The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 3

www.pantagraph.com The Pantagraph Thursday, October 28, 2004 A3 NATIONWORLD NewsWatch Doctors rush to treat Showdown likely looming between U.S., insurgents Total eclipse 1 -J I 11 MIL 1 I mmL By Mohammed Daraghmeh ASSOCIATED PRESS RAMALLAH, West Bank An ailing Yasser Arafat col-; lapsed Wednesday night, was unconscious for about 10 minutes and remained in a serious condition. A team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to treat the ailing Pales- tinian leader, whose wife head- ed to her husband's side from Paris. An official in Arafat's office' said the Palestinian leader had created a special committee of three senior officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, to run Palestinian affairs the while 75-year-old Arafat during his continuing illness. Other Palestinian officials, including his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh, denied a temporary leadership group was formed. The Palestinian leader was eating soup during a meeting with Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and another official between 8 p.m.

and 9 p.m. (1 p.m. or 2 p.m. CDT) when he vomited, a bodyguard said. Arafat was taken quickly to the clinic inside his Ramallah compound, where he collapsed and was unconscious for about 10 minutes, the guard said.

Associated PressHADI MIZBAN U.S. Army soldiers blocked the airport highway in Baghdad, Iraq, after a bomb destroyed a sport utility vehicle Wednesday. By Robert H. Reld ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, Iraq An uptick in airstrikes and other military moves point to an imminent showdown between U.S. forces and Sunni Muslim insurgents west of Baghdad a decisive battle that could determine whether the campaign to bring democracy and stability to Iraq can succeed.

American officials have not confirmed a major assault is near against the insurgent bastions of Fallujah and neighboring Ramadi. But Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has warned Fallujah leaders that force will be used if they do not hand over extremists, including terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A similar escalation in U.S. military actions and Iraqi government warnings occurred before a major offensive in Najaf forced militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to give up that holy city in late August. And U.S.

and Iraqi troops retook Samarra from insurgents early this month. Now U.S. airstrikes on purported al-Zarqawi positions in three neighborhoods of east-. ern and northern Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, have increased. And residents reported this week that Marines appeared to be reinforcing forward positions near key areas of the city Other military units are on the move, including 800 British soldiers headed north to the U.S.-controlled zone.

The goal of an attack would be to restore government control in time for national elections by the' end of January. However, an all-out assault on the scale of April's siege of Fallujah would carry enormous risk both political and This sequence of photographs, taken at eight-minute intervals Wednesday night, shows the total eclipse of the moon oyer Denver, Colo. With the Earth passing directly between the sun and the moon, the only light hitting the full moon was from Earth's sunrises and sunsets, resulting in an orange and red hue. The next total lunar eclipse will not occur for another 2V2 years. U.S.

military and Allawi's government is political, such as a widespread public backlash. A nationwide association of Sunni clerics also has threatened to urge a boycott of the January elections if U.S. forces storm Fallujah. So Iraqi officials appear anxious to convince the public that they have made every effort to solve the Fallujah crisis peacefully The government spin is that the people of Fallujah are held as virtual hostages of armed foreign terrorists. military for the Americans and their Iraqi allies.

A series of policy mistakes by the U.S. military and the Bush administration have transformed Fallujah from a shabby, dusty backwater known regionally for mosques and tasty kebabs into a symbol of Arab pride and defiance of the United States throughout the Islamic world. A videotape obtained Tuesday by Associated Press Television News featured a warning by masked gunmen that if Fallujah is subjected to an all-out assault, they will strike "with weapons and military tactics" that the Americans and their allies "have not experienced before." Regardless of whether the threat was an empty boast, insurgents elsewhere in Iraq could be expected to step up attacks to try to relieve pressure on fighters in the Fallujah and Ramadi areas. But the main problem an assault would pose for both the LegacyCflrc Meeting the needs of those with Alzheimer's Located on the Heritage Manor campus in Normal V. fTo 1 Quality flooring at bargain prices Hundman Lumber NATION Anthrax vaccine for soldiers suspended WASHINGTON, D.C.

For the second time in a year! a federal judge ordered the military Wednesday to stop requiring anthrax vaccines for U.S. military personnel. In response, the Pentagon halted mandatory anthrax Vaccinations "until further notice," but noted the court did not question the safety or effectiveness of the vaccine. U.S. District Judge Emmet G.

