President urges professor’s firing

The president of the University of Colorado has recommended that a professor who likened some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi should be fired, according to the professor and the school.

Ward Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, has denied the allegations and threatened a lawsuit if he is dismissed.

CU President Hank Brown made the recommendation in a 10-page letter sent to the chair of the committee that handles tenure issues. University spokeswoman Michele McKinney confirmed published reports about the recommendation Monday but said the school would not make the letter public.

The university’s governing Board of Regents would have the final say on whether Churchill is fired or disciplined. It could be several weeks before the case ends up in its hands; the tenure panel must review it first.

Churchill touched off a firestorm with an essay likening some victims in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust.

SAO PAULO, Brazil

Contraception plan unveiled

Just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI denounced government-backed contraception in a visit to Brazil, the president unveiled a program Monday to provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the plan will give poor Brazilians “the same right that the wealthy have to plan the number of children they want.”

Brazil already hands out free condoms and birth control pills at government-run pharmacies. But many poor people in Latin America’s largest country don’t go to those pharmacies, so Silva’s administration decided to offer the pills at drastically reduced prices at private drug stores, said Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao.

The price for a year’s supply of birth control pills under the new program would be $2.40, and anyone – rich or poor – can buy the pills by simply showing a government-issued identification card that almost all Brazilians carry.

MEXICO CITY

Miss Japan named Miss Universe

Riyo Mori, a 20-year-old dancer from Japan who hopes to someday open an international dance school, was crowned Miss Universe 2007 Monday night.

Miss USA Rachel Smith, who slipped and fell to the floor during the evening gown competition, was the contest’s fourth runner-up.

Also finishing in the top five were second runner-up Ly Jonaitis of Venezuela and third runner-up Honey Lee of Korea.

The winner travels the world for a year on behalf of charities and pageant sponsors. Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza of Puerto Rico crowned her successor at the end of the two-hour telecast with a headpiece valued at $250,000.