WRBB News for February 13, 2007

I will be posting news the night before so I don't forget to do it in the morning from now on! yay!

WORLD NEWS
Russian soldiers 'used for sex'

Russia's military has been tarnished by a series of scandals
The Russian military is reported to be investigating claims that army conscripts were forced to work as male prostitutes in St Petersburg

The command of the interior ministry unit denied the claims made by the Soldiers' Mothers human rights group.

The group says it was contacted by a parent of a conscript who had been forced to work as a male prostitute. Last year, an 18-year-old soldier was so badly beaten that he had to have his legs and genitals amputated.

The BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow says the latest claims follow a series of scandals which have damaged the Russian army's reputation. A spokeswoman for the Soldiers' Mothers, Ella Polyakova, told the BBC that in St Petersburg there was "a network of clients" who would pay for sex with soldiers.

Older servicemen are said to have forced younger conscripts into prostitution and then taken the money for themselves. (BBC News)


US NEWS
2008 election: Main contenders

In US politics, there is usually an incumbent running for the White House - if not the president himself (and so far it has always been a "himself"), then his vice-president.

But with George W Bush constitutionally limited to two terms and Vice-President Dick Cheney making clear he will not run, the race for the White House is wide open for the first time since 1928.

And winning it is so expensive and demanding that candidates are already hiring their teams and raising money.

Election Day - 4 Nov 2008 - may feel to outsiders like it is a long way off, but the first debates are being held in April of this year.

Here are the people presently considered the most capable of making a serious run.

DEMOCRATS
Joe Biden
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards
Al Gore
Barack Obama
Bill Richardson

REPUBLICANS
Sam Brownback
Newt Gingrich
Rudolph Giuliani
Mike Huckabee
John McCain
Mitt Romney

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5006788.stm
Please see link to individually talk about candidates! (BBC News)

LOCAL NEWS
City braces for a one-day school strike
Local centers, libraries would take in students

After 13 months of negotiations, Boston teachers appear ready to hold a one-day strike on Thursday for the first time in 14 years, forcing city and school officials to draw up contingency plans for the system's roughly 58,000 students with no school to attend.

City and school officials detailed plans yesterday for Boston's community centers and public libraries to accommodate children of working parents by expanding their hours and bringing in additional staff. The city would pay about $400,000 for those accommodations, as well as providing breakfast and lunch to the children and stationing police in the areas of teacher protests and where out-of-school students might congregate.

While negotiations are expected to continue through tomorrow night, school and Boston Teachers Union officials say they remain divided on the issues of classroom size, contributions to health insurance, and teacher pay.

In 1993, the strike also was only for one day, and it quickly led to a resolution of the contract.

The school system is offering a 10 percent raise in base salaries spread over four years; the teachers are asking for nearly a 22 percent raise spread over four years, according to school and union officials. The school system estimates its offer will cost about $103 million, and the union's about $237 million (Boston Globe)



CAMPUS NEWS
MEISA, Career Services & the Department of Music present...
Career Conversations
February 14, 2007 starting at 12:00 in 106 West Village G

Want to pursue a career in the music industry? Not sure how?
Come talk informally to Bert Holman, Manager of The Allman Brothers Band, Keith Garde, founder of PKA Management and a very special guest about their jobs, how they got them, what it’s like to work in the music industry.

Free Pizza compliments of Career Services.

Please contact Denise Fung in Career Services at d.fung@neu.edu or 617-373-4238 or Ava Lawrence in the Department of Music at a.lawrence@neu.edu or 617-373-4067 for more information.