Rare identical quadruplets born By SARAH COOKE, Associated Press Writer

Rare identical quadruplets born By SARAH COOKE, Associated Press Writer
Fri Aug 17, 2:22 AM ET



HELENA, Mont. - A 35-year-old Canadian woman has given birth to rare identical quadruplets, hospital officials said.

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Karen Jepp of Calgary, Alberta, delivered Autumn, Brooke, Calissa and Dahlia by Caesarian section Sunday afternoon at Benefis Healthcare hospital in Great Falls, Mont., said Amy Astin, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

The four girls were breathing without ventilators and listed in good condition Thursday, Astin said.

"These babies are doing grand," said Dr. Tom Key, the perinatologist who delivered the girls.

The babies were born about two months early and were conceived without fertility drugs, he said. They weighed between 2.6 pounds and 2.15 pounds.

"We're really active people," their father, J.P. Jepp, told the Great Falls Tribune. "We're looking forward to ballet lessons and dance lessons — maybe a hockey player in there — who knows? We're looking forward to the next step."

The couple also have a 2-year-old son, Simon.

J.P. Jepp works for Shell Oil Co., and both parents worked for nonprofit groups until recently, Astin said.

The chances of giving birth to identical quadruplets is about one in 13 million, Key said.

Medical literature indicates there are less than 50 sets of identical quadruplets, said Dr. Jamie Grifo, director of the NYU Fertility Center in New York.

The last reported set were born in April 2006 to a 26-year-old Indian woman.

The Jepps drove 325 miles to Great Falls for the births because hospitals in Calgary were at capacity, Key said.

___

Associated Press writer Len Iwanski contributed to this report.

Firefighters die in blaze by ground zero By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

Firefighters die in blaze by ground zero By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 1 minute ago



NEW YORK - A seven-alarm fire ripped through an abandoned skyscraper next to ground zero in Lower Manhattan Saturday, killing two firefighters who were responding to the blaze.

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Officers at the scene were preventing nearby residents from returning to their homes, telling them that authorities were concerned the former Deutsche Bank office building, vacant since the 2001 terrorist attacks turned it into a toxic nightmare, could fall. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that fear turned out to be unfounded.

The plume of gray smoke that trailed above the site of the World Trade Center raised concerns that toxic substances in the building could be spreading.

Bloomberg sought to reassure residents that the chemicals in the building likely did not present a significant health risk, saying air-quality tests so far showed no danger.

"Having said that, we are extremely careful. We don't want to prejudge anything," the mayor added. Tests were to continue overnight, he said.

One of the firefighters killed was identified as Joseph Graffagnino, 34, of Brooklyn. He was a member of Ladder 5, which lost 11 members on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Today's events really are another cruel blow to our city and to our fire department," Bloomberg said. He said the fire had "expanded our loss."

Also killed was Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island. Bloomberg said both firefighters had become trapped, inhaled a great deal of smoke and gone into cardiac arrest.

Five or six other firefighters were taken to a hospital but were expected to be released, Bloomberg said. No civilians were hurt.

Construction crews had already dismantled 14 of the building's 40 stories — reaching the 26th floor on Tuesday. Some firefighters used stairs to reach the burning upper floors of the building, just steps from where 343 firefighters lost their lives in the 2001 terror attacks.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Smoke pouring from the burning building was visible from midtown Manhattan and the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. Fire officials declared the blaze under control late Saturday.

The acrid smell of smoke, which hung over the neighborhood for days after Sept. 11, returned to lower Manhattan along with the wail of emergency vehicles. More than five dozen fire vehicles, with more than 270 firefighters, responded to the blaze as pieces of burning debris fell from the building to the streets.

Residents said they weren't allowed home even to rescue their pets.

"We heard this crackling," said Elizabeth Hughes, who saw the fire start from her rooftop deck across from the tower. "And then a huge fire that went up three floors fast. It was massive. ... Oh my God! I can't even go in and get my cats."

By late Saturday evening, nearby residents who had been evacuated were told they could return.

The 1.4-million square foot office tower was contaminated with toxic dust and debris after the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed into it. Bloomberg said the chemicals in the building did not present a significant health risk.

Efforts to dismantle it were halted by a labor dispute last year, along with the ongoing search for the remains of attack victims.

City officials announced in June they had completed recovery efforts at the structure. More than 700 human remains were found at the site.

