SPEED CAMERAS CAUTION

A LEADING motoring organisation has welcomed the repainting ofroadside speed cameras to make them more visible.

But the RAC Foundation warned it was not the only answer tocutting the death toll on Avon and Somerset roads.

All 50 speed detection and 19 red-light fixed cameras in the area,and any new ones installed, will be painted orange on the front andback by the end of next month.

The first new-look camera box was unveiled in Taunton this week.

The Government has given the Avon and Somerset Safety CameraPartnership permission to use money from camera-generated speedingfines to buy extra cameras.

A condition was that the cameras must be highly …

Translation firm grows with international trade

When Julio Pena came to this country from Mexico City 10 years ago, he never dreamed he would use his ability to speak Spanish to build a career.

Today, he and his wife, Cathy, maintain a home office in Palmyra for their 5-year-old firm, Exact Communication, which specializes in interpretation at live events and teleconferences, as well as translating company documents such as training manuals into foreign languages.

Since 1989, Cathy, a Reading native who calls herself "a writer by nature," has worked as an independent consultant on computerized documentation, which involves technical writing for corporate policies, proposals and manuals.

But when she and Julio …

Iceland elects ordinary folk to draft constitution

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland's getting a new constitution — and it's really going to be the voice of the people.

The sparsely-populated volcanic island is holding an unusual election Saturday to select ordinary citizens to cobble together a new charter, an exercise in direct democracy born out of the outrage and soul-searching that followed the nation's economic meltdown.

Hundreds of people are vying for the chance to be among up to 31 people who will form the Constitutional Assembly slated to convene early next year — a source of huge pride for Icelanders who have seen their egos take a beating in recent years.

"This is the first time in the history of the world …

Man in US terror case gets 20 years in prison

One of three men convicted of plotting to recruit and train terrorists to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison.

Mohammad Amawi, who had faced a maximum sentenced of life in prison, will get credit for the three years he's already spent in custody and will be under lifetime supervision when released, U.S. District Judge James Carr said.

Amawi and two other men of Middle Eastern descent met in Toledo about five years ago and began plotting and training to help insurgents in Iraq, the FBI said during their trial last year. Defense lawyers said the three were set up by an undercover FBI informant.

Carr said …

Lionel Richie Takes 1st Movie Acting Role

NEW YORK Singer Lionel Richie has quietly accepted his first filmacting role in an upcoming Disney movie.

He'll film scenes in New York this week for "The Preacher'sWife," directed by Penny Marshall. Richie plays a friend of WhitneyHouston's character from her days at a jazz club. He meets up withher again and tries to …

Biographical information on Jack Lew

WASHINGTON (AP) — NAME: Jacob "Jack" Lew

AGE-BIRTH DATE-LOCATION: 56; Aug. 29, 1955; New York City

EDUCATION: Graduated with bachelor's degree from Harvard in 1978 and a law degree from Georgetown University in 1983.

EXPERIENCE: Served in Obama administration as deputy secretary of state from 2009-2010 and as budget director from Nov. 2010 to present. Served as budget director in Clinton …

Police arrest 3 men over in journalist robberies

Police say they have made three arrests in the armed robbery of journalists in South Africa for the World Cup.

In a statement Thursday, South African police said the arrests were made overnight.

A Portuguese photographer was held up at gunpoint early Wednesday and two other journalists at the same hotel were …