Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas.
1912, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech.
1923 The novel, "Cane", is published by Jean Toomer.
1944 German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
1947 Air Force test pilot Charles E. ("Chuck") Yeager broke the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell X-1 rocket plane over Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1960 the idea of a Peace Corps was first suggested by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to an audience of students at the University of Michigan.
1964 civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1968 the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
1980 Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan promised that, if elected, he would name a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. (He later nominated Judge Sandra Day O'Connor of Arizona.)
1904 W.E.B. DuBois publishes his "Credo" in the New York Journal which describes his beliefs in liberty.
Missing in Action
1966 THOMAS DARWIN JOEL SANTA CLARA CA
1967 CONAWAY GARY LEE BLUE ISLAND IL REMAINS RETURNED 8/84 FAMILY HAS NUMEROUS STORIES? REM RET NOV 67
1967 VAUGHAN ROBERT REDDINGTON LOS ANGELES CA
1977 DELLENBAUGH CORNELIA 01/12/78 RELEASED FROM SAIGON
1977 DICKERMAN LEELAND 01/12/78 RELEASED FROM SAIGON
1977 AFFEL CHARLES
October 13
1966 BORDEN MURRAY L. GOLDSBORO NC
1966 MEADOWS EUGENE T. HIDDENITE NC REMAINS RETURNED 11/94
1967 MILLER EDISON WAINRIGHT CLINTON IA 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED
1967 WARNER JAMES H. YPSILANTI MI 03/73 RELEASED BY DRV " ALIVE IN 98 ""HONORABLE JAMES WARNER"""
1968 HUNT JAMES D. MISSOULA MT
1968 MASTERSON MICHAEL J. EPHRAYA WA
1968 ORELL QUINLEN R. BARNESVILLE OH
1969 GETCHELL PAUL E. PORTLAND ME
1970 CHESTNUT JOSEPH L. MURFREESBORO TN REMAINS RETURNED/IDENTIFIED 07/25/95
October 12
1966 ELKINS FRANK C. BLADENBORO NC REMAINS IDENTIFIED 2/26/90
1966 WOODS ROBERT D. ARCHIE MO 03/04/73 RELEASED ALIVE IN 98
1967 DERRICKSON THOMAS G. LOS ALTOS CA
1967 HARDY JOHN K. LOS ANGELES CA
1972 BRUNSON CECIL H. MEMPHIS TN 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 1998
1972 PRICE WILLIAM M. KEWANEE IL
1972 PEACOCK JOHN R. II KAILUA HI
1972 YOUNG MYRON A. NAPA VALLEY CA 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV RIP 07/03/99
October 11
1968 FERGUSON WILLIE C. JR. OKLAHOMA CITY OK 02/73 REMAINS RECOVERED
1968 HELLER IVAN LOUIS GENESEO IL 03/73 REMAINS RECOVERED
The Wichita Eagle
Despite ruins, Mardi Gras prep goes on
By Kim Hone-McMahan
Knight Ridder Newspapers
NEW ORLEANS - They don't call this a party town for nothing.
Despite fetid piles of garbage, thousands homeless from flooding and the city on the brink of financial ruin, artists have begun crafting puckish icons for Mardi Gras parades four months away.
The pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebrations here boast masquerade balls and raucous merrymaking that gain worldwide attention. And for Blaine Kern, the 78-year-old known as "Mr. Mardi Gras," a little joy is exactly what this town needs.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884803.htm
Steps being taken to avoid avian flu crisis
By Robert S. Boyd
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Authorities cite a long list of reasons to fear a possible bird-flu pandemic, but they also say there are reasons not to panic - at least not yet.
The concern is that the H5N1 strain of bird - or avian - flu virus that's sweeping across bird flocks in Asia and Eastern Europe might learn to jump between humans, like the 1918 "Spanish flu" that killed as many as 50 million people worldwide.
"That's why every virologist in the world is flying around with his hair on fire," said Dr. Tara O'Toole, a virus specialist and director of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884424.htm
Judge wants to curb BTK's access to images
Sedgwick County District Court Judge Greg Waller announced in a hearing at El Dorado Correctional Facility this afternoon that he is recommending that BTK serial killer Dennis Rader be imprisoned with several restrictions.
Among Waller's recommendations are that Rader should not be allowed to possess, receive or create: images of humans or animals, including drawings; documents that describe bondage; or inanimate objects that could be used as representations of humans or animals. Waller also is recommending that Rader not be allowed to view stories or reports about his murders, and that no video and audio recordings of interviews with Rader be allowed, unless specifically authorized by the Department of Corrections.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884432.htm
FDIC approves deal to buy Commercial Federal Bank
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday approved Bank of the West Inc.' s application to acquire Commercial Federal Bank. The Office of Thrift Supervision had already given its approval. Next, Commercial Federal shareholders will vote on the proposal Nov. 1. The transaction is expected to close in December, and local branches will then take the Bank of the West name, spokesman John Stafford said.
Omaha-based Commercial Federal has eight branches in the Wichita metropolitan area. According to the FDIC, Commercial Federal is the eighth-largest bank in the Wichita metro area, based on its 3.3 percent share of local deposits in 2004.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885253.htm
More Kansas schools fail to meet U.S. goals
Associated Press
TOPEKA - Nineteen more Kansas public schools have failed to meet federal education benchmarks that determine such things as whether students are allowed to transfer or receive tutoring, according to data released Tuesday by state education officials.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools are required to make sufficient progress on improving test scores, graduation and attendance rates to achieve what is called "Adequate Yearly Progress." The goal is to have all students proficient in math and reading by 2014.
