more than doubled to 8,000 sold compared with 3,400 in January 2007. The increase came as the company started selling the two-seater in the U.S. last month for the first time.

Shares of Daimler fell 1.2 percent to euro50.63 in Frankfurt.

___

On the Net:

http://www.daimler.com

Civilian to Head Canada's Mounties

OTTAWA - Canada named a former government security adviser Friday to head the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the first time a civilian has held the post.

William Elliott replaces Giuliano Zaccardelli, who resigned amid criticism in the handling of a terror investigation.

Elliott served as a security adviser to Canada's last two prime ministers. He has been a top official in the Public Safety Department and was on the front lines of the country's response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"He knows what it is to be in a position of extreme crisis and keep a cool head," Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Friday.

The appointment of Elliott, who has never been a police officer, represented a sharp break with a tradition that called for the RCMP commissioner to be promoted from within the ranks of the national force.

Zaccardelli stepped down in December as a parliamentary committee looked into a U.S. terror investigation of a Syrian-Canadian.

An earlier judicial inquiry concluded that U.S. authorities acted on bad information from the RCMP when they detained Maher Arar and then shipped him to Syria in 2002, where he was tortured and falsely confessed to terrorist involvement. He was released in 2003 and has been cleared of any terrorist connections.

A recent federal government report also linked Zaccardelli to the mishandling of the RCMP's pension and insurance fund.

Special investigator David Brown has concluded high-ranking Mounties covered up problems in the administration of the pension and insurance fund.

The government ruled out a full-blown inquiry, instead concluding the force needs an overhauled and modernized management structure and likely a civilian oversight body.

Elliott said civilian oversight of the national police force needs to be strengthened. "I think it's broadly recognized that the mechanisms currently in place are not adequate and improvements have to be made."

Elliott told a news conference that he understands the importance of separating politics from police work.

"There is no doubt that the independence of the RCMP and of the police in a democratic country is absolutely essential and I will certainly guard that ground with vigor."

Shuttle Discovery crew glad to be back on ground

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday and capped a successful expansion job at the international space station, more spacious and robust thanks to a new billion-dollar science lab.

The shuttle descended through a few puffy clouds and landed at 11:15 a.m., under the control of commander Mark Kelly.

Two hours later, all the astronauts _ including Garrett Reisman, looking remarkably fresh and fit after 95 days in space _ walked out, shook hands with NASA's senior managers and admired the ship that safely brought them home.

At a news conference later in the day, a first for an astronaut returning from a long space mission, Reisman said he felt better than he expected and attributed that, in large part, to being short. His sensory organs are closer to his center of gravity and his heart is closer to his brain for pumping blood, and he believes that may be why he didn't suffer the typical balance problems.

"I think maybe we're on to something here. We need to get more short people in the astronaut office," Reisman said, laughing. "I'm happy that it's finally come in handy for something other than limbo contests."

While still in orbit, Reisman described in quite romantic terms how much he missed his wife, Simone Francis _ "my favorite Earthling." Their reunion, he said, was "everything I was hoping for."

"She got a haircut, actually, while I was gone and so I hesitated for a moment as soon as the doors to the elevator opened and I saw her," Reisman told reporters. "But it was fantastic and it was a very tender moment when I got a chance to go over and hold her again."

Discovery's flight spanned 14 days, 217 orbits and 5.7 million miles, and was described by NASA as being about as smooth as it gets.

"It's great to be here on the runway in sunny Florida," Kelly said after exiting the shuttle. "It was really an exciting mission."

Kelly and his crew accomplished everything they set out to do in orbit. They delivered and installed Japan's Kibo lab, now the space station's biggest room and most sophisticated science workshop, and dropped off a new pump that the two Russians on board used to fix their toilet.

The space station also got a new American resident who took Reisman's place.

NASA's associate administrator, Christopher Scolese, reveled in the "outstanding" successes of the past month: landing a spacecraft on Mars and scooping up dirt, and seeing the space station grow and "looking really like a space station," with the Discovery crew's help. The space agency also launched a telescope into orbit last week to search the universe for elusive gamma rays.

Although the mission itself unfolded almost flawlessly, Discovery left behind a battered launch pad on May 31. Some 5,300 bricks flew off the flame trench when Discovery blasted away, most likely because they were not attached properly to the underlying concrete wall when the pad was built in the 1960s for the Apollo moon shots.

