US rejects victory claim by Iran's Ahmadinejad

The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.

Any hopes by the Obama administration of gaining a result similar to Lebanon's recent election, won by a Western-backed moderate coalition, appeared to be in jeopardy.

"We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.

…

NHL May Be On TV Via ESPN

NEW YORK The NHL might be close to striking a deal with ESPN forrights to its regular-season and Stanley Cup playoff games that couldearn the league from $12 million to $16 million a year.

In addition, a source close to the negotiations said anagreement might also include 4-6 games per season on ABC, which ownsESPN. The NHL probably would buy the time from ABC under anyagreement.

The New York Times reported the network and the NHL reached atentative agreement on a five-year deal worth $80 million, or $16million a year, during the NHL's one-day meeting Tuesday in St.Petersburg, Fla. The paper quoted unidentified sources in the NHL.

The package would …

Hambuechen not expected to do all-around at worlds

TOKYO (AP) — Fabian Hambuechen didn't do pommel horse during Wednesday's training session at the world gymnastics championships, and said afterward he is not expecting to do the all-around.

Pommel horse is the 2007 world silver medalist's weakest event, and he lost training time earlier this year after tearing his Achilles in …

Romanian Orthodox Church defrocks divorced priests

The Romanian Orthodox has decided to strip clergymen who divorce of their priestly duties.

Church spokesman Constantin Stoica says the decision to defrock priests who divorce will apply to all. But he says that those whose marriages broke up because their wives committed adultery will find other employment within the church.

Stoica said Friday that the …

MORNINGLINE

Results The question: Do you approve of the job President Clinton is doing,based on his first 100 days in office? Yes: 39% No: 61% Morningline is not a scientifically designed poll, and therefore noclaims are made as to the validity of its results. Today's Question: Parents of biracial …

ENTERTAINMENT IN THE SKY

AUSTRALIA-Henry Wu isn't an easy man to impress, particularly when it comes to airlines' attempts to keep him entertained, informed, or amused when he's aloft. Often, he finds a good book or a nap preferable to carriers' inferior offerings.

The Australian software engineer, an associate professor in the school of computer science and software engineering at Melbourne's Monash University, recently evaluated in-flight entertainment on a number of carriers. His main interest was the technical aspects of the product rather than its content.

Wu's verdict: "Airline passengers are being subjected to in-flight entertainment that is technically second-rate." What's more, he found …

Latam stocks plunge for 3rd day in a row

Latin American stocks fell Wednesday for the third day in a row on fears that a recession is gripping the planet and will hurt Latin America's largest economies.

Brazil's Ibovespa index plunged 5.1 percent when trading opened but then recovered most of the lost ground and was down 0.8 percent to 39,834 in late morning trading. The losses led Latin American markets and came on top of a 4.5 percent plunge Tuesday.

Chile's IPSA index …

Village is 'a little world all of its own' ; Bath has glorious golden crescents but a few miles away at Doynton, says Nigel Vile, there is a much more dour limestone

The drive down Tog Hill towards Wick and the eastern fringes ofBristol brings a quite stunning view.

Away to the north lie the whaleback ridges of the Malvern Hillsand the isolated summit of May Hill, closer at hand are the twoSevern Crossings with the Black Mountains and the distant peaks ofthe Brecon Beacons beyond, while below lies much of SouthGloucestershire merging imperceptibly with the Severn Vale.

Dotted roundabout are a number of villages that include Doynton,the starting point for this week's walk, described by Arthur Mee as"a grey-walled village on the gentle slope of the hills, it is alittle world of its own off the Bristol road".

It is …

NYC Mayor Says Shooting Disturbed Him

NEW YORK - Mayor Michael Bloomberg weighed in on the uproar over a deadly police shooting Monday, saying bluntly that officers appeared to use excessive force when they fired 50 shots at an unarmed man in a confrontation outside a strip club hours before his wedding.

"I can tell you that it is to me unacceptable or inexplicable how you can have 50-odd shots fired, but that's up to the investigation to find out what really happened," Bloomberg said at a news conference after meeting with elected officials and community leaders including the Rev. Al Sharpton and Rep. Charles Rangel.

The groom, Sean Bell, 23, was killed and two of his friends wounded early Saturday after a …

Creamer, Park share HSBC Women's Champions lead

Americans Paula Creamer and Jane Park shot 1-under 71s on Friday to share the second-round lead in the LPGA Tour's HSBC Women's Champions.

