■ United States
Angry people let off steam
Licensed mental health professionals are steamed over a Maine entrepreneur who charges angry people US$1.99 a minute to listen to them rant and rave over the telephone. Philip Doyen receives between 10 and 20 phone calls a week to Vent-Line, a service he launched in February that allows callers to blow off steam -- at a price. But some professional counseling services aren't happy about Doyen's business and are urging prosecutors to investigate whether he is breaking any state laws, the Portland Press Herald reported on Tuesday. Doyen, who works as a computer repairman when not operating Vent-Line, says he has dozens of customers along the US East Coast.
■ Canada
Sex kitten causes catcalls
Debate in Canada's parliament degenerated into shouts and catcalls on Wednesday when an opposition legislator committed what others saw as the sin of mispronouncing an Italian movie star's name. Jason Kenney of the Conservatives claimed that a former government minister had been "rubbing shoulders with aging Italian sex kitten Gina Lollobreegeeda" -- whose name is in fact Gina Lollobrigida. "It's Gina Lollobrigida, idiot!" bellowed Human Resources Minister Joe Volpe, prompting Kenney to say he was sorry for "offending the aging sex kitten community." Speaking afterward, Volpe made an apology of his own. "I'm sorry I called him an idiot. I should have referred to him as an imbecile," he said.
■ Canada
June 28 likely poll date
Prime Minister Paul Martin is likely to call a federal election for June 28 even though his ruling Liberals are still suffering the effects of a patronage scandal, officials and legislators said on Wednesday. Liberal sources said Martin had ditched plans for a June 14 election, because the party's platform was not ready and because he hopes the Liberals will keep climbing in the polls. Martin's support crashed to 35 percent after a report showed C$100 million (US$73 million) in government funds had been funneled to advertising firms tied to the Liberals.
■ The Netherlands
Genocide charge defended
Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic signaled a clear intent to commit genocide through his approval of widescale atrocities against Muslims in Bosnia, UN prosecutors argued in a brief released on Wednesday. The brief was in response to a motion to dismiss genocide charges against Milosevic for lack of evidence. The prosecutors acknowledged they had no smoking gun to prove genocide, but they said Milosevic's genocidal intent was evident from "a pattern of conduct."
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