Wife of Cuba's Acting Leader Dies at 77

HAVANA - Vilma Espin Guillois, the wife of acting President Raul Castro and one of the communist nation's most politically powerful women, died Monday, the Cuban government announced. She was 77.

As Raul Castro's wife, Espin was Cuba's de facto first lady for decades because Cuban leader Fidel Castro is divorced.

Cuban state television announced Espin died at 4:14 p.m. EDT Monday following a long undisclosed illness. An official mourning period was declared from 8 p.m. Monday until 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Born into a wealthy family in eastern Cuba, Espin became a young urban rebel who battled against Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship throughout the 1950s. After the 1959 …

Rajasthan beats Bangalore by 7 wickets in IPL

Naman Ojha hit an unbeaten 52 Thursday to guide the Rajasthan Royals to a seven-wicket win with five overs remaining against the Bangalore Royals Challengers in the Indian Premier League.

The 20-year-old Indian blasted three boundaries and three sixes in 38 balls as Rajasthan reached 107-3 after Bangalore was bowled out for 105 on the last ball of its innings at Centurion Park.

"I thought we batted extremely well and executed the chase well too," Rajasthan captain Shane Warne said, adding of his team: "It's mixing up nicely. The young players and the experienced guys are getting on well, which is the idea of this whole IPL."

…

Get ready for more promising sets

And the hits keep coming. . . . The highly promising boxed setsI've only begun to dip into include:

Les Paul, "The Legend and the Legacy" (Capitol); Jimi Hendrix,"Stages '67-'70" (Reprise/Warner Bros.); Howlin' Wolf, "The ChessBox" (MCA); Benny Goodman, "The Birth of Swing" (RCA/Bluebird);Aerosmith, "Pandora's Box" (Columbia/Legacy); King Crimson, "TheEssential King Crimson/ Frame by Frame" (Editions EG); the Monkees,"Listen to the Band" (Rhino), and Glenn Miller, "The Complete GlennMiller and his Orchestra (1938-1940) …

African Bank: Unrest in north has hit growth

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The turmoil in North Africa has hit growth across the continent but may be prompting important indirect political changes, the chief economist of the Africa Development Bank said Monday.

In a speech, Mthuli Ncube said the unrest in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia is likely to reduce economic growth in North Africa this year to 0.7 percent from 4.7 percent last year. Overall, Africa's growth is estimated at 3.7 percent in 2011, down from 4.9 percent last year.

Further south, Ncube said economies have been affected by a drop in money sent home by Africans from elsewhere on the continent who had been working in North Africa. Niger, for example, had 200,000 citizens …

With the big cat away, Garcia primed to capture his first major

In betting parlors and inside the ropes, Sergio Garcia has never had greater odds of winning a major.

No one has more top-10 finishes in the British Open this decade than Garcia, who has gone into the final round within four shots of the lead six times in the last seven years. He is considered among the best ball-strikers in golf. He is not lacking imagination or creativity for the variety of shots required on links courses.

And it sure doesn't hurt that Tiger Woods isn't around.

"When you don't have the No. 1 player in the world playing here _ and, obviously, we know how good he is and how well he's done in the majors _ it gives you a little …

Fireworks, garden party and ceilidh A Massive community festival is planned for Aberdeen - as thousands of energy industry bigwigs prepare to descend on the city.

A Massive community festival is planned for Aberdeen - asthousands of energy industry bigwigs prepare to descend on the city.

The Energy Festival is being held to coincide with Offshore Europein September.

Alongside all the conferences, seminars and exhibitions, therewill be a huge marquee set up in Union Terrace Gardens with livemusic and other entertainment.

And a traditional Scottish Ceilidh will be held at Aberdeen'sMusic Hall on September 5.

The events will culminate in a fireworks display and carnival heldat Codona's Amusement Park at Aberdeen Fun Beach.

The council's deputy leader Kevin Stewart said: "There is a largeamount of visitors …

Visitors center in danger of closing

Several years ago, the businesses in Myerstown took up a collection to build a visitors center in the small town. A local hotel owner donated the land, and volunteers built the center off Interstate 78 and Route 501 in Lebanon County.

The center, owned and operated by the Hershey-Capital Region Visitors Bureau, opened in 2000. Now, the bureau says the center isn't receiving enough visitors to justify the expense of keeping it open.

Talk of closing the center has faced with stiff opposition. If the center closes, Lebanon County Commissioner Bill Carpenter said the county would withdraw from the bureau and take its $90,000 in hotel taxes.

The issue was expected to be …

Australia's ANZ Bank sheds 8 senior staff

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. has fired eight senior executives and managers after a review of the bank's involvement in the multimillion dollar collapse of stockbroker Opes Prime, an official said Friday.

A string of other employees face disciplinary action including having their pays reduced as a result of the internal review at Australia's fourth largest bank, Chief Executive Mike Smith said.

Melbourne-based ANZ was the chief secured creditor of Opes Prime, which collapsed in March after the bank called in a 650 million Australian dollar (US$571 million) loan during a credit crisis.

Hundreds of Opes Prime clients lost money …

There's no more lazy Sundays

Teams in the Robson Taylor Chippenham Sunday League have beentold there will be no more free weekends this season after fixtureswere completely wiped out for the first time since December 1999.

All 31 scheduled league and cup matches were postponed on Sunday,meaning nearly 200 fixtures have fallen victim to the weather so farthis season - making it one of the most disrupted campaigns in theleague's 43-year history.

With the situation likely to get worse before it gets any better,the league has issued a warning to clubs that fixture secretary AndyHillier will no longer give teams a free weekend for things such asstag dos or christenings.

Organisers are expecting …

Global Family program aids Nicaraguan, Honduran students

Central America

Through its multi-faceted Global Family program, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is helping 69 preschool and school age children in Honduras attend class and a further 21 students from Anabaptist denominations in Nicaragua with their university studies.

Seven years after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras, MCC continues to support the community of Colonia Buen Pastor by funding a preschool and providing scholarships that help 69 children attend school. The scholarships are distributed by a Honduran Mennonite women's organization, Mujeres Amigas Millas Aparte (MAMA). The monthly stipends help pay for school fees, books, transportation and utility bills at …

Madoff awaits fate: Jail or bail?

Disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff could find out soon whether he'll be sent to jail while he awaits trial in what is alleged to be largest financial fraud in history.

A federal judge could rule Friday afternoon on the prosecution's bid to revoke Madoff's bail. He's now wearing an electronic ankle bracelet while confined to his $7 million Manhattan penthouse.