The third-ranked Creamer, coming off a third-place finish last week in Thailand, matched Park at 6-under 138 on the Tanah Merah Country Club's Garden Course.

Creamer has eight LPGA Tour victories, four last season. Park, the former UCLA star who won the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur, is seeking her first LPGA Tour victory.

Katherine Hull, the Australian …

Oilers open with rout

OILERS 7 KINGS 0

EDMONTON, Alberta Esa Tikkanen scored two goals and goaltenderBill Ranford recorded his first playoff shutout as the EdmontonOilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 7-0 Wednesday night in the openinggame of their Smythe Division final.

Jari Kurri scored his 86th career playoff goal, second-highesttotal in NHL history.

Kurri is two goals behind the Kings' Wayne Gretzky. Ranfordstopped 25 shots for the third playoff shutout in the history of theOilers. Grant Fuhr, who is injured, had the others, one a 4-0victory over the Kings last year.

Tikkanen, whose main job is to hound Gretzky on defense, didthat effectively and also scored his …

Irqai Leader Orders Checkpoints Lifted

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday ordered the lifting of joint U.S.-Iraqi military checkpoints around the Shiite militant stronghold of Sadr City and other parts of Baghdad - another apparent move to assert his authority with the Americans and appeal to his Shiite support base.

U.S. officials apparently did not have advance warning of the order to remove the around-the-clock barriers by 5 p.m. Tuesday. A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, said officers were meeting to "formulate a response to address the prime minister's concerns."

Witnesses said U.S. forces were seen dismantling checkpoints around Sadr City made of sandbags and …

Detroit Declared Most Dangerous US City

In another blow to the Motor City's tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation's most dangerous city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

The study drew harsh criticism even before it came out. The American Society of Criminology launched a pre-emptive strike Friday, issuing a statement attacking it as "an irresponsible misuse" of crime data.

The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's Sept. 24 crime statistics report.

The report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

Last year's crime leader, St. Louis, fell to No. 2. Another Michigan city, Flint, ranked third, followed by Oakland Calif.; Camden, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Richmond, Calif.; and Cleveland.

The study ranked Mission Viejo, Calif., as the safest U.S. city, followed by Clarkstown, N.Y.; Brick Township, N.J.; Amherst, N.Y.; and Sugar Land, Texas.

CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney said details of the weighting system were proprietary. It was compiled by Kathleen O'Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan, whose Morgan Quitno Press published it until its acquisition by CQ Press.

The study assigns a crime score to each city, with zero representing the national average. Detroit got a score of 407, while St. Louis followed at 406. The score for Mission Viejo, in affluent Orange County, was minus 82.

Detroit was pegged the nation's murder capital in the 1980s and has lost nearly 1 million people since 1950, according to the Census Bureau. Downtown sports stadiums and corporate headquarters _ along with the redevelopment of the riverfront of this city of 919,000 _ have slowed but not reversed the decline. Officials have said crime reports don't help.

Detroit police officials released a statement Sunday night disputing the report, saying it fails to put crime information into proper context.

"Every year this organization sends out a press release with big, bold lettering that labels a certain city as Most Dangerous, USA," Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said in the release.

"It really makes you wonder if the organization is truly concerned with evaluating crime or increasing their profit," said Bully-Cummings, who noted the complete report is available only by purchase. "With crime experts across the country routinely denouncing the findings, I believe the answer is clear."

The mayor of 30th-ranked Rochester, N.Y. _ an ex-police chief himself _ said the study's authors should consider the harm that the report causes.

"What I take exception to is the use of these statistics and the damage they inflict on a number of these cities," said Mayor Robert Duffy, chairman of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The rankings "do groundless harm to many communities," said Michael Tonry, president of the American Society of Criminology.

"They also work against a key goal of our society, which is a better understanding of crime-related issues by both scientists and the public," Tonry said.

Critics also complain that numbers don't tell the whole story because of differences among cities.

"You're not comparing apples and oranges; you're comparing watermelons and grapes," said Rob Casey, who heads the FBI section that puts out the Uniform Crime Report that provides the data for the Quitno report.

The FBI posted a statement on its Web site criticizing such use of its statistics.

"These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, or region," the FBI said. "Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents."