Schools that fail to meet the standards could be forced to do everything from providing tutoring for students to reorganizing. Those penalties apply only to schools that receive federal money to assist poor children.
School officials said the number of schools failing to meet the benchmarks grew by 19 between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years to 121. That's about 9 percent of the total number of schools in the state.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12879479.htm
Wichita schools' test scores rise
BY AMANDA O'TOOLE
The Wichita Eagle
If it weren't for Hamilton Middle School students' struggles on state tests, Tracy Harmen isn't sure her daughter Robin would be doing so well.
Because Hamilton is on a state list of schools that need to improve test scores, Robin and her fellow students receive hours of extra help and individual attention. And it's apparently working.
Hamilton mirrors what's going on in the district and the state: While the district still trails the state's averages, and while high school students statewide trail younger students, scores overall continue to rise and the achievement gap between races continues to close.
At the district level -- an average of all schools' scores -- Wichita students gained on every test except 10th-grade math, which dropped to 33.8 percent passing from 2004's score of 36.9 percent.
The biggest leap was a 12.9 percentage-point improvement in fifth-grade reading. Just over 70 percent passed.
By comparison, the state average gained 5.6 percentage points, to 77.6.
The gap between Wichita's black and white students shrank by 2.3 percentage points in seventh-grade math and 5.8 percentage points in eighth-grade reading.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12879478.htm
Sectarian resentment extends to Iraq's army
By TOM LASSETER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Swadi Ghilan's two sons were dropping their sister off at high school earlier this year when a carload of Sunni Muslim insurgents pulled up and emptied their AK-47s into their bodies. In broad daylight his children were torn to pieces, their blood splashed against the windshield as they screamed and died.
Ghilan is a major in the Iraqi army and a Shiite Muslim, the sect that makes up some 60 percent of Iraq's population. Now, more than ever, the grieving father says he wants to hunt down and kill not only Sunni guerrilla fighters but also Sunnis who give those fighters shelter and support. By that, he means killing most Sunnis in Iraq.
"There are two Iraqs; it's something that we can no longer deny," Ghilan said. "The army should execute the Sunnis in their neighborhoods so that all of them can see what happens, so that all of them learn their lesson."
The Bush administration's exit strategy for Iraq rests on two pillars: an inclusive, democratic political process that includes all major ethnic groups and a well-trained Iraqi national army. But a week spent eating, sleeping and going on patrol with a crack unit of the Iraqi army - the 4,500-member 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Division - suggests that the strategy is in serious trouble. Instead of rising above the ethnic tension that's tearing their nation apart, the mostly Shiite troops are preparing for, if not already fighting, a civil war against the minority Sunni population.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885151.htm
Sectarian violence tears at the lives of Iraq's soldiers
By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The men of the 1st Brigade of the Iraqi army's 6th Division work in the shadow of death.
Most of the soldiers are Shiite Muslims, from Iraq's majority religious sect. Saddam Hussein's military intelligence unit - mainly Sunni Muslims - once used the base they live on, in the Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Kadhemiya, to interrogate and torture Shiites. They sleep in rooms where Saddamist thugs slept before them. They work in offices that were once torture chambers.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885217.htm
Russians storm store to free hostages
MIKE ECKEL
Associated Press
NALCHIK, Russia - Russian security forces in an armored personnel carrier smashed through the wall of a store to rescue two hostages held by suspected Islamic militants Friday as authorities tried to clear out the last pockets of rebel resistance after more than a day of fighting that killed at least 108 people.
Chechen rebels claimed involvement in the near-simultaneous attacks on police and security facilities that began Thursday in this southern Russian city of 235,000 people and left corpses lying on the streets.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12895791.htm
Millions to receive Social Security boost
MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - More than 48 million Americans will get a 4.1 percent increase in their monthly Social Security checks next year, the largest increase in more than a decade. For the average retiree, it will mean an increase of $39 a month.
The cost of living adjustment, or COLA, was announced Friday by the Social Security Administration. It will be the biggest increase since a 5.4 percent gain in 1991. The increase last January was 2.7 percent.
The inflation adjustment is based on the amount prices - as measured by the Consumer Price Index - have risen in the July-September quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Rising energy costs have driven inflation sharply higher this year, including a record monthly surge in energy costs in September related to the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12899667.htm
Rove testifies again in CIA leak probe
PETE YOST
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Karl Rove testified for the fourth time Friday before the grand jury in the CIA leak probe, following public disclosure of his conversations with two reporters about the identity of a covert officer at the spy agency.
It was likely the White House aide's final chance to convince grand jurors he did nothing criminal in the leak case. Prosecutors have warned Rove, a top adviser and architect of President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, that there is no guarantee he will not be indicted. The grand jury's term is due to expire Oct. 28.
The White House has shifted from categorical denials two years ago that Rove or Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, were involved in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity to "no comment" today.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12896418.htm
DeLay associates freed on personal bonds
SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas - Two associates of Rep. Tom DeLay were released Friday on $10,000 personal bonds on the two most recent charges against them stemming from alleged campaign-finance wrongdoing in the 2002 Texas legislative races.
Jim Ellis, John Colyandro and DeLay all are awaiting trial on charges including money laundering, criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate the election code. They are accused of scheming to circumvent the state's ban on corporate money for 2002 political campaigns.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12895787.htm
The Gulf News
A contest which promotes peace and love
By Bassam Za'za
An award established in Dubai in 1997 to encourage young Muslims to memorise the entire Quran has seen an unprecedented number of entries this year.
Organisers of the Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA) reported this year's contenders numbered 81 and that participation had been increasing each year.
