The new center-left government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi promised before taking office last May to consider recognizing civil unions. The government's position has already prompted condemnation from the Vatican, with Pope Benedict denouncing any legal recognition of same-sex couples.

Washington -- The chance that the gem on your finger is an illicit or "blood diamond" has been greatly diminished, thanks to an innovative international partnership called the "Kimberley Process" that controls and monitors the world's $30 billion annual trade in rough stones.

The multination process, with roots in a meeting held in Kimberley, South Africa, in 2000, was launched formally in November 2002.  It has "fundamentally reformed the rules of the game of the trade in rough diamonds … and is a success story for multilateral diplomacy," says Paul Simons, a deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.

Simons updated journalists December 5 on progress made by the 71 Kimberley Process signatories in curtailing the illicit cross-border trade in diamonds that has helped fuel conflict, especially in West Africa in the 1990s. The United Nations defines blood diamonds, also called conflict diamonds, as diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments and used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council.

Simons, who attended a Kimberley Process plenary meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, November 6-9, said the Kimberley Process "creates an exclusive trading zone of committed countries.  All the world's major diamond producers, polishers and consumers are part of the process” and have agreed to trade only with other members.

He said a major reason for the success of the "certification scheme" is the partnership between government, the diamond industry and prominent civil society groups.

U.S. government support for the Kimberley Process broadened when Congress passed the Clean Diamond Trade Act in April 2003.  The United States provides technical help to upgrade internal controls on the diamond sectors in countries such as Sierra Leone and Liberia and has spent $7.6 million since 1999 on diamond trade control assistance, Simons added.

Money from the sale of blood diamonds helped fuel Sierra Leone’s civil war, which killed or maimed thousands. That conflict is the subject of a new film, Blood Diamond, that debuts on international screens in early 2007.

After seeing an advance screening of the film, Simons said, "It is very good, but it depicts a picture that occurred in the late 1990s."

During that "peak period," blood diamonds were estimated to account for 4-15 percent of the world's total trade in the gemstone, he added.  But now the rate has dropped to less than 1 percent, thanks to the certification and sanctions regime the Kimberley Process implemented early in 2003.

In many ways Kimberley is unique because "it contains a disciplinary component to take action if there are any irregularities," Simons pointed out.  This is done through "warnings or expulsion processes."

For example, he said, the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville was expelled from the process in 2004 because it was exporting more diamonds than it produced.  In contrast, policing of the industry has been good for formerly war-torn Sierra Leone, whose official diamond exports went from virtually zero to $140 million in 2005.

Kimberley also has "a clearly robust tool kit that includes mechanisms to monitor country performance ... [and] provisions to report diamond trade and production statistics -- we have a statistics working group that compiles and monitors these," Simons added.

According to a communiqué from the November Gaborone meeting, the statistics working group in 2006 monitored $37.6 billion in rough diamond exports, and participating nations issued 59,000 certificates verifying their authenticity.

In late November, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution reaffirming its continuing support for the Kimberley Process.

Barbara Barrett, a member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. and senior adviser on diamonds and conflict issues, said in a statement: "We join those in the international community who commend the Kimberley Process for dramatically reducing the flow of conflict diamonds and thus contributing to regional security, peace and stability."

Despite Kimberley’s successes, challenges remain, Simon told journalists.  Liberia is still unable to export diamonds because of U.N. sanctions -- a legacy of the Charles Taylor dictatorship.

And diamonds from rebel-held regions in Cote d'Ivoire allegedly enter international markets through Mali and Ghana.  The Gaborone meeting communiqué said Ghanaian officials are “committed to take appropriate measures to maintain the integrity” of the process."

But the main point, Simons said, is that the Kimberley Process overall is "a success story.  We're keeping a vigilant eye around the world" and continue to upgrade capabilities of countries that could be vulnerable to the illicit trade in diamonds.

More information is available on the Kimberley Process Web site.

