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Septuplets Born to Mother of Three

lledsls — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:59:03 -0500

A day after giving birth to septuplets, a 27-year-old Egyptian woman said Sunday she's only seen her babies on television and hopes to hold them and name them soon. Ghazala Khamis was still hospitalized after giving birth a day earlier to four boys and three girls. She said she is "very anxious to see them" and to breast-feed at least some of them.

"I saw them on TV. They are very cute," she told The Associated Press from her hospital bed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria. "I am just waiting to hold them in my arms and breast-feed them," she said in a weak voice. "I don't know if I can do it to all, but I will try."

Her husband and other relatives are brainstorming names, said Khamis, who took fertility drugs to conceive in an effort to produce a son. She is already the mother of three girls, ages 7 to 11.

The family lives in Beheira, a northern province on the fertile Nile River delta where, like much of rural Egypt, sons are preferred to daughters.

The newborns, who weigh between 2.3 and 4 pounds, are being kept in incubators but appear to be healthy, said Dr. Emad Darwish, who delivered the babies Saturday at El-Shatbi Hospital.

He said three remain at El-Shatbi while the other four have been sent to two other hospitals in Alexandria "because we do not have enough incubators." "They are doing well, but they still need a lot of care," Darwish said.

Khamis was also in a good condition, he said, after receiving a blood transfusion because of bleeding during a Caesarean section.

Darwish said he decided to perform a Caesarean at the end of the woman's eighth month of pregnancy due to pressure on her kidneys.

The babies' father is a farm worker who earns about $4 a day when he is employed, which is usually only a day or two each week, said Khamis' brother, whose name is Khamis Khamis.

He said Egypt's health minister had promised to give the babies free milk and diapers for two years, but the family was still worried about the long-term financial burden of feeding and taking care of 10 children.

"What they need most is a dwelling to live in. I hope the government will give them an apartment," Khamis said.

"With the help of Allah, they will make it, but I think it will be difficult," he said.

McCain Jokes about Obama Nation Book?

lledsls — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:01:51 -0500

John McCain's campaign is denying Democratic charges the presumptive Republican nominee flippantly dismissed a new book attacking Barack Obama that includes several documented falsehoods.

Asked by the Associated Press earlier Friday what he though of author Jerome Corsi's new book, "The Obama Nation," McCain said, "gotta keep your sense of humor."

Those comments were immediately slammed by the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee, which e-mailed its 3.4 million supporters declaring, "John McCain thinks smears and lies are funny."

"Despite pledging to run a respectful campaign, McCain is just standing by while Corsi and his publisher, former Dick Cheney aide Mary Matalin, poison this presidential race," read the e-mail from DNC Rapid Response Team.

But McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said later Thursday the Arizona senator actually did not hear the question, and would not be commenting on the book.

The book, which is expected to debut No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, repeats many long-discredited falsehoods about the Illinois senator, including the claim that he is Muslim.

Corsi, who has said he's on a "mission" to take down Obama, also co-wrote "Unfit for Command" - the 2004 book that spawned the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks against then-Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Charges Dropped for Batman's Bale

lledsls — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:49:52 -0500

Batman star Christian Bale will not face charges relating to an alleged assault on his mother and sister at the Dorchester Hotel on July 20, British prosecutors said Thursday. The country's Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement that there was insufficient evidence to afford a "realistic prospect of conviction" and ordered the police not to take any further action in the case.

British media had reported that Bale's mother and sister told police he assaulted them at the hotel a day before attending the European premiere of his film "The Dark Knight." Bale has denied the accusation. The Sun tabloid reported that police waited a day to question Bale to allow the actor time to attend the premiere of the film in London's Leicester Square. Bale was questioned for several hours at a police station before being released on bail.

Prosecutors said the decision not to pursue the case was based in part on the feelings of Bale's mother and sister. While it "treats all incidents which take place in a domestic context seriously, it is important that the views of complainants are also taken into account when making decisions in such cases," the service said.