The award's organising committee has put plans in place to deal with the large amount of contestants expected next year. It admitted it had found it difficult to accommodate the numbers for this year's competition.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=186700
Dubai team rescues boy after 96 hours under debris
Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter
Balakot: A 14-year-old boy was rescued by a Dubai police rescue team on Wednesday after surviving 96 hours under the debris of his collapsed house.
The boy was barely conscious when the rescuers pulled him out of the rubble.
"We used our heat sensing device to locate the position of the boy and dig a hole to get him out," said Captain Hussain Al Rahoomi, head of the Dubai police rescue team.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186746
Smoking is the top preventable cause of cancer deaths worldwide
Reuters
New York:
In the year 2000, about 1.4 million cancer deaths, or more than one in every five cancer deaths worldwide, were caused by smoking, "making it possibly the single largest preventable cause of cancer death", Dr Majid Ezzati from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston said.
Smoking is widely recognised as a major cause of cancer, but there is little information on how it contributes to the global and regional burden of cancers in combination with other risk factors, Ezzati and colleagues point out in the latest issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186517
Dozens of anti-Arroyo activists hurt in clashes
Reuters
Manila :
Dozens of people were hurt yesterday in clashes between student activists and Philippine anti-riot police who used a fire hose to break up the protest near the presidential palace in Manila.
At least 10 organisers of the march were arrested.
Protests against President Gloria Arroyo, who weathered an impeachment attempt last month, have turned more violent since her administration recently adopted a tough line against rallies held without permits.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186537
EU enlargement is good for Europe
By Borut Grgic, Special to Gulf News
The EU ministers recently decided in favour of enlargement. Both Turkey and Croatia were given the green light.
This decision was important for at least two reasons. On the one hand, it goes to show that enlargement continues to be a critical component of the overall European ambition.
On the other hand, the decision goes to show that the EU can keep strategy ahead of internal politicking. Despite many suggesting the contrary, enlargement fatigue and enlargement postponement never evolved beyond boorish isolationism spun by the populist crowds.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186534
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Teen killed in southeast Atlanta 'ambush'
Published on: 10/13/05
A 15-year-old was killed Wednesday in an attack in southeast Atlanta that police are calling an "ambush."
The boy was walking with friends Wwednesday night when police say three men dressed in black approached him. He was shot and killed.
Police have not yet released a motive for the shooting or the teen's name. His friends were not injured.
The gunmen fled and police were searching for them today.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/1005/13ambush.html
School fight may be tied to death
Police pursue leads in teen's fatal shooting
By BILL MONTGOMERY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
Atlanta homicide detectives are looking for a possible connection between the fatal shooting of a teenager and a fight at South Atlanta High School.
Addonis "Donnie" Cunningham, a 15-year-old sophomore, faced a disciplinary hearing Sept. 13 for his involvement in the Aug. 26 fight between several South Atlanta students and 10 other teenagers who had scaled a chain-link fence to get onto school grounds during lunch hour, said Atlanta schools spokesman Joseph Manguno.
"His mother withdrew him from South Atlanta High on Aug. 31, and he hasn't been connected with the system since then," Manguno said.
The slain teenager, two weeks shy of turning 16, was accosted by three male suspects shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday as he walked toward a convenience market on Jonesboro Road, said police spokeswoman Sylvia Abernathy. He was shot once in the upper body and died about an hour later at Grady Memorial Hospital
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/1005/14boykilled.html
Passengers tattle on pilot after ride in stolen jet
By MARK DAVIS , JOHN GHIRARDINI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Imagine taking a joyride with five friends — a fine trip, covering 400 or so miles, the sort of nighttime jaunt where the lights of towns and cities below twinkle like diamonds tossed across black velvet.
Then imagine that trip coming to a rude conclusion when your five fellow travelers finger you as the guy who stole that ride, a $7 million Cessna Citation VII.
Daniel Andrew Wolcott, 22, of Buford has been arrested in connection with the theft of a $7 million jet in St. Augustine, Fla
That's the situation facing Daniel Andrew Wolcott of Buford. Police arrested him Wednesday and charged him with taking the airplane, boosted from St. Augustine, Fla., last weekend and flown to Gwinnett County Airport/Briscoe Field.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/13metplane.html
Pilot crashed plane in 2003, FAA says
Buford man charged with stealing jet found in Gwinnett
By DAVE HIRSCHMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
The pilot of the stolen corporate jet that landed at Gwinnett's Briscoe Field last weekend pulled off the aviation equivalent of driving the wrong way on a busy highway at night with the lights out, aviation experts said.
"I don't think the five passengers on that plane had any idea how much danger they were in," said Steve Haslup, a flight instructor who teaches at Briscoe Field where the Cessna Citation VII landed late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. "It's remarkable that no one was hurt."
FAA officials said the plane's transponder was turned off or disabled so that air traffic controllers couldn't easily track it on radar as it approached Atlanta air space, among the busiest in the world. The pilot didn't file a flight plan or talk to air traffic controllers, and the plane likely flew through low clouds and fog as it approached for landing.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/14planefolo.html
Police seek leads on missing Woodstock mom
By DON PLUMMER, CLINT WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
A flurry of cellphone calls placed about the time Sueann Ray disappeared six weeks ago is one of many avenues police are exploring as they seek to solve the mysterious disappearance of the 26-year-old Woodstock mother.
The review of calls between her estranged husband, Quinton Ray, and his family are among a number of police activities that have come to light since the case fell under a national spotlight over the weekend when her friend and family posted a $105,000 reward.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/cherokee/1005/14metmissing.html
Consumer Prices Surge; Retail Sales Rise
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON — Consumer prices surged in September by the largest amount in more than 25 years as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita sent energy prices soaring at the fastest pace on record.
