The Record, Bergen County, NJ

Terri Schiavo's Husband Says Divorce Never Considered

NEW YORK Despite pleas from the Vatican, U.S. lawmakers and President Bush, Michael Schiavo says he could not have divorced his brain-damaged wife and given up the fight to let her die. "I was doing something that Terri wanted. And I couldn't give it up on her," Schiavo said in an interview recorded for the Sunday edition of NBC's "Dateline."

Study: Weight Training Aids Breast Cancer Survivors

ATLANTA Weight lifting appears to improve breast cancer survivors' outlook on life, suggests one of the first studies to scientifically measure the effects of such exercise. About 80 percent of women who took up twice-a-week weight- training saw improved scores on a quality-of-life survey, researchers said in a study to be published in the journal Cancer.

Leader Seeks Backing for Border Plan ; Says He'll Consult U.S., Europe On West Bank

JERUSALEM Two days before a crucial election, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged Sunday to consult the United States and Europe about his plan to pull out of much of the West Bank, remove settlements and set his country's borders within four years. Olmert's Kadima party is ahead in the polls, and his two main opponents devoted the end of their campaigns to criticizing him and his plan, after declaring the vote a referendum on the future of Israel's presence in the West Bank, captured ...

Wife Accused of Killing Preacher Apologized From Jail, Friend Says

SELMER, Tenn. The woman charged with murder in the death of her preacher husband wanted his congregation to know "she was sorry for everything she has done," said a friend who visited her in jail Sunday. Church member Pam Killingsworth visited Mary Winkler after Sunday services and said the preacher's wife gave no indication why her husband of 10 years was shot.

Afghanistan to Release Christian Convert ; Court's Dismissal of Case Likely to Incite Muslim Extremists

KABUL, Afghanistan A court on Sunday dismissed the case against an Afghan man facing possible execution for converting from Islam to Christianity, officials said, paving the way for his release, possibly today. The move eased pressure from the West but raised the issue of protecting Abdul Rahman after his release as Islamic clerics have called for him to be killed.

Online Textbooks Just a Click Away ; Computers About to Lift a Load From N.J. Students' Backs

Some students at Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale will be ditching their textbooks next year and studying biology and geometry online. "It brings the real world into learning," schools Superintendent Benedict Tantillo said. "Students can manipulate DNA, look at photosynthesis actually happening or perhaps learn how to build a house using the geometry they have learned."

Emotional Rallies Seek to Influence Shape of Senate's Immigration Bill

Last week, the long-simmering national problem of illegal immigration spilled into the streets. More than 1,000 people rallied in New Jersey's state capital to show their support for undocumented immigrants. Marches in Phoenix and Milwaukee drew 20,000 and 10,000 people, respectively. In Georgia, 80,000 workers stayed away from work to protest anti- immigrant legislation.

Getting Past Arafat ; Palestinians Want End to Regime's Corruption

RAMALLAH, West Bank Roudina Basher just wanted directions to get home after a day of shopping. But as she stood on a sidewalk near a torn and faded poster of dead Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and reflected on his tattered legacy, she yearned for another kind of direction: a reversal of the Arafat regime's corruption.

Nevada Groups Fight to Save Church Twain Helped Build ; Congregants Shrug Off Writer's Connection

CARSON CITY, Nev. - In his 20s, Mark Twain was well-known for his carousing at Nevada gold rush saloons, irreverent views of the establishment and a skeptical attitude toward organized religions. Now, the creator of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer is getting attention for a little-known good deed: helping the construction of a frontier church in the 1860s.

Hundreds Mourn 2 Bus Crash Victims ; Lautenberg Attends Rites in Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP More than 200 people gathered Sunday to bury two New Jersey retirees who died last week when their tour bus plummeted more than 300 feet down a steep Chilean mountainside. As an investigation of the accident continues, Arthur Kovar, 67, and his wife Frieda, 74, became the first victims from last Wednesday's accident to be buried. It killed 12 people, including 10 from a close-knit Monroe Township retirement community.

