"We come to celebrate a strategic partnership between the United States and Brazil ... A memorandum of understanding in the biofuels area was signed," Lula said. Lula said the agreement to promote the use of alternative fuels was important for mankind and should encourage other countries to diversify their energy sources.

Brazil and the United States would seek production partnerships with other countries in Central America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.

San Francisco-based law firm Gordon & Rees has opened a Denver office.

The office will be overseen by co-managing partners Scott Cook and Miles Scully, both litigators, and will focus primarily on commercial litigation initially, though there are plans to add health care and employment law, among other practice areas, within the first year.

The office also will include Amy Darby, a senior associate with experience in complex business disputes, class action matters and other general business litigation. Darby specializes in franchisee/franchisor disputes. She also has experience in trademark litigation, product liability and negligence claims.

The firm said the expansion into Denver was driven largely by clients.

"The firm has enjoyed strong relationships with a number of clients either domiciled in Colorado or with legal and business needs in the area so this was a natural extension for us," Dion Cominos, managing partner for Gordon & Rees, said in a press release. "We also see many viable possibilities for new business in Colorado and expect to grow our ranks there significantly over the near term.

Gordon & Reese has offices in 14 cities, including several in California, as well as in Portland, Oregon; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Dallas; Houston; New York; Uniondale, N.Y.; and Newark, N.J.

China accused the US of numerous human rights abuses on Thursday in its Human Rights Record of the US in 2006, the Chinese state response to US criticism in Tuesday's publication of the 2006 US State Department Country Reports. The Chinese report, its eighth consecutive annual rebuttal to the US report, cites news stories from around the world as examples of US rights abuses both within the US and in other countries. China said the US uses its strong military to trespass on the sovereignty of other countries and violate the rights of those countries' citizens, drawing from sources such as a John Hopkins University study that estimates more than 655,000 Iraqi deaths since the Iraq war began in early 2003, and US troop actions in Haditha and Mahmudiya .

The report also cited alleged Geneva Convention violations, including the detention and alleged torture of prisoners both in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. On the situation within the US, the Chinese report looked at racial and gender inequality, overcrowding in the prison system, poverty, post September 11 government surveillance, political corruption including discussion of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and the crime rate in general. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged that the US has an imperfect human rights record when introducing the State Department's report Tuesday, saying "We do not issue these reports because we think ourselves perfect, but rather because we know ourselves to be deeply imperfect, like all human beings and the endeavors that they make. Our democratic system of governance is accountable, but it is not infallible. We are nonetheless guided by enduring ideals: the inalienable rights of humankind and the principles of democracy toward which all people and all governments must continue striving. And that includes us here in America."

The US State Department report on China was just as detailed as the Chinese response, saying that China's human rights record has been steadily declining over the years. The US report looked at China's restrictions on press and speech, Internet censorship, governmental corruption, racial and gender discrimination, and limitations on religious freedom, including the state crackdown on Falun Gong.

Khadr was only 15 years old when he allegedly trained with and fought alongside al Queda fighters in Afghanistan. His father, Ahmad Khadr, was a close associate of Osama bin Laden and other senior al Queda leaders. Omar Khadr is accused of planting mines to blow up US convoys and throwing a grenade that killed a US Green Beret. His charges were renewed last month. Earlier this week the US Supreme Court rejected his request to expedite his challenge of the 2006 Military Commissions Act.

Texas Ranger Sgt. Brian Burzynski speaks to members of a Joint Committee on the Operation and Management of the Texas Youth Commission Thursday, March 8, 2007, in Austin, Texas. Burzynski is one of the first law authorities to investigate allegations of sexual abuse at the West Texas State School.
   
Echoing the words of so many others, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said of U.S. troops: They don't have the luxury of passing the buck to somebody else. They step forward and they step up.

"I promised each one of those victims that I would do everything in my power to ensure that justice would not fail them, the Rangers would not fail them," Brian Burzynski told a legislative committee Thursday, his voice quivering. "I can only imagine what the students think about the Ranger who was unable to bring them justice."

Recent discussions of the agency's budget brought Burzynski's investigation to the Legislature's attention, and an internal investigation confirmed his findings and determined top officials knew of the abuse but did nothing to stop it.

This week, state leaders dispatched law enforcement officials to all 22 state youth facilities and the commission's headquarters to investigate as the sexual abuse scandal became public.

The Texas attorney general's office opened an investigation and aimed to bring the case before a grand jury by May. Lawmakers urged them to hurry.

