U.S. criticized on police brutality GENEVA (AP) - As the U.N. Human Rights Commission opened its annual session Monday, Amnesty International departed from its traditional criticism of China and instead denounced police brutality and executions in the U.S. "Human rights violations in the United States of America are persistent, widespread and appear to disproportionately affect people of racial or ethnic minority backgrounds," Amnesty's Secretary-General Pierre Sane said. The U.S. delegation leader, Nancy Rubin, disagreed, saying the U.S. was "proud of our political and judicial system." The 53-nation commission is the world's top human rights watchdog, even though much of its debate is politicized. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558900265-281> Govt. to send nuclear waste to N.M. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department, getting the go-ahead from a federal judge, said Monday it will send its first shipment of radioactive waste to a disposal site in New Mexico this week. The state and four environmental groups had sought to block the shipments, but Judge John Garrett Penn refused Monday to issue an injunction postponing the shipments. He said the facility was legally free to accept waste. The Energy Department gave notice to New Mexico this month that it would begin shipping 36 containers of highly radioactive waste from its Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., pending a court ruling. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558902564-cbe>