The Labor Department reported Friday that inflation jumped 1.2 percent last month. It said that 90 percent of that increase came from a record-setting 12 percent surge in energy prices which reflected gasoline prices that briefly topped $3 per gallon last month after widespread shutdowns of refineries and oil and natural gas platforms along the Gulf Coast.
The White House downplayed the report.
"The president has confidence in the Federal Reserve when it comes to monetary policy and their ability to address any inflation concerns," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/Finance_Government/Economy.html
NASA takes cue from Apollo era
By MIKE TONER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
More than 36 years after the first manned lunar landing, NASA has a new road map for its return to the moon – and plans for a fleet of new space vehicles that look a lot like the right stuff of a bygone era.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin calls the new "architecture" for future space exploration "Apollo on steroids." This time, however, there are no ringing calls to beat the Russians to the moon. The race is not against time. It's against the federal budget.
In a nod to the Apollo program, NASA's new lander would put four astronauts on the moon and support operations there for up to six months.
The space agency's new lunar road map calls for a "safe, sustained, affordable human and robotic" program that will fit within NASA's existing $16 billion annual budget, an approach Griffin calls "go-as-you-pay."
The goal: land four Americans on the moon by 2020. The cost: $106 billion. In inflation-adjusted dollars, that's a little more than half what the Apollo program cost.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/1005/13natnasa.html
Welcome to Atlanta, Kamau
The new pride of Zoo Atlanta is here, only the public can't see him for another month or so. A 13-month-old male lion cub named Kamau (Swahili for "quiet warrior") arrived Saturday from the Denver Zoo. He will be in quarantine at the Grant Park facility -- routine procedure for new animals -- before going on exhibit in late November. Kamau, already 180 pounds, will grow to between 400 and 450 pounds at maturity. He will join two other lions at Zoo Atlanta -- Farasi, a 15-year-old male, and Masai, a 15-year-old female. He'll be dining on a commercially prepared diet of rabbits, chicken and fish. Maybe that will help his mane grow. "Right now, it's just a stubble," says zoo spokeswoman Susan Elliott.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/sports/open/1005/lioncubbig.html
South leads trend of motherhood without marriage
By HELENA OLIVIERO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Nearly four in 10 babies in Georgia are born out of wedlock in a decades-long shift away from the traditional family, according to an analysis of a new census report released today.
Other Southern states reported even higher rates, making the region the
single-mother hub of the nation.
In Mississippi, 46 percent of women giving birth were single; in Louisiana, 40 percent, according to the analysis of marriage and fertility data by the U.S. Census Bureau — based on information collected between 2000 and 2003.
Only Washington, D.C., beats Mississippi, with more than half its mothers unmarried. The report is considered the first state-by-state look at links between marriage, fertility and other characteristics.
Nationwide, about 29 percent of babies were born to single mothers, according to the census numbers.
Factors such as racial composition, poverty and school dropout rates make Georgia and other Southern states more likely to have out-of-wedlock births, experts say.
But even taking into account those issues, some people wonder whether the statistics might be a symptom of the widening cultural chasm on what constitutes a sanctioned union.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/1005/13motherhood.html
Visit site of first U.S. gold strike
By BILL CISSNA
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/12/05
Concord, N.C. — In 1799, a 12-year-old boy playing along Little Meadow Creek when he should have been in church found a 17-pound rock, which served as a doorstop in his family's home until it was identified as gold in 1802 — the first documented discovery of gold in the new United States.
A recent visit to the Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site, south of Concord, and along a vital fault line, uncovered this and other intriguing facts about gold. A visit with man's most-wanted metal can be enlightening, though if my visit was any indication, the easily-bored younger or older child may not find it as deeply enthralling as the history- or geology-minded adult.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/travel/southeast/nc_stories/1005/12getaway.html
Profiles of Americans who have died.
Louie Favorite/AJC
Cpl. Joe Johnson of Lyerly, Ga., deployed after his son's death in Iraq last year. STORY
As of Oct. 11, at least 1,960 members of the U.S. military have lost their lives in Iraq, with at least from 54 from Georgia, according to the AP.
Sgt. Howe
Dreamed of Christmas
High school wrestler Casey E. Howe told mom he was looking forward to the holidays.
Felt for Katrina victims
George R. Draughn Jr. of Decatur, Ga., was concerned about people of New Orleans.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/index/casualties1.html
$12 million to sign workers' kin
By KEN SUGIURA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Richard and Juanita Fowler decided they would not keep the settlement amount quiet.
The parents of Josh and Anthony Fowler, the two billboard workers killed when a 35,000-pound sign collapsed on them in Snellville three years ago, wanted the settlement made public, their lawyer said.
JENNI GIRTMAN/AJC
Workers Josh and Anthony Fowler were killed when this billboard in Snellville collapsed on Aug. 1, 2002
They sought a figure large enough, attorney Gerald Davidson said, "that hopefully it would send somebody a message in the billboard business that nothing like this could ever happen to any other family."
The Fowlers, of Snellville, settled with three defendants Tuesday night for $12 million, according to Davidson.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/13billboard.html
Haaretz
Government okays preparations for possible bird flu outbreak
By Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies
The government approved the purchase of medicines and vaccines as part of the preparations of a possible outbreak of bird flu, Health Ministry Director General Professor Avi Yisraeli told Israel Radio on Friday.
