Poland's jobless rate dropped to 11 percent in April from 11.2 percent the month before, according to government statistics released Friday.
Labor Minister Jolanta Fedak said some 1.72 million people in the country of 38 million were without a job at the end of …
Q. My daughter, 24, who has rheumatoid arthritis, is now told byher doctor that she has it in the wall lining of her chest. This wasconfirmed by another doctor. I have never heard of it before, andwould like to have any information you can give me.
A. Rheumatoid arthritis is not an illness of joints alone. Itis a systemic disease, meaning that many body tissues and organs maybe affected by the basic inflammation process.
The lining tissue to which you refer is the pleura. Itcomprises delicate covering tissue that protects the lung surface,also allowing for the expansion and contraction with each breath.Some people with rheumatoid arthritis do develop this …
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Top European Central …
Northern Ireland's politicians must keep negotiating instead of breaking up their Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government, the British and Irish prime ministers declared Wednesday as they presented a compromise plan to the feuding sides.
Yet Gordon Brown of Britain and Brian Cowen of Ireland ended their three-day diplomatic mission without persuading local parties to accept the plan. The prime ministers said they would not publish details of the compromise in hopes that lower-level officials could seal a deal by the weekend.
"We believe that we have produced a pathway to an agreement," Brown said with Cowen at his side.
Power …
A New retail and entertainment complex being built in Aberdeen isto be bought for pounds30 million by a property investment company.
WG Mitchell has finalised the deal with Kenmore Property Group totake over the City Wharf development near Union Street once it iscompleted.
A casino, office accommodation, eight leisure units, a 107-bedhotel and a public car park are all to be included in the project.
Work on the development began earlier this month.
Kenmore director Martyn Roe said: "We are delighted to seeconstruction under way on this development.
"Strong tenants …
With a desire to run an honest and professional business with integrity, William Eichelberger started his construction firm - Eichelberger Construction Inc. - in January 1993. He backed up his desire with 18 years of experience in the industry.
"I had been in the construction business working for another company and I enjoyed the industry," he recalls. "I wanted to see if honesty, professionalism and integrity would make a successful business. Knock on wood, it has worked to date," he says proudly.
Eichelberger began doing business at 124 W. Church St., Dillsburg, with no resources and no job prospects on the horizon - a fact he considers his biggest challenge during his …
WASHINGTON (AP) — Applications for jobless …
The symposium International Perspectives on Career Development included a plenary session that addressed career counseling in a world of limited resources. Panelists representing diverse areas of the world shared their perspectives on career counseling in their countries and the specific problems they faced. They identified common concerns and prospects for the future of cross-national career counseling in 3 domains: (a) counselor training and human resources, (b) career service delivery practices, and (c) resources and sources of support. Harnessing the energy and capital of the global career counseling community will better equip career development professionals to deal with existing …
Eight British sports had their funding cut by between a third and a half for the 2012 London Olympics on Thursday.
Those hit by UK Sport's cuts were fencing, handball, shooting, table tennis, volleyball/beach volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling. Paralympic sports fencing, goalball, volleyball and women's wheelchair basketball also had their funding reduced.
The global financial meltdown and a shortfall in private-sector spending have forced the cuts from last year's Beijing Games, and UK Sport said the reductions are in areas where …
Robert E. Page resigned Thursday as president and publisher ofthe Chicago Sun-Times.
"I leave the Sun-Times with regret," said Page, "but with astrong management team and staff and the knowledge that thisnewspaper is positioned to continue its vital role as a unique andimportant Chicago institution."
"Bob Page has contributed much to the Sun-Times," said LeonardP. Shaykin, chairman of the Sun-Times. "He has now decided to pursueother interests. All of us at the Sun-Times wish him well."
Shaykin, a managing partner of Adler & Shaykin, the investmentfirm that spearheaded the 1986 acquisition of the Sun-Times fromRupert Murdoch, announced that Chicago …
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense ministry says it will soon begin clearing thousands of mines in southern Israel.
In a statement Sunday, defense official Ervin Lavi says the ministry will clear 60 acres of land near the Dead Sea in March.
Lavi says the ministry eventually intends to clear some 32,500 acres of land in areas where mines have shifted over time and …
With interest rates rising, insurance buyers can save money byfinancing their premiums through the specialized premium financecompanies used by insurance carriers and agents.
Consumers do not always realize that borrowing to financepremiums is least costly when done through companies and agentsbecause the insurance policy is used as collateral. Here's how:
The customer pays about 25 percent down at the time coverage isbound, and has nine monthly installments thereafter. Depending onthe finance arrangements, effective annual interest costs can be aslow as 6 percent, a real bargain today.
The cheapest place to finance premiums usually is directlythrough the insurance carrier. Many of the largest carriers havespecial automatic billing plans that charge about 6 percent interest.
For insurance placed with companies that do not have their ownpayment plans, your agent can provide financing through variousprivate companies such as AFCO. The rates charged by these firmsusually are somewhat higher than the insurance companies.' However,there are ways to reduce the interest charges. First, ask your agentto delay the "check release" date as long as possible. The longer hecan wait to get the finance company's check, the lower interest rateyou will pay. Secondly, the larger your down payment, the lower youreffective interest cost will be.
How can these companies charge so little compared to banks, andwhy are they willing to pay your premiums without any credit check?The answer is that your insurance policy is a unique form ofcollateral. The finance agreement you are required to sign grantsthe finance company the irrevocable right to cancel your coverage ifyou do not make your payments on time.
Since the finance companies require a 25 percent down paymentand monthly installments thereafter, there is never any economic lossto the finance company as long as they cancel coverage promptlywhenever an installment payment is not made. Because there is littlerisk of loss, there is little reason for credit checks or highinterest rates to offset loan losses.
For businesses especially, insurance premium financing can be alow-cost source of borrowing that frees other assets to be used forbusiness promotion.
INSURANCE STOCKS?
"Are insurance stocks a good investment?" a reader asks.Although insurance stocks have rebounded from their October, 1987,lows, many are still selling below their best levels in the pastyear. In fact, the prices of some of the major insurers, such asAetna and CIGNA, are low enough to generate dividend yields of around6 percent.
Insurance stocks historically have not been among the stockmarket's strongest performers. Now, there are more reasons forcaution than for a buying spree.
In the property and casualty insurance business, for example, thecompetitive market has returned, bringing with it fears of erosion ininsurer profitability and even economic stability. For stockcompanies, this has meant selling more shares, which tends to diluteshareholder value. Low confidence also tends to lower share prices.
The life and health insurance marketplaces, by contrast, are inan upward pricing spiral that is equally worrisome. Fears about theultimate cost of AIDS claims for life and health insurers is causinga great deal of market gyrating.
At the same time, health insurance prices, driven by increasedcosts and utilization, are rising so sharply that no one is sure whatwill happen to the market. The uncertainty over national healthinsurance policy further complicates the picture.