Some See Conflict in Dep Manager's Temporary Job ; Will Work for Brownfield Association

TRENTON Environmentalists say the Department of Environmental Protection is creating a conflict of interest by lending one of its managers on a one-year assignment with a non-profit group weighted heavily by developers who seek approvals from the state. The DEP's hazardous site manager, Susan Boyle, will spend the rest of the year as chief operating officer for the National Brownfield Association, a Chicago-based non-profit that promotes turning toxic sites into projects for commercial use, ...

Marines Shunning Body Armor Shipments

HUSAYBAH, Iraq Extra body armor the lack of which caused a political storm in the United States has flooded into Iraq, but many Marines here promptly stuck it in lockers or under bunks. Many say the gear is too heavy and cumbersome. Marines already carry loads as heavy as 70 pounds when they patrol the dangerous streets in restive Anbar province. The new armor plates, while only about five pounds per set, are not worth carrying for the additional safety they are said to provide, some say.

30 Corpses Are Discovered in Iraqi Village ; 16 Die During Clash at Shiite Mosque

BAGHDAD, Iraq Police found 30 corpses, most beheaded, near a village north of the capital Sunday night, in the latest wave of sectarian killings engulfing Iraq. At least 16 people were killed during a clash involving U.S. forces at a Shiite mosque in Baghdad. Elsewhere in the capital, American troops raided an Interior Ministry building Sunday and briefly detained about 10 Iraqi policemen after discovering 17 Sudanese prisoners in the facility, Iraqi authorities said.

Scalia's Hard View On Guantanamo ; Detainees Have No Protection, Justice Told Audience

WASHINGTON Justice Antonin Scalia reportedly told an overseas audience this month that the U.S. Constitution does not protect foreigners held at America's military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Scalia also told the audience at the University of Freiberg in Switzerland that he was "astounded" at the "hypocritical" reaction in Europe to the prison, according to this week's issue of Newsweek.

Pro-Russian Party Triumphs in Ukraine ; Election Deals Blow to U.S. Ally Yushchenko

KIEV, Ukraine A pro-Russia party won the largest chunk of votes in Ukraine's parliamentary elections Sunday, two nationwide exit polls indicated, dealing a stinging rebuke to President Viktor Yushchenko's West-leaning administration. Polling stations shut after 15 hours, but voters who had waited in long lines and managed to get inside before the official closing time were allowed to cast ballots, choosing from 45 parties that sought seats in the 450-member Parliament.

French Strike Expected to Cause Major Travel Delays

PARIS French students and unions insisted Sunday that they will go ahead with a one-day national strike and more street protests unless the government withdraws a youth labor law that has sparked violent demonstrations and shut down universities. The strike Tuesday is expected to leave some air travelers stranded, disrupt train traffic and slow subway travel in Paris and the provinces. Union leaders said they would meet Wednesday to decide on the next step.

Casting Their Votes Overseas ; Passaic Bus Takes Citizens to N.Y.C. Polls

Roman Leverynts of Passaic voted for the first time Sunday, thousands of miles from the homeland he left three months ago. Leverynts, 18, who emigrated with his parents from Ukraine, was one of 25 Ukrainian citizens who rode a bus from St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Passaic to vote in that nation's parliamentary elections at its consulate general in New York.

33 Hurt During Evacuation Drill for Airbus A380 ; Critical Test for Biggest Passenger Jet

HAMBURG, Germany Thirty-three people suffered minor injuries Sunday during a crucial evacuation drill for the new Airbus A380 superjumbo jet. One man broke his leg and 32 other people suffered minor injuries during the exercise in which 853 people and 20 crew members from Lufthansa AG exited the plane on slides in a darkened hangar.

Police Set to Thwart Protesters in Belarus ; Violence, Arrests Stir Indignation Abroad

MINSK, Belarus Police kept a close watch Sunday on the square that was the center of an unprecedented week of protests, determined to prevent the opposition from renewing demonstrations against Belarus' authoritarian president. The protests that culminated Saturday in a clash with riot police left the opposition daunted but determined to try to press ahead.

Around the World

Charles visits a Saudi vo-tech RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Prince Charles visited a male-only technical and vocational college Sunday, giving his support to an aggressive initiative by the Saudi government to become less reliant on an immigrant workforce that performs manual jobs.