Meanwhile, laboratory workers in Israel have refused to work to identify any possible cases of avian flu in humans, Israeli media reported Friday.
According to reports, the technicians are concerned over poor protective gear while they are working and say they have insufficient manpower to meet the demands posed by a flu outbreak.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634871.html
Peres and Erekat fail to resolve Gaza-Egypt border issue
By Aluf Benn and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Vice Premier Shimon Peres and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat failed to reach an agreement on Friday after a further round of talks in Tel Aviv aimed at resolving the issue of supervision at the Gaza-Egypt border crossing. However, both sides expressed the belief that the issue would be resolved shortly.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are considering a proposal by Egypt and the World Bank suggesting that the PA and Egypt jointly operate the crossing from Rafah into the Sinai peninsula.
"I don't think we are far apart. I think we are getting closer," Erekat said after Friday's meeting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634850.html
Syria's former top man in Lebanon commits suicide
By News Agencies
Syria's interior minister, who ran Lebanon as security chief until 2003, committed suicide Wednesday, days before the expected release of a United Nations report into the assassination of a former Lebanese leader, Syria's official news agency reported.
"Interior Minister Brigadier General Ghazi Kenaan committed suicide in his office before noon," the Syrian Arab News Agency eported. "Authorities are carrying out the necessary investigation into the incident."
The death of Ghazi Kenaan - just days before the final UN investigation report is due on October 21 - was a new and startling sign of turmoil in Syria, whose authoritarian regime is girding for the chance that the UN report might implicate high-ranking officials in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minster Rafik Hariri, who was strongly opposed to the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/634568.html
New Zealand refuses to release brain-dead Israeli prisoner
By DPA
Wellington - New Zealand Justice Minister Phil Goff said
Thursday that he had no power to order officials to free a brain-dead Israeli prisoner so that he can go home to die.
The Parole Board has rejected an appeal to grant Aviv Atias, who is serving an 8-1/2 year sentence for drug running, a compassionate release.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/634601.html
Days of Awe: Hebron 5766
By Aharon Shai
What is an almost extinct creature to do - let's say a former Mapainik, a veteran of the Nahal paratroop brigade who believes the disengagement was a first step toward peace and innocently believes the Palestinians also have human rights? How can he express his protests about the ongoing injustices when Peace Now had been practically wiped off the map?
The Mapainik well remembers the riots of 1921 and 1929 and the murder of the infant Shalhevet Pass in 5761. His family, which has roots in the old settlement there, experienced first hand the attacks on the Zionist enterprise. Nonetheless, he wants to believe that one day the madness will come to an end.
Now he sees the wall being built, and not on the proper route, and the Jerusalem envelope giving a bear's hug to all around it. If he is ready to take a risk, he could join the tours conducted by Bnai Avraham, a Jewish-Arab peace education NPO, sensitive to the rights of others, and not only those of animals on the one hand and colonialist settlers on the other. That's what I did one Friday afternoon, finding myself on the road to Hebron. I was a fighter in Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Six-Day War, but I didn't recognize the new route to the City of the Patriarchs. Entrance by Jews is now only from Kiryat Arba. The "locals" only have the road through Halhoul.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/633820.html
U.S. says sorry for plundering Hungarian `Gold Train'
By DPA
WASHINGTON - The U.S. apologized yesterday for the plundering at the end of World War II of a train laden with valuables belonging to Hungarian Jews. The apology comes two weeks after the U.S. agreed to a $25.5 million settlement in the so-called Gold Train case that was filed on behalf of Holocaust survivors.
The suit accused U.S. soldiers of taking the valuables and blamed the U.S. government for mishandling the property that was originally seized by the Nazis.
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"The United States regrets the improper conduct of certain of its military personnel and seeks in this settlement to provide meaningful assistance to those Hungarian Holocaust survivors still living who qualify as financially needy," the U.S. Justice Department said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634313.html
Employer to compensate woman fired for undergoing sex change
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
The Tel Aviv District Labor Tribunal ordered an employer to pay compensations to a female worker who was dismissed from her job for undergoing sex-change treatment, it emerged on Friday.
The woman, who is to be paid 24 salaries by her former employer, lived until last year as a heterosexual man. He was regarded as an excellent professional and was highly esteemed by his employers. But for many years the man felt his biological sex did not match his gender and finally decided to commence the process of physiologically changing his sex.
The man began taking hormones to depress the body's production of male hormones and also took female hormones. He will undergo sex-change surgery in two years' time to complete the process.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634868.html
Majority of Labor members want Likud's Sharon as PM
By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is riding a wave of popularity not only among the general public and among Labor voters, but also among members of the Labor Party, according to a Dialog poll for Haaretz published on Friday.
The poll, conducted at the beginning of the week revealed that a large majority of Labor Party members want Sharon to head their party list in the next elections. Sharon enjoys in the poll the suppport of 39 percent who would like him to be the next prime minister, while Labor chairman Shimon Peres inches ahead with a meagre 43 percent of poll participants who think he should be the next prime minister.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634847.html
The Jordan Times
More attention to our planet
Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh
One is certainly excited about the attention that we, human beings, give to space, to cosmos more generally. Space exploration and travel cause a lot of stir, thrill and hope, despite the failed attempts and the tragic accidents that happen every now and then. But the matter goes beyond sheer adventure or mere curiosity.
Space exploration, and study of the universe in general, is a necessity. After all, we are part and parcel of this huge universe and whatever we learn about it helps us not only to know it better, but to know our place in it and relation to it, and how precisely it influences our planet and our lot.
Having said this, however, I would say that while we need to continue to devote attention to the universe at large (perhaps even more than before), we also need to pay more attention to our own planet. Charity begins at home, and our home is in need of a lot of attention.
