NEWS FOR TUESDAY

WORLD NEWS
Court names Darfur war suspects

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have named a minister and a militia leader who they suspect of war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region. Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, were named.

Some 200,000 people have died and more than two million people have fled their homes during the four-year conflict.

Sudan has rejected the charges and said it will not hand over the suspects. The two are accused of crimes committed during attacks on villages near Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar and Arawala in West Darfur.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked judges to issue summonses for them, saying there was reason to believe they "bear criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur in 2003 and 2004".


The attackers, he said, "did not target any rebel presence. Rather they targeted civilian residents based on the rationale that they were supporters of the rebel forces". The strategy, Mr Moreno-Ocampo added, "became the justification for the mass murder summary execution and mass rape of civilians who were know not to be participant in any armed conflict".

Mr Haroun, who was interior minister in charge of Darfur at the height of the conflict, is accused of helping to recruit militias. "Ahmad Haroun visited Darfur on a regular basis and became known to people in Darfur as the official from Khartoum who recruits, staffs and arms the Janjaweed," Mr Moreno-Ocampo said. "The evidence shows that Ahmad Haroun provided arms for the Janjaweed from a budget that was unlimited and not publicly audited."

Sudanese Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi rejected the allegations and said the ICC had no "jurisdiction" to try the suspects. Human rights groups have also been critical of the investigation, which was conducted mostly outside Sudan owing to security concerns. However numerous international reports and experts have directly linked the activities of the Janjaweed to the central Sudanese government in Khartoum.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says joint attacks on villages have been well-documented and there is little doubt the militia have been given weapons and vehicles to fight rebels.

After Mr Moreno-Ocampo has filed the evidence of alleged war crimes with the court, its judges will have to decide whether to open an inquiry against the suspects with the aim of issuing international arrest warrants. (BBC NEWS)


US NEWS
Bee vanishing act baffles keepers

Honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate from 24 US states, threatening the production of numerous crops.
The cause of the losses, which range from 30% to more than 70%, is a mystery, but experts are investigating several theories.

American bee colonies have been hit by regional crises before, but keepers say this is the first national crisis. Bees pollinate more than $14bn (£7bn) worth of US seeds and crops each year, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts.

The mystery disappearances highlight the important link that honeybees play in the chain that brings fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables. The crisis threatens numerous crops, from avocados to kiwis and California almonds - one of the most profitable in the US.

"I have never seen anything like it," California beekeeper David Bradshaw, 50, told the New York Times. "Box after box after box are just empty. There's nobody home."

With an industry increasingly under consolidation, some fear the disorder could prove the breaking point for even large beekeepers. The bee losses range from 30 to 60% on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70%. Beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20% in the offseason to be normal.

Researchers say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented and eventually falling victim to the cold. The investigators are exploring a range of possibilities to explain the losses, which they are calling "colony collapse disorder". These include viruses, a fungus and poor bee nutrition. They are also studying pesticides banned in some European countries to see if they are affecting the bees' innate ability to navigate their way back to their hives.

In some cases, bees are being raised to survive a shorter offseason, to be ready to pollinate once the almond bloom begins in February. This could have lowered their immunity to viruses. Mites have also damaged bee colonies, and the insecticides used to try to kill them are harming the ability of queen bees to spawn as many workers.

Once the domain of hobbyists, beekeeping has become increasingly commercial and consolidated in the US. During the last two decades, the number of beehives has dropped by a quarter, and is now estimated at 2.4 million. The number of beekeepers has fallen by half during the same period.

Pressure has been building on the bee industry. The costs to maintain hives, or colonies, are rising. In addition, urban growth means that the areas where the insects can forage for nectar to stay healthy and strong during the pollination season are being squeezed. "There are fewer beekeepers, less bees, yet more crops to pollinate," said Zac Browning, vice-president of the American Beekeeping Federation. "With so much added loss and expense due to disease, pests and higher equipment costs, profitability is actually falling." (BBC NEWS)


LOCAL NEWS
Stabbing followed feud over laundry
Papers say showdown at BC turned violent

A bloody feud in Boston College's Vanderslice Hall that left one student hospitalized and another free on bail began with accusations that one of the women had sabotaged her dormitory mate's laundry with bleach, court papers say.

After the showdown in the laundry room on Feb. 19, the two continued their agitation, the documents say, and last Friday it turned violent when Brianna L. Jones, 19, allegedly stabbed Diana Mirambeaux-Saker, 19, twice in the chest with a pocket knife. The attack left the wall and floors of Vanderslice Hall, a center of student life at the Chestnut Hill campus of the Jesuit university, smeared with blood.

Jones, a sophomore from Middletown, Conn., pleaded not guilty yesterday to two counts of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon at her arraignment in Brighton District Court. Mirambeaux-Saker, a double major in theater and psychology, was recovering from a punctured lung at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

"It had been something that escalated for the past two weeks," said 19-year-old Theresa Hamilton, who lives down the hall. "The two girls had been fighting for a while, and on Friday night, at about 10-ish, things seemed to erupt."