Errol Cockfield, a spokesman for the Empire State Development Corp., which is overseeing redevelopment at ground zero, said authorities were investigating whether the smoke at the scene could pose any environmental danger.

Mariners rally for victory over Chicago 2 hours, 17 minutes ago

Mariners rally for victory over Chicago 2 hours, 17 minutes ago



SEATTLE - Kenji Johjima hit a tiebreaking RBI single in Seattle's four-run sixth and the Mariners rallied to beat Chicago 7-5 Saturday night, handing the White Sox their season-high seventh straight loss.

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Jeff Weaver (5-10) allowed four runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings for the Mariners, who moved within two of the AL West-leading Angels. Seattle also kept its half-game lead over the New York Yankees in the wild-card race.

Chicago led 3-0 early but committed two errors and Ehren Wassermann threw a wild pitch in the sixth. Jim Thome went deep twice and A.J. Pierzynski also connected for the White Sox.

Raul Ibanez's run-scoring single in the fourth cut it to 3-1 and Seattle pushed across two more runs in the fifth to tie it.

Jose Guillen came up with runners on second and third and two outs and hit a two-hopper toward third baseman Josh Fields. On the second hop, Fields had to duck to avoid being hit as the ball spun into left field. Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt score to make it 3-all.

Johjima's run-scoring single in the sixth put Seattle in front. Richie Sexson scored on an error by center fielder Jerry Owens, Jose Vidro singled in a run and Ichiro Suzuki scored on Wassermann's wild pitch.

Weaver struck out five and walked one. He threw a five-hit shutout in his previous start last Sunday against Chicago.

J.J. Putz worked the ninth for his 36th save, matching his career high.

John Danks (6-11) gave up four runs and nine hits in five-plus innings for the White Sox.

Thome hit a two-run drive off George Sherrill in the eighth to cut it to 7-5. It was his second of the game, 20th of the season and No. 492 for his career. It also was his 39th career multihomer game and first since April 18 against Texas.

Notes:@ Every starter in the Mariners' lineup had at least one hit except Suzuki, who ended his 10-game hitting streak. ... The Mariners are now 24-8 against left-hander starters, best in the majors. ... The Sox's seven-game losing streak in the longest since the club lost seven from Aug. 12-20, 2005.

Mariners rally for victory over Chicago 2 hours, 17 minutes ago

Mariners rally for victory over Chicago 2 hours, 17 minutes ago



SEATTLE - Kenji Johjima hit a tiebreaking RBI single in Seattle's four-run sixth and the Mariners rallied to beat Chicago 7-5 Saturday night, handing the White Sox their season-high seventh straight loss.

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Jeff Weaver (5-10) allowed four runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings for the Mariners, who moved within two of the AL West-leading Angels. Seattle also kept its half-game lead over the New York Yankees in the wild-card race.

Chicago led 3-0 early but committed two errors and Ehren Wassermann threw a wild pitch in the sixth. Jim Thome went deep twice and A.J. Pierzynski also connected for the White Sox.

Raul Ibanez's run-scoring single in the fourth cut it to 3-1 and Seattle pushed across two more runs in the fifth to tie it.

Jose Guillen came up with runners on second and third and two outs and hit a two-hopper toward third baseman Josh Fields. On the second hop, Fields had to duck to avoid being hit as the ball spun into left field. Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt score to make it 3-all.

Johjima's run-scoring single in the sixth put Seattle in front. Richie Sexson scored on an error by center fielder Jerry Owens, Jose Vidro singled in a run and Ichiro Suzuki scored on Wassermann's wild pitch.

Weaver struck out five and walked one. He threw a five-hit shutout in his previous start last Sunday against Chicago.

J.J. Putz worked the ninth for his 36th save, matching his career high.

John Danks (6-11) gave up four runs and nine hits in five-plus innings for the White Sox.

Thome hit a two-run drive off George Sherrill in the eighth to cut it to 7-5. It was his second of the game, 20th of the season and No. 492 for his career. It also was his 39th career multihomer game and first since April 18 against Texas.

Notes:@ Every starter in the Mariners' lineup had at least one hit except Suzuki, who ended his 10-game hitting streak. ... The Mariners are now 24-8 against left-hander starters, best in the majors. ... The Sox's seven-game losing streak in the longest since the club lost seven from Aug. 12-20, 2005.

