New genus of monkey

New genus of monkey
This photo provided by the journal Science and New York's Wildlife Conservation Society shows a new genus, a tree-dwelling monkey about 3 feet long with a prominent crest of hair and bushy whiskers. The new genus is named Rungwecebus (rhung-way-CEE-bus), reflecting that the main locale of the creature's natural habitat is in the forests on Mount Rungwe in Tanzania. The monkey's full name is Rungwecebus kipunji (key-POON-gee), after the name locals use for the monkey. The irony is that the monkey, so reclusive in nature that it managed to remain unknown to science until now, is so threatened by loss of habitat as humans move into its mountain redoubts that it may become extinct in the next few years.
10th anniversary of crash
MIAMI -- Maria Bafunno knelt and gently touched the name of her brother, Giuseppe, inscribed on a cemetery stone marker that lists the names of the 110 people killed when ValuJet Flight 592 plunged into the Everglades 10 years ago Thursday. About 80 relatives and friends of Flight 592's passengers and crew were joined by federal investigators, who talked about changes since the crash. Passenger airlines can no longer carry as cargo the oxygen generators blamed for starting the fire that brought down Flight 592.
New trial for truck driver
HOUSTON -- A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for the truck driver convicted in the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt -- a journey that ended in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants crammed into his sweltering trailer. The ruling means Tyrone Williams could once more face the death penalty. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the verdict was invalid because the jury failed to decide whether Williams was directly responsible for the deaths. When the jury couldn't agree on that question before Williams was sentenced last year, the judge removed the death penalty as an option. Prosecutors appealed. More than 70 illegal immigrants screamed and clawed at the walls of Williams' truck in 2003 before he abandoned them 100 miles southwest of Houston.
Black chief to be installed
NEW YORK -- The Salvation Army is poised to install a black leader for its U.S. operations today, the first time a black church official has led the predominantly white, evangelical denomination in this country. Commissioner Israel L. Gaither will become the commander of the Army in the United States at a ceremony featuring brass band and choral flourishes. Few blacks have served as the top officials of majority white U.S. religious bodies.
House eyes beer law
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- If the state's convenience stores have their way, anyone wanting a six-pack of beer in Tennessee soon will have to prove they are old enough to buy it, even if they look well over 21. The state House approved legislation Thursday that would require all beer sellers but restaurants to check all IDs. The bill also would create a voluntary training regimen for sellers and all their employees called the "responsible vendors program," and that is where the legislation has drawn opposition. Businesses that participate in the program would face lower fines if found guilty of selling beer to a minor than those that don't participate.
D.C. representative?
WASHINGTON -- Two centuries after lawmakers arrived in the federal city and nearly a hundred years after the last expansion of Congress, a bipartisan group of House members says its time to give residents of the nation's capital a vote there. The legislation crafted by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and the District of Columbia's nonvoting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), balances the proposed addition of what would be a solidly Democratic D.C. seat with a new seat for Utah, a state that voted 71 percent for President Bush in 2004. The House has had 435 representatives since 1913, except for a brief period between 1959 and 1963 when the number was 437 after Hawaii and Alaska became states. A 1929 law made the 435 figure permanent. The 23rd Amendment, ratified in 1961, gave D.C. residents the right to vote in presidential elections, and the city of 537,000 has been allowed to elect its own leaders since 1973.
Combined dispatches