After Mirambeaux-Saker accused Jones of intentionally bleaching her laundry eight days before, the two students, who lived across the hall from each other, traded threats. Mirambeaux-Saker, from Roxbury, ratcheted up the tension last Friday by ripping the name tags off Jones's dorm room door, court papers say.

After noticing her door tag missing, Jones confronted Mirambeaux-Saker last Friday night in the first floor hallway of Vanderslice Hall, which houses 423 sophomores and juniors. Mirambeaux-Saker then grabbed Jones by the collar of her sweatshirt and verbally threatened her before Jones choked and punched Mirambeaux-Saker, records say.

The two women fought until another student, Kevin Gordon, 19, a friend of Mirambeaux-Saker, intervened.

While fleeing to another dormitory, Mirambeaux-Saker left a large amount of blood around the floor and walls of Vanderslice, court papers say. Police found her bleeding on the floor of a Boston College bathroom with two incisions on the right side of her chest.

Mirambeaux-Saker told police that she did not see a weapon, but felt a couple of sharp pains to her chest during the fight.

Jack Dunn, a Boston College spokesman, said the school suspended Jones, who was released yesterday on $2,500 bail . Boston College officials walked through Vanderslice on Sunday to assuage students' concerns and to offer counseling, Dunn said. "Students realize this is an isolated incident that is being handled through appropriate judicial channels," Dunn said.

Looking down the length of the hallway, Mike Hartel, 19, said: "It's kind of scary. I had no idea that people kept weapons like that in their rooms." Hamilton was less surprised. "We do live in a bubble, but people are capable of doing that no matter where they are," she said. (BOSTON GLOBE)

CAMPUS NEWS
Join us for Northeastern University's Entrepreneurship Week 2007!
Brought to you by the School of Technological Entrepreneurship and the College of Business Administration
All Events are free and open to all creative entrepreneurial thinkers!

Starting 2/26, there will be "Breakfast of Champions" panels all week, 8 Workshops, a Minority Entrepreneurship Networking Event, a Business Resources Fair, and a Special Event on Web 2.0!

Please visit http://www.neu.edu/eweek for a full listing of events, locations, and times!

FOR MORE INFORMATION
EntrepreneurshipWeek@neu.edu
617.373.8215

(MY NEU)

CELEB NEWS
Bobby Brown Arrested Again

Whitney Houston's ex was arrested in Boston on Sunday. The charges were not drug related (this time).

One of Bobby's babymommas is accusing him of being a deadbeat dad and skipping out on child support payments.

Crack ain't cheap anymore!
(www.perezhilton.com)

MUSIC NEWS
Portishead Debut New Song at Secret Live Gig!

Fans who check Portishead's MySpace hourly likely stumbled across the following somewhat cryptic message today from Geoff Barrow:

"thanks for everyone who came down to see me dj last night and the responce to the live stuff, even though it was only 2 songs. beth and ade enjoyed playin as well.

"sorry we didnt tell everyone about the gig but its good to do things like that every now and again, and its a tiny place."

He added, "ps. the new song hasnt even got a name yet."

Wait a minute-- live stuff? Beth and Ade?? New song??!

Believe it. Reconvening for their first live appearance since February, 2005's Tsunami Benefit one-off-- and debuting brand new material-- the Portishead supertrio of Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley, and Beth Gibbons played two songs to a tiny, unsuspecting crowd at Bristol's Mr Wolfs last night.

An alert Pitchfork reader was on hand to witness the magic, billed under the guise of a Grumpy Man DJs event featuring a guest appearance by Barrow. "After a couple of hours [spinning] eclectic sadcore classics from the likes of Tom Waits and Joy Division," wrote the reader, "Geoff and...Adrian Utley began to play 'Wandering Star'-- Geoff playing bass. A few bars in Geoff picked up the mike and asked 'Anyone here know how to sing?' At this point Beth walked on stage and started singing."

Apparently even venue staff were unaware of the live gig, and the person working the door actually charged Gibbons entry.

"The second song was brand new," the reader continued, "presumably from the forthcoming (if you believe the rumours, sometime this year) album. Rarely have I seen a room full of people all wear exactly the same facial expression, but when I looked at the crowd everyone had their mouths gaping and eyes wide open as if they were witnessing an alien landing. It was wonderful. The new song was completely gorgeous, carried by Beth's vocals and with very low-key instrumentation."

As the Grumpy Man website colorfully put it, "Adrian and Beth joined Geoff onstage and blew all our collective brains to shit." Thankfully said website also includes a link to a bunch of photos from the event. Rumor has it YouTube footage is likely to surface soon, so keep your person situated in front of the internet at all times for the latest developments in the 10+ year saga of Portishead's third album. (PITCHFORK MEDIA)