Sen. Leahy lands role in Batman movie 2 hours, 32 minutes ago

Sen. Leahy lands role in Batman movie 2 hours, 32 minutes ago



BURLINGTON, Vt. - Holy Beltway, Batman! Sen. Patrick Leahy has a part in the next Batman movie.

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"I don't wear tights," the Vermont Democrat said.

Leahy's scene was filmed this summer for "The Dark Knight" and involves Batman, played by Christian Bale, The Joker, played by Heath Ledger, and Alfred Pennyworth, played by Michael Caine.

The longtime Batman fan would reveal little about his role other than he is called the "distinguished gentleman."

"It's a pretty tense scene," said Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It's going to be a very interesting one."

He's done voice-overs on Batman cartoons, written the preface for a Batman book and had small roles in the last two Batman features.

He said he will donate his earnings from the film to the Kellogg-Hubbard children's library in Montpelier, where the senator got his first library card.

"The Dark Knight" is scheduled to be released next summer.

Navy pulls YouTube video made by airman 18 minutes ago

Navy pulls YouTube video made by airman 18 minutes ago



SAN DIEGO - The Navy has removed a video from YouTube shot aboard the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan because it shows sailors using safety equipment inappropriately, a Navy spokesman said.

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The video, titled "Women of CVN76: 'That Don't Impress Me Much,'" was shot by an airman and not sanctioned by the ship's commanders or the Navy. It includes fleeting shots of the door to the ship's nuclear power plant and of a sailor dancing while wearing a full-body radiation suit.

Both could alarm Navy nuclear-propulsion officials, who are sensitive about security. Under Pentagon rules, images of any part of a ship's nuclear plant cannot be shown to foreign nationals.

Nothing in the video — which was posted May 23 — compromised operational security, but officials were worried about the "lack of propriety" involving the safety equipment, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the San Diego-based Naval Air Forces command.

Navy commanders have counseled the airman who produced it, said Brown.

Set to a tune by country singer Shania Twain, the theme is that women serving aboard the Reagan can do the same jobs as men. Until 1994, the Pentagon barred women from serving on combat ships.

"The video was a lighthearted and positive depiction of the service of women officers and sailors aboard aircraft carriers and in Navy squadrons," Brown said.

Psychologists weigh interrogation ban By SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press Writer

Psychologists weigh interrogation ban By SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press Writer
42 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - Stung by reports implicating mental health specialists in prisoner abuse scandals at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, the nation's largest group of psychologists is considering banning its members from interrogations of terror suspects.

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The American Psychological Association, which is holding its annual meeting in San Francisco, is scheduled to vote Sunday on two competing measures concerning its 148,000 members' participation in military interrogations at Guantanamo Bay and other U.S. military detention centers.

One measure would bar members from any involvement in interrogations at U.S. detention facilities where foreigners are held. The moratorium would not be backed by sanctions, but it would carry the APA's "moral authority," said psychologist Neil Altman, who wrote the proposed resolution.

The other proposal, which is backed by APA's board of directors, would reaffirm the group's opposition to torture and prohibit members from taking part in more than a dozen specific practices, including forced nakedness, mock executions and simulated drowning.

An APA member who violates the torture resolution could be expelled from the Washington-based organization, which could lead to the loss of the professional's state license to practice, said spokeswoman Rhea Farberman.

The association's vote follows reports that mental health specialists were involved in prisoner abuse scandals at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Among other things, psychiatrists and psychologists are accused of helping interrogators increase prisoners' stress levels by exploiting their fears.

A recently declassified Defense Department report said that since 2002, psychiatrists and psychologists have helped military interrogators develop new techniques to extract information from detainees.

Military interrogation has become a dominant issue at this year's meeting of the APA, which represents most of the nation's psychologists.

Psychologists for an Ethical APA, which supports the moratorium, rallied Friday outside the Moscone Center, where the conference is being held. Supporters wore buttons that read "Do No Harm" and carried signs condemning torture. A person in an orange jumpsuit and black hood stood in the middle of the crowd.

Moratorium backers say psychologists should not assist with interrogations where foreigners are held indefinitely and could be tortured because their involvement discredits the profession.

"We will not be satisfied until we get a resolution that says psychologists cannot be part of interrogations at sites where detainees' human rights are being violated," said New York psychologist Steven Reisner.

