AMMAN, Jordan - In the end, it was she who comforted them.

At Amman's Ottoman-era Zahran Palace, an endless line of Jordanian women - in black Bedouin robes, in army fatigues, in chic business suits - came yesterday to pay their condolences to Queen Noor, the American-born widow of their fallen king.

She didn't merely receive them; she embraced them.

The queen saw her husband's grave for the first time earlier yesterday, when she and immediate family gathered at the gravesite at dawn for private prayers.

Arab Muslim tradition mandates the separation of men and women during the most emotionally charged and religiously significant moments of funeral rites, and royal women are buried in a segregated section of the royal cemetery.

So Noor - the former Lisa Halaby, an architect from Washington, D.C., who took her husband's religion when she married him 21 years ago - was not present Monday when King Hussein's body was ritually washed and scented with musk, prayed over in the palace mosque, borne by mourners to the royal burial ground, and lowered into a stone-lined grave clad in a simple white shroud.

The queen spent the funeral day largely sequestered, in the company of other royal women and visiting dignitaries, among them Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Yesterday, however, the gates of the palace were opened to ordinary Jordanian women.

The 47-year-old Noor, tall and slender in a close-fitting black jacket and long black skirt, her pale face free of makeup, stood at the head of a royal women's receiving line, greeting a line of women stretching out the door.

As the women approached, she stroked their cheeks, cradled their faces in both hands, enfolded them in her arms, bent to peer intently into their eyes. One stern-looking middle-aged army officer, in fatigues and a black beret, sobbed in the queen's arms.

Sociologist: Sex survey findings are stunning

CHICAGO - More than 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men regularly have no interest in sex, can't have an orgasm or suffer from some other sexual dysfunction, according to what researchers say is the most comprehensive U.S. sex survey since the 1948 Kinsey Report.

The study's lead author, University of Chicago sociologist Edward Laumann, called the findings stunning.

The researchers said problems with sex are often coupled with everything from emotional and health problems to lack of time, job pressures and money trouble.

The study appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers based their findings on the 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey, a compilation of interviews with 1,749 women and 1,410 men.

The participants, ages 18 to 59, were asked if they had experienced sexual dysfunction over several months in the previous year. Sexual dysfunction was defined as a regular lack of interest in or pain during sex or persistent problems achieving lubrication, an erection or orgasm.

Lack of interest in sex was the most common problem for women, with about a third saying they regularly didn't want sex. Twenty-six percent said they regularly didn't have orgasms and 23 percent said sex wasn't pleasurable.

About a third of men said they had persistent problems with climaxing too early, while 14 percent said they had no interest in sex and 8 percent said they consistently derived no pleasure from sex.

Government coalition releases diet guidelines

WASHINGTON - The multibillion-dollar diet industry should beef up the information it gives people trying to slim down, a government-created coalition said.

The voluntary guidelines cover the costs and risks of weight-loss programs, but not what people really want to know: how many pounds they can expect to lose. The Federal Trade Commission and other members of the group will release the guidelines today.

Members of the coalition, called the Partnership for Healthy Weight Management, said they hope consumers will use the guidelines when choosing weight-loss programs.

The government could impose regulations if the industry ignores the voluntary guidelines, which the coalition worked on for a year.

''We are very happy that we have gotten this far,'' said Lynn McAfee, of the Philadelphia-based Council on Size & Weight Discrimination.

The guidelines suggest that companies alert consumers that ''most people who lose weight are likely to find it difficult to keep the weight off.''

The guidelines seek to put more upfront information in consumers' hands. Providers of weight-loss services or products, including physicians, nutritionists and commercial centers, are asked to give clients a detailed description of program contents, goals and staff qualifications. They should provide an estimate of total costs, including mandatory food purchases or medical tests required by the program.

Heavy emphasis is placed on giving consumers information about the health risks of obesity, trying to shift the focus away from dropping pounds solely for cosmetic reasons.

''People enter weight-loss programs because they want to lose a whole lot of weight to be a size six or eight. They don't want to hear that just losing 20 pounds has health benefits,'' said Tracy Fox, a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association's government affairs office.