There is so much that we do not know about our planet, and so much that is troubling, even disastrous.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/opinion/opinion3.htm
State of the World Population 2005 report launched
Unless action is taken now to end gender discrimination, all global efforts to 'make poverty history' will fail, according to the report
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — Investment in family planning and women's health education will be one of the Kingdom's key assets for improving the quality of citizens' lives, a global UN report revealed Thursday.
The State of the World Population 2005 report, launched by UNFPA, made an urgent call to governments on what they need to do to guarantee their people's quality livelihoods.
The report, titled “The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals,” cited these three aspects as crucial to achieving that end.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews2.htm
Project empowers women to advocate for community rights
By Anne Womer
AMMAN — The dilapidated state of the Khadija Bint Khuweilad Primary School in Jerash's Kitteh village dismayed 23-year-old Eman Zu'bi, who had attended the school as a child. Overcrowding and general disrepair had plagued the school for over a decade, and plans to build a new school had been stalled for years.
When she became a volunteer with Makana, a project that teaches women how to advocate for people's rights, Zu'bi was given the opportunity to help the students of her former school. Over the course of eight months, Makana volunteers paid weekly visits to the Jerash Directorate of Education, carrying a petition signed by displeased parents. The need for so many visits because of the slowness of the government's response was an embarrassment to local education officials.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews5.htm
Deal on constitution amounts to little more than time-out
By Hamza Hendawi
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — The US-brokered deal to win Sunni support for Iraq's draft constitution, while boosting the charter's chances in this weekend's referendum, delays the basic problems of power-sharing among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
The last-minute compromise is just another stop in a tortured process going back to the early days of the US occupation. In 2003, the newly empowered Shiite majority forced Washington to abandon its blueprints for the charter to ensure its domination.
Shiites and Kurds then formalised their power in elections in January that were boycotted by Sunni Arabs, who hold only 17 seats in the 275-member parliament.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news2.htm
Iran ready to restart talks with EU — ministry
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said Wednesday it was ready to restart talks with the European Union on its nuclear programme, but insisted it was not prepared to hear renewed demands it abandon sensitive fuel cycle technology.
Iran "favourably welcomes and judges as positive a resumption of negotiations with the three main European countries," a foreign ministry statement said in a further sign the regime was softening its tone.
Negotiations were needed to "get out of the impasse and assure Iran's right to master peaceful nuclear technology," the statement added.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news5.htm
Iraq's constitutional chaos
By Abbas J. Ali
Faced with an extraordinary historical responsibility in 1920, the Iraqi religious authority in Najaf was collectively steadfast in not abandoning its moral and national duties. The authority vehemently rejected any compromise on the unity of Iraq and its identity with the Arab nation. Powerful foreign and internal forces mounted aggressive efforts to lure the religious authority into sectarian and ethnic discourse, to no avail.
The message from Najaf was precise, clear and patriotic: end occupation and maintain Iraq Arab character. The British occupational power reluctantly bowed, gracefully but cunningly.
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 may resemble the British invasion during World War I. So far, however, the outcome appears to be different.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion6.htm
'Global Microentrepreneurship Awards to promote microfinance'
AMMAN (JT) — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Suhair Al-Ali said Wednesday that Jordan has joined 29 other countries in launching the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMA) to encourage true entrepreneurship as part of plans to eradicate poverty in the country.
The minister's remarks came during a meeting held with members of GMA's National Advisory and Selection Committees chaired by Al-Ali. Both committees are being tasked with overseeing the awards' implementation in Jordan.
The meeting was also attended by the National GMA Team comprising the UNCD, Citigroup and Sanabel (the Microfinance Network of the Arab Countries).
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/economy/economy2.htm
AU force seen as target in Darfur
By Opheera McDoom
Reuters
AFRICAN UNION TROOPS in Sudan's troubled Darfur region are in danger of being dragged into the conflict after rebels abducted and killed African Union (AU) soldiers in a series of attacks targeting the neutral force.
Five AU soldiers and civilian personnel were killed when rebels ambushed a convoy on Saturday, the force's first losses in more than a year working in remote Darfur. The next day, another rebel group abducted and held hostage 38 AU troops in the Chadian-Sudanese border town of Tine.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news8.htm
Kingdom bans imports of live birds as preemptive measure
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN — Imports of live birds and their products have been banned in the Kingdom as a preemptive measure against bird flu.
A national committee formed recently to create a strategy to combat bird flu and prevent its spread instituted the ban on Wednesday.
Khalid Abu Rumman, spokesperson of the committee, said the group decided yesterday that it was crucial to stop the importation of farm birds and pet birds, such as parrots and lovebirds, as well as feathers used for decoration.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews3.htm
The true spirit of Ramadan
Randa habib's corner
Call me crazy, but I think that too often the real meaning of Ramadan is missed by many people.
This holy month should not be an excuse for some to work less, eat more and be grumpy. The true message should be to continue working regardless of the fasting, and not to spend the day thinking of what one will eat after sunset.
Just look around you in the supermarkets! See how people buy more and pile up foodstuff in their trolleys, as if there is going to be a famine?
Do they really need all this food? Maybe it is a good idea to shop only in the evening and not during the day, on an empty stomach.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion4.htm
Syria can't evade pressure
Relatives of Syrian interior minister Ghazi Kanaan weep Thursday during his funeral procession in his hometown Bhamra, 350km northwest of Damascus (AFP photo by Joseph Barrak)
By Alistair Lyon
Reuters
LONDON — Ghazi Kanaan's death silences a man at the heart of Syria's security apparatus, but is unlikely to deflect US-led pressure on Damascus or divert UN scrutiny of Syria over the assassination of a top Lebanese politician.