Supporters of the moratorium say they want the APA to follow the examples of the American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association, which have said their members have no legitimate role in interrogations at detention centers like Guantanamo. The U.S. military has indicated it would favor using psychologists, who are not affected by the other groups' policies.

Critics of the moratorium say the presence of psychologists helps ensure interrogations are not abusive.

APA spokeswoman Farberman said psychologists help interrogators build rapport with detainees, so they don't have to resort to abusive behavior.

"We want to stay engaged in the discussion about appropriate and effective interrogation techniques," Farberman said.

___

On the Net:

American Psychological Association:http://www.apa.org/

Psychologists for an Ethical APA:http://www.ethicalapa.com/

Shuttle Endeavour undocks from station By RASHA MADKOUR, Associated Press Writer

Shuttle Endeavour undocks from station By RASHA MADKOUR, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago



HOUSTON - Space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the international space station a day early on Sunday, as NASA kept a wary eye on Hurricane Dean.

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Space agency managers worried that the storm would move toward Houston and force them to evacuate to a smaller-staffed makeshift control center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Endeavour crew prepared to land on Tuesday as a precaution.

"Endeavour departed," space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin said as the shuttle pulled away.

The shuttle crew, which includes teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan, had been at the orbiting outpost since Aug. 10. In that time, they attached a new truss segment to the station, delivered cargo and replaced a failed gyroscope, which controls the station's orientation.

They have had to compress their schedule to get ready for the early undocking. Morgan, who was Christa McAuliffe's backup on the tragic 1986 Challenger mission, was scheduled to talk to students in Massachusetts on Sunday but that event was canceled. A spacewalk on Saturday was shortened so the astronauts could wrap up their work at the station. During that jaunt, the spacewalkers saw the eye of the enormous hurricane swirling in the Caribbean and expressed their amazement at the sight.

The astronauts also skipped flying around the station after undocking to take pictures of the complex, an exercise NASA likes shuttles to do if the schedule and fuel supply permit.

Although it was uncertain whether Dean, a Category 4 storm, might strike the Texas coastline later this week, NASA managers said it would be irresponsible not to cut the mission short, especially since most of the tasks had been completed.

"I would defy just about anybody to tell me at this point that there's zero or even extremely low probability or possibility that the storm is going to come here," said LeRoy Cain.

NASA is ready to rush a skeleton crew of flight controllers to Cape Canaveral, but only if the shuttle cannot land Tuesday for some reason and the hurricane is bearing down on Houston and threatening the city for several days, Cain said.

"That's a fairly, I hope, unlikely scenario simply because all those things have to line up," he said.

In 26 years of space shuttle flight, NASA never has had to call up an emergency Mission Control, although it has been practiced.

NASA's hurricane deliberations followed a decision to forgo shuttle repairs.

Mission managers concluded earlier this week that a deep gouge on Endeavour's belly posed no Columbia-like threat to the seven crew members during re-entry and also would not lead to lengthy postflight shuttle repairs.

For several days, managers had considered sending two astronauts out with black protective paint and untested goo to patch the 3 1/2-inch-long, 2-inch-wide gouge that dug all the way through the thermal tiles.

The gouge was caused by debris that broke off a bracket on Endeavour's external fuel tank during liftoff Aug. 8. Engineers still do not know whether it was foam insulation, ice or a combination of both. In any case, NASA said it will not launch another shuttle until the longtime troublesome brackets are fixed.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

___

AP Aerospace writer Marcia Dunn contributed to this report from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Rescuers to drill 5th hole in Utah mine By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer

Rescuers to drill 5th hole in Utah mine By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 52 minutes ago



HUNTINGTON, Utah - Rescuers banged on a drill bit and set off explosives, hoping to elicit a response from six men trapped deep inside a collapsed coal mine. Their efforts were met with silence — again.

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Rescuers found no signs of life Saturday after drilling a fourth hole into the Crandall Canyon mine, where the men have been trapped for nearly two weeks.

"We did not detect any signals from miners underground," said Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

A microphone lowered into the new hole revealed nothing to indicate that anyone was in the cavern. A video camera recorded images from the void that were being analyzed early Sunday.

Despite the lack of evidence that the miners have survived since the initial Aug. 6 collapse, Stickler said drillers would start on a fifth hole.

"As long as we have hope, we will continue working and doing everything we can. Our goal is to find these miners alive," he said.

