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Show DAILY H El AID Thundaf. September 9. 2004 U.S. bombs Fallujah for second day Third fed iiMft 0 U rules abortion act , Hamza Hendawi ASSOCIATED PRESS THE U.S. jets in positions pounded insurgent Fallujah for a second straight day Wednesday, raising plumes of smoke but leaving no extensive damage or signs t of weakening the Sunni militants who have steadily expanded their control of this-citabout 30 miles west of BaghFALLUJAH, Iraq . A. unconstitutional Zs fffZ Kevin O'Hanlon THC dad. After the attacks, bands of fighters, many wearing loose black pajama-lik- e pants and lounged outside abandoned buildings facing the American lines, seeking toes-cap- e the intense sunlight of a day when temperatures topped 114 degrees. Most hid their faces with Arab head scarves or ski masks. Some quenched their thirst with water from coolers beside them. Most appeared to be in their late teens or early 20s and 30s, but a few looked as old as 50. Elsewhere in this city of 300,000, fighters patrolled the streets in new American pickups. One resident, Abu Rihab, said they were part fleet commanof a deered between Jordan and Baghdad. - The Fallujah Brigade, which the Americans organized in May to maintain security after the Marines lifted a three-wee- k siege, has all but disappeared, along with virtually all signs of Iraqi state authority. Members of the Iraqi national guard, which was supposed to back up the Fallujah Brigade, fled the city after one of their commanders was executed by insurgents for allegedly spying for the Americans. Local police operate un-- - -- 1 - xw-- t VTV If -- r "I -t mi SAM Associated Press ABDUL KHAOER after a U.S. airstrike in Fallujah, Iraq, on Wednesday. The airstrikes were in retaliation for Monday's attacks on Marine positions outside the city that killed seven Marines. Thick smoke rises der the tacit control of the milidry, said Marine spokesman Lt. of Staff, acknowledged that it CoL T.V. Johnson. could be months before U.S. and tants. The airstrikes, in the eastern Despite the formal end of the Iraqi authorities are prepared to U.S. occupation on June 28, the take those cities back. and southern parts of this city, "Part of that strategy is that interim Iraqi government has targeted a militant "command and control headquarters" that tost control over key Sunni Iraqi security forces must be Muslim cities such as Fallujah, has been coordinating attacks properly equipped, trained and r Ramadi and Samarra. The led to participate in these secuagainst U.S. and Iraqi forces, the U.S. military said in a state- commander of the US. 1st Inrity operations, and then once it's over, can sustain the peace ment. fantry Division said his troops in a given city," Myers told "Initial assessments indicate ' and their Iraqi allies would rethere are no noncombatant cagain control of Samarra before Pentagon reporters Tuesday. That appeared to be a tacit sualties," the U.S. statement Iraq's general election expected in January. added. "Enemy casualty figacknowledgment that even if the Americans regained the ures cannot be confirmed." Maj. Gen. John Batiste said cities by force, the Iraqis would he was confident that a combiHospital officials said two not be able to control them. nation of diplomacy, U.S. aid people were killed in the attack Jn Fallujah, real power is in and Army intimidation would but did not say whether they the hands of the "Mujahedeen were insurgents. Late Tuesday, persuade the city's 500 insurU.S. jets dropped several bombs gents to give up. Otherwise, he Shura Council," a and tank and artillery units said, the Americans would use body led by Sheik Abdullah force. fired rounds into Fallujah in respiritual leader of the rrilitants and the undisputed taliation for militant attacks on However, Gen. Richard MyMarine positions outside the ers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs ruler of the city since May. Research: Dirty air limits lung development Linda A. Johnson THE . ASSOCIATED PRESS New research shows that teenagers who grow up in heavy air pollution have reduced lung capacity, putting them at risk for illness and premature death as adults. In the longest study to date of pollution's impact on developing lungs, University of Southern California researchers followed children raised in communities around Los Angeles some very polluted, some hot for eight years. They found about 8 percent of had lung capacity less than 80 percent of nor-- " mal, compared with about 1.5 percent of those in communis t ies with the least pollution. "What they found here, until . i ri .i t iney iina otnerwise, l wouiaj expect would apply to other, cities," said Patrick Breysse, director of the Division of Environmental Health Engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was not involved in the study. The effects were the same for boys or girls, and whether or not the children had asthma or smoked. "We're seeing air pollution effects on all kids, not just sensitive subpopulations," said . lead researcher James Gauder-maassociate professor of preventive