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Kreps' heroics key rally

Robo Kreps put the pressure on himself to be the difference-maker.

The junior UIC guard scored eight of his game-high 19 points in the final 2:53 as the Flames outscored Oregon State 13-4 down the stretch to reverse a seven-point deficit in stunning the Beavers 63-61 on Wednesday night at the Pavilion.

The victory snapped the Flames' six-game skid and ruined the homecoming of Craig Robinson, the former Mount Carmel star and second-year Oregon State coach. Robinson watched his team turn the ball over four times in the final 1:20.

''It was a total collapse on our part,'' Robinson said. ''This is the kind of game we won last year, but this year we've struggled with …

Simone Forti

LOS ANGELES

Simone Forti

THE BOX

Dance has long been overlooked in the art world. But in the past decade, a handful of modest retrospective exhibitions have used the gallery setting to redress the medium's wide-ranging role in the postwar avant-garde, with institutions from the Mus�e d'art contemporain de Lyon to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis granting overdue attention to the careers of such figures as Anna Halprin, Trisha Brown, and Yvonne Rainer. The most recent subject of this renewed interest is Simone Forti, who received a solo exhibition at the Box, a young gallery committed to exhibiting underrecognized artists and that has, so far, directed much of its …

Simon Cowell issue a very public apology to David Cook at 'American Idol' finale

Did Simon Cowell know David Cook would win? Or was he, for once, just being nice?

Right before host Ryan Seacrest announced Cook as the next "American Idol," Cowell issued an uncharacteristic apology to the sincere 25-year-old rocker for skewering him during Tuesday's final performance show. The British judge went so far as to say that the remarks he made the night before to the future "Idol" winner were "verging on disrespectful."

"When I went back home and watched it, it wasn't quite so …

Colorado's Bloom to fight NCAA ruling

University of Colorado receiver Jeremy Bloom decided Wednesday tokeep fighting the NCAA for the right to accept commercial skiendorsements while playing college football.

Bloom, a world-champion freestyle skier, asked the university toappeal the NCAA's latest ruling that he would be ineligible to playcollege football if accepts endorsements. He has been fighting theNCAA for two years and initially told family members he didn't wantto go through another appeal after losing another round this week.

"I do plan on going through with the final appeal," Bloom said ina statement from Santiago, Chile, where he is training with the U.S.ski team. I owe it to my teammates, my …

National Annenberg sifts through data

National Annenberg sifts through data

by Cindy Richards

When former ambassador and media magnate Walter Annenberg plopped $500 million on the table to strengthen school improvement efforts across the nation, he challenged other donors to "feel an obligation to join this crusade for the betterment of our country."

With three-quarters of the money going into challenge grants requiring a 2-for-1 local match--hence, the name Annenberg Challenge--the philanthropist's largesse generated more than $1 billion for reform programs. Today, Annenberg programs are working in nearly 2,700 schools in 300 school districts.

Judging the impact of such a diverse, farflung …

Unemployment applications lowest since April '08

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week to its lowest level since April 2008, extending a downward trend that shows the job market strengthening.

First-time applications for unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 364,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third straight weekly drop.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile gauge, fell for the 11th time in 13 weeks. At 380,250, it's the lowest since June 2008. Applications generally must fall below 375,000 — consistently — before hiring is strong enough to reduce the unemployment rate.

Unemployment applications are a measure of the …

Poland's jobless rate rises to 13 percent in Feb

Poland's jobless rate has jumped to 13 percent in February from 12.7 percent the previous month, continuing a steady rise that began with the global economic downturn.

Data released by the Central Statistical Office on Wednesday showed that …

Record dive in July for durable goods

WASHINGTON Orders to U.S. factories for costly manufactured goodsin July took their biggest-ever recorded dive as demand fell sharplyfor airplanes and electronic equipment, additional evidence that theeconomy is finally slowing.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that the larger-than-expected 12.4 percent decline left orders for durable goods-itemsexpected to last at least three years-at a seasonally adjusted annualrate of $212.4 billion.

"The bottom line for America's manufacturers is that the economyis slowing to a more sustainable pace, with strong non-inflationarygrowth continuing but at a less accelerated rate," said NationalAssociation of Manufacturers' …

National League Standings

…

East Division
	W	L	Pct	GB
Atlanta	79	58	.577	—
Philadelphia	78	59	.569	1
Florida	69	66	.511	9
New York	67	70	.489	12

Asian shares lose ground after Wall Street falls

Asian stock markets retreated in early trading Tuesday after Wall Street stumbled and the yen climbed.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average lost 1 percent to 9,025.41. The index at one point fell under the 9,000 level for the first time since May 2009.

Selling hit exporter shares as the yen strengthened against the dollar, following news that Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa did not discuss currency intervention during a phone conversation Monday.

Elsewhere, South …

POULTRY PETS

Raising chickens in your own back yard

Ava Vellotti commits 20 minutes a day to watering and feeding chickens and occasionally changing hay. For her troubles she is rewarded with fresh eggs year-round, natural fertilizer, insect eaters, plus a dozen feathered friends that serve as moving lawn ornaments with lots of personality.

Raising chickens may seem like a daunting task, especially in a city environment, but some Boise residents find keeping chickens a low-maintenance, highly rewarding project.

Boise municipal code allows chickens to be classified as pets rather than livestock when there are three or fewer hens (no roosters allowed, hens do not need roosters to …

33 Palestinians, including at least 16 civilians, killed in escalating violence

Thirty-three Gazans, at least half of them civilians, died in pitched battles between Israeli troops and Palestinian rocket squads that escalated sharply on Saturday. West Bank leaders threatened to suspend peace talks to protest the Israeli attacks, which came as Gaza militants bombarded southern Israel with dozens of rockets and mortars.

The swelling violence threatened to be a prelude to an Israeli invasion of Gaza and came just days before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in the region on her latest peacekeeping mission.

Two children were among those killed in some of the fiercest fighting in the Gaza Strip since Islamic Hamas …

Rios grand slam gives Chicago 10th inning victory

CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Rios hit a game-ending grand slam in the 10th inning to lift the Chicago White Sox to a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.

Rios' one out, first-pitch shot off Chris Perez (3-7) was Chicago's first game-ending home run this season and his first career grand slam.

Alejandro De Aza doubled twice, walked and scored two runs for Chicago. Gordon Beckham had a double, two walks and two RBIs.

Sergio Santos (4-4) threw a scoreless inning to get the win in relief. Santos combined with Chris Sale to strike out six straight batters during the late innings.

Shelley Duncan doubled, homered and scored two runs for Cleveland. Matt LaPorta added a two-run double and Jim Thome singled twice.

Salud y Medicina; ...El Cáncer de Próstata

En otro caso este proceso se desarrolla y propaga lentamente y nos permite muchas veces con aplicaciones quir�rgicas, radioterapias o terapia con hormonas que el paciente con cancer de prostata pueda sobrevivir muchos a�os. Por esta raz�n pueda vencer o vivr much�simos a�os m�s como nuestro fundamental objetivo en esta lucha.

