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Astronauts take out the trash
　　Astronauts on Sunday exchanged supplies for trash that has accumulated on the international space station since shuttles were grounded after the 2003 Columbia tragedy. They also prepared for a second spacewalk set for Monday.
　　Space shuttle Discovery, which docked at the orbiting outpost Thursday, became the first shuttle to return to orbit last week. Among the mission's goals: Resupply the station and remove the mounds of trash that have accumulated in recent years.
　　"It is kind of just like working in your closets and your garage," station flight director Mark Ferring said. "It's a lot of work."
　　The astronauts are unloading 15 tons of cargo. They expect to return to Earth with 13 tons of trash and other items that are no longer needed on the station.
　　When the station's two-man crew awoke Sunday, they were told that their seven Discovery guests would remain at the station for an additional day.
　　"Hopefully it is not going to be like the relatives who miss their flight and have to stay another day," Charles Hobaugh, who works in the station's mission control, told crew members by radio.
　　A ninth day at the station was approved late Saturday, days after NASA decided to ground future shuttle missions because an almost one-pound piece of foam broke free of Discovery's external fuel tank. The piece of foam missed Discovery, but was a haunting reminder of Columbia.
　　A 1.67 pound chunk of foam shed from Columbia's external tank hit the shuttle's left wing and caused a hole that allowed the searing gases of re-entry to melt the wing from the inside out. The shuttle disintegrated over Texas as it returned to Florida. All seven astronauts died.
　　NASA spent hundreds of millions of dollars over 2{ years redesigning the external tank, but said last week it did not solve the problem and more work is needed.
　　Bill Gerstenmaier, the station's program manager, said Discovery will leave the station in much better shape than when it arrived. Water will be left behind, as well as laptops, wash cloths, a printer, dry wipes, floppy disks, food and nitrogen.
　　"We are going to be in very good shape through the end of the year," Gerstenmaier said.
　　Shuttles are needed for the supplying and continued construction of the station.
　　When NASA's shuttles were grounded in 2003, the agency began relying on Russian vehicles to deliver supplies to the station. However, the Russian cargo ship Progress cannot haul the weighty items the shuttle can. The next delivery by Progress is scheduled for September.
　　Gerstenmaier said station managers prepared for a scenario in which there would be no shuttle flights this year. Despite that, he said the grounding of future shuttle missions opens the station to risk.
　　"We are still susceptible to some large failure of some component that can only be delivered by the shuttle that we don't have a like spare on station," he said.
　　Among the tasks Discovery's astronauts performed for the station was the reconfiguring of a gyroscope, which failed in March. Four gyroscopes, each weighing 660 pounds, are intended to steer the station, but only two have been working in recent months.
　　On Monday, during their second spacewalk, Discovery astronauts Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi, planned to replace the other failed gyroscope, which has not worked since 2002.
　　The pair planned to go over procedures for installing the gyroscope on Sunday with astronaut Andrew Thomas, who was set to direct Monday's replacement.
　　As they began spacewalk preparations Sunday, Robinson informed Mission Control's Stephen Frick that things might proceed slower than anticipated.
　　"If you saw what our mid-deck looks like right now, you'd see why," Robinson said as his colleagues transferred items between the shuttle and station. "It's a high traffic zone."
　　"I'm afraid it would be a little too frightening," Frick responded with a chuckle

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Massive weapons cache seized in Afghanistan

　　Thousands of rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft ammunition have been seized in central Afghanistan in the largest cache of militant weapons discovered in months, a government spokesman said Sunday.

　　The arms were to be used to subvert crucial legislative elections on Sept. 18, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Saher Azimi said.

　　The raid in Ghazni province's Khogyani district Saturday netted some 2,000 surface-to-surface rockets, 3,000 mortar rounds, 500 artillery shells and 100 boxes of anti-aircraft bullets, he said.

"The enemy planned to use them to sabotage the elections," Azimi said. "This was a very important operation to prevent the killing of civilians."

　　He declined to give any other details about the find, including whether the Taliban were suspected to have stockpiled the cache or whether anyone had been arrested.

　　Afghan officials have warned that the Taliban and al-Qaeda have launched a joint campaign to disrupt the September elections — the next key step toward democracy after a quarter century of war. Since March, a major upsurge in fighting has left more than 800 people dead, more than half of them suspected insurgents, according to U.S. and Afghan officials

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Formerly conjoined twins doing well
　　One year after a neurosurgeon separated them by cutting through a section of brain, Carl Aguirre says "Wow!" as he whizzes a toy truck off the tray of his high chair and his brother Clarence holds his nose to let his mother know his diaper is dirty.