The 63-year-old Syrian interior minister, who served as feared intelligence chief in Lebanon for two decades from 1982, was being given a low-key funeral on Thursday, a day after officials said he committed suicide.
Analysts said any attempt to use Kanaan as a scapegoat over the Beirut bomb blast that killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri eight months ago would at best provide temporary respite to President Bashar Assad's isolated government.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news3.htm
US steps up diplomacy in Sudan
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday dispatched a new charge d'affaires to Sudan as part of a fresh round of diplomacy to stabilize the African country and halt persistent violence in its western Darfur region.
Washington also reiterated its warnings to the Khartoum government to halt the bloodshed which the United Nations said had rendered most of Darfur unsafe for humanitarian operations.
“There are obviously things the government of Sudan wants that they're not going to get if they continue to do this,” Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news9.htm
Daily Star
Syria ready to punish 'traitors' in Hariri murder
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 13, 2005
President Bashar Assad vowed that Syria would punish as a traitor any national implicated in the murder of Rafik Hariri, adding he was prepared to hand such suspects over to an international court.
Even as Assad defended his country against increasing international pressure, President George W. Bush said he expects many changes in Syria's conduct regardless of whether a UN investigation implicates Damascus in Hariri's assassination.
Speaking in an interview with CNN, Assad brushed aside suspicions about Syria's role in Hariri's death, saying Damascus was not involved explaining that the assassination was against Syria's interests.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19287
Iraqi leaders agree to amend draft charter
Suicide bombing kills 30 police recruits
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Iraqi leaders agreed to amend a draft constitution just three days before it goes to a referendum but many minority Sunnis rejected the compromise and insurgents struck again, killing 30 in a suicide bombing.
As ruling Shiites and Kurds formally announced concessions that persuaded one prominent Sunni political group to back the amended text that will be put to voters on Saturday, the suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of army recruits at a military base at Tal Afar in the north, also wounding 35 people, police said.
On Tuesday, a suicide car bomber caused similar casualties at a market in the town. Al-Qaeda claimed both attacks.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19288
PA says report into Arafat's death inconclusive
Symptoms 'could not be explained'
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, October 13, 2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank: A report released by a Palestinian ministerial commission charged with investigating the causes of President Yasser Arafat's death has proved inconclusive, Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei said. The report, which was heavily based on the findings of French doctors who treated Arafat before his death last November, was unable to pinpoint an exact cause of death but said that it might be possible to do so in the future.
"The French and Palestinian doctors have concluded that there was no known cure for the illness that afflicted the president," said Qorei, who wrote a foreword to the report.
Qorei said the death of the long-time Palestinian president was not a result of "bacteria, nor a virus, a microbe, a cancerous tumor nor of AIDS as has been said."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19271
Iraqi republic will - explicitly - not be Arab
By David Hirst
Commentary by
Friday, October 14, 2005
In the great settlement that followed World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, one of the Middle East's largest ethnic groups, the Kurds, were the main losers. They had been promised a state of their own, but, thanks to Ataturk's nationalist rebellion and abandonment of the project by the Western powers, they ended up as minorities, more or less severely repressed, in the four countries, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, among which their vast domains were divided.
The Kurds are set to become the greatest beneficiary of whatever new order emerges from the current Western intervention in the region's affairs. This hasn't reached the scale of the earlier one, being mainly confined, in its radical form at least, to Iraq, but, in its expanding - and unplanned - ramifications, it could well be on the way. After all, its chief architects, the Bush Administration's pro-Israeli, neo-conservative hawks, with their grandiose ideas of "creative chaos" and "regime change" everywhere, always saw Iraq, conceptually, as the springboard of an enterprise that, to succeed, had to be region-wide or not at all. In this respect if no other, they are in unison with the inhabitants of the Middle East themselves, for whom it is virtually axiomatic that what happens in Iraq profoundly affects everyone else.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=19301
How Iran won the U.S. war in Iraq
By Afshin Molavi
Commentary by
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi hardly agreed on anything. The two regimes they led - an authoritarian, Western-oriented monarchy and an authoritarian, cleric-dominated Islamic Republic - represented dramatic contrasts. Culturally, politically, economically, socially, the two men could not be further apart. On one issue, however, the two men - and two regimes - agreed: Saddam Hussein's Baathist Iraq was a dangerous, unpredictable threat on Iran's border.
The U.S. defeat of Iraq in 2003 thus eliminated a modern strategic rival of Iran (the earlier defeat of the Taliban eliminated another Tehran foe). This historical context is important to remember as Iran jockeys for influence in post-Saddam Iraq. A gift has been bequeathed to the Shiite Iranian state: the defeat of an aggressive Baathist, Sunni-dominated historic rival, and the emergence into power of a network of both religious and secular Shiite figures, Kurds and a smattering of Sunnis with close ties to Iran
The irony is not lost on many Western observers. An oft-heard exchange goes: Q: Who won the U.S. war in Iraq? A: Iran did. Former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia and adviser to the Iraqi Kurds Peter W. Galbraith puts it bluntly: "The U.S. now has to recognize that [it] overthrew Saddam Hussein to replace him with a pro-Iranian state."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=19208
The Charlotte Observer
Officials: Bond package for biotech hub won't tap taxpayers
City would use new revenue to pay debts
VICTORIA CHERRIE
Staff Writer
When Kannapolis city leaders issue bonds to support billionaire David Murdock's plans for a $1 billion biotech hub downtown, the whole city will benefit at no cost to taxpayers, officials say.