Ahora que tenemos una noci�n que es la pr�stata, que es el c�ncer, tendr�amos que hacernos la siguiente pregunta �Qu� es el c�ncer de pr�stata, sus causas y los s�mptomas? Por desgracia el c�ncer de pr�stata es el segundo c�ncer m�s com�n entre los hombres en los Estados Unidos s�lo superado por el c�ncer de piel. Adem�s est� catalogada en tercera posici�n de las muerte m�s causadas detr�s de las enfermedades cardiovascular (ataque al coraz�n), el c�ncer del pulm�n y luego el c�ncer de pr�stata. Es importante la necesidad de entender este c�ncer y su prevenci�n. Consideramos que aqu� est� la clave de nuestro art�culo. Ya que cada a�o despu�s del a�o 2000 se han diagnosticado aproximadamente 180,000 nuevos casos. Estas cifras nos preocupan y es el aspecto negativo. El lado positivo de esta historia contra la lucha contra el c�ncer en los �ltimos 20 a�os es que la tasa de supervivencia para todas las etapas de c�ncer de pr�stata combinadas aument� del 67% al 92% (un gran �xito). Algunas de las posibles razones las quisieramos compartir con todos Uds: 1) La educaci�n p�blica (como es este art�culo en su Peri�dico "El Bohemio News") 2) Las nuevas t�cnicas de detectar el c�ncer a tiempo (El examen de sangre llamado PSA, La examinaci�n digital atravez de su recto y la t�cnica de Ultrasonido rectal) y 3) Las terapias innovadoras.

M�s del 75% de todos los casos de c�ncer de pr�statas son diagnosticados en hombres mayores de 65 a�os. Algunos estudios han indicado un aumento general de 2 a 3 veces del riesgo de contraer c�ncer de pr�stata en hombre con antecedentes familiares de esta enfermedad. La tasa de incidencia de c�ncer de pr�stata es casi dos veces m�s alta en hombres afroamericanos que en hombres cauc�sico. Para mi comunidad latina como m�dico le recomiendo un examen rectal a la edad de 40 a�os y su examen de sangre de PSA para que sirva como base de partida cuando alcancemos la edad de los 50 a�os que es necesario que su examen m�dico incluya la prostata (cada a�o). Recordemos que la medicina no es una ciencia exacta como la matem�tica que 2+2=4. En medicina todo caso es diferente. En nuestra pr�ctica personal hemos detectado c�ncer de pr�stata donde uno no pudiera imaginar.

La causa del c�ncer de pr�stata se desconoce. Lo �nico que sabemos que el c�ncer de pr�stata es un grupo de c�lulas cancerosas (un tumor) que comienza casi siempre con la parte exterior de la pr�stata. EL CANCER DE PROSTATA QUE SE DESARROLLA RAPIDAMENTE GENERALMENTE NO CAUSA NINGUN S�NTOMA.

Article copyright El Bohemio News.

Jordan, Egypt to sign natural gas deal

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's energy czar says his country will sign an agreement with Egypt next month to resume natural gas supplies.

Energy Minister Khaled Toukan says several attacks this year on Egypt's pipeline delivering the fuel may prompt Jordan to look for alternatives, but Jordan will now try to use Egyptian gas to meet its energy needs.

Toukan said Sunday the agreement stipulates higher costs, but declined to say how much.

Jordan depends on Egyptian gas to generate 80 percent of its electricity. The resource-poor country has resorted to heavy fuel and diesel to keep national power plants running. The shift cost Jordan $4.2 million a day.

Egypt power cuts deepen suffering in fasting month

Since Muslims began their daily dawn-to-dusk fast for the holy month of Ramadan two weeks ago, Egypt has been hit by its worst power outages in decades.

The cuts at the height of summer with daily temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, along with rising food prices and water shortages, have Egyptians fuming, sweating and cursing during a month in which their sacrifices are supposed to bring them closer to God.

Newspapers nearly every day run photographs of families huddled in near darkness around candles or oil lamps. And Egyptians are venting their frustration on the government, adding to a list of grievances over what critics argue is its rampant disregard for anything other than catering to the elite and holding on to power.

"They often cut us off 15 or 20 minutes after iftar," said Ali Ibrahim, a 23-year-old university student who lives in one of Cairo's most crowded, low-income neighborhoods, referring to the sunset break fast meal. "That hardly gives us enough time to pray and eat. What makes it worse is that when the power is off, so is the water. So, you have no electricity, you are sweating and you cannot cool off with a shower," he added. "It's too much."

Last week, an angry crowd temporarily blockaded part of a major highway south of Cairo with a barricade of burning tires. Others have called on the embattled electricity minister to quit while newspaper reports maintain that the outages have led to a spike in crime in parts of the country.

Egyptian officials say the blackouts _ that mostly hit during the evenings for up to three hours even in the swankiest of Cairo neighborhoods _ are necessary to protect the national grid from collapse as a result of higher-than-usual consumption caused by an enduring heat wave.

They have sought to reassure the public with a flurry of announcements about bolstering power capacity in coming months, while urging consumers to reduce waste. They have also debunked reports in the country's independent media that the export of natural gas to Israel has left them with insufficient fuel to run their gas-fired power stations.

Complaints about services _ or the lack of them _ are not new in Egypt, where nearly half of the 80 million citizens live below or near poverty-level income of about $2 a day.

Since the start of the year, Egyptians have protested over rising food prices, a new minimum wage and better working conditions. But the gripes about the power have resonated given the onset of Ramadan. They are another mark against President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party ahead of parliamentary elections in November and presidential polls next year.

During the month of Ramadan, devout Muslims abstain from food and drink and try to cleanse their thoughts and emotions of anger and other ills. The sacrifices, which also include no smoking or sex during the fast hours, are aimed at bringing them closer to God and gain better appreciation of what they have.

But the outages have tested that resolve.

"Unfortunately, the government is dealing with this crisis in a manner that is biased in favor of the rich," said Mahmoud El-Askalany, head of the Society of Citizens Against Rising Prices, a consumer rights group. "They are keeping the power in the cities where the rich live and cutting it off from villages."

Asked in a television interview earlier this week how long the outages would last, Mohammed Awad, the head of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company which controls the country's state-run electricity firms, responded: "As long as people are refusing to cooperate."

The cuts "will continue until God brings down the temperature and people stop switching on all their air conditioners," he said.

The country's estimated generation capacity of 25,000 megawatts has been sorely tested, with consumption hitting over 23,000 megawatts.

"It is a problem of management and not capacity," said Wael Ziada, chief Egypt economist at Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes.

Cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady said this week that Egypt would start up a new 375-megawatt power station north of Cairo and hopes to boost output from the Aswan High Dam's hydroelectric turbines by 175 megawatts. Later in the year, another power station south of Cairo is slated to come online, producing an additional 140 megawatts.

That may come too late to cool tempers during Ramadan.

Last week, Mubarak, Egypt's ruler of nearly 30 years, took the unusual step of summoning the oil and electricity ministers to his office for urgent _ and highly publicized _ talks on the blackouts. Days later, on Monday, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif convened the Supreme Energy Council to discuss the issue.

For critics, such steps offer little more than the tired photo ops and platitudes offered by officials as each new problem surfaces in the country.

Triple car bombings strike oil-rich southern Iraqi city, killing at least 41 and injuring 150

Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the market district of a southern Iraqi city on Wednesday, killing at least 41 people and injuring 150 in an oil-rich Shiite region that has largely escaped sectarian bloodshed, authorities said. It was the country's deadliest bombing in four months.

The police chief in Amarah was fired after the coordinated explosions, and Iraqi soldiers deployed on the streets. Hospital were overwhelmed with the casualties, which mounted as bodies were pulled from the rubble, according to a provincial spokesman.

Violence has declined dramatically in the capital and elsewhere in Iraq in recent months, and insurgents driven out of Baghdad by the crackdown there have sought to gain a foothold in outlying regions. The Shiite area around Amarah, controlled by British forces until April, has suffered under violent power struggles between rival militias, but has had almost no al-Qaida presence.

The explosions in Amarah were about five minutes apart, beginning with a small blast at the entrance to the market, said Mohammed Saleh, a provincial council spokesman, elaborating on earlier accounts by police and an intelligence official.