Bale has repeatedly refused to comment on the incident beyond a statement released by his lawyers denying the assault allegation. His family has also declined to comment, saying the issue was a personal matter. Bale, 34, lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Sibi Blazic, and their young daughter.

Highway Proximity Linked to Birth Weight

lledsls — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:05:59 -0500

A Canadian study suggests that mothers living near highways are more likely to give birth to preterm or low-birth-weight babies, but contrary to previous studies it found the association only in wealthy neighborhoods.

The study, published in the August edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, looked at the medical records of 99,819 singleton births in Montreal from 1997 to 2001. Researchers measured the distance of mothers' addresses from the nearest highway and determined their socioeconomic and education levels from census data.

They found that compared with living in a wealthy neighborhood farther away, living in a wealthy neighborhood within 220 yards of a highway was associated with a 58 percent increased risk of preterm birth, an 81 percent increased risk of low birth weight, and a 32 percent increased risk of being small for gestational age. Proximity to a highway was not associated with any adverse birth effects in poorer neighborhoods.

"Low-income mothers are exposed to more risk factors - smoking, poor nutrition, poor access to prenatal care, domestic violence," said Dr. Mélissa Généreux, the lead author and a resident physician at the University of Montreal. "More advantaged mothers are protected from these risk factors, so they might be more affected by the addition of a single new risk factor, pollution from highways."

Lennon's Killer Denied Parole Again

lledsls — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:05:15 -0500

John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, was denied parole for the fifth time Tuesday. The New York State Division of Parole issued a release saying Chapman's request was denied "due to concern for the public safety and welfare."

Chapman, 53, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for shooting to death the former Beatle outside his New York City apartment on December 8, 1980. The killer has served 24 years of his sentence at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility and was previously turned down by the New York State division of parole in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Chapman is held in a building with other prisoners who are not considered to pose a threat to him, according to officials with the state Department of Correctional Services. He has his own prison cell but spends most of his day outside the cell working on housekeeping and in the library.

For the past 16 years he has received conjugal visits with his wife, Gloria. The visits are part of a state program called "family reunion" that allows inmates to spend up to 44 hours at a time with family members in a special setting. Inmates must meet certain criteria to receive the privilege. Chapman has not had an infraction since 1994, said Erik Kriss, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.

Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, in previous years has submitted a letter requesting that Chapman be denied parole. Calls Tuesday to Ono's legal representative have not been returned.

Fifty letters and a petition signed by almost 1,100 people were submitted objecting to releasing Chapman, said Division of Parole spokeswoman Heather Groll. Only three letters were submitted appealing for Chapman's release. The next time Chapman can apply for parole is in August 2010.

Olympic Shooters Hug as Their Countries Battle

lledsls — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:10:48 -0500

Sharpshooters from Russia and Georgia embraced Sunday after earning medals for their countries, which have been teetering on the brink of war since the Beijing Summer Olympics kicked off last week.

Russia's Natalia Paderina and Georgia's Nino Salukvadze hugged after winning Olympic silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the women's 10-meter air pistol competition.

The rivals kissed each other on the cheek after standing on the medal podium with China's Guo Wenjun, who won the gold medal in the event. Waving flower bouquets high, the women smiled broadly at the audience. "If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did, there would never be any wars," Salukvadze, 39, said afterward, according to media reports. The reports described the two as friends.

Georgia said it launched an operation in South Ossetia on Thursday after artillery fire from separatists killed 10 people. Russia, whose forces entered the republic Friday, accuses Georgia of plotting to wipe out Ossetians loyal to Russia. Georgia says Russia merely wants control of an oil pipeline.

Before Sunday, Paderina and Salukvadze had competed against each other several times, including at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, the 2005 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia; the 2006 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia; and the 2008 European Championships in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Salukvadze's bronze medal marked the first for her country in these Games. She won a silver medal in the same event two decades ago at the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where she also took home a gold for the 25-meter pistol competition. Salukvadze was a member of the then-Soviet Union's 1988 Olympic shooting team. Sunday's silver medal was first in an Olympics for Paderina, 32.

