Georgia inmate Troy Davis was defiant to the end, proclaiming his innocence in the 1989 slaying of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.
Here are his final words, as witnessed by an Associated Press reporter:
"I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, …
Supplying compostable film to replace nondegradables, EarthSafe (Eco Film) is heat and water stable and does not disintegrate, making it ideal for community recycling. It will decompose into carbon dioxide and water within …
Vice President Dick Cheney, concluding two days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, said Monday that Hamas militants and their backers in Iran and Syria are playing the role of spoiler in Mideast peace talks.
"It is clearly a difficult situation, in part, because I think it's true, there's evidence, that Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria and that they're doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process," Cheney told reporters before heading to Turkey, the final stop on his 10-day trip to the Mideast.
Cheney said there's ongoing concern about the extent to which arms are being smuggled across the Egyptian border into Gaza where …
WASHINGTON--Eight times during the two decades that Katrina Leungwas paid about $1.7 million by the FBI to spy on the Chinesegovernment, U.S. agents in California discussed the possibility thatshe might be a double agent for China. At least once, a report of theagents' suspicions reached FBI headquarters here.
But for years, nothing happened. Senior law enforcement officialssay Leung, who became a prominent fund-raiser for the RepublicanParty, was never questioned seriously. Nor was her FBI handler,counterterrorism agent James J. Smith. Meanwhile, authorities nowallege, a romantic relationship between Leung and Smith flourished,and Smith allowed Leung access to classified …
DUBLIN (AP) — Britain offered a public apology Wednesday over its forces' murky role in the 1989 killing of a Belfast lawyer and pledged to publish a report into the extent of police and army involvement in the attack.
The government appointed a leading human rights lawyer to review a mountain of secret evidence into the slaying of Patrick Finucane. The investigator, Desmond da Silva, is supposed to publish his findings by December 2012.
"The government is deeply sorry for what happened," Britain's secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, told lawmakers in London.
Finucane's family expressed fury that Britain had dismissed their long-held demand for a …
The Washington Redskins couldn't even hold off San Diego's backups in Jim Zorn's last game as coach.
Billy Volek threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to fullback Mike Tolbert with 35 seconds left to rally the playoff-bound Chargers to a 23-20 win over the Redskins, San Diego's 11th straight victory.
The Redskins (4-12) plan to fire Zorn on Monday, an official within the NFL told The Associated Press on Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement has been made. Zorn's dismissal has been expected for months.
The AFC West champion Chargers (13-3) already clinched the AFC's No. 2 playoff seed and a first-round bye and had …
Those who rail about the button-down corporate dullness and utterlack of passion in rock music today, take notice: Rock got emotionalthis weekend.
Controversial Irish singer Sinead O'Connor - she of the rippedpicture of Pope John Paul II on "Saturday Night Live" in 1992, thesubsequent boo-vation at the Madison Square Garden tribute to BobDylan and, oh yes, the original "G.I. Jane" hairdo - ignited the VicTheatre Saturday night, not with a match, but with an incendiary setof folk-tinged rock 'n' roll.O'Connor has largely forsaken touring to concentrate onmotherhood, but Saturday, with a rich voice that can pierce the soullike a silver …
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Mississippi rediscovered its outside shooting touch to open the second half and surged away from LSU for a 78-51 victory Saturday.
The win halted the worst start in SEC play for the Rebels (13-7, 1-4) since 2000.
Chris Warren scored 18 points, Zach Graham 17, Nick Williams 14 and Terrence Henry produced a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead Ole Miss.
The Rebels buried four consecutive 3-pointers in just over 3 minutes early in the second half to blow the game open. They shot 7 of 10 outside the arc over the final 20 minutes, anchored by Warren, who led Ole Miss with four 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, LSU (10-9, 2-2) came out ice …
The Netherlands leads Slovakia 1-0 after 60 minutes Monday in the round of 16 match, following Arjen Robben's goal in his first starting appearance at this World Cup.
Robben eluded two defenders by cutting inside on to his left foot before stroking a low shot into the net in the 18th minute, keeping the Dutch on course for their fourth straight win in South Africa.
…
Driving is a necessary evil for many people living in Central Pennsylvania. A car is necessary to get to work, to go grocery shopping or to dine at a favorite restaurant.