Saleh said bystanders gathered to look at the aftermath of that blast, which wounded just a few people, when a second car bomb exploded. The third car blew up nearby as the crowd began to flee, he said.

Most Baghdad markets, which have been hit by a succession of deadly bombings in recent years, are surrounded by blast walls and shoppers are searched upon entering. In the capital and elsewhere, no cars are allowed to park nearby.

But Saleh said there were no security measures in the market Wednesday.

"There was not a single police car in the street at the time of the explosion," he said. "The provincial council complained many times to the police chief about the lack of security measures in the city, but he would not listen."

The explosions could be felt a kilometer (half-mile) away, said Salam Hussein Jabr, who runs a travel agency in the city. He said his office windows shook and two pictures fell off the walls, and he ran outside to see what had happened.

"This is the first time we've gone through anything like this," said Jabr, a 44-year-old father of three.

Initially, Jabr said, people thought it was a mortar attack. Then the second car exploded.

Black smoke billowed over the concrete skyline and flames shot out of cars at the site. Rescue crews worked to evacuate the victims while sandals apparently lost in the rush lay near pools of blood on the pavement.

Mohammed Sabri, an elementary school principal, called for more security in the city.

"Amarah is a quiet and stable city, but it seems that terrorists have arrived here," he told AP Television News.

Saleh said 41 people were killed and 150 wounded in the triple explosions. He said local hospitals were overwhelmed and were turning away people whose injuries were not considered critical. He earlier said police imposed an indefinite driving ban, and Iraqi soldiers were sent out into the streets.

In Baghdad, the Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the police chief was fired. A provincial official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the police chief ignored warnings Dec. 4 about possible terrorist attacks in Amarah.

Amarah, a Shiite militia stronghold about 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, has seen violence among rival groups vying for control in Iraq's oil-rich Shiite southern heartland, which has no significant Sunni population.

No one claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack, which was similar in style to those carried out by al-Qaida, a Sunni group. U.S. officials have warned recently that al-Qaida might attempt a major attack to try to provoke new sectarian bloodshed. In August, four suicide bombers hit a Kurdish Yazidi community in northwest Iraq, killing some 500 people in the deadliest attack of the war.

Violence has declined sharply since then, and Wednesday's explosions did not exact nearly the toll of bombings in the early years of the war, when suicide attacks and car bombs killed scores of Iraqis at a time.

The Iraqi government assumed control of security for Maysan province in April from the British, who plan to relinquish control of neighboring Basra province, the last area under their command, in mid-December.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was in southern Iraq this week to meet with British troops, was challenged Wednesday in the House of Commons to explain what the acting Liberal Democrat leader called "the continuing tragedy in Iraq."

"Is this why 173 British troops have died, transferring power from the fascist regime of Saddam Hussein to the terror of the fascist militia who run the streets of Basra?" asked Vincent Cable, the Liberal Democrat.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was visiting Basra on Tuesday, said the attack in Amarah was a "desperate attempt" to undermine efforts to stabilize the country. He also called on residents in Amarah to exercise restraint and avoid revenge attacks against the "terrorists who do not want Iraq to stand up again."

In a news conference, Philip Reeker, the U.S. Embassy spokesman, said recent attacks highlighted the dangers still facing Iraq, even as violence has declined in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country: "We are by no means declaring a victory against those who would like to disrupt the progress in Iraq."

In other violence:

_ A mass grave holding 16 bodies _ all but four of them decapitated _ was found in a palm grove in a former al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold outside Muqdadiyah, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad.

_ A parked car bomb apparently targeting a passing police patrol in a Christian neighborhood of Baghdad killed five civilians, police said.

___

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

Obama plans fourth tour of Gulf oil spill

President Barack Obama is going back to the Gulf of Mexico, this time venturing on to new ground tainted by oil, before he speaks to Americans about what he's seen in the afflicted states and what to expect in the weeks ahead.

Before the start Monday of a two-day trip to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, the White House announced Obama would order BP to establish a major victims' compensation fund. When he returns to Washington on Tuesday evening Obama will use his first Oval Office speech as president to address the catastrophe.

The steps add up to Obama's most concerted efforts so far to assert leadership in face of the calamity, with the White House exercising every tool at its disposal _ an on-scene visit by the president, a speech from the Oval Office, the use of the power of the presidency to extract concessions from BP. The White House hopes it will be enough to win back the confidence of a skeptical public.

BP said in a statement its costs for responding to the spill had risen to $1.6 billion, including new $25 million grants to Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. It also includes the first $60 million for a project to build barrier islands off the Louisiana coast. The estimate does not include future costs for scores of damage lawsuits already filed.

Obama's first three trips to the Gulf took him to the hardest-hit state, Louisiana. On Monday, Day 56 since BP's leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and unleashed a fury of oil into the Gulf, he's flying to Gulfport, Mississippi. From there he'll travel along the coast to Alabama, where oil was washing up in heavy amounts along the shores Sunday in the eastern part of the state.

He'll be met by state and local officials eager for him to show command, provide manpower and supplies and also tell the public that despite the catastrophe that's crippling the fishing and tourist trades, many beaches are still open.

The day includes a speech and a ferry ride to view barrier islands in Alabama where oil has come ashore. Obama has not taken to the water in his previous Gulf visits.

The administration said early Monday that BP had responded to a letter sent over the weekend asking the company to speed up its ability to capture the spewing oil.

In its response, BP said it would target containing more than 2 million gallons (8 million liters) of oil a day by the end of June, up from about 630,000 gallons (2.4 million liters) of crude a day now. The government's high-range estimates say as much as 2.1 million gallons (8 million liters) a day could be billowing from BP's runaway well.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley planned to ask the president for more leadership and coordination.

"Essentially we're trying to manage this through a committee form, and it's a committee where any one member has absolute veto power," Riley said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "I don't think you can do that." He said: "I think we're going to have to set priorities. We're going to have to implement a plan to achieve those goals if we're going to get through this."

Although BP is now siphoning off significant amounts of oil from its well 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below the ocean's surface, the leak won't be killed for good until relief wells are completed in August. At the same time more accurate estimates of the spill have brought the enormity of the disaster into focus. Already potentially more than 100 million gallons (380 million liters) of crude expelled into the Gulf, far outstripping the Exxon Valdez disaster.

Now the nation may have to settle in for a long, hot summer of oil and gas spewing relentlessly from the ocean floor, driving residents to anger and despair, ruining precious marshlands, and poisoning pelicans, turtles and other wildlife.

For Obama, it is imperative that he try to help guide the country through what's to come. Obama will aim to accomplish that with his speech Tuesday and also detail specifics of the response to the oil spill, from cleanup to damages claims.

The next day, Wednesday, Obama will convene his first meeting with BP PLC executives, expected to include the company's much-criticized CEO, Tony Hayward. The president will tell company officials he expects them to establish a multibillion-dollar compensation fund for people and companies damaged by the spill, to be administered by an independent panel, and that he will use his legal authority to ensure BP complies, White House officials said.

James Carville, a leading Clinton administration political adviser, said Tuesday night's speech gives Obama "a chance to hit the reset button" on the administration's posture regarding the spill.

He said he believes the American people are anxiously awaiting Obama's talk, but that the president has "to show that he's on top of this, that there's a strategy in place." Carville commented Monday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America."

A Meta-synthesis of Post-migration Changes in Marital Relationships in Canada

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Immigration to a new country constitutes a major life change and challenge that can directly and indirectly affect the health of individuals and families. A systematic review was conducted to identify post-migration changes and understand their impact on immigrants' marital relationships in Canada.

Method: Using Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnography steps and Paterson et al.'s meta-data method, we conducted a meta-synthesis of qualitative articles.

