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Kennedy under evaluation but on the mend

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) — Sen. Ted Kennedy was undergoing more tests Monday as doctors tried to figure out what caused his seizure.

[It’s] unclear if we’ll know anything conclusive later today or tomorrow, spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Monday. As of right now, I expect him to stay again tonight.

The 76-year-old Democratic icon was flown to the hospital after having a seizure Saturday.

Medical officials this weekend said he seemed to be out of any immediate danger.

Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital offered no update Sunday or Monday morning. Watch what might have caused the seizure

Dr. Larry Ronan, Kennedy’s primary care physician, said Saturday that the senator was resting comfortably and watching the Red Sox game with his family.

He said Kennedy will undergo further evaluation to figure out what caused the seizure, and a course of treatment will be determined at that time. Watch what lies ahead in Kennedy’s recovery

Kennedy’s family was with him at the hospital, and he received a call from Democratic president contender Barack Obama on Sunday, Cutter said.

Obama told reporters at a campaign stop in Milwaukie, Oregon, that Kennedy sounded great, he sounded like his usual old self.

I am just thrilled that Teddy is back on the mend, Obama said. And I suspect he will be on the floor of the Senate immediately, doing the people’s business. And there’s not a better senator, or better friend, or better supporter for me than Ted Kennedy.

Kennedy, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980, has endorsed Obama.

Obama’s presidential rivals, Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain, also expressed thoughts and prayers for Kennedy.

Well-wishers across the country sent messages to Kennedy and his family.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Saturday he spoke to the wife of the Massachusetts Democrat, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, and she told him her husband is going to be fine.

Everyone knows he is a strong fighter, Reid said Saturday, speaking at the Nevada state Democratic Party convention.

Initially, a well-informed, prominent Democratic source in Massachusetts had told CNN that Kennedy seemed to have symptoms of a stroke.

Someone in the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport called 911 Saturday morning, and an ambulance soon rushed Kennedy to Cape Cod hospital. Watch how paramedics’ fast response time may have saved Kennedy’s life

He was then flown to Massachusetts General, where he had undergone surgery to remove a blockage in his left carotid artery in October. Kennedy’s office said that blockage was discovered as part of a routine evaluation of Sen. Kennedy’s back and spine.

He suffers chronic back pain from injuries suffered in a plane crash in 1964.

In recent days Kennedy has appeared to be in fine health. On Friday, he took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new maritime learning center in New Bedford.

Family members reported that Kennedy was well enough later in the morning Saturday to call to say he would not be able to join them for lunch.

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11 killed in bombing near Pakistani army base

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of an army base in Pakistan’s militancy-plagued northwest, killing at least 11 people, including four soldiers.

The attack Sunday was the deadliest in more than two months and could complicate efforts by the new government to reach peace deals with militants. The talks have already been buffeted by a suspected U.S. missile strike that left several dead in a nearby tribal area.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility.

The attacker detonated his explosives in a market between a bakery and the gate of the Punjab Regimental Center in the city of Mardan.

Police Chief Akhtar Ali Shah said 11 people were killed and 22 wounded. Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the army’s top spokesman, said four of the dead were soldiers guarding the gate of the base, which appeared to have been the target.

Abbas said the bomber blew himself up when he was stopped by one of the soldiers. He said that the bakery is also run by the regimental center and that the commercial area is routinely guard by army soldiers.

Mussarat Khan, a witness at Mardan hospital, said at least 12 people were taken there. Security forces cordoned off the blast site and were collecting evidence, Abbas said.

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Olympic torch relay suspended

BEIJING, China (AP) — China’s deadly earthquake has overshadowed preparations for the Beijing Olympics, taking away attention — at least temporarily — from human rights concerns, pro-Tibet demonstrations and Beijing’s noxious air.

The Olympic torch relay began a three-day suspension Monday, part of an official national mourning period announced Sunday. And more changes seem certain for the highly anticipated Games.

Pomp and ceremony were removed from the relay when the earthquake struck a week ago, and some scaling back might also work into the Olympics itself, where Beijing has invested $40 billion in gleaming infrastructure to show off three decades of soaring economic progress.