The city council began discussions Monday night on issuing self-financing bonds to help pay for water and sewer lines and streets for the North Carolina Research Campus, planned at the site of the former Pillowtex Plant 1, said Eddie Smith, an assistant city manager.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/cabarrus/12888501.htm
Mortgage rates rise; topping 6 percent
MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for a fifth consecutive week, topping 6 percent for the first time since March as financial markets continued to worry about inflation.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the nationwide average for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose this week to 6.03 percent, the first time the rate has been above 6 percent since it hit 6.04 percent in the last week in March.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/12893711.htm
Australia probes doc linked to 88 deaths
Associated Press
BRISBANE, Australia - A medical administrator rated the work of a surgeon linked to the deaths of 88 patients at an Australian hospital as "excellent," an inquiry heard Thursday.
The government inquiry is investigating how the surgeon, Jayant Patel, came to be employed at the rural Bundaberg Base Hospital as director of surgery for two years despite being cited for negligence in Oregon and New York.
Patel fled to the United States in April after claims of his medical negligence were raised in Queensland state parliament.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12891850.htm
Powerball prize soars to $290 million
Associated Press
None of the tickets sold for the Powerball game Wednesday night matched all six numbers drawn, which were: 4, 9, 18, 51, 54. Powerball 10. Power Play: 5
Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball would have won or shared the $247 million jackpot. The prize goes to an estimated $290 million for Saturday.
Tickets that match the first five numbers, but miss the Powerball, win $200,000 each, and there were 14 of those. They were sold in: Arizona (4), Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska (2), Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Chechen rebels claim credit for attacks
FATIMA TLISOVA
Associated Press
NALCHIK, Russia - Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings in this city in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region Thursday, sparking battles that killed at least 49 people.
Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, which forced the evacuation of schools and left corpses littering the streets of Nalchik, the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/12888862.htm
Wilmington Star News
Floodwater testing causes worry about Lake Pontchartrain
By Malcolm RitterAssociated Press
Chemicals in New Orleans floodwater from residential neighborhoods posed little risk to people but may raise a long-term hazard to wildlife in Lake Pontchartrain, a new study reported Tuesday.
In general, water samples taken soon after the flood caused by Hurricane Katrina found that the water resembled normal rain runoff in its chemical makeup, said the study’s lead author, John Pardue.
"We don’t feel anything we’ve seen will point to any kind of a problem on the chemical side" for human exposure, said Dr. Pardue, director of the Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute at Louisiana State University.
Still, people returning to their homes should protect themselves from germs that may be left behind in the sludge, he said.
The study, funded by the institute, found high levels of fecal bacteria in the water, just as previously published testing by the federal Environmental Protection Agency did. Normal rainwater in the area has high levels too because of leaky sewers, but Katrina flooding was different because of its sheer volume, Dr. Pardue said.
The study didn’t sample water from industrial areas, and researchers cautioned that their results can’t be used to assess nonresidential areas. Their findings were published online Tuesday by the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Virtually all the floodwater that once covered New Orleans has been pumped into Lake Pontchartrain, and Dr. Pardue said he and his colleagues are now analyzing the sediment it left behind.
As for the impact of the pumped water on the lake, Dr. Pardue said it didn’t introduce any new chemicals but provided a large dose in a short time. He noted that all rainwater that falls in New Orleans is eventually pumped into the lake.
"What this really represented was a year or two’s worth of rain being pumped out in a very short time," he said.
What’s more, Dr. Pardue said chemicals left behind in the sediment will eventually find their way to the lake as the sediment is cleaned up and rain washes it into the canals that feed Pontchartrain.
Copper, zinc, cadmium and lead found in the floodwater could build up in the lake sediment and pose long-term hazards for wildlife. The study can’t evaluate that, Dr. Pardue said, but the results suggest officials should keep an eye out for trouble.
Dr. Pardue noted that the state Department of Environmental Quality is studying the problem and said he’s satisfied with their efforts.
Embryonic Cells, No Embryo Needed: Hunting for Ways Out of an Impasse
If there were no controversy over human embryonic stem cells, Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch of M.I.T. and Dr. George Daley of Harvard Medical School would probably never have started some unusual, and difficult, experiments.
Stem cells, a type of universal cell in early embryos, can in theory grow into any of the body's tissues and organs. But embryonic stem cells are drawn from human embryos after they have grown for about five days in the lab, and obtaining those cells requires that the embryos be destroyed. The moral objection has been that that is destroying human life.
So while most stem cell scientists focus on obtaining stem cells from early embryos, Dr. Daley and Dr. Jaenisch have begun asking if they can get stem cells another way, perhaps by creating aberrant cell clusters that contain stem cells but could never survive more than a week or so. The idea is to produce embryonic cells without the embryos and make nearly everyone happy.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005510120410&source=email
AROUND THE WORLD
Voters choose Liberian president
– From wire service reports
MONROVIA, LIBERIA - With U.N. tanks and troops standing guard, Liberians waited in long lines Tuesday to vote for the country’s first postwar president, who many hope will bring stability to one of Africa’s most turbulent countries.
Turnout appeared strong, with some voters lining up hours before the polls opened in churches, schools and long-shuttered banks. Some 1.3 million Liberians had registered to vote at more than 3,000 polling stations.
Twenty-two candidates are vying for the top job in Liberia, in tatters after 14 years of nearly continuous civil war that ended with a peace deal in 2003. A transitional government has arranged the vote, and 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers are keeping the calm.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005210120397&source=email
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