Synthesis: Four journal articles and one book chapter met the inclusion criteria. Our synthesis of these studies identified three key themes reflecting the major post-migration changes experienced by couples: changes in gender and sexual relations, loss of social networks and support, and de-skilling and de-professionalization. The importance of communication emerged as a fourth theme that cut across the three key themes. These post-migration changes were common across nine ethnic communities, and affected the couple as a unit as well as individuals within this unit, both negatively and positively. The changes were associated with four outcomes: abuse, separation/divorce, staying with each other, and resilience. The synthesis also showed various pathways that link the post-migration changes and their outcomes.

Conclusion: Understanding post-migration changes, their outcomes, and the pathways that link them is useful in developing health promotion activities to promote couples' resilience as well as health interventions to reduce the negative impact of the changes on couples and individuals. These activities and interventions must be planned at micro, meso, and macro levels of society.

Key words: Post-migration changes; marital relationships; immigrant couples; meta-synthesis, Canada

La traduction du r�sum� se trouve � la fin de l'article.

Can J Public Health 2010;101(4):327-31.

Immigration to a new country constitutes a major life change that can directly and indirectly affect health. Considerable research has focused on the impact of immigration on individual psychosocial and cultural adaptation and integration, but far less has examined "how migration affects marital relationships or the processes by which couples adapt to their new circumstances" (p.149).1 This is a key limitation in the literature given that the majority of immigrants come as family units.2

Post-migration changes can both positively and negatively affect marital relationships. For example, post-migration changes in gender roles have been shown to have a profound effect on married couples.3-5 Immigrants' ways of thinking about couple relationships may be rooted in understandings of human nature and social order that differ from those that have set the foundations of Canadian culture and institutions.6-8 Changes in gender roles have been associated with increases in stress,2,9 marital conflict,10,11 marital discord, 12 and the risk of abuse.13,14 The connection between changes in gender roles and spousal abuse has been studied in a number of ethnic communities in the United States including Mexican immigrants, 4 Southeast Asian refugees.11 Chinese immigrants,15 and Iranian immigrants.14 This connection was evident in a number of Canadian studies as well.1,3,5

Immigration to a new country also offers couples the opportunity to renegotiate and rebuild couple relations.1 For example, Cheung found that although those with long-term happy marriages went through major adjustments after they had immigrated to Canada,16 a number of significant factors affected their resilience: 1) adjustment to changing gender relations, 2) increase in intimacy and mutual reliance, and 3) management of conflict and willingness to compromise on differences.

However, we do not know if other post-migration changes are faced by immigrant couples in Canada, whether these changes are common across different ethnic communities, and the pathways through which these post-migration changes lead to positive or negative outcomes in couples' lives. This information is necessary for developing health promotion interventions for immigrant couples.

Recently, there has been an increase in research on post-migration changes and their impact on immigrants' health. In Canada, much of this work has been qualitative. Individual studies focusing on specific ethnocultural communities help improve our knowledge on the topic, however, a systematic review of the individual studies' findings across communities could provide a better framework for understanding the topic. Meta-synthesis, in particular, is the "aggregating of a group of qualitative studies for the purposes of discovering the essential elements and translating the results into an end product that transforms the original results into a new conceptualization" (p.314).17 Therefore, we conducted a metasynthesis to address the overall research question of: What are the impacts of post-migration changes on heterosexual couples' relationships? The subquestions were: 1) What are the post-migration changes that couples face in Canada? 2) What are the impacts of these changes on marital relationships? 3) Are these changes common across different immigrant communities in Canada? and 4) What are the pathways through which these post-migration changes lead to positive or negative outcomes in couples' lives?

METHODS

We completed computer searches on MEDLINE, CINAHL, Academic Search Premier, Canadian Periodical Index, Proquest, Psycinfo, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. We conducted manual searches of selected journals that deal specifically with marital relationships, such as Journal of Marriage and Family, Marriage and Family Review, Marriage Partnership, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, and Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. We also searched Google Scholar for studies we might have missed. The reference lists of all studies that met the inclusion criteria were hand-searched. Various combinations of the following keywords were used to conduct the search: post-migration changes, marital/couple relationship, immigration, and Canada. Qualitative studies were selected if they: 1) examined post-migration changes in heterosexual couples' relationship within a Canadian context, 2) were published in English in peerreviewed journals or books, and 3) were published from 1990 onwards.

Based on Noblit and Hare's18 meta-ethnography and Paterson, Thorne, Canam and Jillings'19 meta-data method, we undertook the following steps: 1) Read each study with attention to detail to understand the author's description of the findings as a whole; 2) Generated initial codes; 3) Created a list of the key metaphors, phrases, ideas and/or concepts, and their relationships that were used in each account; 4) Determined how the studies were related, and translated the studies' findings into one another by comparing the metaphors or themes of one study with the concepts of other studies; and 5) Synthesized translations to make a whole that is more comprehensive than the individual studies' findings.

To ensure the rigour of the synthesis, we used the following methods adapted from Paterson et al.19 and Sandelowski20: 1) Primary study reports were independently reviewed by the team members; 2) The team members met regularly to identify differences in their reviews of each primary study and to reach an agreement on the coding; 3) During team meetings, the members discussed methodological and theoretical issues that arose during the process; and 4) The procedures used and the decisions made during team meetings and throughout the process of meta-synthesis, as well as the rationale for these, were documented.

SYNTHESIS

Although we found many studies pertaining to the process, barriers, facilitators and dynamics of the acculturation and assimilation of immigrants to Canada, only 32 were related to the focus of this study. Of these, four journal articles1,21-23 and one book chapter5 met the inclusion criteria of this study. We did not exclude any studies based on their methodological approach in order to capture the depth and breadth of the phenomenon of interest.19,24

Participants included in the five studies were from the following immigrant communities in Canada: Iranian, Ethiopian, Sri Lankan, Chinese, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian, Korean, and Vietnamese. The sample sizes ranged from 16 to 68. Some studies' samples included individuals while other studies included couples. Within these studies, the number of couples included from each community varied from 1 to 8. Additional characteristics of these studies are described in Table 1.

Three overarching themes describing post-migration changes emerged from our meta-synthesis: 1) loss of or limited social networks and support; 2) de-skilling and de-professionalization; and 3) changes in gender and sexual relations. In addition, a fourth theme, importance of communication, both within and outside the family, cut across the three key themes. These changes were common across the nine communities included in these studies. One positive (resilience) and three negative (staying with each other, separation/divorce, and abuse) outcomes occurred as a result of the post-migration changes. The pathways that link the post-migration changes and their outcomes in couples' relationships are depicted in Figure 1.

The post-migration changes in social networks and support have the potential to generate both positive and negative outcomes in marital relationships. As indicated in the figure, the lack of familiar social support systems may force couples to rely more on each other (i.e., increase mutual dependence), for example, for instrumental support such as household work and child rearing. This situation requires the husband to take on more household work that (along with improved communication between the couple) leads to equal division or more equitable sharing of household work, which in turn can lead to strong couple relations (resilience). On the other hand, if a dispute occurs due to one partner (often the man) resisting equal sharing of household work, this can lead to conflict and abuse.

The downgrading of immigrants' skills and professional experiences can result in the loss of social status for the family in general and for the husband in particular. This change, often in the context of associated financial constraints and stress, can lead to conflict and spousal abuse, all of which are connected to ill health. Alternatively, financial constraints in the family can make the wife's income necessary. This necessity along with more opportunities for the woman in the post-migration context for work outside the home (albeit in low-status, low-paid jobs) can lead to a relative increase in the woman's financial independence and autonomy that may provide her with an opportunity to leave an abusive husband. While this outcome might be considered positive for a woman in an abusive relationship, the outcome might be considered negative for the man. On the other hand, the overall economic hardship in the family may compel women to remain in abusive relationships. In addition, the financial strain and the necessity for both husband and wife to work long hours outside the home can also lead to negative outcomes.

