Ore. court rules frozen embryos can be destroyed

The Oregon Court of Appeals has ordered six frozen embryos destroyed after ruling they can be treated as personal property in a divorce.

The court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that an agreement leaving the final decision up to the ex-wife must be followed.

Dr. Laura Dahl, a pediatrician, and her former husband, Dr. Darrell Angle, an orthodontist, had attempted to conceive through in vitro fertilization.

After several failed attempts, the couple gave up and left the embryos with Oregon Health & Science University under an agreement that spelled out how they would be stored.

Dahl decided to have the embryos destroyed, but Angle had …

Spreading the news ; Chronicle Comment

We have written a lot in recent weeks and months aboutsupermarkets - both our existing stores and new ones that want tomake their mark in the city.

Supermarkets have a vital part to play in our shopping experiencebut, just as important for local people, is that we need a widerange of convenience stores and independent shops to help give thearea its flavour.

That is why today on pages …

Hilton Sent Back to Jail in Hysterics

LOS ANGELES - She was taken handcuffed and crying from her home. She was escorted into court disheveled, without makeup, hair askew and face red with tears.

Crying out for her mother when she was ordered back to jail, Paris Hilton's cool, glamorous image evaporated Friday as she gave the impression of a little girl lost in a merciless legal system.

"It's not right!" shouted the weeping Hilton. "Mom!" she called out to Kathy Hilton, who also was in tears.

The 26-year-old hotel heiress tried to move toward her parents but was steered away by two sheriff's deputies, who held her by each arm and hustled her from the courtroom.

Superior Court Judge Michael T. …

Liverpool looks to keep faint title hopes alive

Liverpool is not only fighting to stay in the Premier League title race but also, it seems, to retain midfielder Javier Mascherano.

By the time the Reds host Newcastle on Sunday, they could be six points adrift of defending champion Manchester United in their bid for a first league title since 1990.

While Mascherano has indicated he might be tempted by a move from Anfield at the end of the season.

"For now, the main thing is to try to win the league and then I will have to think about what I am going to do, but I am good here," the Argentina midfielder said Friday. "I can't say anything bad about Liverpool as a city or as a club …

Bill Clinton extends lease on Harlem offices

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton has extended a lease on his office space in Harlem.

According to the U.S. General Services Administration, Clinton signed a lease for another 10 years for the top floors of the 14-story building on West 125th Street in New York City.

The lease was negotiated by the GSA. The rent is paid by taxpayers.

Clinton signed the original lease …

Florida contest is first to test Jewish vote

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 21 - Each of the 2008 presidential wannabes is a self-annointed "agent of change." The sobriquet fits some better than others, but what they are all trying to telling us is, "I'm not George W. Bush."

And that includes the Republicans.

Republican turnout at this year's caucuses and primaries - as well as fundraising - has been far below that of Democrats, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm among party faithful.

But the real test will be this Tuesday in Florida where for the first time all four leading Republican hopefuls vie head-to-head and the largest group of delegates so far.

All are looking for a victory there to launch them ahead of the …

Brazilian economic boom transforming Latin America's largest nation

Maria Nazare de Souza beams as she shows off her newfound wealth: a two-chair beauty salon with a tiny two-room apartment above it.

After renting for years in the vast slum of Heliopolis, de Souza and her husband fulfilled an almost unthinkable dream, becoming homeowners with the help of their savings and a loan requiring monthly payments of just 107 reals (US$59, euro39.84).

Souza hopes she can soon use credit to replace her secondhand stove, microwave oven and refrigerator with new appliances. All around her in this slum of 180,000 people, trucks delivering plasma TVs bought on payment plans rumble by new cars and the concrete homes that are rapidly …