　　After "starting their life over," the formerly conjoined 3-year-old Filipino boys have been amazingly free of significant complications, doctors say. Clarence is about to take his first steps and therapists say Carl will soon follow.

"When they emerged from the OR as separate boys, it was almost as if that was their second birth," said Dr. Robert Marion, the boys' pediatrician. "Their motor skills are what you'd expect of a 1-year-old. They're starting to walk. They're playing appropriately in the way that a 1-year-old would. Their speech, also, is like that of a 1-year-old."

　　Until last Aug. 4, when they underwent the fourth in a series of major operations at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, Carl and Clarence had been unable to sit up, stand straight or see each other's face. Joined at the top of their heads, they were limited to lying on their backs, which stunted their development and subjected them to chronic pneumonia caused by inhaling food.

　　"They were going to die," Marion said. "And now seeing them with unlimited potential, it's the most gratifying experience I've ever had in medicine."

　　The boys and their mother, Arlene, came to New York in 2003, when Montefiore agreed to take the boys' case for free — it has cost more than $3 million so far — and the Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla agreed to donate housing and therapy.

　　The Children's Hospital team of neurosurgeon Dr. James Goodrich and plastic surgeon Dr. David Staffenberg separated the boys in a gradual "staged" approach, pushing apart their brains and dividing the blood vessels in four operations from October 2003 to August 2004. In between, the boys were given time to heal. It was a departure from the more common single marathon operation.

　　During the final operation, the surgeons found that the boys' brains, which scans had indicated were abutting but separate, were actually shared and seamless at one point. Dreading whatever complications he might cause, Goodrich studied and consulted and finally found a place to cut where veins seemed to go in opposite directions.

　　"I am not a religious person," Goodrich said last week. "But I do think there was something guiding us along there."

　　Marion said Carl suffered some seizures in the month after the separation, but Goodrich said his principal fears — neurological problems and liquid on the brain — did not develop.

　　During a reporter's recent visit to Blythedale, Clarence walked proudly, holding onto a therapist with one hand and pushing his stroller with the other. He was so energetic that at one point he stepped out of his pants and staffers had to find him a belt.

　　Meanwhile, Carl stood, a bit unsteadily, to play a bead game on a table.

　　Later, the boys laughed as they tumbled down a padded slide together. Though their skulls have not yet been reconstructed — doctors don't want to interrupt their therapy — and specially designed plastic helmets haven't fit well, the doctors say the boys' heads are protected well enough by their bandages even for horseplay.

　　Arlene Aguirre tried to hide while she watched her sons' therapy session, because when they see her the boys want to do nothing but cuddle.

　　"Both of them want my attention all the time," she said. "But it's very exciting that I have to deal with two children. …… Before the separation, I was thinking: 'Will I ever see them again?'"

　　She said she is encouraged when she hears Clarence say "yogurt" and call his brother by name. Carl says "walk" and "mama" and both boys use sign language to convey such phrases as "please more eat."

　　Aguirre said she expects to move from Blythedale soon and set up a household with the boys, and hopes to eventually return to the Philippines.

　　"My friends and family, I want to share the boys with them," she said. "It will be so exciting to go back there, holding one boy with each hand."

　　The success of the operation has brought honors for Goodrich and Staffenberg, although Goodrich says the best prize he's received is a Montefiore parking space. They are constantly invited to speak or write about the procedure, which has been published in journals for neurosurgery, plastic surgery and anesthesia.

　　The surgeons recommend their "staged" approach not just for conjoined twins but for other severe craniofacial cases. In the only separation of similar "craniopagus" twins in the U.S. since the Aguirre boys, surgeons at Johns Hopkins used the marathon approach on 1-year-old German girls and only one survived.

　　Goodrich said an upcoming procedure overseas — he wouldn't say where — will be performed their way.

　　He said he initially tried to keep an emotional distance from the boys, but confessed "you can't go through something like we did and not get attached. You can't be around them and not love them."

　　Staffenberg said he recently came up behind Clarence, who was walking down a hallway while holding a therapist's hand.

　　"Clarence turned around and looked at me and put his other hand out for me," Staffenberg said. "I don't think at any point during all the surgery I would have imagined that kind of situation. When you get the moment when they reach out for your hand, it's unbelievable."