Washington – "In order to fight corruption you have to deny safe haven for the corrupt," according to John Brandolino, director for anticrime programs for the U.S. Department of State's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) provisions on asset recovery help do that, he said.

"No other convention deals with the asset recovery issue in such a comprehensive way," Brandolino said in an interview with USINFO December 4. The convention’s provisions on asset recovery promote international cooperation in training and confiscating illicitly acquired funds and return them to their country of origin.

For the asset recovery efforts to be effective, there must be full participation of the international community, Brandolino said, so that corrupt entities cannot take their funds from one nation to another.

Brandolino made his remarks ahead of the first high-level conference since the convention came into force on December 14, 2005. Representatives of the countries that have ratified the U.N. Convention Against Corruption will meet in Dead Sea, Jordan, December 10 -14, to work on turning the international anti-corruption convention’s words into actions. The goal of the conference is to get parties together to develop a process for promoting implementation of the convention, Brandolino said.

The convention, the first international legally binding anti-corruption agreement, outlines actions governments are required to take to reduce corruption. It has been signed by 140 nations and ratified by 80.

According to a November 29 U.N. press release, asset recovery is one of three key issues at the Jordan conference. The 800 delegates also will focus on monitoring nations' compliance with the convention and providing technical assistance to ensure that police, prosecutors and judges are equipped with the tools needed to prevent and punish corruption.

International cooperation is a key element of the convention. It establishes guidelines for improving mutual law enforcement, investigations and extraditions.

UNITED STATES ACTIVE IN FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

The United States became a party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption on November 29. The U.S. ratification sends a strong message to the world that the United States views the convention as an important focal point for anti-corruption efforts, Brandolino said.

The United States goal at the Jordan conference, Brandolino said, is to work with the parties to make sure the convention is implemented effectively. The U.S. delegation to the conference includes representatives from the State Department, Justice Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The United States already has been working actively with the United Nations and independently to fight corruption worldwide. It has given money to help countries fight corruption as part of the U.N. Global Program Against Corruption. U.S. assistance also has helped other nations learn how to institute the proper laws, financial management systems and public procurement systems to prevent corruption.

The full text of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption is available on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Web site.

More information about the convention will be available in a December 12 webchat at USINFO’s Webchat Station.

President Bush says it was a very constructive meeting with Republican leaders who now control Congress and Democratic leaders who will take charge in January.

"We talked about Iraq," he said. "We talked about the need for a new way forward in Iraq. And we talked about the need to work together on this important subject."

The president assured Democrats that the "White House door will be open" when they become the majority party in the next Congress, and said he hopes they can meet regularly.

"The reason you meet on a regular basis is so that the American people can know that we are working hard to find common ground. That is what they expect us to do. They expect us to work on big problems and solve them," he said.

Mr. Bush thanked outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert who lost their leadership positions in last month's electoral defeat for Republicans. With Democrats set to take charge of Congress in January, the president said he looks forward to working with incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Bipartisanship is central to the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, which said the United States deserves a debate on Iraq that prizes substance over rhetoric.

Among the study group's recommendations are talks with Iran and Syria and the withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008.

But, following talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair Thursday, President Bush said there will be no direct talks with Iran until it gives up what he says is its nuclear weapons program. Iran has long denied that is seeking to make nuclear weapons. It says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Mr. Bush also said there would be no dialogue with Syria until it stops interfering in Lebanon.

As for troop levels, Mr. Bush said he needs to be "flexible and realistic" about U.S. withdrawals from Iraq.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the president will also consider pending reports on Iraq from the Pentagon, State Department, and National Security Council with the goal of making an address to the nation on the issue sometime before Christmas.

This is a major strategic revamp for Samsung, which has focused solely on the premium markets with pricey, feature-rich models.

"Let me say this first: we have no plan at all to introduce phones cheaper than $50. But we seek to attack the $50-$100 markets in some developing nations," said the executive, who declined to be named.

