State
Lawmaker seeks new license requirements
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A passenger van accident that killed three and injured 10 last month has one lawmaker proposing a study that might lead to new license requirements for drivers of large passenger vans, recreational vehicles and rental trucks.
State Rep. John Graham Altman III, R-Charleston, said the accident in rural Charleston County suggests 15-passenger vans are dangerous.
Altman has filed a concurrent resolution seeking a study by the state Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Public Safety.
He said new licensing requirements could pass this year, although he expects opposition from those who rent or sell such vehicles.
Attendance down for Charleston tourism
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Attendance was down at Charleston's leading tourist attractions last year and industry officials say it may have to do with repeat visitors bypassing attractions on return trips.
Attendance at area attractions dropped 9.8 percent, according to the Charleston Chamber of Commerce. The 16 biggest attractions tracked by the chamber sold 1.89 million tickets in 2003, about 207,000 fewer than the previous year.
The South Carolina Aquarium, the area's most-visited site, saw an 11 percent drop in attendance for 2003 with about 60,000 fewer people visiting.
Nation
FCC chairman wants stiffer TV penalties
WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the Federal Communications Commission, upset over a growing use of profanity on television and radio, wants to sharply increase the penalties for broadcasters airing indecent programs.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell said at a National Press Club luncheon on Wednesday that the current maximum penalty, $27,500 for each incident, should be 10 times higher.
Muslim women upset over headwear rule
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Some Muslim women in Alabama are upset because state driver's license officials are requiring them to remove their head scarves if they want to get a license.
More than 10 Muslim women from Mobile and Birmingham complained to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The Washington-based group wrote to Alabama Public Safety Director Mike Coppage asking the state to end its requirement for women to remove their head scarf, or hijab.
World
WHO blamed for lack of malaria relief
LONDON (AP) - The World Health Organization and other aid agencies are undermining the battle against malaria by funding cheaper and less-effective drugs, contributing to tens of thousands of deaths of children in Africa, researchers asserted.
The scientists, writing in The Lancet medical journal, accused WHO and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria of promoting programs that use the wrong drugs because they are a tenth the cost of better medicines.
Starbucks makes debut in France
PARIS (AP) - Starbucks has finally arrived in the country that likes to think it invented the cafe.
Almost six years after it began establishing itself in Europe -starting with Britain, Switzerland and Austria - Starbucks Corp. inaugurated its first Paris store Thursday, with Spanish partner Grupo VIPS.
The king of frappuccinos-to-go nevertheless accepts it may not be easy to make ends meet right away in a country where people still like to sit down to drink their "express," preferred short, black, bitter - and above all, cheap.
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