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Police suspect racial motive in Liverpool ax killing
　　A black teenager who was followed through a park by a group of men shouting racist taunts died Saturday after an attacker embedded an ax in his skull.

　　Anthony Walker, 18, was waiting for a bus with his girlfriend and a cousin when a man started shouting racist taunts at them late Friday near Walker's home in Liverpool, police said.

　　The three left to find another bus stop to avoid any trouble, police said. But a group of three or four men followed them through a park, and Walker's companions saw someone bludgeon him with an ax.

　　They ran to get help and returned a few minutes later to find him with the ax embedded in his skull, news reports said. Walker died early Saturday.

　　No arrests had been made in the attack.

"What we are dealing with here is a vicious and unprovoked attack on a young black man which we believe to be racially motivated," said Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Currie, who was leading the investigation.

　　Police said several other incidents of racial abuse had been reported in the area recently

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NHL's Crosby era begins as Penguins draft phenom first
　　OTTAWA — It was Sidney Crosby's draft, and yet it was clearly the Americans' day when the NHL officially relaunched competition with a scaled-down version of its annual amateur draft.
　　The celebration of Crosby, picked first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins, was the main storyline of a league trying to recover from a season lost to a lockout. Crosby, 17, is considered the most marketable prospect since Penguins' owner/player Mario Lemieux was drafted in 1984.
　　"This is amazing," Crosby told the AP. "I'm just really relieved. It's unbelievable. I'm so happy right now."
　　Crosby, who turns 18 next week, is a 5-foot-11, 193-pound forward with surprising strength and masterful vision on the ice. A prolific scorer, Crosby won nearly every trophy the last two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