…

W.Va. growth to slow down, expert says

DAILY MAIL BUSINESS EDITOR

The decline of a national index of economic activity means "it'slooking like 2001 is going to be a year of slow growth for the stateeconomy," a West Virginia University economist said today. GeorgeHammond, director of the West Virginia Economic Outlook Project atWVU's College of Business and Economics, said the index of economicactivity published by the National Association of PurchasingManagers "definitely suggests manufacturing activity will be slowerthan it was in 2000 and 1999. It also suggests activity nationallyis going to be slow if not outright contracting in the early monthsof 2001.

"What that means for West Virginia is, …

World Cup balloon gets the ball rolling

A GIANT balloon made in Bristol is touring Japan to promote thisyear's World Cup finals.

Bedminster-based Cameron Balloons has produced a football-shapedhot-air balloon for World Cup sponsor Adidas.

The 77,000 cubic foot balloon is just like the official ball to beused in this summer's tournament in Korea and Japan - except it ismore than 500,000 times bigger. A replica left Bristol for Japan lastmonth for a publicity tour - but not before Cameron test pilotLindsay Sadler carried out a test flight over the city.

Mr Sadler said: "It was inflated and flown at Ashton Court and theballoon looked fantastic."

During Christmas the balloon was attached to a pontoon in Tokyoharbour. On New Year's Day, the balloon was tethered by the World CupStadium near Sendai and yesterday and today it took pride of place atHarajuku, Tokyo, next to a Shinto shrine.

Cameron took five weeks to make the balloon, which is just under17 metres in diameter and would take 509,581 footballs to fill.

Anti-US protests greet American troops on exercises in Philippines

Demonstrators calling for U.S. troops to withdraw from the Philippines protested the start of annual joint military exercises Monday, with hundreds of American troops heading to southern islands where al-Qaida-linked militants operate.

The two-week drills _ called Balikatan, or "shoulder-to-shoulder" _ bring together 6,000 U.S. and 2,000 Filipino troops at a time when Philippine forces are battling militants from the Abu Sayyaf and its allies from the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah terror network.

About 30 protesters from the left-wing coalition Bayan burned a U.S. flag and chanted "U.S. troops out now!" outside the gate of the military headquarters in Manila, where U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and top military officials led the opening ceremony.

Rallies also were held in at least four southern cities to demand U.S. troops leave because of alleged involvement in combat operations _ prohibited by Philippine law _ and human rights abuses, activists said.

In Cagayan de Oro, police estimated the crowd at 1,000, including priests and nuns who joined lawmakers and Muslim activists.

In the southern Philippines, where Muslim rebels have waged a decades-long separatist insurgency, U.S. troops will conduct medical missions and repair schools, officials said.

The areas include Jolo island, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold, and central Mindanao, a base of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's biggest separatist group, now holding peace talks with the government.

Tensions flared recently on Jolo after villagers accused the military of killing seven civilians and an off-duty soldier during operations to hunt down suspected terrorists.

Rawina Wahid, whose husband was killed in the raid early this month, said she was tied up and put on a naval boat with several U.S. soldiers on board.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered an investigation into the deaths. Last week, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson denied American soldiers took part in any combat operations.

Military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said the emphasis of the exercises, which have been held since 1981, has shifted to humanitarian assistance, part of efforts to win over local Muslim populations.

America's soft counterterrorism approach here has won praise in contrast to mounting criticism of U.S.-led incursions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A manhunt continues on Jolo for Abu Sayyaf commanders and two top Indonesian militants wanted for alleged involvement in the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people on Indonesia's Bali island.

The Abu Sayyaf, blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organization, has been blamed for deadly bomb attacks, beheadings and high-profile kidnappings, including of Americans.

HEALTH ON THE TUBE

Here are the week's health program highlights on TV: TODAY Here's to Your Health. Aging: How to Die Young as Late As Possible.Discussion of ways to extend mental and physical vitality into oldage. 8:30 a.m., Channel 20. Medicine at the Crossroads. This eight-hour miniseries exploringthe impact of the medical revolution opens with a look at JohnsHopkins' success treating serious disease and the barrier separatingpatients from their doctors. 9 p.m., Channel 11. TUESDAY Doctor Is In. 10 a.m., Channel 20. WEDNESDAY Here's to Your Health. For Relief Of . . . Take Two. A discussionof headaches and their causes. 8:30 a.m., Channel 20. THURSDAY Your Baby and Child. Gender identity in children. 7 a.m., Lifetime. FRIDAY Accent on Health. 12:30 p.m., Channel 38. Doctor Is In. A day in the life of two family practitioners. 1p.m., Channel 11. Aging of America. The Dilemma of Long-Term Care. Why few Americanswill be adequately prepared for long-term health care. 9 p.m.,Channel 20. SATURDAY Every Breath You Take. Walter Cronkite and Joan Lunden hostdocumentary that will view lung disease through the eyes of itsvictims. 1 p.m., Channel 2. SUNDAY American Baby. How children are affected by birth order;differences between sexes; forcasting for the future. 10 a.m., FamilyChannel. Healthlink. 10 a.m., Lifetime. Healthy Kids. Learning disabilities; stepfamilies; parents who wantto know. 10:30 a.m., Family Channel. This Week in the New England Journal of Medicine. 11 a.m., Lifetime.

OH, SNAPSHOT

Are you an amateur photog looking for some exposure? The Alexa Rose Gallery - a cooperative art gallery space located next to Superb Sushi in the Idaho Building - is turning its focus to the art of photography.

Gallery curators recently put out a call to artists asking for submissions of up to 10 photos per person for inclusion in an art show opening Thursday, May 6. Everyone from Polaroid-wielding amateurs to professional shooters can submit their creations to be a part of the exhibit. The gallery is aiming for 1,000 photos on any topic imaginable, including "pets, children, people, places, things, scenes, landscapes, art, food, your choice." After obtaining the submissions, exhibit curators will then creatively display all of the photos in flashy patterns, including mosaics, themed rooms or spelled-out words.

But it doesn't f-stop there. Each of the submissions will be priced from $l-$25 a pop, with 30 percent of the sale going toward the gallery maintenance fund and the rest going to the photographer. The Alexa Rose Gallery is encouraging photographers to donate their 70 percent to a charity of their choosing.

The deadline for submissions is Thursday, April 22, at 5 p.m. and organizers ask that all photos be placed in an envelope and slipped through the mail slot on the Alexa Rose Gallery door at 280 N. Eighth St., Ste. 118. If your photos can't fit through the mail slot, you can call 208-761-9678 to arrange a special delivery.

In other ambitious artistic collaboration news, Alley Repertory Theater is kicking off its third season with Between 6 and 8, an event that brings together six to eight artists of various disciplines and gives them six to eight days to create a six-to-eight minute performance, which they then present to a live audience. On Saturday, April 17, Phil Atlakson, American Films (Kelly Broich, Brett Netson and Brad Kaup), Nick Garcia, Elijah Jensen, Elizabeth McSurdy, Grant Olsen, Karena Youtz and Hollis Welsh will flood th� Visual Arts Collective stage with their interpretations of the theme Us and Them. To shake things up numerically, tickets are $7 and doors open at 7 p.m.