LENDING YOUR CAR
"Am I covered if I lend my car to a friend?" This is one of themost frequently asked questions I receive.
The answer is yes. Any licensed driver who operates your carwith your permission is covered by your policy. In fact, this meansthat in the event of an accident, your insurer will pay to repair thecar and will pay any negligence claims against you as a result of theaccident.
South Africa's finance minister resigned along with most leading Cabinet members Tuesday in a move likely to upset the business community and stock market following the ouster of President Thabo Mbeki.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's departure was a potentially devastating blow for the economic stability of Africa's most powerful nation, and for the new administration expected to take over on Thursday.
Manuel, his deputy Jabulani Moleketi, eight other Cabinet ministers and three deputies quit along with Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, a presidential spokesman said.
Nine of the 10 ministers who resigned belonged to the ANC _ a measure of the backlash caused by Mbeki's surprise firing. They include the ministers of defense, intelligence, public enterprises and public services as well as local government and housing minister Sydney Mufamadi, who was the key mediator in Zimbabwe's political crisis. Moleketi, the deputy finance minister, is in charge of the finances for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa.
The news came after South Africa's ruling party _ which ousted Mbeki over the weekend _ said Tuesday its moderate and conciliatory deputy leader Kgalema Motlanthe would to take over as interim head of state.
Manuel, along with Mbeki, won the confidence of local and foreign investors by promoting pro-market policies that have seen the country enjoy an unprecedented growth averaging 5 percent over nearly a decade.
Zuma on Monday sought to allay fears in the business community, saying there would be no changes in economic policy.
Zuma also said no ministers had informed the party that they were resigning and appealed to "all ANC ministers and deputy ministers to continue their work and to serve the people of our country."
Meir Shalev's A Russian Romance celebrates the socialist valuesof Russian emigrants who settled pre-state Israel in the early 1900sand followed a simple set of rules: Work was divided equally, thecity was bad and there was no fooling around.
More books on similar topics have surfaced as Israel reachesmiddle age. Historians and writers are re-examining the country'searly roots, said Moshe Lissak, a sociologist at Hebrew University inJerusalem.
Another best seller, Amos Keinan's Waheb in Suphah, describes aman who goes home one day in 1982 and finds himself transported backto the early days of the state. It is 1954, he has a code name andbelongs to an underground political group whose violent activitiesare carried over into the future. The title is derived from anobscure biblical phrase.
"Many of these writers believe the course of Israel's historyhas gone wayward, deviating from the idealistic route mapped out inthe 1920s and 1930s," Lissak said. "Some of these artists are, in away, settling accounts with that earlier period."
In A Russian Romance, the Arab-Israeli conflict is noticeablyabsent and the line between good guys and bad guys is clearly drawn.All the protagonists are idealists - to an extreme degree.
Even the village mule, Zitzer, reads the socialist newspaper ashe drinks an occasional beer. A central committee sets down all therules for the community, even deciding who should marry whom.
Most critics agree, however, that the novel has stayed at thetop of Israel's best-seller list because it is a beautifully written,compelling book.
It tells the story of Tzirkin, Mirkin and Liberson, members ofthe "Work Committee Named After Feiga," a virtuous pioneer woman theyall love - platonically, of course.
The committee decrees that Tzirkin must marry Feiga, and hecomplies, although he secretly longs for a beautiful Ukrainian tarthe left behind in the old country.
Feiga dutifully produces three children, then dies of a brokenheart.
Woven throughout the saga are zany tales that breathe life intohistory while also poking fun at the pioneers.
"The pioneers are more revered in Israel than the AmericanMayflower in the United States. They have been transformed intoalmost demigods," said the 40-year-old Shalev. "On the other hand,people are sick and tired of hearing about all the swamps they driedto reclaim the land.
Even though today's generation resents the pioneers who "didit all," the author said, they long for a simpler time when people"predicted the direction of the wind by the color of the moon anddetermined the amount of nitrogen in the soil just by tasting anonion."
Shalev, a newspaper columnist, drew much of the material for ARussian Romance from his childhood on Nahalal, the first collectivefarm in Israel's Jezreel Valley.
His grandfather believed in few luxuries, hitched his trousersup with rope like one of the characters in the book and never let hisgrandmother buy a couch, Shalev said.
At the end of the novel, Tzirkin's grandson makes a fortune bycharging elderly Jews in Florida who have never set foot in Israel$10,000 to be buried in the pioneers' cemetery.
"The pioneers had the quality of character to sacrifice theirlives for an ideal, something few of us are willing to do today,"Shalev said.
Allies of the Italian government have pledged to patch up ties with the Catholic church, after a newspaper in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's media family attacked a Catholic editor who had demanded he answer allegations in a sex scandal over young women.
Lawmaker Fabrizio Cicchitto, a leader in Berlusconi's Freedom People party, told Sky TG24 TV Sunday it would be the conservative coalition's "aim and task to work hard so that there are no lacerations or fractures in relations between the government and the Catholic church."
Support from Catholic voters is considered crucial for any Italian government to come to power, and good ties with the Vatican are courted by many politicians.
Umberto Bossi, whose Northern League party is the lynchpin of the 15-month-old government, told reporters on Saturday he would go to the Vatican to personally try to shore up ties.
The apparent fraying in relations centers on the scandal that has swirled around Berlusconi since his wife announced this year she was divorcing him for what she said was his "infatuation" with young women. Allegations have included that women were paid to attend parties at his Sardinian villa, while a high-class prostitute said she spent a night with him at his Rome residence.
Berlusconi has denied paying women for sex, and dismisses the scandal as a plot by left-leaning media.
But many, including the daily newspaper Avvenire of Italy's Catholic Bishops Conference, have demanded more answers from the 72-year-old conservative billionaire media mogul.
On Friday, Milan daily Il Giornale, which is owned by Berlusconi's family, alleged the Catholic paper's chief editor had a homosexual scandal in his past. The paper alleged that Dino Boffo had been fined several years ago for harassing the wife of a man in whom he was purportedly interested.
Later that day, the premier scrapped his planned participation in a centuries-old Catholic pardon-seeking ceremony in the earthquake-struck town of L'Aquila, after the Vatican called off his dinner there with Pope Benedict XVI's top aide, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Berlusconi's cancellation was widely seen as done out of embarrassment for the Milan paper's report. Many had viewed his planned participation in the ceremony for pardoning sins as a public relations stroke to boost his popularity with Catholics and his standing with the Vatican.
Boffo denied the allegations against him in an editorial on Sunday.
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the bishops conference, called Il Giornale's allegations "disgusting," and expressed "esteem" for Boffo.
The Vatican has not commented directly about Il Giornale's report, but its newspaper L'Osservatore Romano carried the bishops conference's statement professing "full trust" in Boffo.
