Chicago
City plans eBay auction as fund-raiser
City officials hope there are people willing to pay plenty of money to own a vintage Playboy Bunny costume, toss green dye into the Chicago River or throw a dinner party prepared by Oprah Winfrey's chef.
The Chicago-related items and experiences -- Playboy memorabilia, shown above, and Winfrey's show are both based in the city, and turning the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day is a hallowed city tradition -- will be up for sale Dec. 2-16 on eBay.
It's all part of an effort to raise money for arts and cultural programs as the city faces a $220 million budget gap.
"It seems to be one of the most extensive, if not most extensive, (e-Bay auctions) of its kind," said company spokesman Hani Durzy, although with 29 million items for sale at any one time, he said it was hard to say.
Washington, D.C.
Study: Corporate PACs favor Republicans
About nine out of 10 corporate political action committees gave more money to Republicans than to Democrats, according to a study by Washington-based PoliticalMoneyLine.
While many corporate PACs in the 1970s and 1980s sought to split campaign contributions between candidates of both parties, the new study found that more than a quarter of the large corporate PACs gave at least $3 to Republican candidates for every $1 to Democrats.
The Web-based group's findings reflect the growing allegiance of the business community to the GOP, driven by ideological compatibility, respect for majority power and the concerted pressure exerted by Republican congressional leaders and conservative activists.
Read more about the study at www.tray.com.
Washington, D.C.
Food imports may soon match exports
The ever-increasing appetite for foreign foods and beverages in the United States is among the reasons the nation is expected to pay as much for imported farm products in fiscal 2005 as it earns by selling wheat, soybeans and other products abroad, according to a Department of Agriculture report released this week.
If the USDA's forecast is accurate, 2005 will mark the first time since the late 1950s that the country didn't record an agricultural surplus.
U.S. consumers are projected to buy more foreign wine, beer, fruits, vegetables and beef this year, helping push the value of all U.S. agricultural imports to $56 billion in the government fiscal year that started Oct. 1, up from $52.7 billion last year, the department said.
Meanwhile, the value of U.S. farm exports is projected to fall to $56 billion this fiscal year from a peak of $62.3 billion last year, largely reflecting lower prices for many products, the report said.
West Bank
Jailed Palestinian leader to seek Arafat's job
Marwan Barghouti, a fiery Palestinian leader serving multiple life terms in an Israeli prison, indicated Thursday that he was running for Yasser Arafat's position as head of the Palestinian Authority, scrambling the political picture ahead of the Jan. 9 election.
Barghouti, 45, is challenging interim leader Mahmoud Abbas, 69, a pragmatist who appears to have the tacit support of Israel and the United States.
Barghouti's candidacy sharpens a power struggle in the ruling Fatah movement, pitting the old guard of politicians, like Abbas, who returned with Arafat from exile in 1994, against the younger generation of activists who led two uprisings in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Arafat ruled Fatah for nearly 40 years until his death Nov. 11.
Vienna
Iran wants centrifuges exempted from pact
Iran insisted Thursday it had a right to exempt some equipment from an agreement with the European Union committing it to freeze all parts of a program that can make nuclear weapons-grade uranium -- a move that diplomats said threatened to scuttle the deal.
Iran says it only wants to produce nuclear fuel, but the United States and some allies insist Tehran seeks to make highly enriched uranium used in the core of nuclear warheads.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief U.N. nuclear watchdog, revealed Iran still refused to include some centrifuges in the agreement, which the EU says mandates a suspension of all activities related to enrichment. ElBaradei spoke as board members of his International Atomic Energy Agency grappled with the text of a resolution meant to police Iran's suspension pledge.
Netherlands
EU, Russia fail to clinch partnership accord
Russia and the European Union failed Thursday to complete negotiations on a "strategic partnership" because of disagreements over security and other issues at a summit overshadowed by the Ukraine political crisis. The two sides said they were confident a final pact would be reached next May, however.
"We have not reached agreement on all" points, Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, said after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an EU-Russia summit. "There is still a great deal to be done."
However, both said the talks proved valuable. "Everyone sees movement forward. ... This work will be accomplished" by May 2005, when the next summit is due, Putin said.
Putin said Russia-EU relations were strong and described the talks as very productive.
Vienna
Genital mutilation issue in Europe, activist says
Young girls born in Europe to immigrant families from Africa are being subjected to ritual genital mutilation, and authorities are doing little to discourage it, a leading women's rights activist warned Thursday.
Somalia-born supermodel and best-selling author Waris Dirie, who has campaigned to end the disfiguring practice she suffered at age 5 in her homeland, said she estimated one in every three African families living in Europe was secretly carrying out the ritual on their daughters. No official figures exist.
The procedure -- illegal in most European countries -- is especially prevalent in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as in Austria, where an estimated 8,000 girls born into immigrant families have been affected, Dirie said.
Sudan
U.N. agency suspends most food aid delivery
The World Food Program on Thursday said that renewed fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan had forced the United Nations agency to suspend a large part of its food relief operations there, leaving 300,000 refugees without aid.
The suspension comes as demand for emergency food in the region increases because no crops were planted the past season.
The latest fighting between rebels and government forces came despite a cease-fire earlier this month. An April truce was violated by both sides, according to U.N. officials and aid agencies.
More than 1.5 million people in Darfur have fled their homes because of the conflict, hundreds of villages have been burned, and the United Nations estimates 70,000 people have been killed or died of hunger and sickness since March.
Mexico
Nine slain in Cancun
Police discovered the bodies of nine people, including three federal agents, at two sites outside the resort city of Cancun. Authorities said the killing were probably linked to a drug turf war.
The bodies of five men were found on a dirt road, just off the highway leading to the airport, 10 miles south of Cancun. Each victim had been shot in the head, and one was found with his hands tied behind his back, Assistant State Atty. Gen. Luis Alfonso Chi told a news conference.
Three of the victims -- Luis Octavio Guzman, Roberto Alcantara and Fernando Perez -- were federal police, Chi said. The other two were identified as Leonardo Martin Flores, a jeweler, and Eduardo Solis, whose hands were tied.
Another four charred bodies were found in the trunk of a still smoldering car parked in an illegal dump near the highway between Cancun and the city of Merida.
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