Former senator sentenced, free on bond for appeal

CLEVELAND - Former state Sen. Jeffrey Johnson, who campaigned vigorously for Congress last year while under federal indictment, was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in prison for extorting money from grocers.

Johnson, 40, a Cleveland Democrat and former president of the Legislative Black Caucus, kept his composure during his sentencing and told U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen O'Malley he was innocent.

''I don't know why the FBI turned their cameras on me. Aly Hamed lied. I never asked him for any money,'' Johnson said of the grocer who became an FBI informant and helped authorities secretly videotape the lawmaker from 1994 to 1996.

Johnson told a crowd of applauding supporters after his sentencing he will appeal. He remains free on bond during the appeal.

''I'm obviously pleased that I will not go to prison today. I can never claim victory until I get my life back. I'm still committed to proving my innocence,'' said Johnson who resigned in December and was succeeded by Rep. C.J. Prentiss, who won his seat on Nov. 3.

Johnson ran last year for the congressional seat vacated by the retirement of U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes. But after Johnson's federal indictment, he got only 20 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary won by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones.

Johnson faced up to 20 years after being convicted in November on three charges of violating the federal Hobbs Act, which prohibits public officials from using their office to extort money.

Prosecutors said Johnson pressured inner-city grocers to give him $17,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for his help obtaining government licenses to participate in nutrition programs and sell liquor and lottery tickets.

Ohio to get extra road-maintenance money

COLUMBUS - Last year's decision by Congress to let states have more of the federal gas tax money they send to Washington will mean an extra $200 million a year for road construction in Ohio, the head of the state highway department told lawmakers yesterday.

''This increase represents a major congressional victory for Ohio,'' Gordon Proctor, interim director of the Ohio Department of Transportation, told members of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee, which began debate on Gov. Bob Taft's proposed $4.3 billion state transportation budget.

In the past, Ohio contributed about $1 billion a year in federal motor fuels tax money, Proctor said. In return, federal transportation officials sent back about $625 million.

Part of the remaining money was sent to other states that got more money than they collected in gas taxes.

Ohio will get $900 million from the federal government in the budget year beginning July 1, and $915 million the following year, Proctor said.

Without the extra federal aid, the state would have run out of money for major new construction projects in 2002, he said.

Instead, spending on major road projects will total $300 million each year. Total construction spending will increase from $1.1 billion this year to $1.3 billion next. Basic maintenance will increase 3 percent to $479 million next year.

Rep. Ron Amstutz, however, raised one possible hitch in the transportation budget: the national economy. Congress has long used the Highway Trust Fund to mask budget deficits, the Wooster Republican noted.

If an economic downturn starts lowering tax receipts enough to cut into the federal budget, Congress could opt to withhold some of the transportation dollars promised to the states, Amstutz warned.

Benefits for partners denied in Columbus

COLUMBUS - The City Council overturned its plan to offer health benefits to live-in partners of unmarried municipal employees, avoiding a referendum that officials said would be divisive.

The plan had been adopted eight weeks earlier with little advance notice but with unanimous support from Mayor Greg Lashutka, a Republican, and the council. They said it would help the city attract and keep workers, including those in gay relationships, by letting their long-term relationships qualify for health insurance and family medical leave.

Opponents, led by conservative Democratic attorney Jay Meena, said the public should have had more time for comment. Some contended that the ordinance sent a message undermining marriage and promoting immorality, and they disagreed with spending the $550,000 to $700,000 a year city officials estimated the benefits would cost.

The opponents gathered nearly 8,500 valid signatures on a petition to place the issue on the ballot May 4. Councilman Matt Habash, who introduced the benefits ordinance, decided it would be safer to withdraw the plan because defeat by the voters meant council could not reconsider the issue without another ballot initiative.

Three-part nutrition series begins at the Ping Center

Creating balanced meals while living on campus can be challenging at times, but Hudson Health Center's Health Education and Wellness program hopes to eliminate some of the calorie confusion.

The department is sponsoring a three-part series entitled "eating right in the dorms." The first of these workshops will be held at 7 p.m. in The Ping Center's meeting room. The second and third sessions will be held the two following Wednesdays.