Doug Goldenberg-Hart, acquisitions editor at CQ Press, said that the rankings are imperfect, but that the numbers are straightforward. Cities at the top of the list would not be there unless they ranked poorly in all six crime categories, he said.

"The idea that people oppose it, it's kind of blaming the messenger," Goldenberg-Hart said. "It's not coming to terms with the idea that crime is a persistent problem in our society."

The report "helps concerned Americans learn how their communities fare in the fight against crime," CQ Press said in a statement. "The first step in making our cities and states safer is to understand the true magnitude of their crime problems. This will only be achieved through straightforward data that all of us can use and understand."

The study excluded Chicago, Minneapolis, and other Illinois and Minnesota cities because of incomplete data.

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Associated Press writer Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

CQ Press: http://www.cqpress.com

American Society of Criminology: http://www.asc41.com

Don't use tragedy against Aquarium

The whale controversy has returned with a vengeance with thedeath last week of a killer whale in San Diego. But the renewedcriticism from animal rights advocates should not kill off SheddAquarium's plans to bring whales to its new Oceanarium in Chicago.

What happened at San Diego's Sea World was a terrible tragedyfor the marine park and for whale lovers. Kandu, a 14-year-oldfemale killer whale who had given birth to a calf just last year, waskilled in a performance after she collided with another female whale.

The death was a freak accident, according to Sea Worldveterinarians. But the incident has renewed the debate from someenvironmental and animal rights advocates about the captivity ofwhales and other exotic animals in zoos and in entertainment parks.

A distinction should be made between projects like SheddAquarium's Oceanarium and commercial theme parks like Sea World thatuse the large killer whales for entertainment shows and that haveexperienced problems with whales in the past.

We hope the interest in whales leads to further evaluation ofhow all animals are treated in captivity. They shouldn't beexploited as lovable marketing items - or as propaganda against zoosand aquariums.

Much of Asia expects birth jump in Year of Dragon

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, but you wouldn't know that from visiting the obstetrics department at Taiwan Adventist Hospital. The hallways were abuzz this week with dozens of women lined up for ultrasound checks and other appointments with obstetricians.

It's not just a baby boom. It's a dragon baby boom.

The Year of the Dragon begins Monday, and the Chinese believe that babies born in this iteration of the 12-year Zodiac cycle are gifted with prodigious quantities of luck and strength. In ancient times the dragon was a symbol reserved for the Chinese emperor, and it is considered to be an extremely auspicious sign.

"We haven't had a scene like this in years," said hospital official Hung Tzu-chu.

A second child had not been in the plans for Austin Tseng, a 32-year-old office worker, but she said at the hospital in downtown Tapei that she is eagerly awaiting the birth.

"I had thought one child was enough, but then comes the Year of the Dragon and I'm happy to have another one," Tseng said after an ultrasound check on her 20-week-old fetus.

Officials expect a baby boom not only in China and Taiwan, but in other Asian countries and territories that observe the New Year festival, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau.

Most have extremely low birth rates, reflecting a preference among young couples in these prosperous or rapidly developing societies to choose quality of life and career advancement over the responsibilities of child rearing.

But this Year of the Dragon looks to be breaking the mold. A poll in Hong Kong showed that 70 percent of couples there wanted children born under the dragon sign, while South Korea, Vietnam and China all report similar enthusiasm about dragon-year childbearing.

In Taiwan, Year of the Dragon childbearing fever is in full swing, with local banks selling silver and gold coins engraved with the dragon symbol. Bank officials believe that many are buying them for their own yet-to-be born dragon year babies or for those of expecting friends and relatives.

In the past, "many women wanted to keep their quality of life and thought child-rearing was too much of a burden to bear," said Wu Mei-ying, an interior ministry official charged with child care. "But with people all around them talking about bearing dragon sons and daughters, they are suddenly caught up in the baby craze."

The Year of the Dragon comes as a godsend for Taiwanese officials, who for the past decade have been trying to increase the island's low fertility rate: less than one child for every Taiwanese woman of childbearing age in 2010. In the 1950s, when Taiwan was a primarily agricultural society, women gave birth to an average of seven children.

The Year of the Dragon has long proved to be an impetus for births. In 2000, the last dragon year, the rate increased to 1.7 children per Taiwanese woman of childbearing age from 1.5 the previous year.