Underground tunneling has been halted since a mountain "bump" Thursday killed three rescuers and injured six others. Officials had hoped the fourth hole would finally offer clues to whether the men were alive 1,500 feet below ground. Instead, the results were the same as the three previous tries.

MSHA summoned experts from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, West Virginia University and private engineering firms in the hope that they can develop a safer way of tunneling toward the trapped miners. Their first meeting at the mine was scheduled for Sunday morning.

Stickler acknowledged the challenge of working on a mountain where there have been 23 seismic tremors since the initial Aug. 6 collapse.

"They continue to occur and there's no way of knowing when they're going to stop," he said. "We have never seen a situation like we have at this operation."

Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., co-owner of the Crandall Canyon mine, remained optimistic.

"This is an effort that consumes every second of our time," Moore said. "Make no mistake about it: This continues to be a rescue effort," Moore said. "We have encountered setbacks. We've incurred losses, but we have not and will not give up hope."

Even if rescuers found any of the six miners alive — an increasingly unlikely prospect, given the amount of time elapsed — it would take weeks to lift them out.

Crews would have to drill a much larger, 30-inch hole and lower a metal rescue capsule, the same method used in 2002 to pluck nine trapped miners from the flooded Quecreek mine in western Pennsylvania. But there are key differences between Quecreek and Crandall Canyon that would make the effort far more complicated.

At Quecreek, rescue workers heard tapping sounds only six-and-a-half hours after the miners became trapped, indicating at least some of them were alive. Work began on the rescue shaft later that day, and the whole ordeal was over in 77 hours. It has been nearly two weeks since the cave-in at Crandall Canyon, with no sign of the missing men.

The miners in Pennsylvania were only about 230 feet below the surface, and the drilling took place on a gently rolling dairy farm. The Utah miners are believed to be more than 1,500 feet beneath the surface, with drillers having to work atop a steep sandstone cliff.

But now that tunneling has stopped, a rescue capsule is the only way of getting the miners out.

"If it's the only option you have, you make it work," said Kevin Stricklin, chief of coal mine safety for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The three victims of Thursday's mountain "bump" were identified as MSHA inspector Gary Jensen, 53, of Redmond; miner Dale Black, 48, of Huntington; and Brandon Kimber, 29, a miner from Price.

___

Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko and Alicia Caldwell in Huntington, Jennifer Dobner in Carbonville and Brock Vergakis in Price contributed to this report.

Firefighters die in blaze by ground zero By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

Firefighters die in blaze by ground zero By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 52 minutes ago



NEW YORK - A seven-alarm fire ripped through an abandoned skyscraper next to ground zero in Lower Manhattan Saturday, killing two firefighters who were responding to the blaze.

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Officers at the scene were preventing nearby residents from returning to their homes, telling them that authorities were concerned the former Deutsche Bank office building, vacant since the 2001 terrorist attacks turned it into a toxic nightmare, could fall. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that fear turned out to be unfounded.

The plume of gray smoke that trailed above the site of the World Trade Center raised concerns that toxic substances in the building could be spreading.

Bloomberg sought to reassure residents that the chemicals in the building likely did not present a significant health risk, saying air-quality tests so far showed no danger.

"Having said that, we are extremely careful. We don't want to prejudge anything," the mayor added. Tests were to continue overnight, he said.

One of the firefighters killed was identified as Joseph Graffagnino, 34, of Brooklyn. He was a member of Ladder 5, which lost 11 members on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Today's events really are another cruel blow to our city and to our fire department," Bloomberg said. He said the fire had "expanded our loss."

Also killed was Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island. Bloomberg said both firefighters had become trapped, inhaled a great deal of smoke and gone into cardiac arrest.

Five or six other firefighters were taken to a hospital but were expected to be released, Bloomberg said. No civilians were hurt.

Construction crews had already dismantled 14 of the building's 40 stories — reaching the 26th floor on Tuesday. Some firefighters used stairs to reach the burning upper floors of the building, just steps from where 343 firefighters lost their lives in the 2001 terror attacks.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Smoke pouring from the burning building was visible from midtown Manhattan and the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. Fire officials declared the blaze under control late Saturday.

The acrid smell of smoke, which hung over the neighborhood for days after Sept. 11, returned to lower Manhattan along with the wail of emergency vehicles. More than five dozen fire vehicles, with more than 270 firefighters, responded to the blaze as pieces of burning debris fell from the building to the streets.