NASA managers are confident the launch pad can be fixed in time for the next shuttle flight in October, by Atlantis to the Hubble Space Telescope.

The next time a shuttle flies to the space station, now three-quarters complete, isn't until November. That's because NASA needs to have a shuttle ready to rush to Atlantis' aid in case of serious damage to its thermal shielding. Atlantis' astronauts will not be able to get from Hubble to the space station for shelter.

NASA had no such rescue plan in place when Columbia took off in 2003 on a solo-flying research mission. In any event, mission managers had no idea Columbia's left wing was severely damaged at liftoff, and the shuttle shattered during re-entry. All seven on board were killed.

Shades of Columbia briefly surfaced Friday when Discovery's astronauts spotted something floating away from their spaceship. It turned out to be a little metal clip that broke off the rudder, and engineers ascertained within just four hours that its absence posed no danger for Discovery's re-entry.

The three space station residents watched Discovery's smooth landing on live TV transmitted from Mission Control. Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff, who's just starting a six-month mission, called it "an awesome sight."

"Before you know it, you'll be catching your own ride home," Mission Control said.

Ten shuttle flights remain before the fleet is retired in 2010, all but one to the space station.

Launch director Mike Leinbach said he's encouraging his team to take time off this summer, since there are no flights, and rest up for a busy fall. The shuttle work force finds itself in the unusual position of scheduling summer vacations and actually being able to take them on time, he said.

"It's a good feeling for us," Leinbach said, smiling.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

Warren, Sutherland take lead in front of record opening-day FBR crowd

Charles Warren and Kevin Sutherland shared a one-stroke lead in front of a record opening-round crowd of 83,657 at the FBR Open on a crisp, clear Thursday.

Phil Mickelson overcame a pair of early bogeys on par-5 holes and was in a group of 12 three shots back at 3-under 68 on the 7,216-yard desert layout.

Warren played a bogey-free round of 6-under 65 early in the day, then Sutherland birdied the final two holes, the last with a 24-foot putt, in the twilight.

Brian Gay and Camilo Villegas were one shot back at 5-under 66.

Twenty-four players were still on the course at 5:58 p.m. when play was suspended because of darkness, including Nick O'Hern, who was 5 under through 14 holes.

Six were two shots behind at 4-under 67, and another two were still on the course at 4 under.

The chilly weather didn't stop revelers from streaming to the most raucous stop on the U.S. PGA Tour.

Crowds should only get bigger until peaking on Saturday, when more than 150,000 are expected. Partly because of the thousands in town for the Super Bowl, tournament officials say there's a good chance that overall attendance will top the record of 536,767 set in 2006.

The start of the tournament was delayed for 30 minutes because of frost on the TPC layout in north Scottsdale, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the site of Sunday's Super Bowl. It was 35 degrees (2 degrees C) when the first group finally teed off at 8:10 a.m.

Gay, in the third group to start, used a hand warmer and wore mittens between shots on the first few holes.

"It was freezing this morning," he said. "Being a Florida guy, I don't like the cold very much. My fingers were a little numb, toes were a little numb, but I hung in there early and kept the momentum going."

Sutherland, the 2002 World Match Play champion, broke his 9-iron swinging it into a cactus. He played the back nine first, and broke the club on the 13th hole.

After his ball landed near the cactus, he got permission from an official to wrap a towel around his leg to keep from being stuck by the cactus on the follow-through. He never thought the club would break, though.

Sutherland and his caddie put in a call to their Ping representative, and the Phoenix-based company had one for him six holes later.

"I used it on the ninth hole and made birdie," he said.

Warren has never won on the tour. His best finish was second at last year's Reno-Tahoe Open. He played in the same group as the colorful Villegas, a Colombian hearthrob known as "Spiderman" for the way he sprawls on the green to line up putts.

"As soon as I knew I had drawn him, I definitely knew that we would probably have a decent sized gallery following us," Warren said. "He seems to bring all the young people out, that's for sure."

Villegas has two second-place tour finishes, one of them as a tour rookie at the FBR Open in 2006.

Villegas said a golfer has to tune out all that's going on around him to succeed in the tournament's party atmosphere.

"Well, there's a lot going on outside the ropes, like everybody knows," he said, "and you're going to get good comments and you're going to get bad comments. The fans have been awesome to me the last two times I've played here. But you've got to have hard skin because the bad comments are going to sneak over there."

