Washington: U.S., Russia resolve chicken-export dispute

A dispute about health standards that seriously disrupted exports of American chicken products to Russia, the biggest foreign market for U.S. poultry, has been resolved, the Bush administration said.

Negotiators for both countries reached agreement on concerns raised by Moscow, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman, Commerce Secretary Don Evans and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick announced Friday.

The dispute had disrupted sales of U.S. chicken products in Russia since March, adversely affecting farmers in 38 states.

The U.S. poultry industry praised the agreement, which addressed concerns the Russian government had raised about how American chickens were being processed. The U.S. industry maintained the chicken exported to Russia met the same stringent health standards as that sold in the United States.

Miami: Lawsuit says inmates escape heat in toilets

Men standing in toilets is part of the standard tableau along death row during sticky, hot Florida summers, prisoner advocates say.

The men climb into their commodes in an effort to escape temperatures that routinely top 100 degrees in their cells, which are not air-conditioned, according to a class action lawsuit working its way through the Florida federal courts. The suit, originally filed by convicted murderers William Kelley and Jim Chandler, says inmates are subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.

“The U.S. openly condemns other countries for conditions like this,” said Randall Berg, an attorney with the Miami-based Florida Justice Institute, which is arguing the case on behalf of more than 370 death row inmates. “These are human beings, after all, they are not animals.”

Florida prison officials dispute the institute’s contentions.