An emerging development trend could break that dependence. The concept, called transit-oriented development, involves putting a high-density mix of homes and businesses near train stations, major bus stops and other transit hubs. Although the idea hasn't been widely embraced in the midstate yet, a combination of factors such as high gas prices and new state programs could make TOD more common.
"Really, our development pattern is based on $1 a gallon," said Janet Milkman, president and chief executive …
ATHENS (AP) — Results from the 22nd round of the Greek football league (home teams listed first):
| Saturday's Games |
|---|
Xanthi 0, Asteras 1
Ergotelis 0, Panathinaikos 2
If you don't believe it, just ask a room full of kindergartnersto draw a picture of God. Absent that, tune in to the Nickelodeoncable channel for The First Ever Short Films by Short People FilmFestival at 7 p.m. this Sunday.
You'll agree after watching "Foilman" and the musical, "ThePiranha and the Mailman," these ideas could not have been born in themind of an adult. OK, every adult remembers the green meat served inthe school cafeteria, but if you weren't still living it, could youthink to turn that meat into a fiendish enemy to be fought and foiledby our foil hero who, while he is fighting the enemy, can also sing amean version of "I'm a Little Teapot"?Nor could anybody who is pushing 20 think to combine a piranha,a mailman, a troupe of singing statues, an evil prime minister and anoodle casserole shaped like a brain.Clearly from kids, these are the ideas behind just two of thefour films featured in the 30-minute show that spotlights films madein conjunction with Nickelodeon's Creative Lab. The Lab has amandate from the station to develop and produce experimental andkid-oriented live-action and animated short films.Segments of four other films will be woven into demonstrationsof filmmaking techniques, animation and special effects.The films, made over the past three years, have already airedseparately on "Snick Snacks," a segment for shorts sandwiched betweenregular programs about 8 p.m. during the station's Saturday lineup.But this is the first time they have been combined."Foilman" was created by Brennan Weir of Monticello, N.Y.; "ThePiranha and the Mailman" was created by David Harold of New York,N.Y.; "The Adventures of Sam Digital in the 21st Century" was createdby Nick Claridge of Toronto, and "Attack of the Giant Vulture" wascreated by Jessica May Liu and Leslie Cheung of New York, N.Y.And this is not the end. At the close of the show, viewers willsee a special address where they can send a postcard. From thoseentries, one short person will be selected to be the source ofanother short film this year.COSTUME TIME: Kids will have a chance to act out the"Gingerbread Man" story while visiting the Chicago Children's Museum.Andrea Salloum of Kidswork Touring Theatre Co. will conduct ahands-on drama workshop from 3:30-4:15 p.m. Sunday, Monday (open forthe holidays), Dec. 27 and Dec. 28 at the museum, Navy Pier, 700 E.Grand.Salloum also will lead participants in theatre games andimagination exercises. Free with museum admission. Forinformation, call (312) 527-1000.SPECIAL `NIGHTINGALE': The Children's Theatre Fantasy Orchardwill offer a special matinee performance of "The Nightingale." Thefairy tale will be performed at 1 p.m. Saturday at the IvanhoeTheatre, 750 W. Wellington.Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children, and advancereservations are required. Call the Children's Theatre (773)539-4211.
WHEELING - An argument between two motorists led to the death oftwo people on Interstate 70 Saturday near The Highlands shoppingcomplex.
The crash involving three vehicles near the end of the I-70westbound on-ramp near the shopping site also resulted in two otherpassengers being injured.
Justin Wright, 20, of Toronto, a town north of Weirton, andBrittney Lynn Kusic, 26, of Weirton both died as a result of thecrash that occurred about 9:45 a.m. Both were transported toWheeling Hospital where they were pronounced dead, said Valley GroveFire Chief Bob Young.
At press time, Steven Carpenter, 20, of Toronto was listed incritical condition at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, andAshley Wright, 20, of Toronto was listed in fair condition at OhioValley Medical Center in Wheeling.
West Virginia State Police Sgt. Scott Adams said an altercationhappened on the roadway between Justin Wright, who was driving aFord Ranger, and another man - David Hancher Palmer, 22, of Rayland.