Berlusconi on Sunday sought to distance himself from the flap, insisting he had had no contact with Il Giornale's editor over the anti-Boffo article, Italian media reported.
The center-left opposition was left in tatters after Berlusconi swept to his third term as premier in spring 2008 elections, and it is unclear how much political capital it can make of the scandal involving the premier. Italians tend to view politicians' private lives as none of their business.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A judge on Friday refused to dismiss child pornography charges against John Mark Karr, the former suspect in the killing of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, after prosecutors admitted losing key evidence.
Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Cerena Wong criticized prosecutors and sheriff's deputies for "mistakes and missteps," such as losing the computer on which police said the five suspected images were stored and failing to tell her about the loss immediately.
Karr faces five misdemeanor charges. Defense lawyers asked for them to be dismissed, arguing that prosecutors were not acting in good faith. They also said they could not adequately defend their client without hard evidence.
Karr, 41, who was not required to be in court, was absent from the hearing.
The former teacher had fled before his trial could be held. He was arrested in Thailand last month after suggesting that he killed JonBenet in her family's Boulder, Colo., home in 1996. He was returned to the U.S., but the Ramsey case quickly collapsed after DNA failed to connect him to the crime.
Three hard drives, a laptop computer, diskettes and a disk drive were seized from Karr's home when he was arrested in 2001. Karr rejected a plea deal in the child porn case and remains jailed in lieu of $200,000 bail.
Investigators said they had lost computer data containing child porn evidence against Karr and testified Friday that they notified prosecutor Joan Risse on Aug. 30 that it was missing. Risse had told the judge Aug. 29 that deputies were still analyzing the hard drive, prompting the judge to seal search and arrest warrants from 2001.
Sonoma County Sheriff's Lt. Robert Giordano testified Friday that a copy of data on Karr's missing hard drive was found Thursday in the sheriff's computer forensic lab.
Wong said Friday after Risse testified about the missing evidence that the prosecutor had not misled her.
The problems for which Wong criticized prosecutors and investigators should be resolved by a jury, Wong said. The errors were not enough to merit dismissal of the charges, she said.
"There may have been some serious mistakes and missteps, but I don't believe when you add it all up, it amounts to bad faith," Wong said.
Risse said she was turning over information to defense attorney Robert Amparan as she received it and never intentionally withheld evidence.
The copy of the missing information was never booked as evidence but was used as an "investigative tool" in at least two other cases, Giordano said Friday.
Amparan asked Giordano and another investigator about where the drive was stored, what it was used for and how many times it had been copied. Neither Giordano nor Detective John Eubanks could answer.
"We don't have any record of where that drive went," Giordano testified.
Giordano said he learned the hard drive was missing Aug. 18 but didn't tell Risse until Aug. 30 because he was confident it would be found.
Amparan called the late discovery a "last-minute rush to come in with bad, corrupted evidence."
"The evidence we need to establish the defense in this case is gone," he said. "The lack of evidence renders us useless and meaningless."
AMMANFORD Nursery School has enhanced its green credentials bygrowing a range of vegetables at different times of the year.
The process is designed to make children think about the climate,soil types and issues such as how different countries growvegetables.
"Everyone at Ammanford Nursery School is very enthusiastic andlooking forward to learning and working with colleagues from thedifferent European schools," said a school spokeswoman The programmeforms part of the Comenuis Project, and the nursery will exchangetasks and findings with schools in Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey,Greece, Romania, Poland and Sweden.
Talented teens had a taste of what it's like to be a recordingstar when they heard their own song played back to them.
The youngsters celebrated the end of a nine-month music projecthosted by Music 4 U.
The event gave youngsters who took part in the project the chanceto meet up with old pals.
They also got to hear their song, which they wrote and recordedonto CD, Through Our Eyes, for the first time.
All kids who took part were presented with certificates inrecognition of their individual contribution to the project.
Music 4 U's Debbie Kirkness, who led the project, said: "It waslovely to catch up with the young people involved in the project."
A black teenager may get out of a juvenile facility in about eight months after a deal was struck Monday with prosecutors in the beating of a white classmate that sparked a major civil rights demonstration amid cries that his treatment was unduly harsh.
Mychal Bell, now 17, originally was charged as an adult with attempted murder in the beating of Justin Barker in December 2006. That charge was reduced before a jury convicted him in June of aggravated second-degree battery. In September, that verdict was thrown out by an appeals court that said Bell should be tried as a juvenile.
Under the deal, Bell pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery in return for an 18-month sentence with credit for the 10 months he already has served. Without a deal, Bell faced being placed in a juvenile facility until his 21st birthday.
Bell also must pay court costs plus $935 (euro638) to the Barker family and he must testify truthfully in court if any other of his co-defendants in the Barker beating go to trial.
"This was a way to put a close to an event at a time when everyone had reasons to want it settled," said Louis Scott, one of Bell's lawyers.
Bell is one of a group of teens who came to be known as the "Jena Six" as word spread of their arrests on attempted second-degree murder charges, which could have landed them in prison for decades.
"We were prepared to go forward with the trial, but you have to do what's best for the client," said Carol Powell Lexing, one of Bell's attorneys. A juvenile court trial was to begin later this week.
LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters was expected to comment on the deal Monday afternoon.
Barker spent several hours in the emergency room after the attack but was discharged and attended a school event the night after the attack, which occurred about a year ago.
Critics said prosecutors have treated blacks more harshly than whites in LaSalle Parish, pointing to an incident three months before the attack on Barker in which three white teens were accused of hanging nooses from a tree at the high school. The three were suspended from school but never criminally charged.
Walters has said there was no state crime to charge them with.
Results from the Sao Paulo state and Rio de Janeiro state first-division football championships (home teams listed first):
Sao Paulo Championship
Friday's Game
Sao Caetano 3, Ituano 1
Saturday's Games
Guarani 2, Noroeste 2
Oeste 1, Santos 2
Mirassol 2, Botafogo 3
Paulista 0, Santo Andre 3
Sunday's Games
Palmeiras 1, Corinthians 1
Portuguesa vs. Ponte Preta
Bragantino vs. Marilia
Mogi Mirim vs. Sao Paulo
Guaratingueta vs. Barueri
Tuesday, March 10
Oeste vs. Botafogo
Wednesday, March 11
Barueri vs. Bragantino
Portuguesa vs. Guaratingueta
Noroeste vs. Ponte Preta
Marilia vs. Guarani
Santo Andre vs. Mogi Mirim
Corinthians vs. Sao Caetano
Ituano vs. Palmeiras
Thursday, March 12
Santos vs. Paulista
Sao Paulo vs. Mirassol
___
Rio de Janeiro championship
Rio Cup
Saturday's Games
Boavista 3, Duque de Caxias 0
Madureira 1, Bangu 2
Flamengo 3, Cabofriense 1
Sunday's Games
Vasco 3, Friburguense 0
Resende 0, Macae 2
Volta Redonda 3, Americano 0
Mesquita vs. Fluminense
Tigres vs. Botafogo
Wednesday, March 11
Macae vs. Madureira
Fluminense vs. Volta Redonda
Friburguense vs. Tigres
Duque de Caxias vs. Flamengo
Thursday, March 12
Bangu vs. Resende
Botafogo vs. Vasco
Americano vs. Mesquita
Cabofriense vs. Boavista
The Defense Department denied Wednesday that the United States test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads during a joint military exercise with Saudi Arabia.