- Tara Morgan

Calendar

British Columbia

March 13: Suor Angelica, a one-act all-female cast Puccini opera at Bakerview MC Church, 8 p.m. Fundraising event for MCC domestic violence prevention programs.

March 17-18: Youth workers conference "Stumbling into church" with Renee Altson, at Columbia Bible College.

March 23, April 6: CBC view days.

April 8,9: Lenten Vespers with Abendmusik Choir, 8 p.m. at Emmanuel Free Reformed Church, Abbotsford (8), and Knox United Church, Vancouver (9).

April 22: Columbia Bible College graduation ceremony.

April 28-30: Jr. Youth IMPACT retreat at Camp Squeah.

May 2: Columbia Bible College 2006 Open golf tournament.

April 29-30: Bethel Mennonite Church 70th anniversary.

Alberta

April 7-8: Mennonite Church Alberta annual assembly, Foothills Mennonite Church, Calgary.

April 21: MCC's third annual fine arts festival, Master's Academy, Calgary. Theme: "What does peace look like to your neighbour?"

April 21-23: Strengthening Family Ties men's retreat at Camp Valaqua. Guest speaker: Gordon Houser, associate editor of The Mennonite. For more information, call Marvin Baergen at 403-256-2894.

Saskatchewan

March 10-11: MC Saskatchewan Songfest with adult and children's choirs at First Mennonite, Saskatoon.

March 12: "Guys and Pies" evening featuring Buncha Guys at RJC, 7:30 p.m.

March 18: MDS information workshop at Bridgeway Community Church, Swift Current, 2 p.m. To register, call toll-free 1-866-261-1274.

March 18: Canadian Mennonite annual meeting (4 p.m.) and fundraising banquet (6 p.m.), Nutana Park Mennonite Church, Saskatoon. For tickets, call Karin Fehderau at 306-933-4209 or Bernie Thiessen at 306-232-5343.

March 24: RJC open house for prospective students.

April 1: Shekinah Retreat Centre fundraising banquet and auction at Mount Royal Mennonite Church, Saskatoon, 7:30 p.m. Special guests: Simply Superb.

April 8: Women's Enrichment Day.

April 22: MHSS fundraising banquet and retirement celebration for Dick Epp, editor of The Historian, at Bethany Manor.

April 22-23: North Star Mennonite Church 100th anniversary weekend. To register for meals or billets, or for more information, call 306-363-2125 or e-mail ld.balon@sasktel.net.

April 29: Touring Mission Fest.

Manitoba

March 5: Canadian Mennonite University presents "Choral Connections," 7:30 p.m.

March 9-11: MCI presents The Music Man at Buhler Hall, Gretna, 7:30 p.m.

March 10-12: "Peace it together: Somebody better say something." Youth and young adult conference at CMU explores issues connected to peacemaking with actress/playwright/social activist Brenda Matthews from Chicago.

March 10-12: MMYO junior youth retreat at Camp Moose Lake.

March 15-18: CMU presents Scientific Americans, a play about a young couple whose ideals are challenged by their employment in the military industry.

March 18: Winnipeg MCC Relief Sale banquet.

March 25: CMU chamber choir and men's chorus at the Laudamus Auditorium, 7 p.m.

April 1: MDS awareness and fundraising banquet, Richmond Park Church, Brandon, 6 p.m. Guest speaker: Kevin King, MDS executive coordinator. Call 1-866-261-1274 for ticket information.

April 2: CMU fundraising faspa/light supper and vespers at Mennonite Collegiate Institute, Gretna. Supper at 5:30 p.m.; vespers at 7:30 p.m. For more information or reservations, call 204-487-3300.

April 6: Jazz at CMU, 7:30 p.m.

April 6,7: MCI western Manitoba and Winnipeg fundraising banquets.

April 8: MCI Gretna fundraising banquet and concert with Canzona.

April 14: Sargent Ave. Mennonite Church Adult Choir, orchestra and soloists present The Seven Last Words of Christ on Good Friday, April 14,10:30 a.m., at the church.

April 22: CMU annual spring concert, 7:30 p.m.

April 28-29: Manitoba Mennonite spring curling funspiel, Winnipeg. For more information, call Gerald Warkentin at 204-487-2972 or Dave Zacharias at 204-477-4714.

April 28-30: Manitoba Mennonite and Brethren Marriage Encounter weekend in Winnipeg. For more information, call Peter and Rose Dick at 204-757-4705.

Ontario

Feb. 25: Rockway Mennonite Collegiate 12th annual dinner and auction: 4:30 p.m., dinner; 6:30 p.m., auction.

March 1,2: Celebrating Potential-a dessert evening celebrating International Women's Day and MCC work geared to the unique needs of women around the world. Guest speaker: Cynthia Peacock. Tabor Manor, St. Catharines, 7 p.m. (1); Breslau Mennonite Church, 7:30 p.m. (2).

March 3-4: Engaged workshop, Riverdale Mennonite Church, Millbank. To register, call Delmar and Mary Bender at 519-656-2256.

March 3-5: Mennonite and Brethren Marriage Encounter weekend, Festival Inn, Stratford. For more information or to register, call Marjorie Roth at 519-669-8667.

March 7: MDS information workshop at Waterloo North Mennonite Church, Waterloo, 6 p.m. To register, call toll-free 1-866-261-1274.

March 9-10: Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, 7:30 p.m. Speaker: James Urry, Victoria University professor, New Zealand. Theme: "Time and memory: secular and sacred aspects of the world of Russian Mennonites and their descendants."

March 11: Guelph meat canning project fundraising breakfast at Calvary United Church, St. Jacobs. Speaker: Paul Pereverzoff, MCC Akron. Advance tickets only by calling MCC Ontario at 519-745-8548.

March 14: Campus Day at Conrad Grebel University College. Guided campus tours and information about academic and residence programs available.

March 16-18: Conrad Grebel student council presents Footloose in the Humanities Theatre, Hagey Hall, University of Waterloo. 8 p.m. each night; 2 p.m. matinee (18). For tickets, call 519-888-4908.

March 18: Sawatsky Visiting Scholar fundraising dinner and tribute to the late Rod Sawatsky. Keynote address by Doug "Jake" Jacobsen. For more information, e-mail fwmartin@uwaterloo.ca.

March 23: MEDA Waterloo Chapter breakfast meeting at the Stone Crock, St. Jacobs, 7:30 a.m. Speaker: Richard Stevanus, Vandel Construction.

March 25: Mennonite Aid Union annual meeting at St. Jacobs Best Western Inn, 9:30 a.m. For more information, call 519-634-5267 ext. 202.