Sullivan said the Food and Drug Administration violated its own procedures when it gave final approval to the vaccine last year because it failed to give the public an adequate opportunity to comment. Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the government was reviewing the anthrax decision and has made no decision yet whether to appeal. Alaska gas pipeline gaining momentum WASHINGTON, D.C. A pipeline to deliver natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to the fuel-hungry Midwest is suddenly more than a pipe dream. Congress has promised-to cover 80 percent of the cost if the project goes bust and Alaska is thinking about owning part of it.

But despite a tripling in natural gas prices in the last few years, the companies that own the gas remain skittish about rushing into a $20 billion investment. And how much government help should be given has become an issue in a highly contested Senate campaign in Alaska. To ease investors' concerns, Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski is proposing to make the state part owner of the pipeline. His administration is expected to announce a state proposal this week, prompting charges by Democrats that Murkowski was rushing the issue to help his daughter's Senate campaign.

Eve 2002 and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. His attorneys claim someone else killed her and framed their client. Cassini gets close look at Saturn moon Titan PASADENA, Calif. The international Cassini spacecraft began unveiling Saturn's mysterious sidekick Titan with a stream of increasingly sharp pictures of the surface taken during a flyby within 745 miles of the hazy moon. Distinct dark and bright surface areas were apparent in pictures arriving at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory late Tuesday.

Scientists were thrilled, but admitted they could only speculate about what they were seeing. They could not Say whether there is any liquid on the surface or whether the moon has distinct topography or is flat. "We are still mystified, and we are not quite sure what we are looking at," imaging scientist Carolyn Porco told a news conference Wednesday. The images and instrument data were nonetheless the best look at Titan yet. Cassini's previous flyby was at a distance of more than 200,000 miles.

WORLD Rebels accuse Sudan of new bombing raids ABUJA, Nigeria Rebel accusations that new government air raids killed 26 civilians in Sudan's troubled Darfur region cast a pall over peace talks in Nigeria, where African Union mediators struggled Wednesday to broker an end to fighting that has killed tens of thousands of A Sudan army official denied the rebel report. Lt. Gen. Mohammed Ismail, deputy chief of staff of the Sudanese army, said there had been no new violence in Darfur, which the United Nations has said is site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. A spokesman for the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, Mah-goup Hussain, said the bombings occurred Tuesday and Wednesday in Allaiat, a town in eastern Darfur.

"It is still continuing," Hussain said. "Definitely this round (of negotiations) will not go well. It is not logical. You are coming here for peace, and you r- -m M'tR''" 1 mJJ pj Hardwood Flooring Exotic Hardwood Ceramic Tile Xstmmin are bombing people over there." mi I 1 Lad Peterson Scott Peterson Take a look at what Hundman's has to offer Professional installation Free help from our team of professional designers Quality products at low prices On-site measuring Free local delivery Hundman Lumber Earthquake shakes area around Romania BUCHAREST, Romania A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 shook Romania late Wednesday, Romania's Earth Physics Institute said. Authorities said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The quake was centered in Vrancea, 110 miles northeast of Bucharest on the eastern rim of the Carpathian mountains, the center said. It struck at 11:34 p.m. and was felt in several Romanian cities, including Iasi, Bacau and the capital, Bucharest, where it knocked out telephone service. The quake also rattled portions of Turkey, Moldova and Ukraine, Turkey's private NTV television reported. From Pantagraph wire services OOn the Net: For updates on news before tomorrow morning, log on to The Pantagraph online at: www.pantagraph.com Testimony concludes in Scott Peterson trial REDWOOD CITY, Calif.

Jurors in the Scott Peterson murder trial were sent home Wednesday with orders to return Monday for closing arguments after prosecutors and defense attorneys decided against calling additional witnesses. Prosecutors had said they planned to call eight witnesses after Peterson's lawyers ended their case Tuesday. But when jurors returned Wednesday af-ternoonJudge Alfred A. Deluechi said both sides had decided against having additional testimony in the 5-month-long case. "You'll be glad to know the attorneys got together and stipulated to all testimony this afternoon," he told jurors.

Peterson is charged with murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, on or around Christmas 1707 Hamilton Road, Bloomington Hours: M-F Sat. Shop Online at: www.hundmanlumber.com.