A Western military official in Saudi Arabia, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said a Trident missile was launched Wednesday out in the kingdom. But Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a Defense Department spokesman, said there was no launch of Trident or any other missile during the exercise, which began last week.
The U.S. has been strengthening missile defenses in allied Arab nations in the Gulf to help counter any potential missile strike from Iran. Like its nuclear work, Iran's missile program is of top concern to Washington and Arab nations wary of Tehran's growing influence in the region.
The Western military official in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, said U.S. Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, head of the Missile Defense Agency, attended the test launch, but a second defense official in the United States said that while O'Reilly was in the region last week, he did not attend a missile launch.
___
Associated Press Writers Salah Nasrawi in Cairo, Pauline Jelinek in Washington and Abdullah al-Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report.
The U.S. dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading Monday morning. Gold prices fell.
The euro was quoted at US$1.4812, up from US$1.4803 late Friday in New York.
Other dollar rates compared with late Friday:
_106.87 Japanese yen, up from 106.47
_1.0905 Swiss francs, up from 1.0888
_0.9972 Canadian dollars, up from 0.9938
The British pound was quoted at US$1.9759, up from US$1.9677.
Gold traded in London at US$899.50 per troy ounce at midmorning, down from US$911.45 on Friday.
In Zurich, the bid price was US$898.00, down from US$903.40.
Silver opened in London at US$16.79, down from US$16.84.
A Texas man has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for his 10th conviction of driving while intoxicated since 1979.
Prosecutors say 53-year-old Anthony Lynn Falco waived his right to a jury trial and pleaded not guilty to the felony charge over the June 22 traffic stop.
A statement Tuesday from the Williamson County prosecutor says tests showed Falco's blood alcohol content was 0.17 percent, more than twice the legal limit for driving in Texas.
Prosecutor John Bradley says Falco had nine prior convictions and served prison terms from five to 10 years. He also had convictions for theft, family violence assault and forgery.
NEW YORK Stocks were mixed today after bouncing around again,with the Dow Jones industrial average erasing an early 87-point slideonly to turn lower again in the afternoon.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 72.01 points to close at7,622.42.
The Nasdaq composite index posted modest gains thanks to somestrength among big-name technology shares.Stocks dropped this morning in tandem with the bond market,where interest rates rose after the Commerce Department reported thatconsumer spending shot up 0.8 percent in July.Separately, the Commerce Department said new home sales rose 0.9percent in July, the third straight monthly advance.Bonds fell for the first time in four days after the reports."This economy is growing faster than people want to think itis," said William Dawson, who oversees $50 billion in fixed-income atFederated Investors in Pittsburgh. "It increases the likelihood theFed will move again this year."The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond fell $4.69 per $1,000 inface value, pushing its yield up to 6.61 percent from 6.57 percent.Although the Federal Reserve decided earlier this month not toprotect against inflation by slowing the economy, investors havegrown fearful the central bank will take action by the end of theyear.Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the New York StockExchange, with 1,472 down, 1,314 up and 550 unchanged, on volume of408.3 million shares.The dollar rose against major currencies in late Europeantrading.The dollar was quoted at 1.8125 German marks, up from 1.8026late Thursday, and 120.90 yen, up from 118.65.The British pound was quoted at $1.6175, up from $1.6118 lateThursday.Gold in London closed at $324.50 per ounce, down from $326.10Thursday.Silver traded in London at $4.69 a troy ounce, down from $4.81Thursday.
Spacewalking astronauts performed more repair work on a jammed joint at the international space station on Thursday, keeping a tight grip on all their tools so nothing would get away this time.
A $100,000 tool bag was lost during the first spacewalk of the mission two days ago.
To everyone's relief, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Shane Kimbrough deftly stepped through their work without any mishaps. They had double- and triple-checked their equipment before venturing out to make certain everything was tied down.
As they packed up their tools to go back inside, Stefanyshyn-Piper said, "Hopefully, I won't lose anything on the way."
She didn't. Mission Control and astronauts inside the space station complimented the astronauts on the spacewalk, which lasted 6 hours, 45 minutes.
"Welcome back," said Endeavour commander Christopher Ferguson. "Outstanding job."
Stefanyshyn-Piper's tool bag slipped away Tuesday after one of the grease guns inside exploded and got bits of the dark gray stuff everywhere. She later owned up to making a mistake by not checking to make sure the bag was secured.
With two grease guns lost in space, only two remained for all the repair work, each with a different type of nozzle to reach different parts of the clogged solar wing-rotating joint. That meant Stefanyshyn-Piper and Kimbrough had to share the remaining grease guns and other tools.
To save time, Stefanyshyn-Piper tested an alternative method for applying grease: wiping it on with a terry mitt. That seemed to work well.
The spacewalk _ the second of four planned for shuttle Endeavour's visit _ fell on the 10th anniversary of the space station.
Before the action got under way outside, wishes of "Happy Birthday!" and "Happy Anniversary!" flew back and forth between flight controllers around the world and the space station's skipper, Mike Fincke.
The spacewalkers' primary job 220 miles up was to clean and lubricate the massive joint that controls the solar wings on the right side of the space station, and to replace its bearings.
It's been used sparingly since September 2007, hampering energy production at the space station. A lack of lubrication caused parts inside the joint to grind together, producing metal shavings that gummed up everything.
Other chores that the spacewalkers polished off: moving a pair of rail carts to clear a path for construction work planned on the next shuttle flight in February, and lubricating the bearings for the snares on the end of the space station's robot arm.
Meanwhile, much cleaner and less grueling home improvements continued inside the space station. Over the weekend, Endeavour delivered an extra bathroom and kitchen, two more bedrooms and a recycling system for turning urine and sweat into drinking water. The first sip won't happen until next spring; NASA wants to return samples aboard Endeavour and the next visiting shuttle, to make sure the recycled water is safe.
The additions will allow NASA to double the size of the space station crew from three to six by June, they hope.
The space station is also home, for the next few months anyway, to two orb-weaving spiders that flew up on Endeavour. It's an experiment by Florida, Texas and Colorado schoolchildren to compare webs created in weightlessness with those on Earth. Video beamed down showed the spiders keeping busy, creating at least one real web each.
"That's our only access to the World Wide Web aboard the space station at this time," noted Fincke.