March 27: MSCU annual general meeting, Steinmann Mennonite Church, Baden. Registration: 6:30 p.m.; meeting: 7 p.m. Special music by Bryan Moyer Suderman.

April 2: Conrad Grebel's April Fool's Caf� at the Church Theatre, St. Jacobs. 3 p.m. Featuring Rick Cober Bauman, John Moyer and No Discernable Key. Proceeds to Grebel student aid and scholarships. For tickets, call 885-0220 ext. 381.

April 8: Fraser Lake Camp 10th annual fundraising dinner and auction at Rouge Valley Mennonite Church, 6:30 p.m. E-mail info@fraserlakecamp.com or call 905-642-2964 for more information.

April 21: Guelph MCC meat canning fundraising ham dinner at Hamilton Mennonite Church, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Music by Hope Rising. For tickets, call 905-679-6506.

April 24-28: MCC meat canning at the University of Guelph.

April 28-29: Engaged workshop at Living Water Fellowship, New Hamburg. To register, call Delmar and Mary Bender at 519-656-2256.

April 28-29: MC Eastern Canada spring conference, St. Catharines.

To ensure timely publication of upcoming events, please send Calendar announcements EIGHT WEEKS In advance of the event date by e-mail to: calendar@ canadianmennontte. org

Torn ACLs, other big injuries hit little athletes

A 14-year-old gymnast with a stress fracture in her lower back. A 12-year-old who tore his ACL in a soccer game. A 16-year-old runner with a leg stress fracture. A 15-year-old who tore his meniscus playing basketball.

A single morning's patients for Harvard's Dr. Mininder Kocher provides a window into a troubling trend: Injuries once seen mostly in adult athletes are becoming distressingly common in youth athletes _ not just in high school, but in Little League and Pee Wee Football.

These aren't simple injuries. In the past decade, "Tommy John" surgeries to repair elbows blown out playing baseball _ an operation named for a famous baseball pitcher _ have almost tripled among adolescents at a high-profile Alabama clinic, a meeting of sports medicine specialists will be told by researchers this week.

Worse, some injuries don't have good treatments for young patients. The surgery that fixed the torn ACL in Tiger Woods' knee, for instance, can thwart the growth of a young child's leg.

Kocher, an orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital Boston, is about to begin a government-funded study to figure out the best treatment for children who tear that anterior cruciate ligament while growth plates around the knee still are active.

But no matter how well certain injuries heal for now, Kocher worries about the longterm consequences for little joints.

"I wonder what these kids are going to be like 20 to 30 years down the road," he says. "Will we have a whole generation of middle-aged adults with early arthritis?"

Why the sudden influx? Orthopedic surgeons say that today's youth sports are more intense, with players often picking just one to specialize in as young as 8. And they can play and train in some sports virtually year-round _ with a school team, recreation league, travel league, summer camp.

"Youth athletes are not the same as small adults," says Dr. E. Lyle Cain Jr. of the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Ala. Certain types of injuries "can cause permanent damage that affect their future growth."

More than 3.5 million children 14 and under receive medical treatment for sports-related injuries each year. Along with the typical sprains and strains are a lot of overuse injuries _ stress fractures, tendonitis, cartilage damage.

Pitching offers a prime example. The Andrews clinic counts a five- to six-fold increase in serious shoulder and elbow injuries in youth baseball and softball since 2000.

The worst is a torn ulnar collateral ligament on the inside of the elbow. By 2006, nearly a third of Tommy John surgeries to repair it were on patients under 18, Cain will tell a meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

Prompted by such research, Little League Baseball last year limited how many pitches youngsters of different ages can throw before mandatory rest periods.

Then there's the notoriously painful torn ACL _ not an overuse injury but one that can happen to anyone who lands wrong while pivoting on a knee.

It was long thought a rarity in childhood. But among males, one in five torn ACLs occurs before age 18; the figure is 30 percent among females, Kocher says.

In 2006, McCall Maddox of Jacksboro, Texas, tore his ACL during Pee Wee Football at age 12. Three doctors refused to do surgery until he was 16 and had quit growing, ordering no running until then. Join the swim team, one advised.

Why? Standard ACL repair involves drilling through the leg's growth plates, risking a stunting of any still-to-come growth.

McCall was devastated. He was a good athlete and in his small town, "we don't have a swim team. We don't have a chess club. We don't have any other options," says McCall's mother, Roxanna Maddox.

She sought out Kocher in Boston, who repairs children's ACLs in a different way: Winding the new ligament around the shinbone instead of drilling. Kocher reports patients doing well five to eight years later but acknowledges a big question: "Will it hold up 20, 30 years down the line" like the adult surgery does?

McCall took a chance with the operation and, after six months of sometimes grueling physical therapy, he was back playing football and basketball and running track in seventh grade.

"Was his mother nervous? Absolutely," Maddox says with a laugh. But McCall had "no trouble, none. ... It was a risk worth taking."

But such success stories don't make scientific proof. So Kocher is joining Dr. Allen Anderson of Nashville _ whose own pediatric ACL repair involves drilling near but not through growth plates _ and about 10 hospitals around the country to compare the different surgeries or waiting to operate, to find the best approach.

Until then, Kocher has some easy advice: Try old-fashioned play, like jumping rope, playing hopscotch, climbing trees. High school teams now are trained to avoid ACL tears with core-body conditioning and tips on bending knees for jumping _ things younger kids can learn on their own just by having fun.

"A lot of the stuff kids used to do in free play was ACL prevention," he says. "Now they don't get that, and they jump into high-level soccer."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE _ Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

___

On the Net:

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/menus/children.cfm

Little League pitching info: http://www.littleleague.org

(This version CORRECTS that Tommy John is famous baseball pitcher, but not Hall of Famer.))

THE TICKER // World

Turkey reverses on Iran pipeline deal ANKARA, Turkey - In an apparent move to circumvent a U.S. lawpenalizing investments in Iran, Turkey said Wednesday that it haswithdrawn from an earlier commitment to finance construction of theIranian side of a gas pipeline. Turkey's first Islam-inspiredgovernment signed a $20 billion gas deal with Iran on Monday, despitepleas from Washington. The Energy Ministry said an agreement signedlast year that required the state-run pipeline company to invest onIranian territory has been eliminated, and each country will buildits own side of the pipeline. President Clinton signed a law lastweek that lets Washington penalize foreign companies that invest inthe oil and gas industries of Iran and Libya. Colombia-Britain agreement rejected BOGOTA - Colombia's Constitutional Court struck down part of anagreement between Colombia and Great Britain that gave Britishcompanies in the South American country protection againstexpropriation. With the ruling, Colombia retains the right to seizeforeign property and assets without reimbursing the companies. Thecourt ruled that repaying companies in these situations wasn't inkeeping with the 1991 Constitution.

