FORMER PRESIDENT FORD TREATED FOR PNEUMONIA

Former President Fordtreated for pneumonia
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Former President Ford was undergoing treatment for pneumonia Monday at the same facility where he was briefly hospitalized a month ago, his chief of staff said. He was said to be doing well. Ford, 92, was admitted Saturday to Eisenhower Medical Center near his home in Rancho Mirage in Southern California, Penny Circle said. "Based on his age, it is prudent for his initial course of treatment -- IV antibiotics -- to be done at the hospital," Circle told The Associated Press. Ford was expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday or Thursday, she said. "He's doing very well," she said.
Committee to decide Alito nomination Jan. 24
WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court on Jan. 24, officials announced Monday night, and the full Senate will begin debate the following day. In a written statement, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he looks forward to a "fair up-or-down vote" swiftly on Alito, President Bush's choice to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito, 55, an appeals court judge, is assured of approval in the committee, where all 10 Republicans have indicated their support. Prospects for confirmation in the full Senate are strong, as well. Democrats have not yet ruled out mounting a filibuster to delay or prevent a final vote. But that appears increasingly unlikely in the wake of Alito's testimony at confirmation hearings last week.
Suicide motorbike driverkills 20, wounds 30
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Spectators were cheering the final moments of a wrestling match at a holiday fair when a motorbike weaved into the crowd -- and exploded in a searing fireball. "It was like doomsday," said Abdul Samad, who was in the crowd Monday at the border town of Spinboldak. "The motorcycle went up into the air in flames." The attacker, with explosives strapped to his body, killed 20 people and wounded at least 30. It was the third deadly bombing in just over 24 hours in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar province, and the bloodiest yet in a recent wave of suicide assaults. Samad said he fled in a stampede of terrified spectators who had gathered at the fair to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. But he returned to help pull out the dead and injured.
Liberia's Sirleaf sworn inas first female president
MONROVIA, Liberia -- U.S. warships appeared off the coast of Liberia in 2003 to help calm a vicious civil war. On Monday, they were back on the horizon again -- this time in a show of support for Africa's first elected female president. Standing before a lone, one-starred flag, 67-year-old Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took office as Liberia's new leader, promising to uphold her country's fragile peace. She inherits a war-ruined nation with no running water, no electricity and huge expectations for change. Sirleaf called for unity -- and patience. Founded by freed American slaves in 1847, Liberia was prosperous and peaceful for more than a century, bolstered by abundant timber and diamond wealth. But back-to-back civil wars from 1989 to 2003 brought the country to its knees, killing 200,000 people and displacing half the nation's population of 3 million. Today, not even the capital has running water or electricity. Unemployment is at 80 percent.
Pakistani ruling partydemands U.S. apology
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Pakistan's ruling party demanded an apology Monday for a reported CIA airstrike that killed at least 17 people, but the country's prime minister said his trip to the United States this week would go ahead as planned. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q on Monday condemned the reported U.S. airstrike on a village near the Afghan border, which intelligence officials have said targeted Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri. But Aziz said he was still scheduled to leave today for the United States, where he said he would talk about security issues but also meet business leaders to encourage foreign investment.
Court urges Austria to return Klimt paintings
VIENNA, Austria -- It was a seven-year legal struggle with dazzling stakes -- five precious paintings by Austrian icon Gustav Klimt that a California woman says were stolen from her Jewish family by the Nazis. Now, a court ruling made public on Monday will likely resolve the high-profile case against Austria's government in her favor. The Austrian arbitration court determined the country is legally obligated to give the paintings to Maria Altmann, the heir of the family who owned them before the Nazis took over Austria in 1938, the Austria Press Agency reported. Altmann said she was awakened by a telephone call from her attorney at 7:30 a.m. Monday with the good news. "I tell you, frankly, I had a very good feeling the last few days. I had a very positive feeling thinking things will go all right," said Altmann.
Associated Press
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