MILITIAS' HOSTILE PATTERNS TROUBLE FEDERAL OFFICIALS.(MAIN)

Byline: JOSH MEYER, PAUL FELDMAN AND ERIC LICHTBLAU Los Angeles Times

Months before the horrific Oklahoma City bombing, law enforcement agents across the Central and Western states had become the targets of an escalating series of threats and attacks by militants bound by a common hatred for government authority, records and interviews show.

Federal officials confirmed they have been alerted to at least a dozen confrontations since September 1994 between suspected members of various heavily armed militia groups and federal, state and local authorities.

Among the episodes were several armed standoffs during searches and attempted arrests. In Indiana two months ago, militia members prevented authorities from enforcing a …

Malaysian with 25 children gets nod to marry 4th wife

A Malaysian with three wives and 25 children is set to marry again after receiving consent from his spouses and an Islamic court, reports said Tuesday.

The Shariah High Court in eastern Terengganu state approved an application by property negotiator Abu Bakar Embong, 54, to take a fourth wife 29 years younger than him, The Star daily reported.

Muslim men can take up to four wives in Malaysia if the Shariah court believes they can provide financial and emotional care for all their spouses and children. But it is uncommon for Malaysian men to take more than one or two wives.

The court took into consideration Abu Bakar's monthly earnings of 20,000 …

Data on glioblastoma described by researchers at Duke University.(Report)

"The goal of this study was to assess whether immunolabeled nanoparticle biomarkers are comparable to fluorescent marker imaging in measuring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression. EGFR expression was quantified using both imaging methods in four cell lines: A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cells, which are known to have high EGFR expression; two cell lines with lower EGFR expression (270-GBM human glioblastoma xenograft cells and H2224 human glioblastoma xenograft cells); and MDA-MB-453 breast carcinoma cells, which do not express EGFR," scientists in the United States report (see also Glioblastoma).

"To enhance contrast of the nanoparticle biomarkers, a …

Controversial chief military rabbi ends term

The Israeli chief military rabbi who had been accused of stoking ultranationalist sentiment in the ranks is ending his term.

A new chief rabbi seen as somewhat more moderate has been appointed, though he's clearly no liberal either.

Lt. Col. Rafi Peretz is a former Jewish settler in the Gaza Strip. He told Israel Radio on Wednesday that he had opposed Israel's …

U.N. Chief Heads to Libya

SIRTE, Libya - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday his goal is to reach a final political settlement to end the four-year conflict in Darfur, as he arrived in the hometown of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to discuss upcoming peace negotiations.

Ban announced Thursday that Libya will host the talks set for Oct. 27 and he again praised the country's important mediating role in organizing two meetings with Darfur rebel groups earlier this year. The U.N. chief also made clear he wants these negotiations to produce results.

"First and foremost, we must have (the) Tripoli meeting a success," Ban said. "We'd like to make it the final phase of political negotiations. That's our goal. We'll all try our best efforts."

Ban's stop in Libya was the last in a three-nation tour to promote an end to the protracted conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

More than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been uprooted since ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed - a charge it denies.

The secretary-general, who has made peace in Darfur a top priority since taking the reins of the U.N. on Jan. 1, spent four days in Sudan - including a brief visit to a camp for some of the millions forced to flee their homes. He then flew to Chad, which has been seriously affected by the spillover of the Darfur violence.

U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson and African Union envoy Salim Ahmed Salim have been spearheading international efforts to get the key Darfur players back to the negotiating table and will be mediating the negotiations in Libya.

The new negotiations follow a U.N. and AU conference in Arusha, Tanzania, in early August that brought Darfur rebels together to agree on a common platform for talks on issues such as power- and wealth-sharing, security, land and humanitarian issues.

Seven major rebel leaders came, but there was one important holdout - Abdel Wahid Nur, who leads a major faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement and wants the fighting to stop before negotiations start.

Nur also has rejected the latest proposed round of talks.

Asked whether Gadhafi could use his influence to bring Nur on board, Ban said "we may need (to) use all possible resources including leader Gadhafi, and we have some ideas."

The secretary-general also emphasized the importance of support for the talks from regional players such as Egypt, Eritrea, Chad and Libya.

This will be Ban's third meeting with the Libyan leader, following a visit in his capacity as the South Korean foreign minister and one soon after he became U.N. secretary-general in January.

"I am interested in visiting Sirte and meeting him in different atmosphere," Ban said about the meeting Gadhafi in his hometown. "That will make, I think, (the meeting) much more friendlier and we can build a much closer relationship."