FITTING A NEED

REGION

Suit program grows

When Darvell Washington was released from Dauphin County Prison in August, she had nothing. She didn't have a job. She didn't have money. She didn't have clothes to wear to a job interview.

Dress for Success South Central PA helped.

After leaving prison, Washington signed up for Educational Data Systems Inc. through the state Welfare Department. EDSI is an educational-training program that helps welfare clients become more employable. The program referred her to Dress for Success South Central PA.

Washington, 39, met Ruth Koup this summer, when Koup visited the prison and spoke to the female inmates about the importance of improving one's image to become more employable upon release from prison. Koup is the founder and chief executive officer of Dress for Success South Central PA.

The Dress for Success boutique in SusquehannaTownship matched Washington with a suit for her job interview at UPS. Koup also provided Washington with shoes, makeup, a pocketbook and other accessories, all for free.

"At first, they didn't know if they were going to hire me or not. It was how she dressed me up. It just gave me some self-esteem that I didn't even know I had, and I presented myself that way," Washington said. "The next day, they called me and said I was hired."

Dress for Success opened its second boutique Oct. 1 in York. This move allows the group the potential to help 20 clients a week, whereas it could only assist 20 clients a month in September.

The organization provides professional clothing for women in need. The group relies heavily on individual and corporate monetary contributions and donations of suits and other professional pieces.

"You really have to have a significant inventory to meet the diversity of your clientele," Koup said. "We try to teach women how to build a wardrobe."

Koup began the application process to create the regional group in the fall of 2005. The organization was incorporated in June 2006, and its first location opened in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, in October2006.

"Ruth has shown tremendous enthusiasm and initiative during her first year as a Dress for Success affiliate," said Suzanne Elliott Armstrong, executive vice president of resource development and strategic marketing for Dress for Success Worldwide.

Dress for Success Worldwide is an international, not-for-profit organization that provides professional attire, career development tools and a network of support to disadvantaged women.

The New York City-based group was founded in 1997 and has grown to include 86 affiliates around the world. Seven of those affiliates opened within the past year, Armstrong said.

To become a client at Dress for Success, a woman must be involved in one of the group's more than 25 referral agencies, which are jobtraining programs, such as PA Career Links Capital Region and the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg. That program must then refer the woman to Koup.

Dress for Success will provide one suit and available accessory items when the woman secures a j ob interview. If she gets the j ob, she will receive about a week's worth of separates (skirts, pants, dress shirts). Koup said she has suited about 100 women since the group's inception.

"I think for anybody that's trying to start off, I think Miss Ruth is a good person to start with," Washington said. "She doesn't just apply what she has there. She goes beyond the call of duty and takes you to get what you need."

[Sidebar]

Ruth Koup is the founder and chief executive officer of Dress for Success South Central PA. The nonprofit boutique opened in Dauphin County in June 2006. The organization helps women enter the workforce and maintain employment by providing attire for job interviews and, if hired, the workplace.

[Sidebar]

About Dress for Success

Dress for Success South Central PA serves clients within 100 miles of Harrisburg, said Ruth Koup, the not-for-profit's founder and chief executive officer.

Koup is looking for one full-time employee for the Dauphin County boutique. She is also looking for a bigger store space in the county. In the near future, Koup hopes to open a boutique in the Carlisle and Lebanon areas, but this will require commitments and support from businesses and individuals in those areas, she said.

"Developing those infrastructures is very important, even before you start suiting people," Koup said.

Dress for Success has received increasing support from the community. The first suit drive was held in January and brought in about 500 suits. The inventory now includes thousands of suits, Koup said.

The group has about five businesses committed to its corporate guild. Members of the guild agree to a three-year commitment of donating $1,000 a year to the organization. The newest member to the guild is York County-based The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., Koup said.

About 80 individuals are registered as volunteers for Dress for Success. They help with a variety of tasks, including organizing new inventory. The group receives up to several hundred pieces of clothing each week.

Dress for Success has also set up partnerships with organizations such as Empire Beauty School in Dauphin County. The school provides free haircuts for Dress for Success' clients, and Dress for Success will provide suits for Empire's students who land job interviews. An area church provides free storage space for the group's inventory, and a local dry cleaner provides free drycleaning services.

For more information, visit www.dressfor success.org/southcentralpa.

-Jessica Bair

[Author Affiliation]

BY JESSICA BAIR

jessicab@journalpub.com

Quotes From the 2008 Candidates

Quotes from the presidential candidates regarding Saturday's contests:

DEMOCRATS

___

"I guess this is how the West was won." _ New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, to cheering supporters after winning a majority of the popular vote in Nevada.

___

"We ran an honest, uplifting campaign in Nevada that focused on the real problems Americans are facing, a campaign that appealed to people's hopes instead of their fears. That's the campaign we'll take to South Carolina and across America in the weeks to come, and that's how we will truly bring about the change this country is hungry for." _ Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, in a written statement.

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"This is one of those times when I hope the old saying, 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,' turns out to be true." _ Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, at a stop in Greenville, S.C., after coming in third in Nevada.

___

REPUBLICANS

___

"I'm very grateful. It just took us a while. That's all. Eight years is not a long time." _ Arizona Sen. John McCain, in an interview with the AP.

___

"I'm not looking just to get a couple high-profile victories; I want to get delegates and I want to win this nomination." _ Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, upon hearing of his Nevada win on his plane en route to Florida.

___

"One of the things I'm proud of (is) those of us _ the two of us _ who finished at the top, ran a campaign with a level of civility without attacking each other. And even though I'd like the outcome to be just a little different, I had rather be where I am and have done it with honor than to have won with the dishonor of getting there by attacking somebody else." _ Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, after South Carolina results showed him at second.

___

"We're waiting for you. We're waiting for you with a campaign we've been working on for I think almost a year." _ Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, at a campaign stop in The Villages, Fla., where he challenged his GOP rivals.

___

"Our country needs strong leadership, needs our party to step up, assume the battle of leadership again. But we need to remember that we need to deserve to lead and that's what all this about is deserving to lead." _Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, speaking to supporters ahead of South Carolina results.

Massive particle collider passes 2nd key test

Scientists have successfully fired protons in both directions around a 17-mile (27-kilometer) underground ring in what some call the next great step to understanding the universe.

The counterclockwise circuit inside the world's largest particle collider follows a test that sent a beam in the opposite direction Wednesday.

Scientists hope their experiments inside the 4 billion Swiss franc (US$3.8 billion) Large Hadron Collider will provide the power needed to smash the components of atoms together in attempts to learn about their structure.

The startup was eagerly awaited by physicists around the world who will conduct experiments at the collider.