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On the Net:
Abstract
Primary health care services, such as general practices, are the first point of contact for many Australian health care consumers. Until recently, the role of nursing in Australian primary care was poorly defined and described in the literature. Changes in policy and funding have given rise to an expansion of the nursing role in primary care. This paper provides a review of the literature and seeks to identify the barriers and facilitators to implementation of the practice nurse role in Australia and identifies strategic directions for future research and policy development.
Aust Health Rev 2005: 29(2): 156-166
THE GENERAL PRACTITIONER (GP) remains the broker and gatekeeper to health care services in Australia, with some 90% of Australians visiting a GP each year.1 The clinical skills, expertise and knowledge level of clinicians working in primary care have evolved to meet the challenges created by a more informed consumer, advances in medical technology and a drive for improved health service outcomes.2 This paper seeks to outline the contribution of practice nurses to Australian primary health care, describe the international experience relating to practice nurse role development, determine the scope of the clinical practice boundaries and identify the barriers and facilitators to the practice nurse's role.
The growth of the nursing role in Australian primary care has been driven by multiple factors including the changing health care needs of consumers, shortage of GPs in rural areas and generally increasing GP workloads nationwide. The term "practice nurse" refers to either a State Board Registered or Enrolled Nurse who is employed to provide nursing services in the setting of general practice.3-7 This may be direct employment by an individual or group of GPs or through third party contracts with local Divisions of General Practice, community health services or other private providers of nursing services.8-13 In contrast, general community nurses are primarily employed by local health authorities or private health care organisations to deliver nursing care directly to the local population in their homes or at community health centres.8-11
Although many community nurses work within a primary care model, increasingly the services provided by the general community nurse are frequently under the direction of an acute care specialist following hospital discharge, although an increasing number of referrals are being received from chronic disease specialists. Specific criteria often exist to define the types of services that general community nurses can provide under pre-existing funding models. Further, these nurses are often subject to the policies and procedures of an overarching body, for example an Area Health Service. In contrast, the practice nurse provides services under the direct or indirect supervision of a general practitioner. It is important to establish the unique, yet complementary, role that the practice nurse has in the health system and the diversity between this role and that of the general community nurse. To date, the practice nurse role is related to streamlining business practices, preventing potential hospitalisations or improving general health status by services such as continence clinics or lifestyle risk factor counselling. Potentially, practice nursing can be considered a "specialty" area of general community nursing not unlike other areas such as public health, community mental health or community sexual health nursing.
An enduring concern is the limited regulation of the tasks that can be delegated to the practice nurse. Currently, the specific scope of the practice nurses work is defined through negotiation between the individual GP and nurse.12,13 In their evaluation of shared care between practice nurses and GPs in Australia, Willis et al.15 identified that there was significant variation in the role, patterns of referral and work of the practice nurse. They described this as being a continuum from the nurse working solely at the direction of the GP to the nurse having almost complete control over their workload.15 While this variable scope reflects the range of nurses' skill levels from novice to expert, it is also related to other factors such as the perceived ability of the nurse, often by a GP who may have a limited understanding of the professional scope of nursing practice,16 or experience in managing nursing resources.17,18 While the practice nurse has a personal responsibility to work within their scope of experience and the professional code of practice, nurses have historically been poor at negotiating with their employers.19 This, combined with the negative power relationship with the GP,3,12,20 leads to a multifaceted dilemma which complicates the process of defining the practice nurse role.
The role of the practice nurse
Nurses deliver health care services in primary care internationally, although the closest parallels to the Australian context can be found in the United Kingdom21 and New Zealand.22,23 In the UK, the number of practice nurses has more than trebled since 1988(21,24) and they have become integral to the health care system and delivery of primary care. This has occurred as part of the National Health Service Reform, which has a strong primary care focus, and the introduction of the 1990 GP contract.18,21,25,26 Although driven by health reform, the growth of practice nursing was not part of a central government plan but occurred in response to perceived local needs that were not being met by existing community nursing services.21 The subsequent ad hoc nature of practice nurse growth led to "an uncertain and ill-defined role" (page 7)21 where there is significant diversity in functioning between nurses and practices.24'27 Practice nurses have generally developed their own individual roles based upon local needs, individual practice demands, their perceived skill level and personal confidence.8,21,28 This situation can be seen to have several parallels to the Australian Government's recent injection of funds into practice nursing services.
NZ practice nursing expanded significantly following the introduction of government funding to promote the role. In 1970, the NZ government introduced the practice nurse subsidy scheme to encourage practice nurse employment.12 Docherty29 reports that the effectiveness of this funding was limited as many nurses continued to undertake non-nursing duties rather than adopting a full clinical load. Therefore, in 1983 the conditions of the funding were amended to require the nurse to specifically undertake nursing duties and have work space within the practice to provide direct patient care.12,29 NZ practice nursing has evolved significantly since this time and has become an integral component of the health system.
In 1997 a strategic plan for practice nursing was developed by the NZ Nurses Organisation.12 This plan identified the need for a clear career pathway, a marketing plan to boost the professional profile of this specialty, and adequate employment conditions to facilitate recruitment and retention.12 A stringent education and accreditation program supports the professional development framework.23 Despite such advancements in the practice nurse role in NZ, there is a paucity of published literature describing the role and associated issues.12 The apparent positive effect that strategic planning and professional development has offered NZ practice nurses in professional status and role development suggests the potential value of such planning in the Australian setting. Further research and evaluation is required, however, to substantiate such inferences.
Research on the practice nurse role has largely comprised descriptive studies that investigate the practice nurse role in isolation from other providers.30 In addition to identifying the practice nurse as a largely unexplored resource, key themes that emerge from the published literature identify that:
* practice nurses demonstrate a wide variation of skills, competencies and clinical experience;12,13,21
* there is considerable variation in the practice nurse role;21,31-33
* there are significant barriers to expansion of the role;12,13
* multidisciplinary interventions can effectively deliver secondary prevention strategies in chronic and complex disease;34
* practice nurses can potentially facilitate these multidisciplinary interventions;35,36
* practice nurses are generally favourably perceived by consumers, although there is some confusion about the nature of their role.
In Australia, practice nurses have potential to establish affiliations with local community groups that would make them more accessible and acceptable than ad hoc health promotion, screening or chronic disease management programs. This consideration is particularly important in Australian society given the cultural diversity within the community and the extended health care needs of those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In these groups in particular, the GP has been shown to be a vital component of the health care system, maintaining the essential link between secondary and primary care.1
The evidence for the benefits of practice nurse intervention can be inferred from the positive results of clinical trials where general community nurses have been seconded to various roles within general practice.41-43 A major barrier to the continuation of such projects has been that funding of such inter- sectorial services is often not sustainable; a barrier which would be overcome through use of practice nurses to implement the interventions. The limited research available has supported this hypothesis.35'44'48 Further trials are required in multiple disease states within the Australian health care system.
