News of Interest 4/22/07

Super-rich population surges in 2006: survey
"The number of U.S. households with a net worth of more than $5 million, excluding their primary residence, surged 23 percent to surpass one million for the first time in 2006, according to a survey released on Tuesday. The survey by Chicago-based Spectrem Group found that the number of U.S. households with more than $5 million rose from 930,000 in 2005. In 1996, there were only 250,000 U.S. households in the "ultra-rich" category, Spectrem said. 'The past few years have been nothing but astounding for wealthy Americans,' said Catherine McBreen, managing director of Spectrem, a consulting group that researches the affluent and retirement markets."
MCSO to beef up immigration patrols
"The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is getting funds to hire 15 new deputies whose main job will be to arrest illegal immigrants and human smugglers and enforce Arizona's anti-coyote law. The sheriff's office has been using the law to arrest the people who are smuggled across the border as conspirators with human smugglers."
Nigeria's election sidesteps plight of poor
"The chief reckoned that life was better in the old days. Less than half of the village had been to Abuja. No one was working there to bring back money to the village but he thought Abuja was a good thing. When I asked why, he paused and consulted the others then said that if his people were sick they could go there for treatment. The others immediately pointed out that almost no one could afford medicine. The only thing that linked Durumi to the modern world then was a four-room school that was being built. The government had promised to pay for two teachers."
TV crews attacked in Paris suburb
"French police urged journalists on Friday to be vigilant in some riot-hit suburbs of Paris after several TV crews were attacked and robbed by youths just days before France's presidential election. In Clichy-Sous-Bois, where week-long riots started in 2005, three TV crews were attacked this week, with the assailants stealing cameras and other filming equipment, police said."
Few attend anti-police brutality rally in Newburgh
"When Bryant, known here as "Tone," was killed on Broadway, Newburgh braced for the worst. In a city that is 75 percent black and Latino, Newburgh's 97-strong police department has fewer than a dozen minority officers — race is always one incident away from disaster."
China says global warming threatens development
"Global warming could devastate China's development, the nation's first official survey of climate change warns, while insisting economic growth must come before greenhouse gas cuts. Hotter average global temperatures fueled by greenhouse gases mean that different regions of China are likely to suffer spreading deserts, worsening droughts and floods, shrinking glaciers and rising seas, the National Climate Change Assessment states. This environmental upheaval could derail the ruling Communist Party's plans for sustainable development, a copy of the report obtained by Reuters says."