India

City begins campaign to remove sacred cows

Cows define Delhi, India, in the way that cafes define Paris, or bicycles Beijing. Whether munching on garbage, dozing at traffic intersections or striding through shopping centers, they are an integral part of the city’s landscape.

That may be about to change, however. With the urban cow population approaching 40,000 and traffic congestion growing critical, Delhi has decided to spruce up its image and get rid of the cows. Since the beginning of the month, teams of cow catchers have been out on the streets, with the goal of relocating all of them outside the city within a year.

Because cows are sacred in Hindu mythology, they can’t be whacked or prodded into trucks; they must be coaxed and cajoled. A stubborn cow will be left behind, because it is against the law to hit a cow or treat it any way that might be construed as cruel.

The city has ordered 12 specially designed trucks equipped with hydraulic trolleys that will gently elevate each cow into the truck, easing the trauma of the experience.

Romania

Coercion reported in constitution vote

Romanians overwhelmingly approved a new constitution designed to prepare the formerly communist country for membership in the European Union, officials said Tuesday.

While the result appeared to be a victory for the government, balloting was marred by reports of widespread irregularities and voter coercion.

Among irregularities detailed by rights groups, newspapers and election monitors were the unwarranted use of mobile ballot boxes normally reserved for the infirm, threats and material incentives — including free TV sets, furniture, soccer tickets and firewood — in exchange for votes.

“The coercion is reminiscent of communist times,” said Mircea Toma, who heads the Agency for Monitoring Press Freedoms.

Kenya

U.S. encourages end to Sudan war

The United States will move toward lifting sanctions on Sudan and taking it off the State Department’s terrorism list if the country’s warring sides complete an accord to end their 20-year civil war, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday.

Powell will meet today in Nairobi with representatives of the Khartoum government and southern rebels to try to help complete the negotiations. His remarks appeared aimed at giving the two sides further incentive to finish the accord.

“We would see this really opening a new day in our relations with the Sudan,” Powell said Tuesday.

“We are looking at the whole range of restrictions, sanctions, listings that exist with respect to Sudan” in U.S. law, Powell said, adding, “and they are considerable.”

Puerto Rico

Patriarch of movement for U.S. statehood dies

Luis A. Ferre, a philanthropist and former governor of Puerto Rico who became the patriarch of the territory’s U.S. statehood movement, died Tuesday. He was 99.

The venerated “Don Luis” played a prominent role in Puerto Rican politics since World War II, chasing the ideal of U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico.

Ferre was a member of the assembly that produced Puerto Rico’s 1952 constitution, he founded the pro-statehood New Progressive Party in 1967 and was governor from 1969 through 1972, when he lost to pro-commonwealth candidate Rafael Hernandez Colon.

He stayed involved in politics, testifying before U.S. congressional panels in favor of statehood and participating in presidential nominating conventions. He remained chairman of the island’s branch of the Republican Party and served as Puerto Rico’s Senate president from 1977-80.