LAWMAKERS PROPOSE ADDING MEMORIAL TO 9/11 MUSEUM

Lawmakers propose addingmemorial to 9/11 museum
NEW YORK -- The museum planned for ground zero should include a memorial to workers who died after becoming ill during recovery and cleanup of World Trade Center debris, two state lawmakers said Sunday. Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, and Republican Sen. Martin Golden of Brooklyn said they would introduce legislation in Albany to ensure those workers are recognized. "We want to tell the story of the 9/11 workers who rushed here to help put the city back on its feet, who got sick because they did that, and now unfortunately many of them have died," Gianaris said at a news conference attended by ailing first responders and family members. The Bush administration, along with state and local governments, have been criticized for being slow to acknowledge that many people developed debilitating illnesses from exposure to toxic materials at ground zero. Golden said a full accounting of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the twin towers, which killed nearly 2,800 people, would have to include the effects on the health of first responders and others who toiled at the trade center rubble.
Iran said it needs timeto review agency's plan
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran said Sunday it needs time to review a plan proposed by the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency that calls for holding off on imposing U.N. Security Council sanctions if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, proposed the simultaneous time-out plan during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in an effort to end the standoff between the West and Iran over the Islamic republic's suspect nuclear program. "Time should be allocated to see if the plan has the capacity to solve the [nuclear] case," Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, told reporters during a joint news conference with Russia's national security adviser, Igor Ivanov. He did not elaborate. The Security Council last month voted unanimously to impose limited sanctions on Iran after it ignored demands to halt enrichment.
Sinn Fein votes to backNorthern Ireland police
DUBLIN, Ireland -- Sinn Fein members overwhelmingly voted Sunday to begin cooperating with the Northern Ireland police, a long-unthinkable commitment that could spur the return of a Catholic-Protestant administration for the British territory. The result -- confirmed by a sea of raised hands but no formally recorded vote -- meant Sinn Fein, once a hard-left party committed to a socialist revolution, has abandoned its decades-old hostility to law and order. The vote, taken after daylong debate among 2,000 Sinn Fein stalwarts, represented a stunning triumph for Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams, the former Irish Republican Army commander who has spent 24 years edging his IRA-linked party away from terror and toward compromise.
Duck survives anothernear-death experience
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Perky is one tough bird. The ring-neck duck survived being shot and spending two days in a hunter's refrigerator -- and now she's had a close brush with death on a veterinarian's operating table. The one-pound female duck stopped breathing Saturday during surgery to repair gunshot damage to one wing, said Noni Beck of the Goose Creek Wildlife Sanctuary. Veterinarian David Hale revived the bird after several tense moments by performing CPR. "I started crying, 'She's alive!'" Beck said. Perky entered the headlines last week after a hunter's wife opened her refrigerator door and the should've-been-dead duck lifted its head and looked at her. The bird had been in the fridge for two days since being shot and presumed killed Jan. 15. Perky is recovering with a pin installed in the fractured wing, and probably will not have more surgery because of her sensitivity to anesthesia, Hale said.
Pelosi, Afghan presidentdiscuss troop strength
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan president told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that his security forces need to be stronger as the two discussed possible U.S. troop increases Sunday, days after the Pentagon extended the tour of 3,200 soldiers, an Afghan official said. President Hamid Karzai stressed his desire for increased training and equipment for Afghanistan's fledgling army and police forces, the Afghan official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information publicly. Pelosi, D-Calif., and Karzai discussed plans announced last week by the Bush administration to ask Congress for 10.6 billion for Afghanistan, a major increase aimed at rebuilding the country and strengthening government security forces still fighting the Taliban five years after the U.S.-led invasion.
Associated Press