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Delay sought for Eisenhower's memorial<p></p>

 
Published Feb. 11, 2012

Delay sought for Ike's memorial

A Virginia congressman asked a federal panel Friday to reject a design for a memorial honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, saying the World War II general's family objects to it. In a letter to the National Capital Planning Commission, Rep. Frank Wolf said that he is worried the approval process is being rushed and that the design by famous architect Frank Gehry won't have public support. Last month, the Associated Press reported the Eisenhower family was asking the commission to delay final approval so the memorial could be redesigned. The family said the design overemphasizes "Ike's" humble roots and neglects his accomplishments as a president and war hero.

London to test alcohol monitors

London will be the first city in England to test electronic monitoring to force persistent alcohol offenders to stop drinking, Mayor Boris Johnson said Friday. Johnson said the program would use electronic bracelets to detect alcohol in perspiration of people convicted of serious drink-related offenses. The trial program is expected to start later this year. One police force in Scotland is already planning to go ahead with a trial. Electronic devices which continuously monitor alcohol are used in several U.S. states. Offenders who break their no-drink order can be sent to jail.

Teenage suicides alarm Russians

A rash of teenage suicides in Russia has set off alarm bells and experts are urging the government to take immediate action. Russia has the world's third-highest rate of suicide among teenagers age 15 to 19, with about 1,500 taking their lives every year, according to a recent UNICEF report. The rate is higher only in the neighboring former Soviet republics of Belarus and Kazakhstan. In recent years, there have been 19 to 20 annual suicides per 100,000 teenagers in Russia — three times the world average, Boris Polozhy of the respected Serbsky psychiatric center in Moscow said Friday.

Associated Press