Current practice nurse initiatives in Australia
In the Australian Federal Budget 2001-02, funding of $104.3 million was allocated to GPs in areas of high workforce pressure to employ additional practice nurses over a 4-year period.49,50 This was divided into funding for employment ($86.6 million), training and professional support ($12.5 million), and scholarships to encourage rural nurses to return to the workforce ($5.2 million).51 Although this funding was made available to areas of workforce shortage, in particular rural and remote areas, it is only since the allocation of this funding that work has begun to evaluate the changes to the culture and practice of primary care in Australia and the potential role for the practice nurse.
Proposed changes to the Medicare system will, reportedly increase practice nurse numbers by some 1600 nurses.52 While this is a positive step in improving primary care for Australians, it must be supported by a research and education infrastructure to ensure that strategic, as opposed to reactive, role development occurs which will contribute to improving patient outcomes. In addition to the completed reviews of the practice nurse role, educational needs and consumer perceptions,12,13,37,53,54 further well designed, largescale research is required. Such research should investigate the nature of collaborative practice between GPs and practice nurses; the potential for extending the practice nurse role to encompass case management models of chronic and complex conditions; and workplace issues, including professional supervision, remuneration scales, career pathways and professional regulation.
Much of the discussion in the Australian media surrounding practice nurses has focused upon the revamped Medicare package and the concurrent increases in practice nurse funding.52'55'56 While the popular press view the increase in practice nurse numbers positively, the role and scope of nursing professional practice does not appear to be well understood. Published commentary has described practice nurses as "nurses who perform some duties normally the preserve of the GPs"52 and as a general panacea for overworked and harried GPs. These articles fail to appreciate the scope of professional nursing practice and the significant contribution that practice nurses make to collaborative, multidisciplinary primary care. Given that the popular press is often a barometer of public views, this perception of practice nurses requires urgent attention by nursing associations to ensure that the public are apprised of the professional scope of these practitioners. This is particularly significant given the relative infancy of the practice nurse role and the finding that consumers who had greater exposure to a practice nurse exhibited a greater appreciation of their diverse role in health education, counselling and disease management than those who had not been involved with practice nurses.37
Development of the practice nurse role in Australia
The practice nurse role is subject to influence from diverse factors, including the national health agenda, contemporary legal requirements relating to health care delivery, economic and social concerns, professional issues, knowledge development, consumer needs and workforce supply and demand.13 The ways in which these factors currently enhance and constrain practice nurse role development are summarised in the Box.
The barriers
Current funding arrangements for general practice
The Australian primary care funding situation differs somewhat to that described in the UK and NZ literature. The Australian Medicare system that provides reimbursement for GP services provides only limited reimbursement for many nursing services that have not been directly supervised by a GP.15 Currently suggested changes to the Medicare system, including the provision of provider numbers to practice nurses and increased item numbers for nursing services, are seen as positive yet insufficient attempts to address this issue.6,57,55 As part of the new MedicarePlus package, two items for services by practice nurses have been introduced to provide remuneration to GPs for practice nurses providing immunisations (Item 10993) and wound care (Item 10996). The schedule fee for these item numbers has been set at $10, with a Medicare rebate of $8.50.7 Although these fees can be augmented by the immunisation incentive payments and the new $5 bulk billing item,7 it remains unclear whether they will provide sufficient incentive to encourage GPs to employ additional practice nurses. A further item number (10998) was introduced on January 1 2005 to fund pap smears undertaken by accredited nurses in regional, rural and remote areas. This enhanced funding likely improves the accessibility of pap smears to women in regional, rural and remote areas. However, the variation in Medicare rebate by geographical location potentially sets up a two-tiered service, whereby patients in urban and outlying areas receive increasingly disparate health care delivery. Additional item numbers for aspects of practice nursing such as lifestyle counselling, chronic disease assessment and management, and patient education would be beneficial in demonstrating recognition of the advanced scope of the practice nurse role and their significant contribution to collaborative primary care.
Limiting expenditure on wages is one way for GPs to increase income.58 Most general practices employ a receptionist, suggesting receptionists are considered a necessity, while nurses are considered a more expensive option.58 In spite of this trend, anecdote suggests those GPs who have worked with a practice nurse are better able to appreciate their value and contribution to primary care.59,60
The perception of nursing in general practice
Despite the advantages, a large number of GPs remain unconvinced the employment of a nurse will improve their practice efficiency, effectiveness and patient outcomes.58 GPs are not clear how the employment of practice nurses can translate into economic efficiencies within their practice. In her exploration of Australian practice nursing, Patterson58 identified that around one third of GPs thought that their medical receptionists could be sufficiently trained to undertake nursing tasks. In this study, administrative and reception staff were clearly identified as undertaking nursing and medical tasks without formal, accredited education and training.58 Such practice potentially places these employees in violation of legislation regarding professional practice and the regulation of health care providers. Indeed, the title of "practice nurse" remains unprotected under the Nurses and Midwifery Act 2002 (NSW)55 and similar legislation in other states and territories. The nature of general practice as a business, however, means that GPs have the authority to employ any individual regardless of education level or experience and delegate to them whatever tasks they deem appropriate.58 Many GPs are not fully aware of differences in role and scope of practice between Registered Nurses (RNs), Enrolled Nurses (ENs), Assistants in Nursing (AINs) and the requirements of the various statebased Nurse Registration Boards. Such a finding is not surprising considering the lack of multidisciplinary education in both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula.
Despite the advantages inherent in the role and the growth of the specialty internationally, in Australia, practice nursing has a relatively low professional profile. As with all community-based nursing groups, there has been a paucity of published material on clinical practice within the Australian context.51 Thus, primary care nurses have failed to develop a professional profile akin to that of the acute care nursing specialties.13 Additionally, the isolated nature of the practice nurse role means that they frequently have poor representation in the management of health services and professional nursing groups. Research exploring the role of the primary health team frequently omits, or merely tacitly explores, the role of the practice nurse.62 At a time when the focus of health care is shifting from acute to primary care settings, it is disturbing that community-based nursing generally, and practice nursing in particular, has such a low profile and representation in health care decision making.63
The professional relationship with the GP
Clinical supervision is a concern. While Enrolled or Division 2 nurses are required to be supervised by an RN,64 an RN does not require supervision by a more experienced nurse.65 The RN has a professional responsibility to practice within the accepted scope of practice and his or her individual professional competence. There has been controversy about the lack of professional monitoring of practice nurses, and the risk for these nurses to become further subservient to doctors and isolated from the nursing profession.18,66 Additionally, medical training has historically placed little emphasis upon human resource (HR) management18 or multidisciplinary collaborative practice.67 The professional relationship with the GP is also linked to the implicit power differences of the doctor-nurse divide, the economic power wielded through the employee-employer relationship, gender differences - and nurses' frequent lack of skills in negotiating conditions.8,19,26,66 A small minority of UK nurses have reportedly felt pressured to undertake clinical tasks about which they were unhappy.21 The relative professional isolation of practice nurses may also increase pressure to undertake tasks that nurses practising in acute care settings might not experience. The UK survey also found that the nature of clinical supervision was seldom clearly defined, but loosely based on implicit assumptions which varied from practice to practice.21 This is an important issue for Australian practice nurses in light of the lack of post-basic education, the multidisciplinary nature of the relationship and the dual role of the GP as both employer and clinical supervisor.