medicine at USCs new standards limiting emissions of such fine particles, h the which are about width of a human hair. Ozone, which is found at tower levels indoors than the other pollutants, did not appear to affect lung capacity. The Los Angeles metro area has the country's worst year-roun-d fine particle pollution, and Bakersf ield, Fresno and other California cities also are . among the 10 worst, according to the American Lung Association. Other metropolitan areas on that list include Pittsburgh, Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland and Birmingham, Ala. The lung capacity of children comraised in the munities grew by about 100 millimeters less over the eight years, compared to children in the areas, said lead researcher James Gauder-maassociate professor of preventive medicine at USCs Keck School of Medicine. That's about 7 percent reduced hing capacity for girls, "a fairly significant amount," Gauderman said. For boys, who normally can inhale and more air exhale about one-30t- n, Keck School of Medicine. The study was reported in today's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers studied 1,759 children in 12 Southern California communities from spring 1993 through spring 2001, testing their lung capacity annually between ages 10 and 18, when lungs grow substantially and reach full capacity. Meanwhile, monitoring sta- tions in each community collected continuous data on levels of several common pollutants spewed from car and truck exhaust pipes, factories and power plants. Reduced lung function was linked to high levels of nitrogen dioxide, vapor containing nitric acid and other acids, and carbon contained in the tiniest particles of soot, which can penetrate deep into the lungs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently set most-pollute- d least-pollute- d n, one-thir- d than girls, capacity was reduced about 4 percent. They may not notice it today because at age 18 these kids are at their peak lung capacity," Gauderman said, but they could develop health problems in their 40s and 50s. He thinks the pollutants limit breathing capacity by causing ctowifc inflammation in the small airways deep in the lungs. The worst cities studied, Gauderman said, were near Los Angeles: Long Beach, Mira Loma, Riverside, San Dimas and Upland. The results are similar to findings announced four years ago but go beyond it in showing that pollution's effects are cumulative. No children with lung problems in the first four years appeared to improve later, noted Gauderman. He and his colleagues are continuing to follow the teens to see if any develop d health problems. John Bachmann, associate director of science policy in the EPA's Air Office, said the study" "very shows "that particular mix of pollutants has serious long-tereffects in children." lung-relate- m I j A third . LINCOLN, Neb. federal judge has ruled the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional, adding judicial weight that some experts say could keep the issue from reaching the US Supreme Court. US. District Judge Richard Kopf of Lincoln ruled against the measure Wednesday, saying Congress ignored the most experienced doctors when it determined that the banned procedure would never be necessary to protect the health of the a finding he called mother "unreasonable." His ruling echoed decisions ' by federal judges in New York and San Francisco. The abortion ban was signed last year by President Bush but was not enforced because the three judges agreed to hear constitutional challenges in simultaneous nonjury trials. The ban, which President Clinton twice had vetoed, was seen by abortion rights activists as a fundamental departure from the Supreme Court's 1973 precedent in Roe v. Wade. But the Bush adniinistration has argued that the partial birth procedure is cruel and unnecessary and causes pain to the fetus. If each judge is upheld by federal appeals courts, the high court might not take up the issue, said Pricilla Smith, a lawyer Cenwith the New York-base- d ter for Reproductive Rights. "If all the appellate courts uphold those decisions, there is no reason for it to go to the Supreme Court," Smith said. Not everyone agreed. "It's very unusual for the court not to take a case where an act of Congress has been struck down," said Jay Seku-lochief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, which supports the ban. "I would be very surprised if the court took a pass on this." The Nebraska lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of physicians including Dr. LeRoy Carhart, who also brought the challenge that led the high court in 2000 to overturn a similar ban passed by Nebraska lawmakers. The Supreme Court already said what the law is four years ago," Smith said. The judges all across the country, from different political persuasions, applied the law and uniformly found it . unconstitutionaL" Louise Melling, director of the American Civil liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project, agreed with Smith, "What you have is a decision of a mere four years ago striking a similar ban,'' she said. "And