Last, changes in gender relations (e.g., more joint decisionmaking) and sexual relations (e.g., greater assertiveness about sexual needs) can promote immigrant couples' resiliencies in the face of post-migration adjustments or they can lead to conflict and abuse. Both partners may not respond the same way when faced with sexual scripts and culture in Canada that may differ from or contradict their home country's cultural beliefs, for example, about sexual relations. One partner's post-migration expectations regarding sexual relations might change significantly, which, in the context of other pressures and stresses along with the other partner's response to such expectations, might lead to sacrifice, tolerance, infidelity, and separation or divorce. Yet some immigrant couples redefine their gender and sexual relations, and experience a growing love, better communication regarding each other's sexual needs and expectations, and resilience.

DISCUSSION

This systematic review has a number of limitations. First, the metasynthesis included only those Canadian studies published in English. Second, although we performed an extensive search, some relevant studies may have been missed because we included only the peer-reviewed publications. Third, we might have mixed culturally, socially, and linguistically incomparable concepts in our analysis. For example, it was not possible to differentiate how the concepts of violence or resilience were defined and understood in different communities. Also unclear was the quality of the relationship when couples "stayed with each other". Meta-synthesis as a method also has certain limitations,25 some of which are related to the heterogenic nature of the study characteristics. For example, the study populations and/or the theoretical foundations used in the studies were different. Other limitations are related to the samples of the original studies. For example, some studies included individuals and other studies included couples. The number of couples from each of the communities varied from 1 to 8 across studies, and the studies that included individuals had more women than men in their sample. Despite these limitations, we believe that the findings of this meta-synthesis have implications for shaping public health approaches to working with immigrant couples.

This meta-synthesis demonstrated that the three post-migration changes (i.e., loss of or limited social networks and support; deskilling and de-professionalization; and changes in gender and sexual relations) were common across the nine ethnic communities. These changes occur at and demonstrate their impacts at the level of the individual or the couple. However, the determinants of these changes are at micro, meso and macro levels. For example, the determinants of de-skilling and de-professionalization are at the macro level of Canadian society and their consequences are felt primarily at the micro level by individuals and couples. This distinction has implications for designing strategies for health promotion and violence prevention.

This synthesis also showed that these post-migration changes can lead to positive and/or negative marital outcomes (i.e., resilience, staying with each other, separation/divorce, and abuse) for the couple. In addition, when the pathways depicting the processes through which these changes affected the couple were identified, it became clear that the changes could affect individual partners within the couple differently. For example, de-skilling and de-professionalization affect both partners, but more so the men who almost always experience this change more negatively or more severely, perhaps because of the patriarchal expectation of men as the primary or the sole breadwinner of the family.

Understanding the pathways through which the post-migration changes can translate into positive and negative marital outcomes can help health care professionals determine where public health interventions can be most effective in stopping the process from leading to negative outcomes for the woman, man and couple. For example, health care professionals can work with couples to rebuild social networks and support systems for women and men that can effectively address issues surrounding loss of social status, gender role socialization, professional reinsertion/reorientation, more effective ways of communicating stresses and frustration, and how/where to obtain formal social support for informational, instrumental and financial needs that might arise within the new context. In order to do so, health care professionals must learn about the informal and formal resources available to immigrants both within and outside of their communities and make referrals to these based on the woman's, man's and the couple's unique needs and preferences.

Recognition of post-migration changes and how they lead to negative outcomes could help policy-makers, service providers, and researchers to find ways to prevent conflicts in couples' relationships, promote healthy marital relationships, and ensure couples' health and wellness following their arrival in Canada. Some of the ways in which health, settlement, and social workers can intervene include: acknowledging the post-migration changes in the quantity and quality of social supports and making more formal social supports available to immigrant couples, enhancing communication within and outside the couple unit, and highlighting the importance of accepting the fluid nature of gendered roles and responsibilities and perhaps a need for renegotiating expectations regarding sexual relations between the couple, in the new context. Health care professionals also need to develop reciprocal and collaborative partnerships with community leaders and agencies to develop culturally appropriate health promotion materials and programs. In fact, lessons learned from those who were able to develop and/or maintain a positive marital life in spite of the hardships they faced could be used to create health promotion models to manage the challenges of immigration and settlement and inform the development of community-based health promotion strategies.

Health care professionals can also act as advocates within the health care system, identifying and challenging structural barriers that the couples face in the post-migration context in Canada. This advocacy must go beyond the health care system to address larger societal and systemic barriers such as racism that continue to lead to de-skilling and de-professionalization of immigrants, or to lobby for a better and faster family reunification system. These changes can be realized only by collaborating across health, social, settlement and legal sectors.

In summary, the changes that couples undergo following migration to Canada points to the need for policy, programs and research to stop or reduce the negative impact of post-migration changes while promoting couples' resiliencies.

[Sidebar]

R�SUM�

Objectifs : L'immigration dans un nouveau pays est un changement de vie et un d�fi de taille qui peut directement et indirectement affecter la sant� des particuliers et des familles. Nous avons men� un examen syst�matique afin de d�celer les changements post-migratoires et d'en comprendre les incidences sur les relations matrimoniales des immigrants au Canada.

M�thode : M�tasynth�se d'articles qualitatifs selon les �tapes de la m�ta-ethnographie de Noblit et Hare et par la m�thode des m�tadonn�es de Paterson et al.

Synth�se : Quatre articles de revues et un chapitre de livre r�pondaient � nos crit�res d'inclusion. Notre synth�se de ces �tudes a permis de cerner trois grands th�mes dans les changements post-migratoires importants v�cus par le couple : le changement dans les r�les sexuels et les relations sexuelles; la perte des r�seaux sociaux et du soutien social; et la d�qualification et la d�professionnalisation. Un quatri�me th�me, l'importance des communications, est ressorti des trois autres. Ces changements post-migratoires �taient associ�s � quatre r�sultats : les mauvais traitements; la s�paration/le divorce; le fait de rester ensemble; et la r�silience. Ces changements post-migratoires �taient courants dans les neuf communaut�s ethniques � l'�tude et touchaient � la fois le couple et les membres du couple, de fa�on positive et n�gative.

Conclusion : Il est utile de conna�tre les changements post-migratoires, leurs r�sultats et leurs voies associatives pour �laborer des activit�s de promotion de la sant� qui favorisent la r�silience du couple ainsi que des interventions sanitaires pour r�duire l'incidence n�gative des changements sur le couple et les particuliers. Ces activit�s et interventions doivent �tre planifi�es aux niveaux micro, m�so, et macro de la soci�t�.

Mots cl�s : changements post-migratoires; relations matrimoniales; couples immigrants; m�tasynth�se, Canada

[Reference]

REFERENCES

1. Hyman I, Guruge S, Mason R. The impact of migration on marital relationships: A study of Ethiopian immigrants in Toronto. J Comp Fam Stud 2008;39(2):149-63.

2. Ataca B, Berry JW. Psychological, sociocultural, and marital adaptation of Turkish immigrant couples in Canada. Int J Psychol 2002;37(1):13-26.

3. Guruge S. The influence of gender, racial, social, and economic inequalities on the production of and responses to intimate partner violence in the postmigration context [dissertation]. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto, 2007.

4. Morash M, Bui HN, Santiago AM. Cultural-specific gender ideology and wife abuse in Mexican-descent families. Int Rev Victimology 2000;7:67-91.

