SHARPTON WANTS TEST TO SEE IF HE'S RELATED TO THURMOND

Sharpton wants test to seeif he's related to Thurmond
NEW YORK -- The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator. "I can't find out anything more shocking than I've already learned," Sharpton told the Daily News, which reported the link Sunday based on genealogists' findings. Sharpton's spokesman, Rachel Noerdlinger, confirmed Monday for The Associated Press that Sharpton, who learned about the connection last week, plans to pursue DNA testing. Noerdlinger had no further details. Professional genealogists, who work for Ancestry.com, found that Sharpton's great-grandfather Coleman Sharpton was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.
Court blocks transferof Anna Nicole's body
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A Florida appeals court issued a stay Monday in the dispute over Anna Nicole Smith's body, ruling that her remains cannot be moved to the Bahamas until the judges hear a challenge from the starlet's estranged mother. The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal is considering a request by Virgie Arthur to overturn a trial judge's decision giving control of Smith's body to the attorney for the centerfold's infant daughter. That attorney decided Smith should be buried in the Bahamas beside her 20-year-old son, who died last year of apparent drug-related causes. Arthur has been seeking to bury her daughter in her native Texas. The court gave other attorneys in the case until 2 p.m. today to respond to the challenge.
Storm spares Northeast
BALTIMORE -- The storm that pounded the Midwest over the weekend brought relatively light snow to the Northeast on Monday, delaying some commuters but sparing the region a repeat of the Valentine's Day ice storm that brought airline flights to a standstill. Forecasters had feared the snowflakes could melt in the air, then refreeze into sleet closer to the ground. Instead, the weather was just cold enough that the wet, heavy flakes never melted, and they piled up quickly. "We dodged a bullet, actually, with the temperature staying just above freezing," said Sandra Dobson, a spokeswoman for the Maryland State Highway Administration. Maryland received three to six inches. The New York City area and Connecticut got up to 4 inches, a fraction of the amount that fell in the Midwest during the weekend. The Midwest took the brunt of the storm, with more than 2 feet of snow falling in southeastern Minnesota.
Study: College studentsare more self-centered
NEW YORK -- Today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society. "We need to stop endlessly repeating 'you're special' and having children repeat that back," said the study's lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. "Kids are self-centered enough already." Twenge and her colleagues, in findings to be presented at a workshop today in San Diego on the generation gap, examined the responses of 16,475 college students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006. The standardized inventory, known as the NPI, asks for responses to such statements as "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place," "I think I am a special person" and "I can live my life any way I want to." The researchers describe their study as the largest ever of its type and say students' NPI scores have risen steadily since the current test was introduced in 1982. By 2006, they said, two-thirds of the students had above-average scores, 30 percent more than in 1982.
Countries begin workon new Iran resolution
LONDON -- The five permanent Security Council members and Germany began work Monday on a new U.N. resolution to pressure Iran to suspend parts of its nuclear program, but said they were still committed to seeking a diplomatic solution. The six nations, meeting in London, said they were seeking the best way to "re-engage" Tehran after it failed to respect a U.N. deadline to halt its uranium enrichment work. However, they said no decisions were made and more talks were needed. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, briefing reporters in Washington after the meeting, said the diplomats would hold a telephone conference Thursday, "at which time they hope to be able to hammer out the elements of a U.N. sanctions resolution."
Associated Press