Despite reports that the Georgia Olympic delegation might return home, team spokesman Giorgi Tchanishvili said Sunday the athletes would stay and compete, according to The Associated Press.

Tchanishvili said that the competitors were ready to leave China if it would help the situation back home, but that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili sent a message saying the athletes should remain at the Games, AP reported

Czech Wins First Gold

lledsls — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:07:59 -0500

Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic won the 10-meter air rifle Saturday, spoiling China's bid for the games' first gold medal. Emmons, the wife of American shooter Matt Emmons, finished with an Olympic record of 503.5 points after shooting a perfect 400 in qualifying.

"I had a headache this morning. I felt very bad. I couldn't imagine how I would shoot feeling this bad," said Emmons, who won bronze in this event in 2004. "Especially since it's the first gold medal of the Olympics, I feel amazing."

Lioubov Galkina of Russia won the silver and Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia took the bronze.

The big surprise was a fifth-place finish by China's Du Li. She won the event four years ago in Athens. Du was just a point behind Emmons after qualifying. "As for the final, I wasn't fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home," Du said.

Du was greeted with a roar from the fans in the upper balcony of the shooting range when she came out for the final. She turned to face the crowd with a wide smile on her face, waved and bowed before heading over to her lane. However, she misfired immediately in the final round, scoring only 9.8 points on her first attempt. Competitors can earn up to 10.9 points per shot in the final.

Emmons was all but assured of victory with one shot remaining. Of course, her husband was in a similar spot four years ago in the three-position rifle event. He missed out on a gold medal because he fired at the wrong target on the final shot -- an unthinkable gaffe

Bin Laden's ex Driver Found Guilty

lledsls — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:12:59 -0500

A U.S. military jury on Wednesday found Osama bin Laden's former driver guilty of five counts of material support to a terror organization in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

In a split verdict, jurors found Salim Hamdan not guilty of conspiracy to aid a terror organization, in this case al Qaeda. To be convicted of that charge, jurors would have had to prove that Hamdan had an intent to aid and plan the attacks. Hamdan's attorney said the defendant cried as the verdict was read. Hamdan faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

"Hamdan is now considered a convicted war criminal and is no longer considered an enemy combatant and will be held separately from the other detainees at Guantanamo because of his new status," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

NJ Attorney general Ticketed for Speeding

lledsls — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:25:26 -0500

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram got a speeding ticket Friday morning for driving 69 mph in a 50 mph zone. Milgram was pulled over shortly before 10 a.m. on Route 1 South in North Brunswick, according to a statement released by her office today. "I made a mistake and I know what I did was wrong," Milgram said in the statement. "I take responsibility for driving too fast." Milgram will pay a fine of $176 for the violation, and she will also get four points on her license. It is her first speeding ticket.

Arctic Park Closes Due to Flooding

lledsls — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:43:06 -0500

A major national park in Canada's Arctic has been largely closed after record high temperatures caused flooding that washed away hiking trails and forced the evacuation of tourists, an official said on Friday. Every year around 500 people visit Auyuittuq National Park, which covers more than 7,300 square miles on Baffin Island and is dominated by the giant Penny ice cap. The park is popular with hikers and skiers.

The combination of floods, melting permafrost and erosion means that the southern part of the park will remain shut until geologists can examine the damage, said Pauline Scott, a spokeswoman for Parks Canada.

The problems started last month with two weeks of record temperatures on Baffin Island that reached as high as 81 Fahrenheit, well above the July average of 54 F. Earlier this week, once the extent of the damage had become clear, 21 visitors had to be evacuated by helicopter.

Temperatures in large parts of the Arctic have risen far faster than the global average in recent decades, a development that many experts say is linked to climate change. Last week, giant sheets of ice totaling almost 8 square miles broke off an ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic and more might follow later this year, scientists said.