Palmer was driving a 1992 Chevy Beretta. Both were driving whenthe argument occurred.
Justin Wright's passengers included Kusic, Ashley Wright andCarpenter.
"At some point the vehicles collided with one another, Palmer'svehicle collided with Wright's vehicle. That collision sent thetruck that Wright was driving into the westbound lanes of I-70 whereit was struck by a tractor-trailer that was also going westbound,"Adams said.
Adams said Palmer turned himself in to the Wheeling State Policebarracks two hours after the crash. Adams then placed Palmer underarrest.
"They knew each other. They were friends in the past, but in thepast month they hadn't been getting along," Adams said of JustinWright and Palmer.
At press time, Palmer was being arraigned on a $50,000 cash-onlybond and was lodged in the Northern Regional Jail. He is chargedwith four counts of malicious assault, leaving the scene of anaccident and driving with a suspended license.
A team of West Virginia State Police, with the assistance of theWest Virginia Division of Highways, closed the on-ramp for a shorttime Saturday evening to reconstruct the crash. The Ohio CountySheriff's Department also responded, in addition to Valley Grove,Triadelphia, Wheeling and Stone Church fire departments.
Staff Writer Shelley Hanson contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain has a torn ligament in his right elbow, a startling injury that's likely to require Tommy John surgery and end his season.
A test Thursday morning revealed the tear. It came a day after New York put Chamberlain on the 15-day disabled list with a stiff elbow, the latest setback for the back of the Yankees' bullpen.
But Chamberlain and the Yankees said they had no idea the injury was so severe when he went for the additional checkup. Chamberlain said he was "kind of in shock" and shed a few tears at the diagnosis, and said he didn't know how or when he hurt himself.
"I know I can get surgery and get it fixed," he said.
The Yankees said they would send reports on Chamberlain to noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews. Chamberlain, Andrews and the Yankees plan to discuss the condition before deciding on a course of action.
While Chamberlain spoke on the Yankees bench before Thursday night's game against Boston, his father sat in his wheelchair outside the New York dugout.
Harlan Chamberlain said it was "kind of a foregone conclusion" his son would need Tommy John surgery, in which a ligament is reconstructed in an elbow. The recovery time is usually listed as 12 to 18 months, though Harlan Chamberlain said he thought it could be 8 to 9 months for a reliever.
"He's done for the season," his dad said. "Now that he's facing what every pitcher doesn't want to face, he's going to face it with a positive attitude. Let's get it done."
Said Yankees manager Joe Girardi: "My guess is he's going to have to have the surgery."
Intense thunderstorms rolled through the Bronx before the series finale, delaying the start by 3 hours, 27 minutes. The game began at 10:32 p.m. and Curtis Granderson got New York off to fast start with a two-run homer in the first inning.
The 25-year-old Chamberlain is 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 27 games. The hard-throwing righty has been a key member of the Yankees' staff for several years, and has pitched in a variety of roles.
The Yankees already were missing setup man Rafael Soriano, out with inflammation in his right elbow. He led the AL in saves last year with Tampa Bay, and there's no timetable for his return. Lefty specialist Pedro Feliciano has not pitched this year because of a tear in his shoulder.
Girardi said David Robertson would inherit the role as setup man for closer Mariano Rivera. The Yankees went into the day trying to avoid a Red Sox sweep — Boston won the first two games of the series, dropping New York into second place in the AL East.
Chamberlain last pitched Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, his eighth straight scoreless appearance. His velocity has been in the mid-90s mph and he'd been able to throw effective breaking balls. He said he played long toss on Tuesday without any pain.
Chamberlain had been getting regular treatment on the area where his forearm and elbow met for nearly two weeks. He said his elbow felt fine when he pitched, but stiffened after games. An MRI on Wednesday showed a strained flexor muscle and he was put on the DL retroactive to June 6.
"He wasn't on my radar for any concern," general manager Brian Cashman said.
Girardi said some of the off-the-field indicators that a pitcher has elbow problems and might need Tommy John surgery — trouble turning door knobs and twisting bottle caps, for example — were not present.
"I think he's a little confused by it all," Girardi said.