Villegas' tee shot on No. 11 came within inches of the water and required drastic measures to hit it out of there.

"I had to take my shoes off, hop in there, and I can tell you that water was cold," he said. "I managed to get it close to the green and a good up-and-down for par."

Mickelson, a two-time winner of the tournament who missed the cut last year, played the back nine first. He hit his tee shot into the water on the par-5, 595-yard 13th en route to a bogey, then bogeyed the par-5, 552-yard 15th, too.

"I'll certainly take 3 under because after the start, it was looking like I could shoot myself right out of it," he said. "Now at least if I have a good round tomorrow I can get right back on top of the leaderboard."

NEW REPORT: INCREASED PROTECTION URGENTLY NEEDED FOR TUNAS.

GLAND, Switzerland / Wash. DC, U.S. -- The following information was released by Conservation International (CI):

Global Assessment Warns of "Serious" Situation For World's Wild Tuna Stocks; 5 of 8 Species Now Threatened or Near Threatened with Extinction

For the first time, all species of scombrids (tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels) and billfishes (swordfish and marlins) have been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesa,cents. Of the 61 known species, seven are classified in a threatened category, being at serious risk of extinction. Four species are listed as Near Threatened and nearly two-thirds have been placed in the Least Concern category.

The results show that the situation is particularly serious for tunas. Five of the eight species of tuna are in the threatened or Near Threatened IUCN Red List Categories. These include: Southern Bluefin (Thunnus maccoyii), Critically Endangered; Atlantic Bluefin (T. thynnus), Endangered; Bigeye (T. obesus), Vulnerable; Yellowfin (T. albacares), Near Threatened; and Albacore (T. alalunga), Near Threatened.

This new information will be invaluable in helping governments make decisions which will safeguard the future of these species, many of which are of extremely high economic value, and is a timely input for the 3rd Joint Meeting of the Tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RMFO) being held in La Jolla, California, July 11-15.

These assessments are a part of the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) project, a joint initiative of IUCN and Conservation International. Since its inception in 2005, the GMSA mission has been to provide more than 20,000 marine species assessments for inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

"This is the first time that fishery scientists, ichthyologists and conservationists have come together to jointly produce an assessment of the threats facing a commercially important group of fishes," says Dr Bruce B. Collette, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's (SSC) Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group, Senior Scientist of the U.S National Marine Fisheries Service, and lead author of the paper.

There is growing concern that in spite of the healthy status of several epipelagic fish stocks (those living near the surface), some scombrid and billfish species are being heavily overfished, and there is a lack of resolve to protect against overexploitation driven by high prices. Many populations are exploited by multinational fisheries whose regulation, from a political perspective, is exceedingly difficult.

"All three bluefin tuna species are susceptible to collapse under continued excessive fishing pressure. The Southern Bluefin has already essentially crashed, with little hope of recovery," says Dr Kent Carpenter, Professor at Old Dominion University, manager of IUCN's Marine Biodiversity Unit and an author of the paper. "If no changes are made to current fishing practices, the western Atlantic Bluefin stocks are at risk of collapse as they are showing little sign that the population is rebuilding following a significant reduction in the 1970s."

Three species of billfishes are in threatened or Near Threatened categories: Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans), Vulnerable; White Marlin (Kajikia albida), Vulnerable; and Striped Marlin (Kajikia audax), Near Threatened.

Most of the long-lived economically valuable species are considered threatened. They mature later than short-lived species and their reproductive turnover is longer, and as such recovery from population declines takes more time. As these scombrids and billfishes are at the top of the pelagic food web, population reductions of these predators may cause significant negative effects on other species that are critical to the balance of the marine ecosystem and that are economically important as a source of food.

The future of threatened scombrids and billfishes rests on the ability of RFMOs and fishing nations to properly manage these species. Southern and Atlantic Bluefin populations have been so reduced that the most efficient way to avoid collapse is to shut down the fisheries until stocks are rebuilt to healthy levels. However, this would cause substantial economic hardship and hinder the ability of RFMOs to control fishing because of the increased incentive for illegal fishing that would be created under these circumstances.