Car Garage Caters only to Hybrids

lledsls — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:59:19 -0500

As the price of gas soars and more drivers turn to hybrid vehicles, San Francisco-based Luscious Garage is doing booming business catering to their auto repair needs. The all female team of mechanics is all about being eco-friendly.

Aside from general maintenance, Lucious instals plug-in conversions. The conversions run about $7000 and can power the car for about 15 miles on an 8 hour charge. All their Oil is recycled or re-refined and the shop runs on solar power.

Jerry Lewis Charged with Gun in Luggage

lledsls — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:37:20 -0500

Police say they have confiscated a gun belonging to Jerry Lewis that was found in the 82-year-old entertainer's carryon bag as he prepared to fly to Detroit from Las Vegas. Las Vegas policeman Bill Cassell said Tuesday that the actor was cited Friday for carrying an unloaded concealed weapon at the Las Vegas airport.

Lewis' manager, Claudia Marghilano, says the handgun is a hollowed-out prop gun that Lewis sometimes twirls during his show. She tells The Associated Press that the gun couldn't fire. Marghilano says Lewis didn't know the gun was in the bag along with other props.

Cassell says if the gun were merely a prop "it wouldn't be a weapon and we couldn't cite him for carrying a weapon."

2 Killed in Tennessee Church, Suspect Charged

lledsls — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:10:55 -0500

A shotgun-wielding man opened fire at a Unitarian church during a children's play Sunday morning, killing two adults and wounding seven others before being overpowered by congregants, officials said.

One of the victims, Linda Kraeger, 61, died at a hospital several hours after the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Knoxville municipal spokesman Randall Kenner said. Also killed was Greg McKendry, a 60-year-old usher and board member at the church, police said earlier in the day.

The suspect, Jim Adkisson, 58, of Powell, Tennessee, was charged with one count of first-degree murder, Kenner said Sunday evening. Adkisson is not believed to have been a member of the Knoxville church, and investigators have not determined a motive for the shooting, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen told reporters.

66 Dogs Removed from Kennel

lledsls — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:49:30 -0500

As part of a plea agreement he reached yesterday morning with the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, John S. Blank, owner of Limestone Kennel in Cochranville, surrendered 66 dogs to the organization. They were removed from the farm yesterday afternoon.

Following a raid on Blank's kennels by agents from the PSPCA on July 17, 23 dogs, some in distress, were taken from the farm to the organization's Philadelphia shelter. Seventeen of the animals were puppies.

On Tuesday, Blank, 54, voluntarily gave up his kennel license to the state Department of Agriculture after dog wardens cited him for keeping an unsanitary kennel and giving the dogs contaminated food.

As part of the agreement reached before District Judge Henry A. Farmer Jr., Blank pleaded guilty to eight summary counts of animal cruelty, two summary counts of failing to maintain a kennel in a sanitary and humane condition, and one summary count of harassment. He was fined $576, placed on probation for two years, and forbidden from ever operating a kennel.

Blank was allowed to keep nine dogs that he was taking care of for another breeder and three dogs that are sold and under contract, but they have to be off his farm by Friday. Blank also was allowed to keep two dogs that are pets. He agreed to unannounced inspections by the Pennsylvania dog warden and officers from Chester County Adult Probation.

"I'm thrilled," Howard Nelson, executive director of the PSPCA, said of the plea deal. "He was facing jail time, but the most important thing was to get the animals out of there."

Nelson said the dogs, most of them purebred puppies including Yorkshire terriers, cocker spaniels, Labrador retrievers, Jack Russell terriers, and shiba inus, will be given a medical evaluation before being put up for adoption.

Blank's troubles began about three weeks ago, when he gave away several old dogs with health problems to people who turned out to be volunteers with Main Line Animal Rescue. Bill Smith, executive director of the organization, took them to the PSPCA.

The PSPCA sent undercover agent Ashley Mutch to Blank's kennel. Blank sold her a sickly three-week-old puppy that died shortly after she brought it back to the shelter. Agents raided the farm a week later.