Chamberlain made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2007 and the team has tried to limit his innings with the "Joba Rules," being careful not to overuse him. He was a starter in 2009 and moved back to the bullpen on a full-time basis the next season.
Girardi said there was no second-guessing on how the Yankees had handled Chamberlain.
"There's no exact science," he said.
REGION
New federal regulations require more documents
New rules that went into effect at the end of 2006 could require trucking companies to produce more types of electronic documents during federal court cases. That would make it harder and more expensive for companies to defend themselves in court, said Kim Selemba, an attorney with McNees, Wallace & Nurick in Harrisburg.
Trucking companies have many kinds of electronic records, ranging from shipping invoices to e-mail messages. The new rules mean companies need to keep those records for up to four years. Companies often need those records to defend themselves against lawsuits, such as after accidents.
Companies will spend more money backing up files that are periodically erased in electronic-recycling programs. This is easier for smaller companies to accomplish because they have fewer drivers, trucks, routes and customers, Selemba said. But larger companies will require additional backup tapes and will have to temporarily stop electronic-recycling schedules.
The rules stem from the increased use of electronic documents in all industries over the past six years. Other sectors, such as government, have begun using electronic documents and data storage, which reduces the need for expensive paper and filing space.
"The transportation industry more than any other has embraced technology, including electronic documents," said Curtis Stambaugh, also an attorney with McNees, Wallace & Nurick. Stambaugh and Selemba concentrate on transportation, distribution and logistics law. Court cases involving trucking companies often end up in federal court because drivers make cross-country trips when accidents occur. If a company is based in Texas and its driver has an accident in Pennsylvania, chances are, the case will be filed in federal court.
Lawsuits involving accidents and damage to freight are two common types of cases, Stambaugh said. Electronic information such as satellite tracking of trucks, engine-monitoring devices, package tracking and even e-mail could become relevant to a court case.
"Everything and anything the driver can come in contact with is asupporting document, and it's important, especially after an accident," said Don Scikerman, safety director for the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association.
With the shifting rules, Seikerman advises companies and truckers to save and back up all electronic documents. That way, those documents will be available when they're needed. Even still, he said, electronic documents can get erased or lost like paper documents.
"There's probably an inherent concern about whether the data will inhibit the company's ability to defend itself," Stambaugh said. "But often it proves the company and the driver were not liable."
If a company's management does not understand the rules, the firm should call an attorney to clarify the company's responsibility, Stambaugh said. And if you think the company could be sued in the future for an incident, don't erase electronic documents.
"Drivers need to be aware," Selemba said. "That duty arises as soon as he's in an accident. Steps should be taken to preserve those documents." The statute of limitations in federal court for accident cases is two years, Selemba said. Breach-of-contract suits can be filed up to four years after the dispute.
Court penalties for not producing required documents could include fines. Another sort of penalty is adverse jury instruction. That's when the judge tells the jury to assume that missing documents are detrimental to the company's case.
The new rules partially stem from an employment lawsuit, said Michael Moore, an attorney with the firm of Russell, Krafft & Gruber in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster.
Known as Zubalake v. UBS Warburg, the case established the standards for how companies should keep and handle records, Moore said. The case said companies should have well-defined retention and recycling policies for records, otherwise they could be liable for not producing those records later in court.
"They don't prescribe any time schedule," Moore said of the new rules.
Companies should consider the records they have, their importance and the expense of maintaining them. Then they should develop a policy for storage and purging.
"Generally, I think people would understand that you can't keep things forever," Moore said. Frank Costanzo, president of J.P. Donmoyer Inc., agreed that things can't be kept forever but said lawsuits can be avoided. J.P. Donmoyer, based in East Hanover Township, Lebanon County, hauls dry bulk items such as limestone regionally with 165 trucks and 190 drivers. The company's drivers seldom cross the Mississippi River.
"I would be fine by it, because we run a safe operation, a legal operation," Costanzo said of the new rules.
In most cases, J.P. Donmoyer only keeps its electronic documents for about two weeks, he said. Most other documents are kept for six months before being purged. Keeping them longer could increase costs.
"There may be some mandates we don't like, but we can fight those through our industry's lobbyist, we can challenge them, or we can just find other ways to save money," Costanzo said.