"Temporarily shutting down tuna fisheries would only be a part of a much needed recovery programme. In order to prevent illegal fishing, strong deterrents need to be implemented," says Jean-Christophe Vie, Deputy Director, IUCN's Global Species Programme. "This new study shows that there is an urgent need for effective management. Scientific findings should not be discarded in order to maintain short-term profit. Marine life and jobs for future generations are both at stake."

"This study is a wake-up call for the international organizations responsible for the management of tuna stocks", said Dr. Andrew Rosenberg Chief Scientist for Conservation International. "The fact that several stocks of high value species like bluefin tuna have become threatened or are now in danger of extinction while under international management means that we must do a better job of protecting our ocean resources."

The recovery of fish stocks is possible through reducing fishing-induced mortality rates to well below the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), as shown in the case of the highly valued eastern population of the Atlantic Bluefin. Recently exploited at three times the MSY, a decrease in the total allowable catch and stricter monitoring and compliance measures have led to recent catch reductions of almost 75% over the past few years. This will enable the species to recover to sustainable levels as long as the current fishing controls are maintained.

Notes to editors

Copies of the Science paper "High Value and Long-Lived: Double Jeopardy for Tuna and Billfishes" may be obtained from the AAAS Office of Public Programs.

Please contact +1-202-326-6440 or scipack@aaas.org

For further information, please contact:

Kevin Connor, Media Manager, CI, +1 703 341 2405

Lynne Labanne, Species Programme Communications Officer, IUCN, t +41 22 999 0153,

m +41 79 527 7221, e lynne.labanne@iucn.org

Kathryn Pintus, Species Programme Communications, IUCN, t +41 22 999 0154,

e kathryn.pintus@iucn.org

For high resolution photos please contact: lynne.labanne@iucn.org or Kathryn.pintus@iucn.org

The tuna and billfish assessments

The tuna and billfish assessments are a part of the Global Marine Species Assessment's mission to complete more than 20,000 marine species assessments for inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Global Marine Species Assessment Unit (GMSA), or Marine Biodiversity Unit, is a joint initiative of IUCN and Conservation International. The GMSA is headquartered in the Department of Biology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and is largely enabled by the generous support of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Tom Haas.

To complete the tuna and billfish IUCN Red List assessments, the GMSA collaborated with a wide diversity of international scientists who represent Fisheries Management Organizations, international conservation organizations; government agencies, universities, and independent fisheries research institutions. IUCN Red List Workshops and finalization of results for tunas and billfishes were made possible by the generous support of Tom Haas and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Conservation International, Lenfest Ocean Program, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, International Game Fish Association, Instituto Chico Mendes de ConservaAs.ao da Biodiversidade, Academia Sinica, Taiwan Marine National Park Headquarters, Instituto del Mar del PerA*, and CIMAR- University of Costa Rica.

Complete results of the tuna and billfish species assessments will be published on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in November 2011. As of July 7, 2011, draft assessments can be found at: http://sci.odu.edu/gmsa/about/tunas_billfishes.shtml

The IUCN Red List threat categories

The IUCN Red List threat categories are as follows:

Extinct or Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable: species threatened with global extinction

Near Threatened: species close to the threatened thresholds or that would be threatened without ongoing specific conservation measures

Least Concern: species evaluated with a lower risk of extinction

Data Deficient: no assessment because of insufficient data

Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct): this is not a new IUCN Red List Category, but is a flag developed to identify those Critically Endangered species that are in all probability already Extinct but for which confirmation is required, for example, through more extensive surveys being carried out and failing to find any individuals.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesa,cents

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesa,cents (or the IUCN Red List) is the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant, fungi and animal species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be taken.

Species are assigned to one of eight categories of threat based on whether they meet criteria linked to population trend, population size and structure and geographic range. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as "Threatened'.

The IUCN Red List is not just a register of names and associated threat categories. It is a rich compendium of information on the threats to the species, their ecological requirements, where they live, and information on conservation actions that can be used to reduce or prevent extinctions.

The IUCN Red List is a joint effort between IUCN and its Species Survival Commission, working with its Red List partners BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas AandM University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.

About IUCN

IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

The world's oldest and largest global environmental network, IUCN is a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists and experts in some 160 countries. IUCN's work is supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. IUCN's headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.

www.iucn.org

About the Species Survival Commission

The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN's six volunteer commissions with a global membership of around 7500 experts. SSC advises IUCN and its members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species conservation, and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. SSC has significant input into the international agreements dealing with biodiversity conservation.

