the news in brief

Rice brokers modest peace deal in Israel

(MCT) JERUSALEM – Four months into the Bush… Rice brokers modest peace deal in Israel

(MCT) JERUSALEM – Four months into the Bush administration’s final push for peace, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice secured a modest agreement from Israel on Sunday designed to shore up Palestinian security forces and scale back the number of roadblocks hobbling the West Bank economy.

Along with a pledge to remove 50 dirt berms, Israel agreed to allow 700 newly trained Palestinian soldiers to take up posts in the northern West Bank city of Jenin and approved delivery of 25 armored personnel carriers for the Palestinian Authority.

Rice praised the Israeli moves as a “very good first step” that could help bolster ongoing peace talks.

But Palestinian leaders voiced skepticism and noted that Israel had failed to follow through on previous pledges to remove roadblocks or provide Palestinian security forces with updated military equipment.

“I will believe it when I see it,” veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. “We have heard this many, many times before.”

Israel’s network of nearly 600 roadblocks, checkpoints and barriers is one of the main ways its military controls life for the 2.4 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Israel previously agreed to reduce the number of West Bank roadblocks, but it has actually boosted the number by more than 10 percent over the two years, according to United Nations figures.

Since President Bush launched his latest peace plan in Annapolis last November, Israel has added another 20 West Bank roadblocks, bringing the overall number to 580.

After hosting a rare three-way meeting on Sunday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, Rice said that she expected roadblock removal to take place quickly.

Israel resisted pressure to remove roadblocks because the military views the network of obstacles as critical to preventing potential attacks.

But easing the travel restrictions is essential for rebuilding the anemic Palestinian economy in the West Bank.

Rice’s latest Middle East trip is part of an intense new effort by the Bush administration to inject new momentum into the sluggish peace process. She is the latest in a series of top administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, to hold a meeting here in an attempt to lay the groundwork for more substantive progress when President Bush returns in May to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary. -By Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers

Mexican student seeks refuge in Ecuador

(MCT) MEXICO CITY – As the Mexican government pursues two investigations into the links between Mexico and Colombia’s FARC rebels, a Mexican student who survived a Colombian forces attack on a FARC camp in the South American jungle has requested “political refuge” in Ecuador.

Lucia Morett, 26, was one of the three survivors in the March 1 attack on a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, camp that sparked one of the region’s worst diplomatic crises in years.

Pamela Davis, an activist for the Latin American Human Rights Association, which represents Morett, told reporters in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday that the request for political refugee status was for “protection” for Morett and the two other survivors, both Colombians, until it is clear they will not face prosecution of any type.

Four Mexican students were among the approximately 20 dead rebels in the attack that also killed FARC’s deputy commander, Raul Reyes. He was one of the highest FARC leaders to be killed by Colombian forces.

Ecuador has released Morett from any culpability, but it’s still unclear whether she could face court proceedings in Colombia or Mexico. -By Franco Ordonez, McClatchy Newspapers

U Miami students taunt campus crocodile

(MCT) CORAL GABLES, Fla. – On a typical spring afternoon on the leafy campus of the University of Miami, many of the 15,000 students are in class, others are romping around the athletic field, and a few are seeing how close they can get to a 6-foot American crocodile sunbathing with its mouth open.

“They apparently don’t realize how dangerous this thing is,” said security guard Roberto Heredia as he warned curious collegians away from the toothy reptile. “Some people think it’s fake.”

School officials, including President Donna Shalala, want the crocodile expelled.

The problem: “We can’t catch him,” university Police Chief David Rivero said. “We’re playing a cat-and-mouse game with this croc.”

There may be more than one crocodile on campus. Heredia, 52, often assigned to baby-sit animals that crawl out of Lake Osceola, said there are at least three, ranging in size up to 8 feet.

Rivero said he believes all but one croc has been locked out of the lake by new fences and grates being installed at points where canals link the lake to the Gables waterways and Biscayne Bay.

What is clear is that the population of once-endangered American crocodiles is growing. Last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the reptiles’ status from endangered to threatened, meaning a species once on the brink of extinction is now only likely to become endangered. And South Florida is the only place in the United States where these crocodiles are found.

As their numbers increase – from an estimated 200 when declared endangered in 1975 to more than 2,000 today – crocodiles expand their range. And the range includes a sunny strip of grass just a few feet from the Rathskeller, a popular on-campus bar and grill.

Lake Osceola serves as the scenic heart of University of Miami’s richly landscaped campus, and around it are many inviting places to sit, read and contemplate. The lake is also surrounded by busy walkways, and when a crocodile is out sunning, several hundred students are bound to notice.

Last week, Heredia said he saw a campus visitor approach a basking crocodile and lift up its tail while a friend took his picture. “If that thing grabs him with its mouth, what it’ll do is pull them into the water and start turning over and over in circles until the person drowns or it tears off an arm or something,” Heredia said. -By Mike Clary, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Obama, Clinton advocates spar over delegate numbers

(MCT) DURHAM, N.C. – Surrogates for U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton sparred Saturday over whether the former first lady still has a shot at the Democratic nomination.

At a Young Democrat convention in Research Triangle Park, Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, one of the party’s rising stars, said he believes Obama essentially has won the primary race because of his lead in delegates.

“North Carolina is a perfect place to add an exclamation point onto a sentence that I think has already been written,” he told reporters.

Meantime, political commentator James Carville, a supporter of Clinton’s campaign, said he has heard from Democratic voters that they want the race to continue so that their voices can be heard.

“What’s so awful about having a primary here in North Carolina?” he said.

Nearly 600 young Democratic activists aged 18 to 35 attended the day-long convention at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, a high in recent years for the annual event.

With North Carolina’s newfound importance in the May 6 Democratic presidential primary, the buzz of the day centered on the contest between Clinton and Obama.

In his first major speech since dropping out of the presidential race in January, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards remained neutral, offering praise for Obama’s ability to inspire new voters and Clinton’s political experience.

“I have a very high opinion of both of them,” he said. “We would be blessed as a nation to have either one of them as president.”

Asked afterward if he would make an endorsement, he again declined.

“When I have something to say, I’ll let you guys know,” he said. -By Ryan Teague Beckwith, McClatchy Newspapers