Candidate heads to court

Candidate heads to court
MEXICO CITY -- Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador headed to court Sunday evening to file purported evidence of fraud that he hoped would overturn his conservative rival's razor-thin preliminary victory.
Lopez Obrador said his lawyers would give the Federal Electoral Court evidence of fraud, including computerized manipulation of the results, a day after he held a mammoth rally in Mexico City's historic center and called on his supporters to help keep his hope alive.
The legal appeal would seek not to annul the July 2 election, but to force authorities to conduct a manual recount of all 41 million ballots.
Election officials said Thursday that Felipe Calderon beat Lopez Obrador by less than 244,000 votes in the July 2 election -- or a margin of just 0.6 percent.
Pope praises family values
VALENCIA, Spain -- In a visit billed as a mini-showdown with Spain's Socialist government, Pope Benedict XVI drove home the importance of the traditional family before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims Sunday, insisting that marriage must be between a man and woman.
During a 26-hour trip, the pope met with Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose government has legalized gay marriage and introduced other liberal reforms that have irked the Vatican. Government officials described the talks as cordial and said no criticism was exchanged.
There was no comment from the Vatican.
At an open-air Mass before leaving for Rome, Benedict reiterated that the family was "founded on indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman."
Spanish organizers estimated some 1.5 million people attended the Mass, while witnesses estimated the crowd at less than half that.
The Mass came at the end of a nine-day church gathering focusing on family issues. Benedict said the next family congress would be in Mexico City in 2009.
In the spotlight over cases
WASHINGTON -- Three courts-martial over sex-related crimes at the Naval Academy -- including rape charges against the football team's star quarterback -- are set for this summer, as the school remains under pressure to reduce sexual assaults.
Lamar Owens Jr., who led the Navy football team to an 8-4 record last fall, faces court-martial Monday at the Washington Navy Yard on charges of raping a fellow midshipman in her dorm room in January. Courts-martial are set for later this summer against another football player accused of indecent assault and an instructor who is accused of making crude sexual comments to a female student.
In contrast with these three cases, the Annapolis, Md., school held only one court-martial for a sexual offense from 1994 to 2004, according to a Pentagon report released last year.
However, the academy and the nation's other public military schools have been under scrutiny since allegations of sexual assault arose at the Air Force Academy in 2003. On June 28, a Coast Guard Academy cadet was sentenced to six months in a military prison after being convicted of sex-related crimes, although he was acquitted of rape.
Woman gives birth at 62
LONDON -- A 62-year-old child psychologist has given birth to a boy, becoming the oldest British woman to have a baby.
Patti Farrant -- known professionally as Patricia Rashbrook -- delivered her son, J.J., by Caesarean section on Wednesday, according to The Daily Mail newspaper. The baby was conceived after fertility treatments.
Farrant has three grown children from a previous marriage. It is the first child for her husband, John, 60, an education management consultant.
"He is adorable, and seeing him for the first time was beyond words," she told the newspaper. "Having been through so much to have him, we are overjoyed. His birth was absolutely wonderful and deeply moving for both of us."
The oldest woman in the world to give birth is believed to be Romanian Adriana Iliescu, who was 66 when she had a daughter in Bucharest in January 2005.
Panda turns 1 year old
WASHINGTON -- One year ago, he was nearly hairless, pink and weighed about 4 ounces, less than most bagels. On Sunday, his first birthday, giant panda Tai Shan is an active, 56-pound cub and the star attraction of the National Zoo.
"He's like a rambunctious little toddler that loves to get into everything," said Dr. Suzan Murray, the zoo's chief veterinarian.
Murray has monitored every developmental benchmark for the black and white panda since his birth July 9, 2005. Those included the opening of his eyes, the development of his distinctive markings, his heartbeat, his mobility, and even the frequency of his squeals, grunts and barks.
Associated Press