Taiwan has tried to encourage families with cash incentives that while well intentioned, appear to do little to dent the cost of education and other child rearing outlays. Besides a $100 monthly child care stipend, a Taiwanese woman can receive $330 from the government for delivering her first baby, double that for the second and triple for the third.

Interior Minister Chiang Yi-hua thinks that government encouragement can help boost the birthrate to 1.2 babies per fertile woman not only in the Year of the Dragon, but well beyond.

Wu, the interior ministry official, shares that view, noting that last year, the number of Taiwanese marriages shot up 19 percent, apparently paced by the belief that the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China — Taiwan's official name — was a favorable omen for long lasting and happy marriages.

"Coming on the heel of the centenary, the Year of the Dragon may encourage newlyweds to have babies soon," she said.

Chu Hong-min, a 30-year-old accountant, is five months pregnant and eagerly awaiting a dragon daughter to keep her 2-year-old son company.

But she also worries the incipient baby boom means her yet-to-be-born daughter will face tougher competition than usual.

"Many of my friends and colleagues are either expecting or plan to get pregnant this year," she said. "We really have to try harder to make the children do well at school."

Report: US no closer to goals in Iraq than it was a year ago

The United States is no closer to achieving its goals in Iraq than it was a year ago but a quick military withdrawal could lead to massive chaos and even genocide, according to a report released Sunday by a U.S. think tank.

The U.S. Institute of Peace report was written by experts who advised the Iraq Study Group, a panel mandated by Congress to offer recommendations on U.S. policy in Iraq in 2006.

The report was released two days before top commander Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker brief Congress on the situation in Iraq and prospects for American troop reductions. Their recommendations, which U.S. President George W. Bush has signaled he will accept, could largely determine the course of action in Iraq for the coming year.

The report cited security improvements in Iraq since the buildup of U.S. forces in 2007, but credited factors outside U.S. control, such as help from mostly Sunni fighters who turned against al-Qaida and a truce by a Shiite militia.

"The U.S. is no closer to being able to leave Iraq than it was a year ago," it concluded. "Lasting political development could take five to ten years of full, unconditional U.S. commitment to Iraq."

A substantial reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq risks "a complete failure of the Iraqi state, massive chaos and even genocide," it warned.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

If the Americans opt for a reduced commitment, the report said, they should focus on improving political and economic development.

But an unconditional withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq must be coupled with an increased American military presence in neighboring countries, ready to intervene in case of a major crisis in Iraq, the report said. The U.S. should also redouble efforts to build regional political alliances, it added.

In the past year, Iraq's parliament has passed legislation the U.S. considers key to the country's future stability, including relaxing a ban on former Saddam Hussein supporters in government, an amnesty for some prisoners, increased powers at the provincial level and approval of a national budget.

But implementation of those policies has been uneven, the report said.

"Without political progress, the U.S. risks getting bogged down in Iraq for a long time to come," it concluded.

Latvia's annual inflation reaches 17.5 percent on higher electricity tariffs

Latvia's inflationary spiral continued in April, reaching a 12-year high of 17.5 percent after a sudden surge in electricity prices, the statistics agency announced Monday.

It was 11th straight month that consumer prices have risen in the Baltic country, which continues to have the highest inflation in the 27-member European Union.

A new set of household and industrial electricity rates that went into effect at the beginning of April resulted in a 6.8 percent jump in housing-related costs for the month, the agency said.

Compared to a year ago, prices for goods have climbed 17.6 percent and those for services 17.3 percent. Food prices alone have skyrocketed 20.8 percent over the last 12 months, according to Statistics Latvia.

The runaway inflation has taken a chunk out of Latvians' purchasing power and triggered the first signals of an economic downturn. The statistics agency recently announced that retail sales fell 3.4 percent over the first quarter of 2008.

What's more, on Friday the agency announced that first quarter GDP growth was 3.6 percent, below economists' forecasts and indicating that the country may be in for a so-called hard economic landing _ when robust GDP growth suddenly plummets to 2 percent or less.

Last year Latvia's economy grew 10.5 percent and in 2006 11.9 percent, both of which were the best in the EU.

Bulgaria has the second highest rate of inflation in the EU after the consumer price index posted an annual 14.2 percent rise as of March.

Horoscopes

Keep it reasonable and safe, Virgo!

Mars in Pisces (now until April 22) will bring up your inner demons, offering you a chance to release them, perhaps through art, or to harness them to some good. Right now he s sextile to Pluto in Capricorn, an excellent time to concentrate that diffuse energy into concerted action.