[Sidebar]
Records required
On Dec. 1, stricter federal court rules were put into place that require trucking and transportation companies to produce electronic documents the same as they would paper records in lawsuits. Here are some examples of those electronic documents:
* Bills and computer shipping records
* Dispatch records
* Service and maintenance records for the vehicle involved in the particular litigation
* Logbooks maintained by the driver involved in the case
* Supporting documentation for logbooks
* Downloads from the relevant vehicle's electronic-data module, global positioning system and engine-monitoring system
* Black-box-type records, including on-board electronic data-recording devices.
* E-mail between drivers and their home offices
SOURCE: MCNEES, WALLACE & NURICK
[Author Affiliation]
BY JIM T. RYAN
jimr@journalpub.com
Fans turned out despite the SARS outbreak, and the Toronto BlueJays treated them to a victory.
Vernon Wells homered in the ninth inning as the host Blue Jayscooled off the Kansas City Royals, winning 6-5 Friday night.
A crowd of 16,417, the largest since Opening Day, turned out atSkyDome two days after the World Health Organization warned againsttravel to Toronto because of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Acouple of fans were shown on the JumboTron holding up a sign thatread: "What SARS?"
"It's good to see the fans come out," Wells said. "They came outto Maple Leaf games, and they weren't worried about SARS. I lookedaround, and there were a few more people in the stands than before."
Michael Tucker, Angel Berroa and Brent Mayne homered for theRoyals, who had won five straight. Kansas City's 16-3 record comingin was the best in the major leagues. The Royals dropped to 6-4 onthe road but are 10-0 at home.
YANKEES 3, RANGERS 2: Mike Mussina struck out nine over eightsharp innings, and Nick Johnson hit a tiebreaking homer to leadvisiting New York.
Playing against former manager Buck Showalter for the first time,the Yankees rebounded from Thursday's 6-2 loss at Anaheim, whichended a seven-game winning streak, and improved their record to 19-4, best in the major leagues.
Mussina (5-0), the first five-game winner in the major leagues,held Texas to one run on five hits and matched his best season start,for Baltimore in 1992.
Since giving up four runs in a win at Toronto in his first gamethis season, Mussina has allowed just three earned runs over 31innings.
ATHLETICS 5, INDIANS 2: Mark Ellis went 3-for-4 with a home run,and Ted Lilly (2-0) pitched 72/3 strong innings for host Oakland.
Ellis homered in the first, singled in the fifth and doubled inthe seventh. He also scored two runs as the Oakland offense showedsigns of waking up.
Eric Chavez, Ramon Hernandez and Chris Singleton each had twohits. Hernandez hit a home run.
RED SOX 5, ANGELS 2: Casey Fossum pitched seven scoreless innings,and Shea Hillenbrand homered and had three RBI for visiting Boston.
The Angels lost for the eighth time in 11 games and also lost All-Star third baseman Troy Glaus in the fourth inning with an infectedleft foot. The World Series MVP, who had his foot examined earlierFriday, took himself out of the game after running out a single.
DEVIL RAYS 2, ORIOLES 1: Rookie Seth McClung allowed one run oversix-plus inning in his first career start to lead host Tampa Bay.
The 22-year-old McClung (2-0) allowed three hits, struck out threeand walked four. He had made seven appearances earlier this seasonout of the bullpen.
Rocco Baldelli had an RBI single during the Devil Rays' two-runfirst inning against Omar Daal (1-3). The rookie has a hit in 21 of22 games and is 13-for-26 with runners in scoring position.
MARINERS 6, TIGERS 0: Randy Winn tripled, doubled and singled, andBret Boone hit a three-run double as host Seattle won its fifthstraight.
Mike Maroth (0-6) became the second pitcher in major-leaguehistory to lose six times before the end of April. He joined DaveStewart, who lost six games before May 1 for the Texas Rangers in1984.
KFAR DAROM, Gaza Strip Two Palestinian suicide bombers onmissions of revenge killed at least six Israelis and wounded 47, mostof them soldiers, in separate attacks outside Jewish settlementsSunday.
Israel responded to the bombings by vowing to continue peacenegotiations with the Palestinians but warning that it will notwithdraw from the occupied West Bank before PLO chairman YasserArafat demonstrates that he can control security in the Gaza Strip.