Residents said they weren't allowed home even to rescue their pets.

"We heard this crackling," said Elizabeth Hughes, who saw the fire start from her rooftop deck across from the tower. "And then a huge fire that went up three floors fast. It was massive. ... Oh my God! I can't even go in and get my cats."

By late Saturday evening, nearby residents who had been evacuated were told they could return.

The 1.4-million square foot office tower was contaminated with toxic dust and debris after the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed into it. Bloomberg said the chemicals in the building did not present a significant health risk.

Efforts to dismantle it were halted by a labor dispute last year, along with the ongoing search for the remains of attack victims.

City officials announced in June they had completed recovery efforts at the structure. More than 700 human remains were found at the site.

Errol Cockfield, a spokesman for the Empire State Development Corp., which is overseeing redevelopment at ground zero, said authorities were investigating whether the smoke at the scene could pose any environmental danger.

Rescuers try to reach 181 Chinese miners By CHARLES HUTZLER, Associated Press Writer

Rescuers try to reach 181 Chinese miners By CHARLES HUTZLER, Associated Press Writer
34 minutes ago



XINTAI, China - Angry relatives protested and demanded answers Sunday as hopes slipped for 181 miners trapped underground more than 48 hours after a collapsed dike in eastern China flooded two coal mines.

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Water was being pumped out of the mines, the head of China's work safety body said.

Li Yizhong also said the breach in the dike in Shandong province had been closed, although some water was still seeping through.

"The installation of pump equipment and the pumping of water in the shafts has already started," Li, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

There was no indication whether the miners were still alive or how long it would take to pump the water out.

They have been trapped since Friday afternoon when the Wen river burst a dike, sending water pouring into the Huayuan Mining Co. mine, stranding 172 miners in a shaft.

Nine more miners were trapped when water poured into a nearby mine shaft. Both are about 370 miles southeast of Beijing.

Officials blocked access to the mine, but upset family members could be seen arriving at the gates to a compound that appeared to house offices of the company.

At one gate, about 30 relatives and an equal number of bystanders yelled at guards and officials for information. Several relatives were roughed up and one man showed his torn shirt.

One woman whose husband was trapped, Ren Hua, said she was called Friday and told there was no problem and that water was being pumped out of the mine.

But when she arrived Saturday with her 11-year-old son she found the pumping had not started.

"We want to know how much work has been done and whether they are drawing off the water," she said, crying.

Others also complained of a lack of information, saying no lists of trapped miners had been given out.

"No one has said anything about what is happening," said Li Chuanmei, whose 42-year-old brother was missing.

"They have not said if there are any survivors. They are treating these people like they are sacrificial goods. You would think an official would come out to tell us what is going on, whether there are any signs of life, whether they are dead or live," she said.

Li and others gathered under a billboard explaining Huayuan's "safety ideals." She said every year during the rainy season there is flooding in the mine, and officials did not seem to be prepared this year.

She said the trapped miners could be as far as 2,000 feet down the mine shaft.

The miners make about $106 a month, slightly less than the average urban salary in China but 2 1/2 times the average rural one.

Shao Linnan, who described himself as an ordinary miner, said he was waiting because friends were trapped.

"We sympathize with these families but there is nothing we can do," he said, pointing at the groups of crying relatives.

Zhang Qingmei, who works for a mining supply company, said he saw no rescue work being done when he dropped off plastic piping parts on Saturday, although that may have been because officials had to wait first for the dike breach to be closed.

Zhang, a member of the Communist Party whose brother-in-law was trapped, said, "The officials say 'safety first, production second,' but they haven't followed those instructions."

According to a government Web site, the mine was previously called the Xinwen Mining Group Zhangzhuang Coal Mine, but underwent a reorganization in March 2004 when it went bankrupt.

The State Administration of Work Safety Web site said it had become a shareholding enterprise, but did not say who owned the shares or managed the mine.

An accountant who worked for the Xinwen company but was fired in 2003 said there was a lot of resentment toward the company even before the accident because about 30 percent of the work force was fired that year before it was reorganized.

The accountant, who refused to give his name, also said output had fallen from about 1 million tons a year in the late 1980s to between 600,000 and 700,000 tons now.

Some of the relatives said the company's financial troubles meant it had cut corners on safety.

China's coal mines are the world's deadliest, with thousands of fatalities a year in fires, floods and other disasters. Many are blamed on managers who disregard safety rules.