"This does not mean we will scrap our unique strategy of selling premium phones. We plan to ship the low-priced models to just a handful of potential-laden destinations to preempt the markets," he said.

As possible destinations of the inexpensive models, the anonymous executive picked India and countries in Southeast Asia and South America.

"Our top priority is to make folks in the entry markets get familiar with the user interfaces and brand of made-by-Samsung handsets," the executive said.

"Then, they will buy more expensive Samsung phones later when they switch their handsets after the income level goes up there," he said.

Experts point out the global competition to increase sales with low-priced handsets prompts Samsung to flirt with the low-tier wireless markets.

"As Nokia and Motorola continue to roll out cheap handsets in the developing countries, Samsung seems to have no choice but to jump onto the bandwagon to keep its market share," Mirae Asset analyst Kim Kyung-mo said.

"The tactical change is a two-edged sword: it may help Samsung to add market share or it may end up blowing out the hard-earned premium image of the firm," Kim said.

Nokia currently accounts for about one-third of the international demands for cell phones, followed by Motorola, which boasts of a 20 percent-plus market share. Samsung came in at third with about 12 percent share.

WASHINGTON – Two Lucas County, Ohio, sheriff’s deputies were charged today with violating the civil rights of a juvenile who was in their custody, conspiring to obstruct and actually obstructing a federal investigation of the incident. The two defendants, Troy Jackson, 45, and Marc Odoms, 38, both of Toledo, were charged with violations of federal law for depriving the rights of the victims while acting in their official capacity as sheriff’s deputies, tampering with witnesses and conspiring to obstruct justice. Odoms was also charged with making false statements.

The indictment charges that on Jan. 20, 2005, Jackson, while on official duty, physically assaulted a handcuffed juvenile detained at the Lucas County Juvenile Justice Center by striking him multiple times in the eye and the side of the face. The indictment further charges that Odoms watched the assault and failed to intervene and that Jackson and Odoms subsequently both agreed to and eventually did obstruct a federal investigation of the assault by creating false written reports and making false statements to authorities investigating the incident.

If convicted, both men face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and fines of $250,000 on each criminal civil rights and obstruction charge. Odoms faces an additional five years in prison on the false statements charge.

The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of every federal criminal civil rights statute, such as those laws that prohibit the willful use of excessive force or other acts of misconduct by law enforcement officials. In fiscal year 2006, nearly 50 percent of the cases brought by the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division involved such prosecutions. Since fiscal year 2001, the Department of Justice has convicted 50 percent more defendants for excessive force and official misconduct than in the preceding six years.

An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Kristy L. Parker and Eric Gibson of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was obligated $2.27 million by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, it was announced today.

When Hurricane Katrina tore through Louisiana last year, the airport was converted into a shelter that housed stranded passengers, evacuees, trauma victims, airport staff and emergency personnel. Part of the funds obligated today will go towards reimbursement for food, water, electrical services and other emergency services needed during that critical time.

The funds will also cover permanent repairs and renovations to various buildings across the site, including the Airborne Express building, the Hertz Rental Car facility and the Perishable Goods building. Additional work covered includes replacement of Dell Power Pack computers and battery packs for the terminals, damages to uninsured fleet vehicles and for the use of a 1500-gallon fire truck during the emergency.

When projects are obligated by FEMA, the funds are transferred to the state. This allows the state to draw down the monies and distribute them to the local applicants. The state may require additional documentation from the applicant before disbursals are made.

The Public Assistance program works with state and local officials to fund recovery measures and the rebuilding of government buildings, roads and bridges, schools, water and sewer plants, recreational facilities owned by government agencies, some facilities owned by nonprofit agencies, and other publicly owned facilities. FEMA can set aside money to bring each project back to its pre-disaster function and capacity, and the state distributes the money. In order for the process to be successful, federal, state and local partners coordinate to draw up project plans, fund these projects and oversee their completion.

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident, initiates mitigation activities and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA works closely with state and local emergency managers, law enforcement personnel, firefighters and other first responders. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.