About Conservation International

Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, Conservation International empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in 1987, CI has headquarters in the Washington, DC area, and nearly 900 employees working in more than 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners around the world. For more information, visit www.conservation.org and follow us on Twitter: @ConservationOrg or Facebook: www.facebook.com/conservation.intl

About Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University is Virginia's forward-focused, public doctoral research university for high-performing students from around the world. The university has 26 research centers and a total enrollment of 24,000 students.

http://www.odu.edu

About Lenfest Ocean Program

The Lenfest Ocean Program supports scientific research aimed at forging solutions to the challenges facing the global marine environment. The program was established in 2004 by the Lenfest Foundation and is managed by the Pew Environment Group.

NEW REPORT: INCREASED PROTECTION URGENTLY NEEDED FOR TUNAS.

GLAND, Switzerland / Wash. DC, U.S. -- The following information was released by Conservation International (CI):

Global Assessment Warns of "Serious" Situation For World's Wild Tuna Stocks; 5 of 8 Species Now Threatened or Near Threatened with Extinction

For the first time, all species of scombrids (tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels) and billfishes (swordfish and marlins) have been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesa,cents. Of the 61 known species, seven are classified in a threatened category, being at serious risk of extinction. Four species are listed as Near Threatened and nearly two-thirds have been placed in the Least Concern category.

The results show that the situation is particularly serious for tunas. Five of the eight species of tuna are in the threatened or Near Threatened IUCN Red List Categories. These include: Southern Bluefin (Thunnus maccoyii), Critically Endangered; Atlantic Bluefin (T. thynnus), Endangered; Bigeye (T. obesus), Vulnerable; Yellowfin (T. albacares), Near Threatened; and Albacore (T. alalunga), Near Threatened.

This new information will be invaluable in helping governments make decisions which will safeguard the future of these species, many of which are of extremely high economic value, and is a timely input for the 3rd Joint Meeting of the Tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RMFO) being held in La Jolla, California, July 11-15.

These assessments are a part of the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) project, a joint initiative of IUCN and Conservation International. Since its inception in 2005, the GMSA mission has been to provide more than 20,000 marine species assessments for inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

"This is the first time that fishery scientists, ichthyologists and conservationists have come together to jointly produce an assessment of the threats facing a commercially important group of fishes," says Dr Bruce B. Collette, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's (SSC) Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group, Senior Scientist of the U.S National Marine Fisheries Service, and lead author of the paper.

There is growing concern that in spite of the healthy status of several epipelagic fish stocks (those living near the surface), some scombrid and billfish species are being heavily overfished, and there is a lack of resolve to protect against overexploitation driven by high prices. Many populations are exploited by multinational fisheries whose regulation, from a political perspective, is exceedingly difficult.

"All three bluefin tuna species are susceptible to collapse under continued excessive fishing pressure. The Southern Bluefin has already essentially crashed, with little hope of recovery," says Dr Kent Carpenter, Professor at Old Dominion University, manager of IUCN's Marine Biodiversity Unit and an author of the paper. "If no changes are made to current fishing practices, the western Atlantic Bluefin stocks are at risk of collapse as they are showing little sign that the population is rebuilding following a significant reduction in the 1970s."

Three species of billfishes are in threatened or Near Threatened categories: Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans), Vulnerable; White Marlin (Kajikia albida), Vulnerable; and Striped Marlin (Kajikia audax), Near Threatened.

Most of the long-lived economically valuable species are considered threatened. They mature later than short-lived species and their reproductive turnover is longer, and as such recovery from population declines takes more time. As these scombrids and billfishes are at the top of the pelagic food web, population reductions of these predators may cause significant negative effects on other species that are critical to the balance of the marine ecosystem and that are economically important as a source of food.

The future of threatened scombrids and billfishes rests on the ability of RFMOs and fishing nations to properly manage these species. Southern and Atlantic Bluefin populations have been so reduced that the most efficient way to avoid collapse is to shut down the fisheries until stocks are rebuilt to healthy levels. However, this would cause substantial economic hardship and hinder the ability of RFMOs to control fishing because of the increased incentive for illegal fishing that would be created under these circumstances.

"Temporarily shutting down tuna fisheries would only be a part of a much needed recovery programme. In order to prevent illegal fishing, strong deterrents need to be implemented," says Jean-Christophe Vie, Deputy Director, IUCN's Global Species Programme. "This new study shows that there is an urgent need for effective management. Scientific findings should not be discarded in order to maintain short-term profit. Marine life and jobs for future generations are both at stake."