He had 66 goals and 102 assists in 62 games, after a rookie campaign that featured 54 goals and 81 assists in 59 games, and was the Canadian major junior player of the year both seasons.
　　"He creates a lot of excitement," said Lemieux, Crosby's new boss and possible linemate with the Penguins. "He has all the tools to be a great player. He sees the ice well, he's a great skater. He says he needs to work on his shot, but it looks pretty good to me."
　　Crosby will share the spotlight in Pittsburgh with Lemieux, the No. 1 pick in 1984, and will be looked upon to rescue the franchise that hasn't made the playoffs since 2001 and desperately needs a new arena in which to play.
　　Pittsburgh's luck already seems to be changing as the Penguins won last week's draft lottery that determined the picking order of the first round.
　　"I'm not really thinking about it right now," Crosby said of the expectations. "I want to come and play in the NHL next year. That's my goal, that's my focus right now. I'm going to put everything into that and try to move on from there."
　　Aside from the Crosby focus, the U.S. hockey program grabbed a share of the spotlight when a record eight Americans were chosen in the first round, including two of the first three picks. After Crosby was chosen, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim chose power forward Bobby Ryan (Camden, N.J.) and hard-hitting defenseman Jack Johnson (Indianapolis) was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes with the third pick. Johnson, who played prep-school hockey in Minnesota with Crosby, plans to enroll at the University of Michigan. Speedy Jack Skille (Madison, Wis.) went seventh to the Chicago Blackhawks and defenseman Brian Lee (Fargo, N.D.) was grabbed ninth by the Ottawa Senators.
　　"The development program has worked very, very well and you are seeing some signs of that," said Carolina general manager Jimmy Rutherford. "And people questioned it at the time (it was introduced in 1996). But guys are going through that program and getting drafted higher and higher.
　　Rutherford was referring to the U.S. National Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. In theory, the program was designed to bring the country's best teenage players to play together on the Under-17 and Under-18 National Teams. Players from around the country all live and train in Ann Arbor. Johnson and Skille both came directly out of the Under-18 program. The Americans won the Under-18 World Championship this past winter.
　　"This says a lot," said Johnson whose prickly playing style has drawn comparisons to Chris Chelios. "We're trying to build up with other countries, like Canada."
　　Skille came into the U.S. National Development Program as a 185-pound player and has grown into a 205-pound, hard-driving winger. "The weightlifting program there was awesome," Skille said.
　　The program hasn't always been an easy sell because it is expensive to operate, but USA Hockey President Ron DeGregorio says "this is an indication that USA Hockey's development programs are working."
　　The four Americans in the first nine picks represented the best U.S. top-end showing since 1983 when high school sensation Brian Lawton was chosen first overall by the Minnesota North Stars, Pat LaFontaine went third to the New York Islanders and Tom Barrasso was chosen fifth by the Buffalo Sabres.
　　St. Louis Blues general manager Larry Pleau was one of the few Americans in the NHL during the 1960s, and he certainly had some pride helping the Americans set a new record. With the 24th pick, Pleau chose playmaking center T.J. Oshie of Warroad (Minn.) High School. Oshie produced 99 points in 31 games this season. Some scouts say he possessed the best hockey sense in the draft. "He's very creative and very competitive," said Pleau.
　　The other U.S.-born first-rounders included rugged defenseman Matt Lashoff (East Greenbush, N.Y.), who went to Boston 22nd overall, Joe Finley (Edina, Minn.) who went 27th to Washington, and puck-carrying defenseman Matt Niskanen (Virginia, Minn.) who went 28th to the Dallas Stars. At 6-7, Finley is viewed as a possible Zdeno Chara-style player while Niskanen produced 27 goals and 38 assists in 29 games for his Virginia High School team.
　　The pro-American trend continued in the second round when 10 more Americans were chosen. Ryan Stoa (Plymouth), projected by some to be a first-rounder, went 34th to Colorado. Paul Stastny, son of Peter Stastny, was actually born in Quebec, but was raised in the U.S. and plays for Denver University. He has an American passport and was also drafted by Colorado 44th overall. Taylor Chorney, son of former Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings player Mark Chorney, was snatched up by Edmonton.
　　The Americans' impact helped dress up a day that lacked the major trades that usually mark draft day. The Hurricanes' trade of winger Jeff O'Neill to Toronto for a draft pick was the only significant deal of the day. With a new salary cap in place, most general managers are still trying to sort out their payroll issues to concentrate on trades. The real player movement will start on Monday at noon ET when the free agent signing period begins.
　　Per the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, the draft was shortened to seven rounds, down from nine.
　　Most teams won't know for sure what they have with this draft for a couple of years, but the Penguins already know what they have with Crosby, projected to be a future scoring champion. He had 168 points in 62 games playing for Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this past season. The Penguins' season-ticket sales have spiked dramatically since it was announced that the Penguins won the lottery that assured them of Crosby.
　　"It's booming in Pittsburgh," Lemieux said. "Everyone is very excited — not just in Pittsburgh but in the entire National Hockey League."
　　Most first round picks don't play immediately in the NHL, and it will become even less likely now because the new CBA includes a provision that eventually will allow players with seven NHL seasons to become unrestricted free agents. In most cases, it will make more sense for a team to want to have their players tied up from the age of 20-27, instead of 18-25. But Lemieux said there is no doubt that Crosby will play in the NHL next season.
　　"He's strong enough to play in our league right now," Lemieux said. "And I think the key for us is to surround him with some great players."
　　There's a presumption that he might play on a line with Lemieux. He might even live with Lemieux. "We have some room," Lemieux said.
　　Lemieux has said that he hopes to add a couple of veterans to the roster before the season begins in October. The prevailing sentiment in the hockey world is that Pittsburgh will pursue winger Alexei Kovalev who played the best hockey of his career while previously a member of the Penguins

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Iraqi constitution may be postponed
　　The announcement came hours before the 71-member drafting committee was to say whether it would need an extension to finish the document. The committee chairman, Humam Hammoudi, said there was an "80 percent chance" his group would ask for a one-month extension.
　　The United States has been pushing the Iraqis to meet the deadline to maintain political momentum seen as crucial to defeating the insurgency and enabling U.S. and other foreign troops to begin leaving Iraq next year. Main points in dispute include such issues as federalism, dual nationality and the role of Islam.
　　"I believe, according to what I heard from the head of the drafting committee and other members, that there is big chance that what has been agreed upon will be drafted while points of disagreement will be postponed to a future date," spokesman Laith Kubba told reporters.
　　A Sunni member of the committee, Saleh al-Mutlaq, suggested postponing a decision on the most troublesome issues until after the Dec. 15 general elections.
　　"We will wait for drafting points of disagreement until there is a better atmosphere," Kubba said. The constitution should be approved by parliament by Aug. 15 and submitted to the voters in a referendum two months later.

Framers of Iraq's new constitution expect to submit a draft in time for parliament to meet an Aug. 15 deadline for approval, but decisions on some key points may be deferred until later, the government spokesman said Sunday