Lack of education and training opportunities
The rapid development of the practice nurse role has led to the recruitment of a diverse group of nurses who have a wide range of nursing qualifications and clinical experience.31,32 This, and the wide variation in roles, complicates the initial preparation and subsequent professional development for the practice nurse role. Additionally, GPs provide varying levels of support for continuing education, such as study leave and fee relief.13,58,59,68
Professional isolation has been identified as a major issue for practice nurses, with around 16% working alone in the UK.21,62 The vast geographical distances related to the population distribution in the Australian context intensify this isolation.69 This has implications for not only professional mentorship but also continuing access to education and professional development opportunities.70 Additionally, practice nurses identify a lack of supportive relationships in the workplace.21
Global shortage of qualified nurses
The global shortage of qualified nurses has focused on recruitment and retention.55 While new specialty areas such as practice nursing may enhance the retention of nurses due to improved conditions, flexible working hours and increased job satisfaction,18,61,71 losses from the health system will likely compound current human resource issues.
The facilitators
Australia's National Health Priorities
The 1996 Australian National Health Priorities of cardiovascular health, cancer control, injury prevention, mental health and diabetes mellitus reflect the increasing impact of chronic and complex disease states upon our society.72 Contemporary literature demonstrates the benefits of nursing intervention in improving quality of life, reducing hospital readmissions and increasing consumer compliance in chronic and complex disease states.73,74 The practice nurse is ideally positioned to provide this type of primary health care in the familiar and accessible environment of general practice.
Increasing the effectiveness of CP service delivery
Several advantages have been identified from the increase in practice nurse availability in general practice. Sibbald75 describes these advantages as being related to:
* the enhancement of available services in general practice, such as chronic illness management, wound care and health promotion, thus potentially reducing dependence of patients upon acute care facilities.21,24,25,64,65
* substitution for the GP in some interdisciplinary tasks, which in the UK, has allowed general practices to reach population-based targets for screening items such as immunisations and health screening.21,24
* delegation of screening, assessment and pathology tasks to the practice nurse releases the GP to spend more time with those clients who have greater complex medical needs.21,24
Unfortunately, much of the early literature regarding the role of practice nurses focuses upon how the practice nurses could save the GPs time, rather than how they could enrich client services66 and develop the nursing role as an integral component of the practice team. Further research is needed to explore the issues relating to the implementation of models of collaborative practice in general practice and their effectiveness on patient outcomes.
Consumer perceptions of nurses
As a profession, nurses are generally viewed as being amicable, ethical and trustworthy.13'69 Several studies have investigated consumer perceptions of the practice nurse role both in Australia37,40,53,54,80 and internationally.38'39'78'79 In 2002, the National Steering Committee on Nursing in General Practice conducted an Australia-wide focus group analysis of consumer perceptions of nursing in general practice.37 This study sampled 170 consumers from rural and metropolitan areas, with varying experience with practice nurses. The participants readily identified clinical tasks such as injections, wound care, dressings, health assessment (eg, blood pressure measurement, body weight), counselling and support37 as components of the practice nurse role. Fewer consumers identified the role of the practice nurse in health education, providing test results or health monitoring.37 Two potentially contradictory themes were expressed by participants in the Australian focus groups. Some participants felt that a client should see the GP first and then receive any required follow-up care by the practice nurse under the direction of the GP.37 The other view was that the practice nurse should triage, providing frontline assistance and offering subsequent referral to the GP if considered necessary.37 Participants with this view stressed that the practice nurse should not become a gatekeeper for the GP; but an enhancement of the GP and not a substitute for GP consultation.
Although there is some confusion regarding the role of the practice nurse, those consumers who have had contact with this role have responded favourably.37,53,54,80 A key message voiced by consumers is that any expansion of the practice nurse role in Australia must not jeopardise the choice of the consumer to seek primary health care from a GP or result in any increased costs associated with the provision of primary health care.37
Support of practice nursing by the Division of General Practice
Although there has been limited formal evaluation of support provided by Divisions of General Practice to practice nurses, preliminary work and anecdotal evidence indicate that such support seems to facilitate positive role development.60 Formal practice nurse education is largely delivered through the Divisions.12 However, the emphasis is on the provision of clinical care, particularly in relation to national priority areas, rather than clinical coordination or professional integration.12 There is also a component of professional networking which reduces the professional isolation inherent in the practice nurse role. Further formal research is required to explore the benefits of Divisional support and the optimal models of delivery of such support to optimise access to all practice nurses.
Conclusions
On the basis of the literature review described above, several factors regarding the nursing role require further consideration, research and debate. These include the role of general practice nursing in collaborative practice such as chronic disease management, negotiation of competencies and scopes of clinical practice, and the development and evaluation of collaborative models of care to enhance patient outcomes. Professional nursing bodies also need to actively collaborate to develop practice nursing as a defined specialty, and work with medical general practice groups to reach mutually acceptable aims and objectives.
Acknowledgement
Information related to this article was presented to the Australian Council of Deans (Nursing) for an honorarium to the School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney.
Competing interests
None identified.
[Sidebar]
What is known about the topic?
Following the recognition of the benefits of general practice nursing there has been growth in this nursing practice in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Australia, yet the role and scope of practice remains unclear.
What does this study add?
This study provides a literature review of practice nursing and discusses the many barriers and facilitators to enhancement of this role in Australia.
What are the implications for practice?
The authors call for leadership from professional nursing bodies to define and develop the role, accompanied by discussion and debate throughout the health care system on the contribution of practice nursing to enhancing patient outcomes through collaborative models of care.
[Reference]
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77 Lockwood A, Maguire F General practitioners and nurses collaborating in general practice. Aust J Prim Health 2000; 6(2): 19-29.
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(Received 9 Jun 2004, accepted 10 Mar 2005)
[Author Affiliation]
Elizabeth J Halcomba, RN, BN(Hons), GradCertlC, Doctoral candidate
John P Daly, RN, MEd(Hons), PhD, Professor of Nursing and Foundation Head of School
School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
Patricia M Davidson, RN, MEd, PhD, Associate Professor of Nursing and Director
Nursing Research Unit, University of Western Sydney and Western Sydney Area Health Service, Sydney, NSW.
Rhonda Griffiths, RN, CM, DrPH, Professor of Nursing and Director
Center for Applied Nursing Research, University of Western Sydney and South Western Sydney Area Health Service, Sydney, NSW.