"This study is a wake-up call for the international organizations responsible for the management of tuna stocks", said Dr. Andrew Rosenberg Chief Scientist for Conservation International. "The fact that several stocks of high value species like bluefin tuna have become threatened or are now in danger of extinction while under international management means that we must do a better job of protecting our ocean resources."

The recovery of fish stocks is possible through reducing fishing-induced mortality rates to well below the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), as shown in the case of the highly valued eastern population of the Atlantic Bluefin. Recently exploited at three times the MSY, a decrease in the total allowable catch and stricter monitoring and compliance measures have led to recent catch reductions of almost 75% over the past few years. This will enable the species to recover to sustainable levels as long as the current fishing controls are maintained.

Notes to editors

Copies of the Science paper "High Value and Long-Lived: Double Jeopardy for Tuna and Billfishes" may be obtained from the AAAS Office of Public Programs.

Please contact +1-202-326-6440 or scipack@aaas.org

For further information, please contact:

Kevin Connor, Media Manager, CI, +1 703 341 2405

Lynne Labanne, Species Programme Communications Officer, IUCN, t +41 22 999 0153,

m +41 79 527 7221, e lynne.labanne@iucn.org

Kathryn Pintus, Species Programme Communications, IUCN, t +41 22 999 0154,

e kathryn.pintus@iucn.org

For high resolution photos please contact: lynne.labanne@iucn.org or Kathryn.pintus@iucn.org

The tuna and billfish assessments

The tuna and billfish assessments are a part of the Global Marine Species Assessment's mission to complete more than 20,000 marine species assessments for inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Global Marine Species Assessment Unit (GMSA), or Marine Biodiversity Unit, is a joint initiative of IUCN and Conservation International. The GMSA is headquartered in the Department of Biology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and is largely enabled by the generous support of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Tom Haas.

To complete the tuna and billfish IUCN Red List assessments, the GMSA collaborated with a wide diversity of international scientists who represent Fisheries Management Organizations, international conservation organizations; government agencies, universities, and independent fisheries research institutions. IUCN Red List Workshops and finalization of results for tunas and billfishes were made possible by the generous support of Tom Haas and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Conservation International, Lenfest Ocean Program, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, International Game Fish Association, Instituto Chico Mendes de ConservaAs.ao da Biodiversidade, Academia Sinica, Taiwan Marine National Park Headquarters, Instituto del Mar del PerA*, and CIMAR- University of Costa Rica.

Complete results of the tuna and billfish species assessments will be published on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in November 2011. As of July 7, 2011, draft assessments can be found at: http://sci.odu.edu/gmsa/about/tunas_billfishes.shtml

The IUCN Red List threat categories

The IUCN Red List threat categories are as follows:

Extinct or Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable: species threatened with global extinction

Near Threatened: species close to the threatened thresholds or that would be threatened without ongoing specific conservation measures

Least Concern: species evaluated with a lower risk of extinction

Data Deficient: no assessment because of insufficient data

Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct): this is not a new IUCN Red List Category, but is a flag developed to identify those Critically Endangered species that are in all probability already Extinct but for which confirmation is required, for example, through more extensive surveys being carried out and failing to find any individuals.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesa,cents

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesa,cents (or the IUCN Red List) is the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant, fungi and animal species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be taken.

Species are assigned to one of eight categories of threat based on whether they meet criteria linked to population trend, population size and structure and geographic range. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as "Threatened'.

The IUCN Red List is not just a register of names and associated threat categories. It is a rich compendium of information on the threats to the species, their ecological requirements, where they live, and information on conservation actions that can be used to reduce or prevent extinctions.

The IUCN Red List is a joint effort between IUCN and its Species Survival Commission, working with its Red List partners BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas AandM University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.

About IUCN

IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

The world's oldest and largest global environmental network, IUCN is a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists and experts in some 160 countries. IUCN's work is supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. IUCN's headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.

www.iucn.org

About the Species Survival Commission

The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN's six volunteer commissions with a global membership of around 7500 experts. SSC advises IUCN and its members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species conservation, and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. SSC has significant input into the international agreements dealing with biodiversity conservation.