Some searchers still expect to see rare woodpecker

For the last three years, researchers in camouflage and waders have slogged through the east Arkansas woods hoping to spot a rare bird that so far seems unwilling to be seen.

Some scientists still believe the ivory-billed woodpecker exists in the Big Woods, but they haven't been able to capture a sharp image of its remarkable 30-inch wing span and glossy black and white feathers on film or video camera.

To date, searchers have investigated about 83,000 of the 550,000-acre woods that swallow up the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is where kayaker Gene Sparling spotted the bird Feb. 11, 2004, and Cornell University experts said they made subsequent sightings.

Engineer David Luneau caught a blurry image of what some believe is the "Lord God bird," the third-largest woodpecker in the world, on video in 2004. Others challenge the claim that the ivory bill survived decades of clearing forests for farming, timber, roads and towns.

"Since early 2005, none of our group nor anyone from the public that we are aware of has made a definitive absolute sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker that we can document with a photograph or a sound recording," said Ron Rohrbaugh, project director at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

According to researchers, it became known as the "Lord God bird" because people, upon seeing it, would exclaim, "Lord God, look at that bird!"

The Big Woods is a hot, humid place _ tupelo, cypress and oak bottomland filled with mosquitoes, poisonous cottonmouths and thigh-high swamp water. The swamp is so thick with vegetation that scientists concentrate their work on the months when leaves are off the trees _ and the temperatures are bearable. They target areas where they have reports of credible sightings.

Wildlife biologist Allan Mueller said he saw an ivory-billed woodpecker during a search in May 2007. But it happened so quickly he missed getting the bird on camera.

"We were hearing calls, we were hearing the double-knocks, which is a distinctive way that the ivory-bill woodpeckers have of knocking on a tree," he said. "It's just two very quick knocks on a tree. Bam. Bam."

To the untrained eye, the ivory bill can be mistaken for a pileated woodpecker. Past research suggests the ivory bill ranges as much as six miles from its roost while searching for succulent beetle larvae, its favorite food.

Others outside the search team had reported sightings, said Mueller, avian conservation manager for The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas. So he and his teammate decided to get out of the boat and investigate. While his partner searched from the bank, Mueller walked into the woods.

"I saw a large bird, large woodpecker, flying directly toward me," he said. "All I know, what I knew then, was this is a big woodpecker coming at me. So naturally I paid attention.

"Probably about 100 feet away from me, it did a complete U-turn. And when he did the U-turn he flew out into a sunny area where I was able to get a very good look at the top of the bird, the top of the wing with a black, very glossy, shiny, black front and very white bright trailing edge of the wing. And just that quickly it was over."

When then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced in 2005 the rediscovery of the bird, she and then-Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns pledged federal dollars from existing funds to research the woodpecker, restore its habitat and develop a recovery plan as required by the Endangered Species Act.

To date, about $9.6 million has been spent toward those goals, including nearly $2 million to search the woods in Arkansas and other states. Researchers say the bird also has been seen and heard in the swamps of northwestern Florida.

Despite challenges from fellow scientists, many searchers remain convinced the bird has cheated extinction.

"It always has been one of these icons of the birding world, an icon of the deep woods. It has this amazing place in people's minds and hearts," said Laurie Fenwood, the ivory-billed woodpecker coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Atlanta.

___

On the Net:

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov/ivorybill

Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory

The Nature Conservancy http://www.nature.org/ivorybill/about/

45 BEACON: MEET THE AMS

ANNEMARIE MURPHY

Assistant Controller

When Annemarie Murphy returned from Ireland to Boston due to the high unemployment rate at the time, her plan was to work in the United States for a few years. That was in 1988. After finding her ideal position of working in a small accounting office, she has remained at AMS since her arrival.

"I didn't think that I would stay here," Annemarie explains. "But when I was provided with this position, I found it difficult to give up and have stayed ever since."

Annemarie attended secondary school and the Regional Technical College in Galway, Ireland, for business studies, majoring in accounting, from 1982 to 1986. After school she worked for a nonprofit association, the Gahvay Association for the Mentally Handicapped, doing accounts payable. Although the job gave her some hands-on training, she had the desire to expand into all fields of accounting and bookkeeping.

"I wanted to get involved in all aspects of accounting on a day to day basis," Annemarie says. "The position at AMS was appealing because I would be able to utilize my education in financial accounting, auditing, and business education."

Annemarie, who works closely with AMS Controller Barry Mohan, is responsible tor financial reports and supervises a small staff. She is in charge of the general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliations, and payroll. Annemarie also oversees monthly and yearly financial reporting and prepares income statements and balance sheets.

"Because of the size of our department, I'm able to be intimately involved in all aspects of this job," she says. "I've always loved math and working with numbers and this position gives me the opportunity to do so daily. I feel this opportunity to multitask and work closely with a small group of people is important to the overall operations at AMS."

Every year at the AMS Annual Meeting, Annemarie gets a chance to venture outside of the Accounting Department into other aspects of AMS operations. Working with the Meetings Department, she typically helps at the registration desk. With the limited exposure to AMS members in her department, Annemarie finds it interesting to meet the community face to face. She also enjoys traveling to a new city each year. When possible, Annemarie and her family travel back home to Galway.

"I do miss Ireland," she admits, "but the opportunities I've been provided here, particularly at AMS, have made it more than worth my while to stay."

-RACHEL S. THOMAS-MEDWID

White Sox 4, Cubs 3

Chicago (N)			Chicago (A)
ab r h bi		ab r h bi
Fukdm rf	5 1 2 0		Pierre lf	4 0 1 0
SCastro ss	4 0 2 1		Morel 3b	4 0 0 0
ArRmr dh	5 0 0 0		Quentin dh	4 0 0 0
C.Pena 1b	5 1 1 1		Konerk 1b	3 0 0 0
RJhnsn cf	4 0 1 0		AlRmrz ss	3 2 1 0
ASorin lf	2 1 1 0		Rios cf	4 1 2 0
DeWitt 2b	4 0 2 0		Przyns c	4 1 1 2
Campn pr	0 0 0 0		Lillirdg rf	3 0 2 2
LeMahi 2b	0 0 0 0		Bckhm 2b	4 0 1 0
JeBakr 3b	4 0 1 1
K.Hill c	4 0 0 0
Totals	37 3 10 3		Totals	33 4 8 4

Chicago (N)	000	012	000—3
Chicago (A)	000	310	00x—4

E_DeWitt (5), S.Castro (16). LOB_Chicago (N) 10, Chicago (A) 8. 2B_Fukudome (12). 3B_Pierzynski (1). HR_C.Pena (14). SB_S.Castro (10), A.Soriano (1), Campana (7).