5. Morrison L, Guruge S, Snarr KA. Sri Lankan Tamil immigrants in Toronto: Gender, marriage patterns, and sexuality. In: Kelson GA, DeLaet DL (Eds.), Gender and Immigration. New York, NY: New York University Press, 1999;144- 61.

6. Barot R, Bradley H, Fenton S (Eds.). Ethnicity, Gender and Social Change. London, UK: Macmillan Press, 1999.

7. Beckett C, Macey M. Race, gender and sexuality. Womens Stud Int Forum 2001;24(3-4):309-19.

8. Shirpak KR, Ardebili HE, Mohammad K, Maticka-Tyndale E, Chinichian M, Ramenzankhani A, et al. Developing and testing a sex education program for the female clients of health centers in Iran. Sex Educ 2007;7(4):333-49.

9. Boyd M, Grieco G. Women and Migration: Incorporating Gender into International Migration Theory, 2003. Available at: http://www.migrationinformation.org/ Feature/display.cfm?ID=106 (Accessed December 24, 2008).

10. Krulfeld RM. Changing concepts of gender roles and identities in refugee communities. In: Camino LA, Krulfeld RM (Eds.), Reconstructing Lives, Recapturing Meaning: Refugee Identity, Gender and Culture Change. Basel, Switzerland: Gordon and Beach Publishers, 1994;71-74.

11. Kulig JC. Sexuality beliefs among Cambodians: Implications for health care professionals. Health Care Women Int 1994;15(1):69-76.

12. Hojat M, Shapurian R, Nayerahmadi H, Farzaneh M, Foroughi D, Parsi M, et al. Premarital sexual, child rearing, and family attitudes of Iranian men and women in the United States and in Iran. J Psychol 1999;133(1):19-31.

13. Jewkes R. Intimate partner violence: Causes and prevention. Lancet 2002;359(9315):1423-29.

14. Jewkes R, Levin J, Penn-Kekana L. Risk factors for domestic violence: Findings from a South African cross-sectional study. Soc Sci Med 2002;55(9):1603- 17.

15. Tang TN, Oatley K. Transition and engagement of life roles among Chinese immigrant women. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, 2002.

16. Cheung M. Resilience of Immigrant Couples in Immigration and Integration, 2004. Available at: http://pcerii.metropolis.net/generalinfo/info_content/ Maria%20Cheung%20Complete.pdf (Accessed July 28, 2009).

17. Schreiber R, Crooks D, Stern PN. Qualitative metaanalysis. In: Morse JM (Ed.), Completing a Qualitative Project: Details and Dialogue. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd., 1997;311-26.

18. Noblit GW, Hare RD. Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing Qualitative Studies. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications Ltd., 1988.

19. Paterson B, Thorne S, Canam C, Jillings C. Meta-study of Qualitative Health Research. London: Sage Publications Ltd., 2001.

20. Sandelowski M. The problem of rigor in qualitative research. Adv Nurs Sci 1986;8(3):27-37.

21. Shahidian H. Gender and sexuality among immigrant Iranians in Canada. Sexualities 1999;2(2):182-222.

22. Hyman I, Guruge S, Mason R, Gould J, Stuckless N, Tang T, et al. Postmigration changes in gender relations among Ethiopian immigrants in Toronto. Can J Nurs Res 2004;36(4):74-89.

23. Cheung M. Resilience of older immigrant couples: Long-term marital satisfaction as a protective factor. J Couple & Relationship Ther 2008;7(1):19-38.

24. Sandelowski M, Docherty S, Emden C. Focus on qualitative methods: Qualitative meta-synthesis issues and techniques. Res Nurs Health 1997;20(4):365- 71.

25. Sandelowski M, Barraso J. Handbook for Synthesizing Qualitative Research. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, 2007.

Received: September 1, 2009

Accepted: February 8, 2010

[Author Affiliation]

Sepali Guruge, RN, PhD,1 Khosro Refaie Shirpak, MD, MPH, PhD,1 Ilene Hyman, PhD,2 Margareth Zanchetta, RN, PhD,1 Denise Gastaldo, RN, PhD,3 Souraya Sidani, RN, PhD1

Author Affiliations

1. Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON

2. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

3. Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

Correspondence and reprint requests: Dr. Sepali Guruge, Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Tel: 416-979-5000, ext.4964, Fax: 416-979-5332, E-mail: sguruge@ryerson.ca

Acknowledgements: The first author gratefully acknowledges project support she received from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in the form of a CIHR New Investigator Award.

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

Court Backs Mo. Death Penalty Procedure

ST. LOUIS - A federal appeals court opened the way for Missouri to resume executing inmates, ruling Monday that the state's lethal injection procedure is not cruel and unusual punishment.

The case filed on behalf of condemned killer Michael Taylor had effectively halted Missouri executions since early last year. A judge said he wanted to be sure that the three-drug injection method did not cause risk of pain and suffering.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found "no evidence to indicate that any of the last six inmates executed suffered any unnecessary pain," according to its ruling.

The court's decision reversed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. ordering reforms to Missouri's lethal injection procedures. He wanted the state to involve a doctor specializing in anesthesia, but the state has been unable to find a doctor willing to participate.

Missouri is among nine states that have put executions on hold as it grapples with whether lethal injection is inhumane.

Attorney General Jay Nixon said the decision "reopens the necessary legal avenue for the state of Missouri to move forward on this issue."

Gov. Matt Blunt said he is directing the Department of Corrections to prepare execution procedures in compliance with the ruling.

"One of the most important jobs I have as governor is to help keep Missourians safe," Blunt said. "Capital punishment is a vital deterrent to the most serious of crimes."

Margaret Phillips of the Eastern Missouri Coalition Against the Death Penalty said many questions remain unanswered and it would be unwise for the state to renew executions.

"The uncertainty of all of this is a good indication that Missouri needs a moratorium on the death penalty," she said.

Taylor, convicted of killing 15-year-old Ann Harrison in Kansas City in 1989, was hours away from being put to death in February 2006 when the execution was halted. His attorney, Ginger Anders, said she would appeal Monday's ruling but declined further comment.

The rest of America will just be catching up to where California is today.

SAN FRANCISCO -- If you want to see the new face of America, cometo California. It's turning more Hispanic, more Asian and more gay.

Consider these snapshots. The teacher in our grandsons' playgroupswitches easily from English to Spanish and back again. The freshmanclass at the University of California's Berkeley campus is 44 percentAsian and only 28 percent white. A woman we met in a park drives ablue Volvo station wagon with a car seat for her son and a gay pridesticker that proclaims "Just Married."

These anecdotes reflect the latest projections from the UnitedStates census: By 2050, the number of Asians and Hispanics in thiscountry will triple, and the white population will drop from almost70 percent to barely 50 percent.

But the rest of America will just be catching up to whereCalifornia is today. Hispanics already comprise one-third of thatstate's population, and whites have fallen below the 50 percent mark.As demographer Hans Johnson told the San Francisco Chronicle, "Inmany ways, California precedes the nation. We are a state where nogroup is a majority."

There's nothing new about California preceding the nation. Fromthe Hollywood Hills to Silicon Valley, from the Beat Generation toThe Beach Boys, from the Gold Rush to the Internet boom, Californiahas shaped American tastes and technology for the last 150 years.

But as the census, and our own observations, suggest, the "nextbig thing" coming out of California could well have to do with race,ethnicity and sexual orientation. And the impact on American life andpolitics will be enormous.

Both of this year's presidential campaigns fully understand thesetrends, and are spending heavily on Spanish-language advertising. "Wehad to improve among the Latino population because of how fast-growing it is and how important it is," Matthew Dowd, PresidentBush's chief strategist, told CNN. "And so a day doesn't go by whenwe don't talk about that as an important constituency."