About Conservation International

Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, Conservation International empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in 1987, CI has headquarters in the Washington, DC area, and nearly 900 employees working in more than 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners around the world. For more information, visit www.conservation.org and follow us on Twitter: @ConservationOrg or Facebook: www.facebook.com/conservation.intl

About Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University is Virginia's forward-focused, public doctoral research university for high-performing students from around the world. The university has 26 research centers and a total enrollment of 24,000 students.

http://www.odu.edu

About Lenfest Ocean Program

The Lenfest Ocean Program supports scientific research aimed at forging solutions to the challenges facing the global marine environment. The program was established in 2004 by the Lenfest Foundation and is managed by the Pew Environment Group.

Women are proving themselves in Athens merican women aren't the only ones movin' on up.

What a difference a millennium -- or two-and-change -- makes.

Consider the status of women in Greece during the ancientOlympics. Those august competitions began with a foot race of 200meters in 776 B.C. At the height of Greece's so-called Golden Age,all women, of course, were barred from participation. Married womenwere even barred as spectators.

The wealthy stags who came to watch younger males compete in thenude, fully anointed and gleaming with oil, brought their unmarrieddaughters along in a bizarre ritual related to husband-hunting.Single beauties could point and say, "Papa, I like this specimen."But even then, the maidens were privy only to sloppy …

Citadel of trauma: the untold story of The Citadel's first Black graduate.(Cover Story)

"Those four years made him a completely different person -- no doubt about it. Charles was intense after he graduated. You could really tell when he talked, especially when he was making a point. His demeanor had changed. I'm sure something happened and it was so traumatic...he refused to talk about it." -- Bill Foster, brother

Charleston, S.C. -- Charles DeLesline Foster was just a seventeen-year-old Black kid who wanted a college education when he joined The Citadel Corps of Cadets in 1966. What he got was a lesson in humility and a place in the history books as the corps' first Black graduate.

Unlike the four women who broke the gender barrier at the 153-year-old military college in 1996, Foster carried his burden alone. When the female pioneers entered The Citadel, the world watched. Foster's arrival thirty years before stirred barely a ripple beyond The Citadel's iron gates.

"People didn't want him there," said his brother, Bill Foster, who with his mother accompanied Charles on the first day of registration. "But that first day, they treated him as any other plebe coming into the system. No one treated us ill, but you could tell feelings were hidden."

That kind of ambiguity may have been the hallmark of Charles Foster's four years at The Citadel. Even today, thirty years after he broke the corps' color barrier and ten years after he died in a Texas house fire, questions remain not only about the facts of Foster's Citadel years, but about his place in history, too.

"For The Citadel, Charles …

SEMINAR FOR USED-CAR DEALERS TO DEMOMSTRATE COMPUTERIZATION.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: Peg Shiro Automotive Weekly Editor

SoftAware, a Clifton Park company which produces AutoMate software for used-car dealerships, is scheduling a free seminar on computerizing a used-car business for tomorrow from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Howard Johnson Hotel and Conference Center on Washington Avenue.

To reserve a seat, call Mark Peffer, SoftAware's president, at 877-6501, or fax the request to 877-6589. CompUSA Corporate sales organization in Latham is co-sponsor of the free session.

According to Peffer, SoftAware and CompUSA have formed a marketing alliance offering turnkey computer systems for used-car dealerships which come preloaded with …

Polish court orders alleged Israeli spy extradited

A Polish appeals court has uphold a lower court's decision to hand over to Germany an alleged Mossad agent wanted in the slaying of a Hamas leader.

The decision means that the alleged agent, Uri Brodsky, must be handed over to Germany within 10 days.

Brodsky was arrested in Warsaw in June on a European warrant charging him with espionage and helping to falsely obtain a …

GETTING OUT OF THE HOLE: Idaho's poor and disabled are some of the worst off in the country

Diana Hess is disabled. Her partner, Steve, is disabled too. Together they are raising four children and have a monthly income of $1,390. Diana and Steve have been together nine years and aren't married because doing so would reduce their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments by $400. Every year they scrape enough money together to buy a sheep for their children in 4H to show at the county fair. Last year's money made from auctioning off their lamb paid for school clothes and propane to heat their home last winter.

Idaho's disabled poor are struggling. According to an Idaho Community Action Network report from November, 2000, of the 17,761 SSI program recipients in Idaho--a …