The legislative committee Burzynski testified before, set up to look into the scandal, also gave the Texas Youth Commission Board of Directors a vote of no confidence during its first meeting Thursday after board members refused to resign.

"You're responsible for 5,000 children that are incarcerated and they're God's children," said state Rep. Jim McReynolds. "I read (investigation reports) last night 'til I wanted to vomit."

Lawmakers are trying to determine who knew that inmates had accused top officials of molesting them, when they knew about it and why they didn't stop the abuse and expose it.

During the often tear-filled testimony, members of the board claimed they didn't know about many of the allegations and didn't have time in their meetings to categorically address reports of abuse.

"I've never been involved in anything where you had to follow up on a case that was done by a Texas Ranger or by a police department or was turned over to a district attorney," said Board Chairman Donald Bethel. "We didn't know anything about that."

Bethel insisted that the board did the best it could with the information it had.

"I don't think anyone else would have done different than what this board did," Bethel said.

Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who leads the committee, told the five board members they should all resign: "I think you ought to do the state and the young people of Texas a service by getting out of the way and letting someone else lead."

Investigators on Thursday converged on a halfway house in San Antonio after getting a tip that the superintendent had been shredding documents. Executive Director Ed Owens had previously ordered that no document be destroyed at any of the facilities.

"They conducted a search of her office, vehicle and residence with her consent and they seized state-issued computers as well as a shredder and its contents," said Ted Royer, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry. "She was immediately escorted off the facilities and Ed Owens has ordered that she be suspended immediately while this investigation moves forward."

Legislation due to arrive on the U.S. House floor later this month will propose legislation requing the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008, and even earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet security and other goals, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

The conditions, described as tentative until presented to the Democratic rank and file, would be added to legislation providing nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars the Bush administration has requested for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the officials said.

The legislation would be the most direct challenge the new Democratic-controlled Congress has posed to the president's war policies.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office did not provide details, but announced plans for a Thursday morning news conference to unveil the measure. It said she would be joined by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and other key lawmakers. Murtha is chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Pentagon's budget and is among the House's most outspoken opponents of the war.

Democrats familiar with the emerging legislation said the bill would require President Bush to certify the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was making progress toward providing for his country's security, allocating its oil revenues and creating a fair system for amending its constitution.

They said if Bush certified the Iraqis were meeting these so-called benchmarks, U.S. combat troops could remain until September of next year. Otherwise, the deadline would move up to the end of 2007.

The legislation also calls for the Pentagon to adhere to its standards for equipping and training U.S. troops sent overseas and for providing time at home between tours of combat.

At the same time, it permits Bush to issue waivers of these standards. Democrats described the waiver provision as an attempt to embarrass the president, but their effect would be to permit the administration to proceed with plans to deploy five additional combat brigades to the Baghdad area over the next few months.

The measure emerged from days of private talks among Democrats following the repudiation of Murtha's original proposal, which would have required the Pentagon to meet readiness and training standards without the possibility of a waiver.

Two of Coastal Georgia's most prestigious law firms have recently merged. The merger of Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin, P.C., and Smith & Floyd, P.A., expands each of their respective practices. The combined firm now consists of 20 attorneys with offices in Brunswick, St. Marys, and St. Simons Island.

Founded in Brunswick in 1871 by Charles P. Goodyear, Gilbert Harrell has served clients in Southeast Georgia for more than 130 years. The firm engages in all aspects of civil and commercial law and has specific practice groups dedicated to litigation, trusts and estates, corporate matters, and real estate.

The Smith & Floyd law firm was founded in 1985 by Charlie Smith Jr. and Terry Floyd. Jan Mallory joined the firm following Floyd's death in 2005. Smith has practiced law in St. Marys since 1976, with a primary focus in real estate. Formerly State Representative for District 175, Smith was legislative floor leader for Gov. Roy Barnes. Smith and Mallory are both graduates of the University of Georgia School of Law.

"We look forward to working together with Charlie and Jan to better serve our clients," said Gilbert Harrell Managing Partner Rees Sumerford. "I've known Charlie for more than 35 years. He's an outstanding attorney and person, and I cannot overstate how pleased I am to become professionally associated with him."

Smith added, "Joining forces with the Gilbert Harrell firm makes a lot of sense for us. It will enable us to better serve our clients in Camden County and to greatly expand the types of legal services we offer, to include estate planning, civil litigation, and other areas."

The firm will continue to be known as Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin, P.C. 

http://www.gilbertharrelllaw.com