"With suicide attacks, it is much harder to see how we can moveahead," Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said as he visited the site ofthe first attack, outside the isolated settlement of Kfar Darom, 10miles south of Gaza City.
"We won't interrupt the negotiations," but "we'll demand thatthey prove here in Gaza that they are capable" of preventing attacks.
Nearby were the charred remains of the blue van that had blownup next to an Israeli bus. Shortly after noon, the No. 36 bus fromthe Israeli community of Ashkelon was approaching Kfar Darom,carrying settlers and young soldiers returning to their bases afterweekend leave, when the van suddenly pulled alongside it, witnessessaid.
A man later identified by Islamic Jihad, a militant Islamicgroup, as 24-year-old Khaled Mohammad Khatib from Gaza's Nusseiratrefugee camp was driving the van. Lt. Gen. Amnon Lipkin-Shahak,the Israeli army chief of staff, said that Khatib detonated dozens ofpounds of explosives hidden under bags of grass in the van.
The explosion killed Khatib and ripped out one side of the bus,hurling passengers into the air. Five soldiers, all of them 19- and20-year-olds, were killed. Dozens of people were injured.
Jewish settlers living in the stucco houses of Kfar Darom rushedto give first aid to the wounded. Army helicopters evacuated themost seriously injured to hospitals in Beersheba and Ashkelon assoldiers sealed off the area and began searching for otherexplosives. Palestinian police, who jointly patrol the road withIsraelis, and reporters were kept from the site.
Two hours after that attack, a second suicide bomber drove hiscar into a convoy of Israeli army jeeps escorting settler cars nearNetzarim, another isolated settlement just north of Kfar Darom thathas been the target of many attacks since Israel handed over most ofthe Gaza Strip to the Palestinians last May. One Israeli was killedand several were injured.
Hamas - as the Islamic Resistance Movement, the largest and mostpowerful Islamic organization in Gaza, is known - claimedresponsibility for the Netzarim attack. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihadsaid that they carried out Sunday's bombings to take revenge for lastweek's death of a key Hamas guerrilla, Kamal Kheil.
Kheil and five other Palestinians were killed when the Gaza Cityapartment building where they were staying was ripped by a powerfulexplosion. The Palestinian police and Israel said that Kheil, headof Hamas' Iziddin Qassam military wing, was operating a bomb factoryout of the apartment building and was the victim of an accidentalexplosion. But Hamas blamed Israel and the self-governingPalestinian Authority led by Arafat for the explosion and vowed toseek revenge.
Tension has been building between the Islamic organizations andthe Palestinian Authority for weeks since Arafat, the PalestineLiberation Organization chairman, stepped up public verbal attacks onthe groups and began allowing his security forces to arrest more oftheir activists.
Israeli officials recently noted that Arafat's attitude towardthe Islamic organizations seemed to be changing after months of whatthey regarded as his futile effort to bring the groups into thepolitical process by trying to accommodate them.
Arafat was quick to condemn Sunday's attacks, both publicly andin a phone call to Rabin offering his condolences to the families ofthe dead and wounded. Israel Television reported that Rabin demandedonce again that Arafat confront Hamas and Islamic Jihad and disarmtheir militias.
"We are committed to confronting terrorism. These people arethe enemies of peace," Arafat said in a statement released by hisoffice. "We call this peace the peace of the courageous, and we needcourage to confront these people."
Israel's Parliament, which is in recess for the upcomingPassover holiday, will meet in a special session Wednesday to discussSunday's attacks and Environment Minister Yossi Sarid's call lastweek for Israel to abandon the Netzarim settlement.
There are about 4,000 Jewish settlers in Gaza. Most of them areconcentrated in two blocs - one in the north and one in the south.When Israel withdrew most of its forces from Gaza last May, itmaintained control of roads leading to the settlements and jointlypatrols access roads with the Palestinians.
Talks between Israel and the Palestinians on the final status ofsettlements in the Gaza and the West Bank are due to start in 1996,but the Palestinians have called repeatedly on the Israelis todismantle the Gaza settlements now.
