WASHINGTON

Rehnquist hospitalized with cancer

Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the leading conservative figure
on the Supreme Court for a generation, has thyroid cancer but will
continue working while receiving treatment.

Rehnquist, 80, underwent a tracheotomy at Bethesda Naval
Hospital in suburban Maryland on Saturday. While no details about
his condition were released, a statement issued by the court said
he is expected to be back at work next week when justices resume
hearing cases.

Rehnquist’s hospitalization little more than a week before
the election gave new prominence to a campaign issue that has been
overshadowed by the war on terrorism. The next president is likely
to appoint at least one justice to a court that has been deeply
divided in recent years on issues as varied as abortion and the
2000 election itself.

Rehnquist, a conservative named to the court in 1972 by
then-President Richard Nixon and elevated to chief justice by
President Ronald Reagan in 1986, sided with the 5-4 majority in the
decision giving George Bush the presidency.

The thyroid gland, located in the neck, produces hormones that
help regulate the body’s use of energy. There are several
types of thyroid cancer, and it was not immediately known which
type Rehnquist has.

 

FBI: Violent crimes decrease, murder up

Violent crime fell last year, with only a slight uptick in
murders marring the overall trend of fewer crimes across the
country, the FBI said yesterday in its annual crime report.

There were just less than 1.4 million crimes of murder,
manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault in 2003, 3
percent fewer than 2002 and a decline of more than 25 percent from
1994.

The 2003 figure translates to a rate of 475 violent crimes for
every 100,000 Americans, a 3.9 percent decrease from the previous
year, the FBI report said. Aggravated assaults, which make up
two-thirds of all violent crimes, have dropped for 10 straight
years.

Murder was the only violent crime that increased in 2003, with
the 16,503 slayings reported by police to the FBI representing a
1.7 percent hike from the year before. Nearly eight in 10 murder
victims last year were male and 90 percent were adults.

Property crimes such as burglary, theft and theft of motor
vehicles dropped slightly, with the overall total of 10.4 million
crimes in 2003 representing a decline of less than 1 percent.

 

JERUSALEM

Sharon defends pullout plan to Parliament

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened a stormy debate in parliament
yesterday with a passionate appeal to lawmakers to support his Gaza
withdrawal plan — which has divided the country and weakened
his government — as the only way to secure Israel’s
future.

The withdrawal would mark the first time Israel has pulled down
Jewish settlements in the West Bank or Gaza, and Sharon is hoping a
decisive victory in a parliamentary vote scheduled for today will
blunt calls for a national referendum on the plan.

“This is a fateful moment for Israel. We are dealing with
a difficult decision that has few parallels,” he said in a
speech repeatedly interrupted by heckling from hard-line
opponents.

 

BEIJING

Powell discusses human rights in China visit

Secretary of State Colin Powell won agreement from top Chinese
officials yesterday to resume joint discussions on human rights
issues, but he failed to persuade them to open a dialogue with old
rival Taiwan.

China angrily removed human rights from the U.S.-China agenda
last spring when the United States introduced a resolution critical
of Beijing before the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Powell told reporters after high-level discussions here that the
two countries “will start talks about resuming our human
rights dialogue.”