News from around the world

1. News from around the world By Therance Jerrod

2. US- Pain and Passion • But instead, he turned to the Bible, which ultimately inspired him to direct his new movie, The Passion of the Christ. • "I think I just hit my knees," Gibson told Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview on ABCNEWS' Primetime. "I just said, 'Help.' You know? And then, I began to meditate on it, and that's in the Gospel. I read all those again. I remember reading bits of them when I was younger." • "Pain is the precursor to change, which is great," Gibson said. "That's the good news." • Febrary 17,2004 Complete article Source ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Primetime/Entertainment/mel_gibson_passion_040216-1.html

3. News-Kenya Source:www.allafrica.com • The archbishop will link Mr Bush's support, when he was Governor of Texas, for capital punishment with a new philosophy behind the invasion of Iraq. He will say: "It may not be fanciful to see a connection between this and the belligerent militarist policies that have produced a novel and dangerous principle, that of pre-emption on the basis of intelligence reports that in one particular instance have been shown can be dangerously flawed and yet were the basis for the United States going to war, dragging a Britain that declared that intelligence reports showed Iraq to have the capacity to launch its weapons of mass destruction in a matter of minutes. • "An immoral war was thus waged and the world is a great deal less safe place than before. There are many more who resent the powerful who can throw their weight about so callously and with so much impunity.“ • Feburary 17, 2004 Complete Article http://allafrica.com/stories/200402170364.html

4. News-St. Louis Source: stltoday • SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Conservatives went to court Tuesday and argued that San Francisco flagrantly violated the constitution by issuing same-sex marriage licenses, but wedding bells continued to ring for dozens more gay couples. • A judge in one case delayed until at least Friday a ruling on whether to block the marriages - more than 2,300 of which have taken place since last Thursday. Another judge was scheduled to hear a similar case in the afternoon. • Newly elected Mayor Gavin Newsom's decision to allow same-sex marriages remains legally unsettled but has intensified the national debate over whether gay couples should be allowed to marry. • Conservative groups want to block new licenses and revoke those already issued. They note that California voters in 2000 expressly limited marriages recognized in the state to unions between a man and a woman. • San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Ronald Quidachay told lawyers for the Campaign for California Families that they had not given the city enough notice to obtain an emergency injunction. • Feburary 17, 2001 Complete article http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GAY_MARRIAGE?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=USG/GAY_MARRIAGE?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=US

5. News- Peru • Mexico, Argentina and Brazil have all pursued similar measures in a government-led movement that is sweeping the region and carries both pragmatic and philosophical overtones. • On a practical level, proponents say that switching to open-source programs -- which allow users to view and modify the underlying code that makes the computer operate -- can save countries millions of dollars that are now spent on licenses for proprietary software, whose code is hidden. • In a loftier sense, many view open-source or free software as the key to the region's technological future and its widespread use a matter of national pride and autonomy. Government use of open source -- which would encourage developers to write their own software -- would foment a homegrown software industry that could compete with giants such as Microsoft, the thinking goes. Source and complete Article:http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,51902,00.html

6. News- South Africa • THE battle between the South African Rugby Players Association (Sarpa) and SA Rugby over the awarding of Springbok contracts, could soon land up in court, while a players' strike is also regarded as a possibility. • Piet Heymans, CE of Sarpa, warned yesterday that unless an amicable agreement was reached at a meeting in Cape Town today the association would approach the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration, to agree to private arbitration or make an urgent application to the high court. • Hennie le Roux, chairman of Sarpa, said that if the circumstances deteriorated to such an extent that a strike was called the players would back it. • "We will have to gauge the mood among players, but I think they would be willing. After all it would benefit them. • "That said, we (Sarpa) are here to benefit South African rugby as a whole, and sometimes a strike is not always right," Le Roux said. The meeting will be attended by Theunie Lategan, the chairman of the board of directors of SA Rugby, executive members of Sarpa and the new Springbok coach Jake White. Source and complete article:http://allafrica.com/stories/200402240387.html

7. News- Madagascar • Madagascar has appealed for international assistance after tropical storm Elita killed 29 people and left thousands homeless. • According to the presidential spokesman, Didier Rakotoarisoa, close to 100 people were injured after "Elita" returned to the Indian Ocean island for the second time two weeks ago. • "The situation is critical - we have recorded 29 deaths, three people are missing and about 44,000 people are without shelter. There was also significant damage to about 500 public buildings, and about 12,000 homes in [the northwestern province of] Mahajanga were destroyed. We have still to assess the impact of the rains on roads and telecommunications," Rakotoarisoa said. • The impact of the torrential downpour on crop production in certain parts of the province was causing concern. "We were already experiencing agricultural problems there, and this has just made it worse for those people who were struggling to secure food. In the south Midongy district [of Mahajanga,] almost 80 percent of rice fields were covered by floods," he told IRIN. Source and complete article:http://allafrica.com/stories/200402160650.html