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Nation in brief
Compiled from Times wires Report: Poll service may be doomedThe major television news networks and the Associated Press are seriously considering dissolving their decadelong partnership in the Voter News Service, the Election Day polling organization that was at the heart of the problems they had in reporting the results of the last two national elections, the New York Times reported Monday, quoting unnamed network executives close to the discussions. At the very least, the partnership will probably scrap the multimillion-dollar upgrade of the service's computer system, which has been fraught with technical problems, the executives said. The dissolution of the partnership would leave in doubt the news media's plans for reporting the results of the primaries and the general election with only a little over a year to go before the presidential campaign's first test in Iowa. The service has dozens of subscribers, which rely on it as the main source of Election Day projections and analysis. The New York Times reported, quoting the unnamed executives, that a vote on the service could come as early as Monday, when the partners are scheduled to meet. Though they did not think it was likely that the service would survive a vote, these people said they could not rule out its continuation. They all cited a confidentiality agreement and spoke on condition that their names not be used. Filipino lawmaker appears in Miami courtMIAMI -- A Filipino congressman accused of making illegal campaign donations to former President Bill Clinton and other Democratic politicians appeared in court Monday for the first time since arriving in the United States. Mark B. Jimenez, dressed in an olive jail uniform, spoke only to identify himself during a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Ted Bandstra. Lawyers for Jimenez are scheduled to request his release on bail this morning. Facing a U.S. extradition request, Jimenez, who turns 56 today, voluntarily left the Philippines last week. A federal indictment alleges Jimenez used corporate money to reimburse employees for illegal donations to Clinton and other politicians. The employees worked for a computer parts distribution business owned by Jimenez and a company owned by a relative; both were based in Miami. Jimenez was accused of illegally routing $50,000 to the Democratic National Committee and $33,500 to campaign committees. Man accused of high-tech stalkingKENOSHA, Wis. -- A man was charged Monday with stalking his former live-in girlfriend with help from a high-tech homing device placed under the hood of her car. Paul Seidler, 42, was arrested during the weekend. On Monday, he was charged with stalking, burglary, second-degree reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, and ordered held on $50,000 bail. According to a criminal complaint, Connie Adams asked Seidler to move out of her apartment Oct. 25 after a three-year relationship. Prosecutors say he immediately began following her, including when she ran errands and went to work. Investigators checked under the hood of Adams' vehicle and found a Global Positioning System that uses satellite and digital cellular technology to pinpoint a target's location. Thawed blood usable after 15 yearsWASHINGTON -- Human umbilical cord blood frozen for 15 years was revived and able to grow and expand in laboratory mice, suggesting that specimens preserved for that long could restore the bone marrow in cancer patients, experts say. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine said Monday that human cord blood frozen in 1985 and 1986 was able to grow in laboratory cultures with the same vigor as fresh cord blood. Hal E. Broxmeyer, a professor of microbiology and immunology and a pioneer in the freezing of cord blood, said the experiment suggests strongly that such cells frozen for a decade and a half can be used successfully to treat patients. Earlier studies had suggested that five years was about the limit, he said. Expanding the time when frozen cord blood can be used to about 15 years would substantially expand the inventory of transplantable cells, said Dr. Celso Bianco of America's Blood Centers, an organization of blood and bone marrow banking companies.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