	IP	H	R ER BB SO
Chicago (N)
D.Davis L,1-6	5	8	4	3	2	2
C.Carpenter	1	0	0	0	0	1
Samardzija	1	0	0	0	0	2
Marshall	1	0	0	0	0	1
Chicago (A)
Peavy W,3-1	5 1-3	7	3	3	3	5
Sale H,5	1 2-3	3	0	0	0	2
Crain H,11	2-3	0	0	0	0	1
Thornton H,10	1-3	0	0	0	0	1
S.Santos S,14-16	1	0	0	0	0	2

Sale pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

HBP_by D.Davis (Lillibridge). WP_Peavy.

Umpires_Home, Phil Cuzzi; First, Bill Miller; Second, Chris Conroy; Third, Tom Hallion.

T_3:01. A_35,403 (40,615).

CTU launches graduate school for teacher leadership

The Chicago Teachers Union is embarking on a path that may be a first for a teachers union local: operating a graduate degree program.

The Jacqueline B. Vaughn Graduate School for Teacher Leadership, named for the union's late, feisty president, is slated to open next January, enrolling 225 teachers.

The Vaughn graduate school will offer a two-year course of study that leads to a masters' degree in teacher leadership. The only similar program run locally is at St. Xavier University.

CTU President Deborah Lynch says creating the Vaughn school is the first step towards creating a career ladder for Chicago teachers, which is one of her priorities.

Vaughn will be temporarily housed in space adjoining CTU headquarters at the Merchandise Mart; and classes will be taught in the evening by veteran CPS teachers and university education instructors.

The idea for the school was conceived in 1994, when Lynch was director of the CTU Quest Center, a professional development program for teachers.

A year later, the Illinois Board of Higher Education granted operating authority for the school; they did it on the day Lynch resigned her post to return to classroom teaching. The plan then lay dormant; reviving it was one of Lynch's top priorities when she won office in last year's election.

It may take another two years for the graduate school to secure full accreditation, she says. Until then, the union is looking to partner with another institution--talks are underway with the University of Illinois at Chicago--for a joint masters' program. Tuition is estimated to run $9,100.

Quest Center Director Allen Bearden is on tap to become the school's part-time president; Connee Fitch-Blank will resign her post as Quest assistant director to become the school's dean.

Teacher leaders would mentor and support colleagues, steer curriculum development and take an active role in improving their schools, Lynch explains. And they would not have to leave the classroom, she adds. "Even good principals can't possibly do all the leadership tasks in a school."

The school district in Rochester, NY, offers such a model. Teachers there do not have to become principals to gain greater responsibilities in their schools, Lynch notes.

CTU's graduate degree program in teacher leadership will help dispel the notion that school leadership is synonymous with principals, says Rochester Teachers Association President Adam Urbanski. "It will become a benchmark for progressive unionism."

Disaster Recovery Yellow Pages

Disaster Recovery Yellow Pages, The Systems Audit Group, Inc., Newton, Mass., $98. Based on two decades of disaster planning experience, the Disaster Recovery Yellow Pages is a 350-page sourcebook designed to help users locate scores of crucial but hard-to-find recovery services throughout the United States and Canada.This reference contains five sections, covering restoration services, mobile buildings, computer and emergency equipment, planning and data recovery software, as well as training publications and videos.The Disaster Recovery Yellow Pages also includes a tutorial on areas which are frequently overlooked - even by experienced users - when preparing their disaster recovery plans, as well as hints on "getting started" and preparing a disaster plan.

American League

East Division
	W	L	Pct	GB
Tampa Bay	88	57	.607	—
New York	88	58	.603	1/2
Boston	82	64	.562	6 1/2
Toronto	73	73	.500	15 1/2
Baltimore	58	88	.397	30 1/2
Central Division
	W	L	Pct	GB
Minnesota	87	58	.600	—
Chicago	79	66	.545	8
Detroit	72	74	.493	15 1/2
Kansas City	60	85	.414	27
Cleveland	59	86	.407	28
West Division
	W	L	Pct	GB
Texas	82	63	.566	—
Oakland	72	73	.497	10
Los Angeles	71	74	.490	11
Seattle	55	91	.377	27 1/2

___

Wednesday's Games

Boston 5, Seattle 1

L.A. Angels 7, Cleveland 0

Baltimore 3, Toronto 1

Tampa Bay 4, N.Y. Yankees 3

Texas 11, Detroit 7

Minnesota 9, Chicago White Sox 3

Kansas City 6, Oakland 3

Thursday's Games

L.A. Angels at Cleveland

Minnesota at Chicago White Sox

Chinese FM stresses diplomacy, patience on Iran nuclear issue.

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 6 (PNA/Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Friday urged the international community to stay patient and step up diplomatic efforts to seek solutions to the Iranian nuclear issue, saying "Iran has not totally shut the door" on the IAEA proposal on nuclear fuel supply. Addressing the 46th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Yang said that the Iranian nuclear issue "has entered a crucial stage." "The parties concerned should, with the overall and long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy," he said. "The purpose is to seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution through dialogue and negotiations and uphold the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and peace and stability in the Middle East," Yang added. He pledged that China will make concerted efforts with the international community and play a constructive role in settling this issue. The West has accused Iran of using its nuclear program to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge adamantly denied by Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Signaling a shift in Tehran's position, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday said that there is "no problem" if Iran ships abroad its low-grade enriched uranium and takes upgraded uranium several months later. Western nations, meanwhile, are seeking to have the UN Security Council approve further sanctions against Iran by the end of March to pressure Tehran into freezing uranium enrichment. The Chinese foreign minister said in Munich that it is the wrong time to talk about imposing more sanctions on Iran because Tehran appears open to dialogue. "We believe that Iran has not totally shut the door" on the IAEA proposal on nuclear fuel supply, he said. "In order not to complicate the situation, it is better now to concentrate on consultation and dialogue to achieve a satisfactory solution," he said. Yang called for another meeting of the so-called P5+1 dialogue, which gathers the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. "Somehow a mutually acceptable formula can emerge. There are chances for us to explore," Yang said. The Munich Security Conference of top diplomats and defense officials opened Friday afternoon. It was the first appearance by a Chinese foreign minister in the conference's 46-year history. With major powers expected to discuss approaches to the Iran nuclear issue in Munich, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has decided to join the meeting at the last minute and was scheduled to have late-night discussions with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the security conference, told German media that the initiative for Mottaki to join the Munich gathering has come from Tehran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle in Berlin that he wants to meet Mottaki on Friday evening. "Today there is indeed a chance to come to an agreement in practical issues," Lavrov said. (PNA/Xinhua)

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)

Chinese FM stresses diplomacy, patience on Iran nuclear issue.