About 3,000 prospective candidates, most of them reformists seeking democratic changes within Iran's hard-line ruling Islamic establishment, were disqualified from running in the upcoming parliamentary elections, officials and party leaders said Wednesday.
The mass disqualification of reformist candidates removes the biggest rival to hard-liners _ including those allied with embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad _ vying for the parliament seats in the crucial March 14 election.
Out of an initial 7,200 prospective candidates registered, some 4,200 remain in the running and must still be vetted by the Islamic regime.
Parliamentary elections are seen as a key test of Ahmadinejad's hold on power and a harbinger for the 2009 presidential elections. The hard-line president has come under increasing criticism _ from both allies and opponents _ about his failure to fix Iran's economic problems, which have most recently led to heating gas shortages.
The announcement _ made on the front pages of reformist newspapers and confirmed by several party officials _ provoked widespread condemnation from reformists. Earlier, former President Mohammad Khatami _ himself a reformist _ warned of possible disqualifications and said the government had no right to deprive Iranians the right to run in elections.
The government, meanwhile, said it mailed letters to prospective candidates informing them of their disqualification, but did not mention the 3,000 figure. In Tehran, some 400 out of 1,400 hopefuls were disqualified, the government said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
"Worrying reports have come true. The number of candidates disqualified is surprising," said Abdollah Naseri, spokesman for an umbrella group of 21 reformist factions.
Hardest hit in the vetting process are the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), Iran's largest reformist party, and the Islamic Revolution Mojahedeen Organization (IRMO), another reformist faction.
"All prospective candidates fielded by IIPF and IRMO in Tehran have been rejected," Saeed Shariati, a top Front figure said Wednesday. "Of 200 IIPF hopefuls registered throughout Iran, 190 of them have been disqualified."
Many of those disqualified were key lawmakers or cabinet ministers during the tenure of Khatami, who is a reformist.
Esmaeil Gerami Moghaddam, spokesman of the reformist National Confidence Party, said more than 70 percent of its hopefuls were rejected by authorities monitoring the elections. The front page Wednesday of the reformist daily newspaper Etemad, which means confidence in Farsi, read: "3,000 disqualified."
Tehran deputy governor, Hossein Tala, said 28 percent of hopefuls were disqualified in Tehran alone, the official IRNA news agency reported Wednesday. Of the total 1,403 prospective candidates registered in Tehran, more than 390 were disqualified by the executive committees affiliated with the Interior Ministry, Tala said, according to IRNA.
The hard-line constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, will announce a final list of approved candidates on March 5, leaving only a week for campaigning.
The disqualifications were reminiscent of 2004, when the Council barred thousands of reformists from running in that year's parliament elections, allowing hard-liners to regain control of the 290-seat legislative body. At the time, reformists denounced the elections as a "historical fiasco."
Key members of the Council are hand-picked by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters. The supreme leader largely supported the Council in the 2004 bitter dispute.
The Guardian Council's chief, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a key Ahmadinejad ally, said last month that any candidate determined by the Council to be disloyal to the principles of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution would be barred from running.
Ali Reza Afshar, a top Interior Ministry official in charge of elections, said those disqualified have the right to appeal.
"Instead of resorting to political fuss and taking the issue to the press, those disqualified can appeal through legal channels," Afshar was quoted by IRNA as saying Wednesday.
Afshar didn't rule out reversing some disqualified candidates, but reformists fear there won't be any major reversals.
Connie Chung's decision, at 44, to "take a very aggressiveapproach to having a baby" has fertility experts nodding inconsensus. "Aggressive," they agree, is what a woman her age hadbetter be if she wants to get pregnant.
The CBS television personality's public pronouncement about herprivate life, including her plan to cut way back on her workload aspart of the get-pregnant plan, reflects the "Oh my God, I forgot tohave children" panic of many career women today.
Age, as Chung herself admitted, is not on her side. Oldermothers have more infertility problems and miscarriages, and theirbabies are at risk for genetic abnormalities.
"You have to try harder at that age," agrees Dr. NorbertGleicher, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Mount SinaiMedical Center.
"Fertility potential is greatly reduced at that age. It takesthe average couple in their 20s four months to conceive. It willtake a woman in her 40s much longer and often never."