For the Chinese people, the most important thing will no longer be how to protect the image of the Beijing Olympics, said Ni Jianping, vice president of the Shanghai Institute of American Studies.

Instead the priority will be how to help our fellow citizens to recover. If China does well on disaster relief, the image of China will also improve.

It wasn’t clear whether the quake and a death toll expected to reach 50,000 would cause Beijing to alter the games’ lavish opening ceremonies, being designed in secrecy by the country’s most famous film director, Zhang Yimou.

A spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

But the torch relay has been a lightning rod in Beijing’s Olympic preparations.

Mostly a public-relations event in other Olympics, the torch has been taken around the world — where it ignited rowdy protests over Tibet and human rights — and up Mount Everest.

It is in the midst of a rapturous, tightly controlled domestic tour with more than 100 stops on the way to the August 8 start of the games.

The three-day suspension affects legs in the eastern cities of Ningbo, Jiaxing and Shanghai, China’s business capital, and is the biggest alteration to the relay since the May 12 quake.

Beijing Olympic organizers initially resisted changing the relay, which corporate sponsors have paid millions of dollars to fund.

But in response to a public outcry and sensing positive public relations, organizers toned down the ceremony and began last Wednesday’s leg in the southeastern city of Ruijin with a moment of silence.

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China begins mourning as toll mounts

BEIJING, China (CNN) — China on Monday began three days of national mourning as the death toll from last week’s devastating earthquake mounted and rescue workers continued to search for survivors among the rubble.

The national flag was lowered to half staff at 4:58 a.m. at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square as 2,600 people watched the ceremony, state-run media reported.

By Sunday evening, the official death toll rose to 32,477, according to state-run media Sunday. Another 220,109 were wounded in the major quake, the Xinhua news agency said.

Few hopeful relatives were seen in Beichuan, near the quake’s epicenter, with soldiers finding many more bodies among the ruins of buildings, The Associated Press reported. Aid teams sprinkled lime on the bodies and disinfected the area.

One bit of bright news came Monday: Two women were rescued after being trapped for nearly one week, Xinhua reported.

The two were found in the rubble of a collapsed building at a coal mine in Sichuan province, Xinhua reported.

Wu Hai, a rescue team leader from neighboring Yunnan province, said bodies were decomposing and many of the limbs are broken off.

There are definitely many more here. Locals here said several thousands have been buried here, he told The Associated Press.

But there were a few tales of rescues even six days after the disaster: at least 64 people have been pulled alive from debris.

A 53-year-old man was rescued in Yingxiu town in Wenchuan county near the epicenter 148 hours after the quake, Xinhua said Sunday. The effort took eight hours, the news agency said.

Several others were rescued Saturday by Chinese soldiers, their hands stained with blood from days of digging. More than 4,000 troops were sent to the disaster areas in Wenchuan.

Chinese officials said the three-day period of mourning will begin at 2:28 p.m on Monday, exactly one week after the quake struck the southwestern Sichuan province.

During that mourning period, the Olympic torch relay will be suspended, China’s state-run television announced. The torch was going to be in the eastern cities of Ningbo and Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province on Monday, then in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday.

China’s state-run news agency Sunday announced that it increased the magnitude of the quake from 7.8 to 8.0. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the temblor at 7.9, which CNN has been reporting. The USGS figure remains unchanged as of Sunday.

The World Health Organization says it fears outbreaks of disease and urged quick action to supply clean water and proper hygiene facilities.

Ensuring supply of food and safe drinking water and trying to restore good sanitation are critical because these are basic transmission routes for communicable diseases, Hans Troedsson, WHO’s representative to China, told AP.

Chinese health officials have not reported any disaster-related outbreaks so far.

So far, almost 60 aid organizations from 13 countries were assisting in the aftermath of the quake. Among the countries are India, France, Singapore, the Philippines and the United States.

Two U.S. military planes landed in Chengdu Sunday with blankets, water and other relief supplies.