ARIES (March 20 -April 19): Dangerous though your impulses may be, the motivations behind them can be instructive. Listen to those reasons, harness that energy constructively and find ways to apply it to your career. Meditative exercise (like walking or tai chi) helps you focus.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Friendly debates can look and sound nastier than they really are. If you can keep mutual respect, don't hold back! You need the challenge. Listen and learn. Expanding your perspective is more valuable than correcting others'.

GEMINI (May 21- June 20): You're entering a sexier, more charismatic 15-year phase. Remember that as public presentations or workplace encounters seem to provoke erotic reactions. Using that new power and keeping it clean may take some practice!

CANCER (June 21- July 22): Arguments with your partner can leap from heated to hot. If you can't disagree on anything, some adventure will help. Climbing Stromboli is ideal. If there's no volcanic island nearby, or even an island or mountain, hike any secluded forest trail.

LEO (July 23 -August 22): A strong libido is a sign of good health, but can expose you to risk. Brush up on safer sex techniques. Be daring and explore new methods. Choosing a "lab partner" will be harder than finding one!

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): You need to burn off some heat with your baby - or an "amour du jour." Anything that works up a sweat is good, but do you really need clues? Set yourselves a fun challenge. Keep it reasonable and safe.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): Exercise will help you work off stress around domestic issues. Scrubbing and sweeping could count as exercise. If it really is somebody else's job (Is it really?) you could remind him or her and go for a walk.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): All those things you've been aching to say can be expressed, and may come out in torrents, but probably not in verbal logic. Drawing, poetry or music may say it better, even if your music sounds more like screaming. Hey, it works for Diamanda Galas !

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 - December 20): Torching the place does not count as cleaning up! A yard sale is the best way to get rid of clutter, but evaluate those treasures before you let them go. Some are worth more than you think!

CAPRICORN (December 21 - January 19): Normally the soul of discretion, your tongue is unusually loose. Not just secrets, but anything best left unsaid may come shooting out of your mouth and as harsh as a bullet. Best just to avoid people you'd rather not talk with.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): Worries about money are at least partly real, but it's easy to exaggerate and panic. Center, meditate and assess the problems realistically before taking them on. Sacrifices may be necessary, but solutions are possible. Breathe!

PISCES (February 19 - March 19): Be careful what you wish for! Friends may mistake your ephemeral whims for something you seem to consider very important! Rather than letting them waste such good intentions, lead them in a project that really counts for something.

[Author Affiliation]

Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer since 1977, teaches at the "International Academy of Astrology" (www.astrocollege.com). He can be reached for personal or business consultations at 415-864-8302, through his Web site at www.starjack.com, and by e-mail at QScopes@qsyndicate.com.

County's heritage goes on show at new centre

Hidden documents and historic archaeology can be seen by thepublic when Somerset's new Heritage Centre opens on Monday.

The Somerset Heritage Centre houses all the material formerlyheld at Somerset Record Office, as well as the museum reservecollections, the Somerset Studies Library, Historic EnvironmentRecord and much more.

The centre gives access to more than 10 million historicdocuments and books and three million museum objects.

There is also information on more than 30,000 historic sites inSomerset.

The strongrooms provide a temperature and humidity-controlledenvironment for Somerset's extraordinary collections of historicalrecords, the earliest of which date from the eighth century.

Somerset county councillor Christine Lawrence, cabinet member forcommunity, said: "This is a wonderful new building, housing thesources of Somerset's history under one roof.

"It will allow the public to learn about Somerset's history andheritage as never before."

The centre in Taunton will be open on Mondays from 1pm to 5pm,Tuesday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and on alternate Saturdays from9am to 4pm.

Visitors are advised to make an appointment by calling the centreon 01823 278805.

`Circuitbreaker' tripped - going up

Volatile price movements this morning in the stock-index futuresmarket tripped a "circuitbreaker" for the fourth straight day - onlythis time the market was moving higher instead of lower.

On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Standard & Poor's 500stock-index futures contract for September delivery soared fivepoints to 339.40 within the first 10 minutes of trading, triggeringan automatic two-minute trading halt.

The market rose another 1.6 points when trading resumed, thenretreated. The September contract was trading at 339.15 at around9:30 a.m. CDT.