Julie Yallop, RN, Senior Research Fellow
Cardiovascular Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
Geoffrey Toiler, MB BS, MD, FRACP, Professor of Cardiology
Department of Cardiology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW.
Correspondence: Mrs Elizabeth J Halcomb, School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, Sydney, NSW 1797. e.halcomb@uws.edu.au
NEW YORK (MCT) -- About a dozen more pieces of human remains --including a bone more than a foot long -- were unearthed near groundzero Saturday after a new search for Sept. 11 victims kicked intohigh gear.
A crew working with forensic experts also found wallets, shoes andcash at previously unsearched manholes, a member of the team told theNew York Daily News.
The medical examiner's office also painstakingly sifted throughdebris using a mesh -- a technique used on archaeological digs.
"We have the best possible people working through the weekend onthis effort," said Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler. "It is being done with thegreatest care and respect."
The new hunt for Sept. 11 remains was prompted by the stunningdiscovery Thursday of more than 80 bones -- some as large as 10inches long.
Skyler said the crew includes members of the New York police andfire departments, Con Edison, Verizon and the Port Authority. "Theyhave identified additional locations that need to be searched andhave already begun to manually remove material to an area where themedical examiner's staff will carefully sift through all of it," headded.
The latest discovery further outraged Sept. 11 victims' survivors,who renewed their demand for federal experts to take over the search.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered city officials Friday tosearch all the manholes in the area, covered over in 2004 to create atemporary service road to The Pit.
But furious family members said they had lost faith in the city'scompetence.
"If they were capable of doing the job, it would have been doneover the last five years," said Sally Regenhard, whose probationaryfirefighter son, Christian, was one of 2,749 people who died on Sept.11. He is one of the 1,150 victims whose remains have not beenidentified.
Family members and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer haveurged the city and Port Authority to hand over the search to theJoint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which specializes in unearthingslain soldiers.
But Skyler noted that two former members of that command now workfor the medical examiner's office. "The expertise being brought tobear on the site is the same expertise that some are requestingthrough the command," he said.
More remains found at ground zeroNEW YORK (MCT) -- About a dozen more pieces of human remains --including a bone more than a foot long -- were unearthed near groundzero Saturday after a new search for Sept. 11 victims kicked intohigh gear.
A crew working with forensic experts also found wallets, shoes andcash at previously unsearched manholes, a member of the team told theNew York Daily News.
The medical examiner's office also painstakingly sifted throughdebris using a mesh -- a technique used on archaeological digs.
"We have the best possible people working through the weekend onthis effort," said Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler. "It is being done with thegreatest care and respect."
The new hunt for Sept. 11 remains was prompted by the stunningdiscovery Thursday of more than 80 bones -- some as large as 10inches long.
Skyler said the crew includes members of the New York police andfire departments, Con Edison, Verizon and the Port Authority. "Theyhave identified additional locations that need to be searched andhave already begun to manually remove material to an area where themedical examiner's staff will carefully sift through all of it," headded.
The latest discovery further outraged Sept. 11 victims' survivors,who renewed their demand for federal experts to take over the search.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered city officials Friday tosearch all the manholes in the area, covered over in 2004 to create atemporary service road to The Pit.
But furious family members said they had lost faith in the city'scompetence.
"If they were capable of doing the job, it would have been doneover the last five years," said Sally Regenhard, whose probationaryfirefighter son, Christian, was one of 2,749 people who died on Sept.11. He is one of the 1,150 victims whose remains have not beenidentified.
Family members and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer haveurged the city and Port Authority to hand over the search to theJoint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which specializes in unearthingslain soldiers.
But Skyler noted that two former members of that command now workfor the medical examiner's office. "The expertise being brought tobear on the site is the same expertise that some are requestingthrough the command," he said.
Kazakhstan has not yet fulfilled its commitments on democratic reforms ahead of taking up the chairmanship of an international security and democracy group in 2010, a U.S. congressional delegation said Tuesday.
Kazakhstan, which will become the first former Soviet state to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation, has promised to reform its election laws and take steps to increase media freedom by the end of 2008.
"Progress was to be made in 2008, but in order to meet those commitments far more progress needs to be made," Sen. Benjamin Cardin said. He said he remained confident the required changes will eventually be implemented.
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RIGHT, that's enough celebrating around Ibrox and mourning atParkhead. Who's going to win the Clydesdale Bank Premier League nextseason? If Sir Alex Ferguson famously claims that he spends about 10minutes soaking up the pleasure of a triumph before turning histhoughts to the next one, the same must apply to Rangers and Celtic.
Before the Rangers players had extricated themselves from theirthrong of admirers at Rugby Park, bookmakers were shovelling outemails with their odds on who would win the league next season. Somesaid Rangers, some Celtic. This rivalry is relentless andunquenchable. Even as Ally McCoist cavorted with his players andfellow coaches at …
RIGHT, that's enough celebrating around Ibrox and mourning at Parkhead.... [Derived headline]RIGHT, that's enough celebrating around Ibrox and mourning atParkhead. Who's going to win the Clydesdale Bank Premier League nextseason? If Sir Alex Ferguson famously claims that he spends about 10minutes soaking up the pleasure of a triumph before turning histhoughts to the next one, the same must apply to Rangers and Celtic.
Before the Rangers players had extricated themselves from theirthrong of admirers at Rugby Park, bookmakers were shovelling outemails with their odds on who would win the league next season. Somesaid Rangers, some Celtic. This rivalry is relentless andunquenchable. Even as Ally McCoist cavorted with his players andfellow coaches at …
RIGHT, that's enough celebrating around Ibrox and mourning at Parkhead.... [Derived headline]RIGHT, that's enough celebrating around Ibrox and mourning atParkhead. Who's going to win the Clydesdale Bank Premier League nextseason? If Sir Alex Ferguson famously claims that he spends about 10minutes soaking up the pleasure of a triumph before turning histhoughts to the next one, the same must apply to Rangers and Celtic.
Before the Rangers players had extricated themselves from theirthrong of admirers at Rugby Park, bookmakers were shovelling outemails with their odds on who would win the league next season. Somesaid Rangers, some Celtic. This rivalry is relentless andunquenchable. Even as Ally McCoist cavorted with his players andfellow coaches at …
Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc. announced that following an especially weak period during the fourth quarter of 2003 and the early part of 2004, there was a noticeable improvement in sales, operating income and EBITDA towards the end of the first quarter of 2004.
Sales in the first quarter of 2004 totaled CHF 1,671 million, flat in Swiss francs and 1% lower in local currencies than the first quarter of 2003 (CHF 1,678 million). Gross profits (CHF 555 million, 33.2% of sales) were higher in both Swiss francs and local currencies than the first quarter of last year (CHF 545 million, 32.5%). Also, both operating income (CHF 170 million, 10.2% of sales) and EBITDA (CHF 261 million, 15.6% …
