World

U.N. pulls inspectors from Iraq

UNITED NATIONS - Refusing to let Iraq dictate who can inspect its weapons, the United Nations decided Thursday to withdraw all arms inspectors from Iraq after Saddam Hussein ordered Americans on the U.N. team out immediately.

The decision to only leave a skeletal crew in Baghdad came after Iraq would not even let the six American inspectors stay until Friday, when they would have flown out with about 70 other weapons monitors.

Instead, the Americans, plus an unspecified number of other team members, left Baghdad about 11 p.m. for a grueling drive through the desert to the Jordanian border.

It was expected to take at least 10 hours to reach Amman, the Jordanian capital.

The chief U.N. weapons inspector, Richard Butler, also said U.S.-manned U-2 spy planes would continue to fly over Iraq despite Baghdad's threats to shoot them down.

U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson declared that Iraq was in "open defiance'' of the United Nations. "I think there are going to be some serious consequences,'' he said, without elaborating.

Pill could help prevent baldness

WASHINGTON - Popping a pill to regrow hair? It sounds too good to be true, but balding men may soon get that option.

The Food and Drug Administration's scientific advisers will decide Thursday whether to let Merck & Co. sell the first anti-baldness pill to American men, whose only hope now is to slather Rogaine on their scalps.

Merck's Propecia is a once-a-day pill that promises to help regrow hair - and prevent more from falling out - by suppressing a hormone that shrinks hair follicles.

It's not a miracle cure, cautions Dr. Ronald Savin, a dermatologist in New Haven, Conn., who helped test the drug.

The new hair "is not like anybody ever had when they were 13,'' Savin said. But "it is an obvious difference. ... I've got to tell you, I've seen the pictures - the before and after - and it's impressive.''

Propecia actually is a lower dose of a popular drug that men already use for enlarged prostates, called Proscar. For the merely hair-impaired, Merck says a safe dose is 1 milligram a day of the active ingredient, finasteride, not the 5-milligram Proscar pills that prostate patients take.

And although women suffer hair loss, too, Merck says Propecia can never be used by them - the threat of birth defects is too great. Doctors even tell women not to touch the pills for fear the drug could be absorbed through their skin.

Some 40 million American men suffer hair loss. Until now, their only option was Rogaine, a nonprescription drug sold in the shampoo aisle. It helps about 25 percent of users grow back moderate amounts of hair, but stop using it and the balding resumes.

Merck on Thursday will show the FDA's scientific advisers studies of 1,553 men that found 86 percent of those who took Propecia grew more hair or maintained the amount they had, compared with just 42 percent of men who took a dummy pill.

Septuplets' survival chances rise

DES MOINES, Iowa - A woman carrying septuplets is now in her 30th week of pregnancy, raising hopes all seven babies will be born healthy.

Bobbi McCaughey was in good condition Wednesday at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, where she has been since Oct. 15.

Women with multiple fetuses usually don't carry them for the full 40-week gestation period, and no due date has been set for 29-year-old Mrs. McCaughey.

One expert said the septuplets should stay in the womb for as long as possible.

"Every week counts,'' Dr. Jennifer Niebyl, head of obstetrics and gynecology at University Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, said Monday.

Niebyl said fetal development after the 30th week mostly consists of weight gain and organ development.

A team of 40 specialists remains on call to help deliver the babies - four boys and three girls, according to expectant father Kenny McCaughey.

Niebyl said statistics show that the infant survival rate for all births is 96 percent after the 28th week of pregnancy.

Disney baby captures hearts

ORLANDO, Fla. - A woman who rescued an abandoned newborn from a toilet at Walt Disney World said Tuesday she is interested in adopting the baby if her parents aren't found or authorities can't find her a good home.

"She needs a loving home and we could do that, but I'm sure there are thousands of people that could do that,'' Kathleen McManus, an attorney, said by telephone from her office in the Milwaukee area.

And the Cleveland doctor who heard the calls for help and went into the bathroom said five of his patients have expressed interest in adopting the baby.

"My hope is once the baby has a home, I want to call them up and see the baby in nice warm arms instead of cold and blue like I saw her,'' said Dr. Kenneth Goodman, a family practitioner.

Ms. McManus was in Orlando last weekend with her husband and three children when she and another woman helped rescue the infant from a toilet.

Goodman was nearby and heard their calls for help. He cut the baby's umbilical cord with a shoelace and cleared her throat of mucus.

Investigators have been unable to find the mother of the 7-pound, 21-inch infant, dubbed "Princess Jasmine'' from the movie "Aladdin.''

OU professor wins high honor

The American Branch of the Richard III Society awarded its highest honor to A. Compton Reeves, OU medieval history professor, for his contributions to the scholarship of 15th century England.

Reeves, chairman of the Richard III Society, was presented with the Dickon Award at the society's annual meting in Chicago Oct. 4 and 5.

The society is an international educational group that encourages the study of 15th century English culture and history.

Directories available Tuesday

OU directories will be available to students, university employees and local businesses beginning Tuesday. The directories, which are free to students, include phone numbers, names and addresses of students, faculty and staff members as well as university offices.

On-campus students will receive copies through the Department of Residence Life beginning Tuesday. Off-campus students can pick up copies at the Baker Center information desk from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, Tuesday through Nov. 25. Students are limited to one copy and must show valid OU identification.