now you have three courts striking a ban for the same reason." '.' I A ' ASSOCIATED PRESS i SI itr"-"--- t it '' TED KIRKAP Judge Richard Kopf joined two other judges in New York and San Francisco in ruling Wednesday that the Partial-Birt- h Abortion Act is unconstitutionaL U.S. District . Smith said, however, that if there is a change in the makeup of the high court through presidential appointments,, it might still hear the issue even if the appeals courts uphold the decisions. "And that, of course, is what the proponents of the law have been hoping for all along," she said. The Justice Department already has filed an appeal of the San Francisco ruling and said in a statement Wednesday that it "win continue to defend the law to protect innocent new life from partial-birtabortion." In his ruling, Kopf said "according to responsible medical opinion, there are times when the banned procedure is medically necessary to preserve the health of a woman and a respectful reading of the congressional record proves that point. "No reasonable and unbiased person could come to a different conclusion. The federal law bars a procedure doctors called "intact dilation and extraction," or D&X, and opponents can partial-birt- h abortioa During the procedure, generally performed in the sec- ond trimester, a fetus is partially removed from the womb and its skull is punctured or crushed. The law contains an exception when the life of the mother but not her health is at risk. Backers of the ban said a health exception would open a major loophole, allowing abortions even when the mental health of the mother is in question. Kopf agreed with Carhart and his lawyers, who said the law is vague and could be interpreted as covering more common, less controversial procedures, including "dilatation and evacuation," or D&E, which is the most common method of second-trimestabortion. An estimated 140,000 D&Es take place in the United States annually, compared with an estimated 2,200 to 5,000 D&X procedures. , . Sharon decides to move part of barrier closer to Israel to disrupt the lives of Palestini- Josef Federman THE ASSOCIATED PRESSj . The separation barrier in the west Bank JERUSALEM v tiaiioween win move closer to Israel in one area to minimize hardship to Mestiniansjeaving three small Jewish settlements on the Palestinian sidfe Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided Wednes day. However, the system of con crete slabs, f encesNand trenches also win swing arouhdat least two large Jewish settl blocs so they can be included on the Israeli side. Sharon's decision came during a meeting with defense officials, who presented a revised route for parts of the barrier, in line with an Israeli Supreme Court directive that planners must try harder not ans. Meanwhile, a lengthy Palestinian leadership crisis flared again when Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia sent a letter of resignation to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but Arafat refused to accept it. A Palestinian Cabinet minister, speaking on condition of ' anonymity, said the resignation was sent after the two had a heated meeting on Tuesday, each charging the other with trying to undermine his authority. Efforts were under way to calm the dispute, the official said Qureia has often threatened to resign because of power disputes with Arafat. Israel has already erected e d of the separation barrier. Regarding the re-- largest settlement, on the Israeli side, senior Israeli officials said, . 425-mil- one-thir- m . 'A TP Cti cials said. KEVWFRAYERAP, A Palestinian woman climbs over a section of Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank town of Abu Dis, on Wednesday. Despite strong US. opposition, Sharon is leaning toward incorporating Ariel, the second- . r If)wthiiiko(ffckction(rfcostuBMisuVulln watt IS ytw M eur kw prkol This means three small settlements in the area Susia, Maon and Carmel wfll on the Palestinian side of ine oarner. snaron repuneuiy had favored incorporating the three settlements, located two to five miles inskte the West Bank, on the Israe.fi side. De-fense Ministry planners, con? s cerned about the Supreme ; Court ruling, wanted the route closer to the Green Line. The three settlements wfll now be ringed by individual ;' fences. f .v;: E University Parkway, Orem , . v- Caring competent staff : All RN nursing staff t Board certified physicians ( Moft than' 350 skilled physicians on staff Sated 1 for customer satisfaction' ' . 00 1 i FOR HIGH DEFINITION LAS IK , 208 re-ma-in . maining twothirds, Sharon deferred decision Wednesday on perhaps the most contentious section near the Jewish settlement of Ariel in the center of theWestBank. inruier speaking on condition of anonymity. Sharon's office said the final barrier route would be presented to the Cabinet for approval once planners complete . ' ' r their work. In Wednesday's morning's meeting, Sharon decided the southern segment would run close to the "Green Line," Israel's frontier before it captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. the offi IntraLASIKJ . '. |