School Shooting Leaves Three Wounded

lledsls — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:45:11 -0500

Three people were shot Thursday afternoon at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, and two of them were critically injured, authorities said.

Phoenix police spokesman Ruben Gonzales said a suspect was arrested at a house about three to four miles from South Mountain Community College. Gonzales didn't identify the man, but called him a possible suspect.

A witness said the shooter had been fighting with another man in a computer building. The gunman seemed to be directing his shots and not firing randomly, said student Yessenia Lara, 18. "I saw someone get punched and then I heard three shots after that. Everybody basically ducked, and the shooter got away," Lara said, adding that the victims were yelling in pain.

A 25-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were in critical condition, while a 17-year-old boy was in stable condition, said Mark Faulkner, a division chief for the Phoenix Fire Department. No other information on their injuries was available. Faulkner said the three were taken by firefighters to a county hospital.

US Olympian Tests Positive, Barely

lledsls — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:56:58 -0500

Swimmer Jessica Hardy has tested positive for a banned substance, believed to be a stimulant, and expedited arbitration proceedings aimed at resolving whether she will remain eligible for the 2008 Olympics have been launched.

Hardy, 21, was tested at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Both her A and B samples have come back positive. "She just all of a sudden was not around," a swimmer on the U.S. team said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We don't know anything yet. No one knows anything. All I know is we have a team meeting tomorrow."

Hardy finished first in the 100m breaststroke at the Olympic Trials earlier this month, and second in the 50m freestyle. She also qualified for the 4x100m medley relay and 4x100m freestyle relay. If she's found liable of a doping violation, and if she's then hit with the standard punishment, a two-year ban, the mechanics of how to replace her then come into play.

One possibility: According to USA Swimming's official selection procedure, no new members can be added to the team after July 21; instead, the vacant spots would be filled with the swimmers currently on the team with the fastest recorded times in those events since Jan. 1, 2006.

Dolly to Hit Texas as Hurricane

lledsls — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:44:08 -0500

Tropical Storm Dolly intensified over the warm waters of the western Gulf of Mexico as it bore down on southern Texas on Tuesday. Forecasters expected it to become a Category 1 hurricane before hitting land Wednesday morning somewhere along the Mexican border with southern Texas.

At 11 a.m. ET, Dolly had sustained winds of nearly 70 mph and was 230 miles southeast of the border town of Brownsville, Texas, which could see the brunt of the storm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for the Texas coast from Brownsville to Corpus Christi. In Mexico, the warming extended from the border with Texas to Rio San Fernando

Redskins get Jason Taylor From Dolphins

lledsls — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:23:37 -0500

The Redskins gave the Dolphins a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round choice in 2010 for Taylor, who is leaving the only NFL team he's known.

The six-time Pro Bowl defensive end -- who was the 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year -- fell out of favor in Miami after spending his offseason on a TV show rather than working out with teammates.

The deal came about nine hours after starting defensive end Phillip Daniels was carted away from the practice field at Redskins Park with a season-ending left knee injury on Day 1 of training camp.

San Quentin Convicts, Education

lledsls — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:09:20 -0500

San Quentin Prison which holds some of the most dangerous convicts is bordered by some of the most expensive residential real estate in the country.

San Quentin has California's only death chamber, with 656 inmates waiting to be executed. On death row, each prisoner is confined to a cell just large enough for a bed and toilet.

Less than a few hundred yards from death row, the climate is vastly different. Here low and midlevel convicts are able to get out once a day. There is a tennis court, a punching bag, a baseball stadium donated by the San Francisco Giants, a library and visiting instructors from prestigious universities.

Vocational programs run by about 3,000 volunteers is part of the Prison University Project, a nonprofit education program that offers many black men an opportunity to earn an associate of arts degree. It helps give those eligible for parole the intellectual tools to compete in a vastly changing job market. Video Inmate: It took coming to prison to see someone in school.

Advocates say that many black men imprisoned across America, particularly nonviolent drug-related offenders, have enormous potential to become productive, law-abiding members of society through higher education in prison.