The first plane — a C-17 cargo jet — flew from a U.S. base in Hawaii, while the second flight came from Alaska, officials said. Watch as U.S. aid arrives in China

Early Sunday, a strong aftershock rattled areas, while fears of flash flooding and landslides hindered rescue efforts.

Sunday’s 5.7-magnitude aftershock shook the region near the border of Sichuan and Gansu provinces just after 1 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Just hours earlier, concerns over a damaged dam and rising water levels at two lakes triggered the mass evacuation of 30,000 people — including rescuers and journalists — in at least 10 villages and townships, Chinese officials said.

People down-river from the quake-damaged Kuzhu dam in Beichuan county were ordered to leave the area Saturday afternoon over fears it might burst, according to Xinhua.

found here.

China begins mourning as toll mounts

BEIJING, China (CNN) — China on Monday began three days of national mourning as the death toll from last week’s devastating earthquake mounted and rescue workers continued to search for survivors among the rubble.

The national flag was lowered to half staff at 4:58 a.m. at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square as 2,600 people watched the ceremony, state-run media reported.

By Sunday evening, the official death toll rose to 32,477, according to state-run media Sunday. Another 220,109 were wounded in the major quake, the Xinhua news agency said.

Few hopeful relatives were seen in Beichuan, near the quake’s epicenter, with soldiers finding many more bodies among the ruins of buildings, The Associated Press reported. Aid teams sprinkled lime on the bodies and disinfected the area.

One bit of bright news came Monday: Two women were rescued after being trapped for nearly one week, Xinhua reported.

The two were found in the rubble of a collapsed building at a coal mine in Sichuan province, Xinhua reported.

Wu Hai, a rescue team leader from neighboring Yunnan province, said bodies were decomposing and many of the limbs are broken off.

There are definitely many more here. Locals here said several thousands have been buried here, he told The Associated Press.

But there were a few tales of rescues even six days after the disaster: at least 64 people have been pulled alive from debris.

A 53-year-old man was rescued in Yingxiu town in Wenchuan county near the epicenter 148 hours after the quake, Xinhua said Sunday. The effort took eight hours, the news agency said.

Several others were rescued Saturday by Chinese soldiers, their hands stained with blood from days of digging. More than 4,000 troops were sent to the disaster areas in Wenchuan.

Chinese officials said the three-day period of mourning will begin at 2:28 p.m on Monday, exactly one week after the quake struck the southwestern Sichuan province.

During that mourning period, the Olympic torch relay will be suspended, China’s state-run television announced. The torch was going to be in the eastern cities of Ningbo and Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province on Monday, then in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday.

China’s state-run news agency Sunday announced that it increased the magnitude of the quake from 7.8 to 8.0. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the temblor at 7.9, which CNN has been reporting. The USGS figure remains unchanged as of Sunday.

The World Health Organization says it fears outbreaks of disease and urged quick action to supply clean water and proper hygiene facilities.

Ensuring supply of food and safe drinking water and trying to restore good sanitation are critical because these are basic transmission routes for communicable diseases, Hans Troedsson, WHO’s representative to China, told AP.

Chinese health officials have not reported any disaster-related outbreaks so far.

So far, almost 60 aid organizations from 13 countries were assisting in the aftermath of the quake. Among the countries are India, France, Singapore, the Philippines and the United States.

Two U.S. military planes landed in Chengdu Sunday with blankets, water and other relief supplies.

The first plane — a C-17 cargo jet — flew from a U.S. base in Hawaii, while the second flight came from Alaska, officials said. Watch as U.S. aid arrives in China

Early Sunday, a strong aftershock rattled areas, while fears of flash flooding and landslides hindered rescue efforts.

Sunday’s 5.7-magnitude aftershock shook the region near the border of Sichuan and Gansu provinces just after 1 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Just hours earlier, concerns over a damaged dam and rising water levels at two lakes triggered the mass evacuation of 30,000 people — including rescuers and journalists — in at least 10 villages and townships, Chinese officials said.

People down-river from the quake-damaged Kuzhu dam in Beichuan county were ordered to leave the area Saturday afternoon over fears it might burst, according to Xinhua.

found here.