Another telling statistic: There are now about 350 Spanish-language newspapers published in the United States, almost double thenumber from 15 years ago. Monica Lozano, publisher of Los Angeles-based La Opinion, explains why this is so even as papers in otherimmigrant languages are fading: "We're still here because there is aconstant refreshing of new readers, because of our proximity withMexico, and because we cover issues that the mainstream media doesn'tcover."

This week, two large companies, AGmobile and Univision Online,announced plans to expand wireless information and entertainmentservices for "a Spanish-speaking population that continues to explodein numbers and earning power."

The Asian presence here is just as visible, from the fatherplaying soccer with his son in a neighborhood park to the medicalstudents from U.C. San Francisco crowding the cafes along IrvingStreet. When writer Richard Rodriguez was asked by a radiointerviewer whether he considered himself more Mexican or moreAmerican, he replied: "In some ways I consider myself more Chinese,because I live in San Francisco, which is becoming a predominantlyAsian city."

In his book Brown: The Last Discovery of America (Viking, 2002),Rodriguez celebrates another trend: the rising rate of intermarriageamong these racial groups, what he calls "this new brown meltdown."The new American role models, he says, are golfer Tiger Woods,shortstop Derek Jeter, and actors Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves -- allof whom are of mixed-race parentage.

Same-sex couples are clearly a part of this "new brown meltdown,"the blurring of traditional lines and stereotypes about race andgender. We met two gay white men who are parenting a black daughterhere. The woman with the blue Volvo talked happily about raising herson in a "two-mommy family," and about the child's "grandfather," aman we've met in Washington. Then she laughed and added, "It'sactually a bit more complicated than that. His son was our spermdonor."

This side of gay America -- raising kids, driving station wagons,being ordinary -- is fueling the drive to secure more rights for same-sex couples. The fight over gay marriage has obscured the fact thatcivil unions, which grant legal and financial benefits, have movedfrom an extreme proposal to a middle-ground compromise in a veryshort time.

Does this "meltdown," in all its forms, mean that prejudice willdisappear? Of course not. But it does mean that the new family thatmoves in next door could be brown, or gay, or both. That's alreadythe American way in California.

California's diversity illustrates new face of America

AMERICAS NEWS AT 0500 GMT

TOP STORIES:

WIKILEAKS

WASHINGTON — Military documents laid bare in the biggest leak of secret information in U.S. history suggest that far more Iraqis died than previously acknowledged during the years of sectarian bloodletting and criminal violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. By Anne Gearan and Robert Burns. AP Photos

IRAN-HIKERS

WASHINGTON — Three Americans detained by Iran in July 2009 for alleged illegal entry were on the Iraqi side of the border at the time, according to a U.S. military report that is among a huge cache of documents posted by the WikiLeaks website.

HAITI-DISEASE OUTBREAK

ST. MARC, Haiti — An outbreak of cholera spreads outside a rural valley in central Haiti, intensifying worries the disease could reach squalid tarp camps were hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors live in the capital. Nearly 200 are dead and more than 2,300 ill. By Jacob Kushner. AP Photos. AP Video.

US-SPACEPORT DEDICATION

UPHAM, New Mexico — The dream of rocketing tourists into space edges closer to reality, as the world's first commercial spaceport opened a runway in the New Mexico desert. By Susan Montoya Bryan.

AP Photos.

US-ELECTIONS

LAS VEGAS — President Barack Obama threw his star power behind the Democrats' embattled Senate leader, who finds himself in a tossup campaign against an ultraconservative tea party favorite in America's most-watched Senate race.

AP Photos.

US-RUSSIA-AFGHANISTAN

WASHINGTON — Russia is complaining that the United States has not acted on information the top Russian anti-drug official provided about many narcotics laboratories in Afghanistan. By Desmond Butler.

US-PAKISTAN-AID

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration lays out a five-year, $2 billion military aid package for Pakistan as it presses the Islamabad government to intensify its fight against extremists there and in neighboring Afghanistan. By Matthew Lee. AP Photos.

US-SHARK ATTACK

LOS ANGELES — Matthew Garcia was surfing two feet away from his friend who was bodyboarding when he heard a desperate cry for help. Within seconds, a shark flashed out of the water, bit into his friend's leg and pulled him under in a sea of blood. By Gillian Flaccus.

AP Photos

LINDSAY LOHAN

BEVERLY HILLS, California — Lindsay Lohan is ordered by a judge to remain in rehab until January. In doing so he ends any short-term plans for the actress' comeback, but also followed the recommendations of medical professionals who say the "Mean Girls" star is only beginning to realize the depths of her addiction. By Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney. AP Photo.

GULF OIL SPILL-CORALS

ON THE FLOOR OF THE GULF OF MEXICO — Just 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of where BP's blown-out well spewed millions of gallons of oil into the sea, life appears bountiful despite initial fears that crude could have wiped out many of these delicate deep water habitats. By Brian Skoloff. AP Photos. AP Video.

UN-AFRICAN PEACEKEEPING

UNITED NATIONS — Tension arising from the U.N. Security Council's reliance on African nations to supply peacekeepers came into sharper focus, as diplomats, U.N. and African Union officials sparred over how to stretch their resources to meet the boom in peacekeeping. By John Heilprin.

AP Photo.

PEOPLE-RANDY QUAID

VANCOUVER — Actor Randy Quaid told Canada's immigration board that he and his wife are seeking asylum from "the murderers of Hollywood" and will therefore apply for refugee status in Canada, after they were arrested on U.S. warrants related to vandalism charges. By Jeremy Hainsworth.

AP Photo.

BUSINESS:

CUBA-ECONOMY

HAVANA — Cuba has laid out details of a sweeping tax system for the newly self-employed — a crucial step in the socialist state's plan to convert hundreds of thousands of state workers into self-employed businesspeople. By Paul Haven.

VENEZUELA-CUBA-COMMUNICATIONS

CARACAS, Venezuela — Work to lay an undersea fiber optic cable that will dramatically improve telecommunications in Cuba should begin by February, Cuba's ambassador to Venezuela says. By Ian James.

CANADA-BHP-POTASH CORP

REGINA, Saskatchewan — Saskatchewan's premier says that BHP Billiton "can't overcome" his concerns about a foreign takeover of Potash Corp. and he asserted Canada's prime minister made a mistake when he called the company American-controlled. By Rob Gillies.

MYTH VS. TRUTH

meat myth

MYTH: Although fat may be a problem, lean red meat itself does not cause cancer.

TRUTH: Actually, it does-at least, colon cancer. Studies show no link between fat intake and colorectal cancer. But the heme molecule is what makes red meat red, and it is converted in the colon to a highly cytotoxic -cell-killing-and cell-growth-stimulatmg molecule, which predisposes colon cells to become cancerous.

China: 5% Growth Forecast for Silk & Fabric Exports

Since 1998, there has been a progressive increase in China's exports of silk and its fabrics, especially during the last two years.

It is expected that this year, silk and fabric exports would still increase by more than 5%, although it seems to be difficult to achieve the surprising growth as the previous year.

According to Chen Yiqing, an expert in silk trading and also former vice-general manager of the China National Silk Import & Export Corporation, favorable factors supporting exports are as follows:

Firstly, the world's economy is recovering at a quicker rate. The world's economy is expected to grow by over 4% in 2004, while global trade is to rise by 6-8%, according to the International Monetary Fund. The generally recognized improvement of the world's economy is undoubtedly conducive to China's silk and its fabric exports.