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 6 (PNA/Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Friday urged the international community to stay patient and step up diplomatic efforts to seek solutions to the Iranian nuclear issue, saying "Iran has not totally shut the door" on the IAEA proposal on nuclear fuel supply. Addressing the 46th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Yang said that the Iranian nuclear issue "has entered a crucial stage." "The parties concerned should, with the overall and long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy," he said. "The purpose is to seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution through dialogue and negotiations and uphold the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and peace and stability in the Middle East," Yang added. He pledged that China will make concerted efforts with the international community and play a constructive role in settling this issue. The West has accused Iran of using its nuclear program to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge adamantly denied by Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Signaling a shift in Tehran's position, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday said that there is "no problem" if Iran ships abroad its low-grade enriched uranium and takes upgraded uranium several months later. Western nations, meanwhile, are seeking to have the UN Security Council approve further sanctions against Iran by the end of March to pressure Tehran into freezing uranium enrichment. The Chinese foreign minister said in Munich that it is the wrong time to talk about imposing more sanctions on Iran because Tehran appears open to dialogue. "We believe that Iran has not totally shut the door" on the IAEA proposal on nuclear fuel supply, he said. "In order not to complicate the situation, it is better now to concentrate on consultation and dialogue to achieve a satisfactory solution," he said. Yang called for another meeting of the so-called P5+1 dialogue, which gathers the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. "Somehow a mutually acceptable formula can emerge. There are chances for us to explore," Yang said. The Munich Security Conference of top diplomats and defense officials opened Friday afternoon. It was the first appearance by a Chinese foreign minister in the conference's 46-year history. With major powers expected to discuss approaches to the Iran nuclear issue in Munich, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has decided to join the meeting at the last minute and was scheduled to have late-night discussions with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the security conference, told German media that the initiative for Mottaki to join the Munich gathering has come from Tehran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle in Berlin that he wants to meet Mottaki on Friday evening. "Today there is indeed a chance to come to an agreement in practical issues," Lavrov said. (PNA/Xinhua)

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)

Chinese FM stresses diplomacy, patience on Iran nuclear issue.

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 6 (PNA/Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Friday urged the international community to stay patient and step up diplomatic efforts to seek solutions to the Iranian nuclear issue, saying "Iran has not totally shut the door" on the IAEA proposal on nuclear fuel supply. Addressing the 46th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Yang said that the Iranian nuclear issue "has entered a crucial stage." "The parties concerned should, with the overall and long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy," he said. "The purpose is to seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution through dialogue and negotiations and uphold the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and peace and stability in the Middle East," Yang added. He pledged that China will make concerted efforts with the international community and play a constructive role in settling this issue. The West has accused Iran of using its nuclear program to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge adamantly denied by Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Signaling a shift in Tehran's position, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday said that there is "no problem" if Iran ships abroad its low-grade enriched uranium and takes upgraded uranium several months later. Western nations, meanwhile, are seeking to have the UN Security Council approve further sanctions against Iran by the end of March to pressure Tehran into freezing uranium enrichment. The Chinese foreign minister said in Munich that it is the wrong time to talk about imposing more sanctions on Iran because Tehran appears open to dialogue. "We believe that Iran has not totally shut the door" on the IAEA proposal on nuclear fuel supply, he said. "In order not to complicate the situation, it is better now to concentrate on consultation and dialogue to achieve a satisfactory solution," he said. Yang called for another meeting of the so-called P5+1 dialogue, which gathers the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. "Somehow a mutually acceptable formula can emerge. There are chances for us to explore," Yang said. The Munich Security Conference of top diplomats and defense officials opened Friday afternoon. It was the first appearance by a Chinese foreign minister in the conference's 46-year history. With major powers expected to discuss approaches to the Iran nuclear issue in Munich, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has decided to join the meeting at the last minute and was scheduled to have late-night discussions with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the security conference, told German media that the initiative for Mottaki to join the Munich gathering has come from Tehran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle in Berlin that he wants to meet Mottaki on Friday evening. "Today there is indeed a chance to come to an agreement in practical issues," Lavrov said. (PNA/Xinhua)

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)

New space station crew sees trip as shuttle tribute

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan--U.S. astronaut Edward Lu planned to don abadge from the Columbia mission when he blasted off today in aRussian rocket, the first manned launch since the disaster.

Lu said the mission to the international space station is not onlyfilling the gap left by suspended shuttle flights--it's payingtribute to Columbia's seven astronauts.

The shuttle disintegrated over Texas in February.

"We are doing what I think they would have wanted and what theirfamilies would have wanted us to do--continue the process of flyinginto space," Lu said Friday.

Russian and U.S. experts have scrambled to get Expedition 7 readyin record time. To many the mission …

New research on HIV/AIDS from J. Molto and co-authors summarized.(Report)

According to a study from Barcelona, Spain, "The aim of this study was to develop and validate a population pharmacokinetic model for nevirapine in a population of HIV-infected adults and to evaluate the influence of nevirapine dosing regimen and patient characteristics on nevirapine trough concentration. HIV-infected adults receiving oral nevirapine for at least 4 weeks were included."

"A concentration-time profile was obtained for each patient, and nevirapine concentrations in plasma were determined by HPLC. Pharmacokinetic parameters, inter-individual variability and residual error were estimated using non-linear mixed effects modelling. The influence of patient …

HOW TO HELP.(CAPITAL REGION)

Several Capital Region organizations are collecting donations for victims of the May 31 tornadoes that struck parts of Rensselaer and Saratoga counties.

Catholic Charities, Hannaford Superstores, News 10 and Trustco Bank have formed a partnership. Drop off cash or checks made payable to Catholic Charities at Hannaford supermarkets or Trustco banks. Drop off housewares at St. Agnes School, Johnston Avenue, Cohoes, 453-6650, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today through Friday. Friday is the final day of houseware collections.The Red Cross is not seeking donations of food, clothing or supplies. Money can be delivered or mailed to: American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, 479 …

Brazil downplays recent dominance against Chile

Brazil is trying to forget about its dominant record over Chile ahead of their round of 16 match at the World Cup on Monday.

History gives Brazil a significant edge for the match at Ellis Park, but the five-time champions are trying to leave that behind them.

Brazil has won seven straight matches against the Chileans, and hasn't lost to its South American rival since a …

Dentistry changing for women

For women, gaining the opportunity to practice dentistry was harder than pulling teeth.

In 1854, Emeline Roberts Jones of Connecticut married a dentist. When her husband rejected her requests to learn the trade, she pocketed the teeth he pulled in his office and secretly practiced on them at home. After drilling and filling hundreds of canines, molars and incisors, Jones showed her husband her work.

Duly impressed, he took her on as a partner. After he died in 1864, Jones filled and extracted teeth for the next 50 years, and became known as the first female dentist in the United States.

Two years after Jones' husband died, Lucy Hobbs Taylor became the first woman to …

What GM gets.(Brief Article)

* Asian production base

* Home-boy access to Korean market …