The government has promised for years to improve mine safety, but China depends on coal for most of its electric power, and the country's economic boom has created voracious demand. Production has more than doubled since 2000.

China's deadliest reported coal mine disaster since the 1949 Communist revolution was an explosion that killed 214 miners on Feb. 14, 2005, in the Sunjiawan mine in Liaoning province.

Mortar attack kills 12 in east Baghdad 49 minutes ago

Mortar attack kills 12 in east Baghdad 49 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - A mortar barrage slammed into a mainly Shiite east Baghdad neighborhood Sunday, killing 12 and wounding 31, police said. North of the capital, a major battle raged where residents of a Shiite city were fighting what police said was a band of al-Qaida in Iraq gunmen.

Women and children were among the dead and wounded in the Baghdad mortar attack, and some houses in the neighborhood were damaged, according to police. The victims were taken to Ibin al-Nafis and Sadr hospitals, police said.

Witnesses said U.S. helicopters were hovering above the attack site.

Hussein Saadon, 56, an owner of a small minibus station in the Ubaidi neighborhood, was soaked in blood after he drove four victims to the hospital.

"The attack occurred before noon. We heard sounds of four or five explosions, one after the other which hit central Ubaidi. We rushed to the place of the attack and we saw several houses which were hit. Two were badly damaged.

"We also saw a damaged car on the main street where one of the rockets landed. Two dead bodies were inside the car beside other wounded people," he said.

He said the district had been without electricity for several days and the people were suffering in the heat.

"It fills me with pain and anger to see an attack on such poor area where is no presence of police nor army bases or checkpoints," Saadon said.

In Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, police said more than 1,500 people including sheiks and dignitaries had gathered near city hall to launch the counteroffensive against al-Qaida fighters who have been regularly firing mortars into the town and kidnapping residents at illegal checkpoints.

At least seven people were killed and 18 wounded in a mortar attack on Khalis on Saturday.

Police said the city militia also said they were determined to push al-Qaida fighters out of the nearby town of Hibhib, where the terror organization's former leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in an U.S. air strike.

In central Baghdad, gunmen driving several cars waylaid a minibus headed for Sadr City, the capital's Shiite enclave, and abducted 13 passengers.

The country's Sunni vice president, meanwhile, promised better treatment and a review for the inmates crowding the country's prison system in a video showing a boisterous welcome from prisoners jammed inside tarp-covered cages.

In the visit to the crowded eastern Baghdad prison released on videotape Saturday, Tariq al-Hashemi said his moderate Sunni party was working to improve prison conditions and to free the innocent, though the party itself has not taken part in the Cabinet since Aug. 1.

A Sunni political alliance, the Accordance Front, which includes al-Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party has pulled its five ministers out of the government, saying Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki failed to respond to a set of demands, including the release of security detainees held without charges.

Rights groups also have complained about random detentions and overcrowding in Iraq's prisons. Most of the inmates are believed to be Sunnis accused of participating in the insurgency, but critics say many are innocent and have been held for long periods without charge.

The video's release appeared timed to boost al-Hashemi's profile at a time when al-Maliki is trying desperately to shore up his crumbling government.

In it, many of the prisoners, who were jammed into outdoor wire cages covered with tarps during the Wednesday visit, shouted out complaints of mistreatment and prolonged detentions.

"There is a new procedure in the works to review your files. Just be patient for a while," he told the prisoners, often crouching to address them face-to-face below the tarp that covered the upper half of the bars.

"Those who are outside are not much better off than you. It is true that you are in prison, but at least you live in safety here, believe me you are more secure than those outside," he added.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, hosted more talks among the political factions on Saturday, seeking support for an alliance of Kurdish and Shiite parties touted as a partial solution to the crisis.

"There are some issues that have not been resolved because they require time," said Naseer al-Ani, the head of the president's office. He singled out a law on the equal division of Iraq's oil wealth.

Al-Hashemi's party has refused to join al-Maliki's new alliance, which is intended to ensure a parliamentary majority to pass key U.S.-backed legislation ahead of a pivotal progress report on Iraq due to be presented to Congress by the top commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in September.

"If they insist on not returning to the government, the participating blocs will choose other Sunni Arab figures to fill the vacant posts. The political process should not be frozen," insisted Ali al-Adeeb, a Shiite lawmaker.