Secondly, the environment of the world's major silk markets will continue to improve, and will be more beneficial to China's export-oriented silk enterprises. For instance, India, acting as the primary source of silk goods for the U.S., imported 15,870 tons of raw silk and its gray from China last year, up by 18.15% from 2002, due to several problems including the poor quality of both silkworm strains and cocoons, and a raw silk shortage, which could not be solved in a short time.

India has been unable to satisfy sharply growing demands for raw silk at home. Although the Indian government imposed some restrictions on silk imports from China for the purpose of protecting domestic cocoon silk production, it had to readjust the prices of imported raw silk downwards in the fourth quarter of last year from Rs 227/kg to Rs 129.

Thirdly, silk reeling and weaving mills in China have received more orders for exports since the beginning of this year. It is reported that 2004 production has been fully planned, and the operation rate of production facilities has been very high recently.

Growth-minded Yeager wants to slice hilltop in flight path

DAILY MAIL STAFF

Yeager Airport officials are getting ready for $1.5 million inconstruction work that could someday help them attract service fromanother airline.

Within the next week, they expect to reach agreements on about$300,000 in contracts for engineering services needed for theexpansion of the main terminal building, the removal of a hilltopobstruction that limits some flights and the seal coating of arunway.

They want construction work to begin this summer.

The hilltop that airport officials want to remove is at NorthgateBusiness Park. Airport Director Rick Atkinson said Tuesday thatremoving it would eliminate the weight limitations placed on someplanes that take off in that direction, such as those headed toHouston, especially during bad weather. That, in turn, would enhanceYeager's chances of getting service to more cities, he said.

"If Northwest (Airlines) wanted to expand with service toMinneapolis, they could do that," Atkinson said. "There would not bea runway limitation for them."

It might also help Yeager get service from American Airlines,which is the only so-called "legacy" carrier not already servingCharleston, he said. Atkinson would like to get service betweenCharleston and American's hub at Dallas-Fort Worth.

"Dallas-Fort Worth's stage length is the same as Houston," hesaid. "If we could eliminate runway limitations, it would better ourcase, because they wouldn't have to worry about equipmentlimitations."

Atkinson said the removal of the hilltop obstruction might alsoopen the possibility of getting direct flights between Charleston andOrlando.

"If someone wanted to over fly a hub into Orlando, that's a fairlygood stage length," he said.

The first step in getting that hilltop removed is to conduct anenvironmental study, but Atkinson doesn't see that as a big obstacle.He compared the moving of dirt off that hilltop to the constructionof Corridor G south of Charleston.

Fortunately, Atkinson said, Northgate owner John Wellford welcomesthe fill dirt that the project would provide and might want to lowerthe level of the hill even more than the airport would be able to getthe Federal Aviation Administration to fund.

Airport officials expect the environmental study necessary beforethe hilltop could be lowered would take six months to a year tocomplete.

The expansion of the terminal building with an addition of about100 feet by 40 feet would provide room for more ticketing countersand two more boarding gates, which also would be helpful in theattempts to attract more air service. Yeager already squeezed inadditional ticket counter space last summer, when Independence Airstarted serving Charleston and forced United Express to find newspace.

Airport officials believe the expansion could be finished byNovember or December.

The seal coating of one runway is a minor project but a necessaryone to extend the life of the runway. Tim Murnahan, assistant airportdirector, said it would probably take about six weeks to develop thespecifications for the job but only a couple of weeks for the actualcoating work.

On Tuesday, Yeager's construction committee reviewed the bids ofsix companies interested in one or more of the engineering contracts.Airport officials plan to negotiate contracts, beginning with theirtop choices for each job, within the next week.

The FAA will provide about 95 percent of the funding for theprojects. Under the agency's guidelines, airport officials can't getprice quotes for the work until after they rank their top choices foreach job and begin negotiating with the companies.

L. Robert Kimball & Associates is their top choice for theenvironmental study for the hilltop removal project and for the sealcoating of the runway. Their leading choice for the terminalexpansion project is Buchart-Horn Inc.

Consideration of the new projects comes as construction is justgetting under way for a second parking garage at the airport. Thatproject, costing $6.5 million, will add 706 parking spaces to the1,100 spaces the airport already has in its first parking garage andsurface lots. It is scheduled to be completed in the spring.

Contact writer Jim Wallace at jimw@dailymail.com or 348-4819.

Superconductivity coup

It's no Superconducting Super Collider, but the National ScienceFoundation's new center for research into superconducting materials,to be located in Illinois, could have an impact on the region ofimmense consequence.

In the wake of Illinois' loss of the proposed $4.4 billion SSCatom smasher to Texas, the state's leaders wisely have been lookingfor something that could tap into the momentum that resulted from theunprecedented cooperative efforts by the public and private sectorsto lure the atom smasher here. The science foundation's decision tospend $4.25 million to establish the new materials center here couldbe just the thing.

The center would put Illinois smack in the middle of aninternational race to find practical materials that will conductelectricity at virtually no resistance. The possible practicalapplications of superconducting technology are boggling, having thepotential to revolutionize generators, motors, magnets, transmissionlines, energy storage systems, computers and other electrical andelectronic devices. The region - and country - that figures out away to commercialize the mysterious phenomenon of superconductivitywill reap huge rewards.

But the science foundation's decision to locate the NationalScience and Technology Center for Superconductivity Research here isno sop to local feelings wounded by the loss of the SSC. Thedecision was made on the basis of the superiority of the fourinstitutions that comprise the Illinois Consortium forSuperconductivity Research - the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, the University of Chicagoand Argonne National Laboratory.

Separately, the four already are leaders in the field. Now, thesynergy created by this new, joint effort will create anChicago-Urbana-Champaign corridor that will be identified worldwidewith the top contenders in this international race.

Senate set to oppose state pay raises

SPRINGFIELD The state Senate is poised to reject a plan to raisethe salaries of top state officials, after Republicans on Fridayuniformly sided against the idea in private.

When asked if the election year plan was dead in the Senate,Senate President James "Pate" Philip (R-Wood Dale) said, "I thinkthat might be the understatement of the year.

"I just think we're trying to provide some tax cuts for people,hold the budget down. How can we turn around and give electedofficials and bureaucrats a pay increase?" Philip said.

The Compensation Review Board has recommended a series of payincreases for elected officials, including Gov. Ryan, legislators andjudges. The pay raises will take effect unless rejected by bothhouses of the Legislature.

No matter how legislators vote, they and officeholders willautomatically receive a 4.1 percent cost-of-living increase thissummer.

On top of that, they would receive 2 percent increases this Julyand again in July 2001 if the review board plan is not rejected. Forsome, the 2 percent raises would be delayed until the start of theirnew terms.

A legislator's minimum pay is $53,581. If all the raises wereapproved, here would be the progression: With the 4.1 percent cost-of-living increase, the minimum would become $55,724 this summer. Thedual raises would push the pay to $57,953 next year. Next year's cost-of-living increase would go on top of that.

Philip said his members would reject the pay raise recommendationnext week, but the House must act similarly to block the increasesfrom taking effect.

Aides to House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) said Democratswant to review the advisory panel's recommendations, which will befiled Monday in Springfield, before reaching any conclusions.

"I haven't read the report, and people who serve on thiscommission do try to do their homework," House Majority LeaderBarbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) said.

Not everyone was quick to condemn the proposed pay hikes forlawmakers, reasoning that the current level of pay may keep qualifiedpotential officeholders in higher-paying jobs in private business.

"You're basically paying for what you get," said Sen. Donne E.Trotter (D-Chicago), head of the Legislative Black Caucus. "What isthe incentive for anyone qualified to want to come down here andimmerse themselves into (the) process?"