"Aggressive would be the approach of any woman past 40. Gettingpregnant can be a problem and often is," said Dr. Aaron Lifchez,associate director of the Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinologyclinic at Illinois Masonic Hospital.
Fertility in women peaks in the mid-20s, is followed by aprogressive decline, then nosedives about age 40.
Statistics aside, women over 35 comprise the most rapidlygrowing subgroup of first-time mothers as women marry later and delaychildbearing to establish careers.
Between 1986 and 1987, the rate of first births for women 35 to39 increased 8 percent, the largest reported for women in that groupsince 1943, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
The rate of women 40 to 44 increased by 1 percent in the sametime period, but leaped more than 9 percent in 1988 - up 20 percentover 1985.
The numbers are still small. Nationwide in 1987, 5,658 firstbabies were born to women ages 40 to 44, and just 139 to women 45 to49. Many of those births were the result of medical advances. Womenwho earlier had no hope of having a baby finally were able to throughscience.
"If it hadn't been for the technology of the past couple ofyears, it never would have happened for me," said Carolyn Unger, whohad her first baby, through in vitro fertilization, at age 41 this year. She expects the number ofwomen like her to grow until "no longer will we be looked on as`older mothers.' "
The medical profession traditionally has branded fortysomethingmothers with such pejorative classifications as "post-mature,""pre-menopausal," "geriatric" - even "dangerous" - according to Dr. Donna S. Kirz, a Chicagoobstetrician who conducted a three-year study of older mothers. Herstudy found that when older mothers receive good care, "the risks tohealthy women 35 years and older may be no more than the risks toyounger" patients.
"When I was in training, we were warned not to treat women afterthe age of 35," said Lifchez, who has been in private practice for 17years. "Nowadays we see many (pregnant) women in their late 30s. Idon't think we're as concerned now about the risk to the baby or therisk to the mother in terms of being pregnant. Once pregnancyoccurs, the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of having a healthybaby. The struggle is getting pregnant."
Some conception problems can be solved by planning - simplytiming intercourse with ovulation.
And while many women at age 44 cannot conceive on their own,various fertility drugs, procedures and surgery can help make ithappen. Ninety-five percent of all infertility is hormonal - thewoman doesn't ovulate.
"If the problem is ovulation, in general, we can take care ofthat, but at age 44 or 45, a woman is already in or close tomenopause and the ovaries just won't put out," said Gleicher, who iseditor of the Journal of In-Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer.
"Even once you conceive, the problems are not over yet, becauseolder women have a significantly higher miscarriage rate," cautionedGleicher. He said the numbers are difficult to establish becausesome miscarriages occur before women even know they are pregnant.
"However, from the in-vitro fertilization experience, we knowthat the miscarriage rate in women over 40 is at least 50 percent,"compared to 15 percent over age 30, he said. He termed it "verylikely" that miscarriage rates are the same for in-vitrofertilization and normal fertilization.
Other risks are associated with motherhood over 40. Chances ofhaving a baby with a chromosome abnormality increase steadily afterage 35 and rapidly after age 40.
"Those statistics are why we now recommend genetic evaluationfor mothers 35 years of age and older at the time of the birth,"Gleicher said. "Somebody who is 44 has a clearly significant risk ofa chromosomal abnormality."
"No woman is without a risk, no matter what her age," saidMelissa Caffarelli, a genetic counselor at the Reproductive GeneticsInstitute at Illinois Masonic Hospital. "The point at which we getreferrals for prenatal diagnosis is age 35, because at that point therisk of having a child with a chromosome abnormality is greater thanthe risk of the procedure."
Kirz, who practices at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's MedicalCenter, calls older, first-time mothers "a particularly fun group."
"These tend to be highly desired pregnancies," she said. "Thepatients pay attention to their nutrition and health care duringpregnancy and experience the true joy of the childbirth."
Her 1985 study, published in the American Journal of Obstetricsand Gynecology, compared mothers-to-be ages 35 to 40 with pregnantwomen ages 20 to 25.
When she looked specifically at the healthy women from the oldergroup, and there were no genetic problems with the fetus, "it turnedout that there were very few problems with maternal age alone," shesaid. "Most of these pregnancies do very well."