During his prison visit, al-Hashemi told the inmates the authorities were working to speed up a resolution of their cases.

"I just want the names of the officers who tortured you, give me reports that mention where and when it happened and who was to blame," al-Hashemi said as he walked from cage to cage. "I will not quit advocating for your rights."

The inmates pressed against the wire, shouting and whistling in appreciation as al-Hashemi passed with a large delegation that included the Shiite Vice President, Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

Al-Hashemi acknowledged innocent men were among them, but he also urged patience.

Hurricane Dean poised to hit Jamaica By HOWARD CAMPBELL, Associated Press Writer

Hurricane Dean poised to hit Jamaica By HOWARD CAMPBELL, Associated Press Writer
22 minutes ago



KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaicans headed inland and tourists fled the country hours before a large and powerful Hurricane Dean appeared poised to make a direct hit on the island Sunday after a deadly and destructive march across the eastern Caribbean.

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Jamaica converted schools, churches and the indoor national sports arena into shelters and authorities urged people to take cover from a storm that could rake the country with winds of 150 mph and dump up to 20 inches of rain.

"It's going to be very, very serious," said Lawrence Samuel as he shopped for emergency groceries while his wife and son went to the hardware store for plywood and other supplies.

The storm, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, rolled through the Caribbean to the south of Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where heavy rain and surging seas caused flooding Saturday in coastal areas.

In Gonave, an island with no electricity west of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, thousands of people huddled in shelters as the storm brought heavy rain and fierce winds, said Samuel Menager, an employee of the international aid group World Vision who helped evacuate people from the coast.

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said late Saturday the country was confronting a national emergency and urged people in flood-prone areas to head for shelter.

"Do not wait for the last minute to make the decision to move from where you are," Simpson Miller said. "Decide now and begin to make arrangements to leave now."

Thousands of alarmed tourists were not waiting. They jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean's path as the fierce storm that has claimed at least six lives began sweeping past the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The storm's wrath could be felt Saturday in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, where a boy was pulled into the ocean and drowned while watching waves strike an oceanfront boulevard, the Dominican emergency operations center reported.

Rough surf churned by Dean destroyed five houses and damaged 15 others along the Dominican coast, emergency officials said.

In Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, which was also in the path of the Category 4 storm, fear gripped many islanders and tourists alike.

People jammed supermarkets and hardware stores in Kingston to stock up on canned food, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, lamps and plywood. In malls in the Jamaican capital, storeowners hammered plywood over windows.

Elaine Russell recalled Hurricane Ivan's destruction in 2004.

"I can't take it," she said. "The storm is bad enough but it's what happens afterwards — there's no light, no water."

Farther west, the low-lying Cayman Islands were expected to take a direct hit on Monday. Tourists there jammed Owens International Airport in snaking lines that stretched outside onto a lawn. A police officer with a bullhorn kept order.

Cayman Airways added 15 flights to Florida from the wealthy British territory, and they were quickly sold out.

The government ordered a mandatory evacuation by noon Sunday of Little Cayman, which is the smallest of the territory's three islands and has a population of about 150.

Authorities in the eastern Caribbean were assessing the damage after Dean hit on Friday as a Category 2 storm with winds of near 100 mph.

In the island of Martinique, an overseas department of France, authorities on Saturday confirmed two deaths, including a woman who apparently fell and drowned in her home.

Officials there estimated that up to $270 million is needed to repair infrastructure. Agriculture Minister Louis Daniel Berthome said all banana crops were destroyed.

Dean was on course to clip Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and enter the Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters said it was too soon to say whether it will strike the United States.

Playing it safe, NASA shortened the last spacewalk for astronauts aboard the shuttle Endeavour and ordered the spacecraft to return to Earth on Tuesday — a day early — fearing the storm might threaten the Houston home of Mission Control.

At 5 a.m. EDT, Dean was centered about 245 east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 155 miles south-southwest of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. The storm was moving west-northwest at 18 mph and had maximum sustained winds near 145 mph.

The Cuban government issued a tropical storm warning and said it was evacuating 50,000 people from three central and eastern provinces.

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Associated Press writers Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Tammie Chisholm in George Town, Cayman Islands; Guy Ellis in Castries, St. Lucia; Ellsworth Carter in Roseau, Dominica; Howard Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica; and Herve Preval in Fort-de-France, Martinique, contributed to this report.