During Ban's stopover in Chad, he discussed with President Idriss Deby a yearlong, 3,000-strong U.N.-mandated European Union mission to protect Sudanese refugees and other civilians in the affected parts of Chad and Central African Republic.

The EU force's mandate would be to protect refugees, internally displaced people and civilians at risk in eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The force planned for Chad and Central African Republic is in addition to a 26,000-strong African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur that is to replace a smaller, ineffectual mission of only African Union troops. Sudan on Thursday pledged "to facilitate the timely deployment" of the troops.

"There is high expectation and almost consensus among the major players including in the Security Council, that we need to deploy these multi dimensional forces as soon as possible," Ban said.

"I am happy with this initiative and we need to expedite this process," he said about the EU force for Chad. "Maybe, preferably during the month of September, we will be able to take some action," he said.

MEC is disregarding the law in his stance on Chappies.

The response of Transport MEC Robin Carlisle to the recent Cape Times coverage of, and editorial on, the Chappies toll plaza debacle (Cape Times January 11) is full of inaccuracies and spin doctoring. It provides compelling evidence that the MEC lives in a warped world of perceptions, far removed from the applicable facts.

Carlisle does not seem to be aware of, or act as if, he is constrained by the rule of law and the constitution.

When he was in opposition, before the DA came into power in the Western Cape, he was dead against and highly critical of the massively flawed private/ public partnership, between the concessionaire (Entilini) and the province.

…

HISTORY COMES TO LIFE AT MALA COMPRA PLANTATION RUINS

BUNNELL, Fla., April 7 -- Flagler County issued the following news release:

A group of about 60 people interested in Flagler County history Sunday, were treated to a presentation that rolled back 270 years of history at Bings Landing County Park.

The County park is the site of a nationally recognized archeological excavation of the plantation home of General Joseph Hernandez. County Attorney Al Hadeed, gave a first person historical presentation posing as William Broadnax, Hernandez's foreman.

The event was a part of Flagler County's Lunch In The Park series that features County Parks and the history of the area. Three direct descendants of Hernandez attended the event and were recognized Monday April 4 by the Flagler County Commission.

Sally Walker French, Lucia Walker Fairlie Pulgram and William Fairlie, great, great grandchildren of Hernadez, and their spouses attended the event and added their experiences to the presentation. Their ancestor was a prominent figure in Florida's early history.

His Mala Compra Plantation home was located at what is today Bings Landing County Park. The plantation was destroyed during the Second Seminole War. The Hernandez Plantation Homestead is now an archaeological dig within the park. Other parts of his plantation are part of Washington Oaks State Gardens Park and Flagler County's Mala Compra Green Way.

Hernandez was the first person of Hispanic decent to serve in the U.

S. Congress. He also served as the first presiding officer of Florida's territorial legislature having been appointed by President James Monroe. He also assisted in establishing Tallahassee as the state capitol and was elected as Mayor of St.

Augustine.

Hadeed chronicled the details of his life and eventual death in Cuba. Hadeed characterized him as a family man who raised and provided for 15 children. He was also a statesman who was fluent in three languages and able to rise to the top leadership despite the Florida territory changing from Spanish rule to British and eventually becoming an American possession.

Sally Walker French, was the driving force behind gathering the far flung family back together again and sharing and promoting the rich history surrounding Joseph Hernandez. She said it was Hernandez's fine china passed down from family member to family member that brought them together.

"After my mother died I went through her things and began calling numbers in an address book," French said. "Our parents didn't share all the historical and family information."

After phone calls and an internet search French got in contact with Lucia.

"When we exchanged pictures we found out that we both had pieces of china that matched," French said. Both Lucia Pulgram and French have donated some of that collection to Flagler County and the Flagler County Historical Society. A display of the collection is in the lobby of Flagler County's Government Services Building.

On Monday, April 4 all three descendants were honored by the Flagler County Commission which declared the day as Joseph Hernandez Day in Flagler County. The descendants presented the County Commission with the china set's punch bowl from another great, great granddaughter, Stephanie Burmeister Burkhalter. Pulgram also donated a serving bowl and red coral carved cufflinks and button studs.

The items will also go on display in the Government Services Building. French has also donated an oil painting of Hernandez to Washington Oaks State Gardens and a portraits on stone of Hernandez to the County.

The next Lunch In The Park series is planned for Flagler County's River To Sea Preserve in late June. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com