Nation briefs 2/17/04

Sharon survives confidence votes over settlements

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon survived no confidence motions Monday, even though some legislative allies abstained amid deep divisions over his plans to evacuate some Jewish settlements. With the cracks showing in his center-right coalition, Sharon appealed for a broad-based government of national consensus. The parliament voted against the three motions by 53 to 45 margins, with 22 members either abstaining or not showing up for the session. The opposition needed 61 of the 120 members of parliament to topple the government.

Brain scans suggest some predisposed to smoke

WASHINGTON -- If you're easy to anger, you might have a brain especially susceptible to nicotine. Scientists using powerful scanners have documented nicotine triggering dramatic bursts of activity in certain brain areas -- but only in people prone to anger and aggression, not more cheerful, relaxed types. Researchers made the discovery when studying people wearing nicotine patches. Intriguingly, the nicotine jazzed up the brains of not just smokers who are aggressive, but of nonsmokers, too -- and at very low doses. It's the first biological evidence that people with certain personality traits are more likely to get hooked on smoking if they ever experiment with cigarettes.

Three dead, five injured as crane collapses onto freeway bridge

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A crane collapsed onto a construction site at an interstate bridge Monday, crushing a tractor-trailer and killing three workers, fire officials said. Five other injured workers, including one in critical condition, were taken to St. Vincent Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Gloria Enk said. Authorities at the scene said no one else was trapped, and no motorists were injured. Traffic had been open on Interstate 280 when the crane collapsed about 2:30 p.m. and fell between the northbound and southbound lanes on the highway's approach to the bridge over the Maumee River south of downtown, Toledo fire Capt. Robert Krause said.

Study links antibiotics and breast cancer

CHICAGO -- A study suggests antibiotics might increase the risk of developing breast cancer, but researchers said the data should not stop women from taking the medication. Women who took the most antibiotics -- who had more than 25 prescriptions, or who took the drugs for at least 501 days -- faced double the risk of developing breast cancer over an average of about 17 years, compared with women who didn't use the drugs, the study showed. The authors said more research is needed because it could have been the diseases women used antibiotics to treat -- rather than the drugs themselves -- that increased breast cancer risk. Also, since antibiotics are widely used to treat a variety of common infections caused by bacteria, including strep throat, some pneumonias and many gastrointestinal infections, it may be that women who never took the drugs were unusually healthy and therefore unusually resistant to cancer, the researchers said.

Disney board rejects offer from Comcast Corp.

LOS ANGELES -- The board of directors of The Walt Disney Company on Monday unanimously rejected a takeover bid from cable television giant Comcast Corp. as too low, but said it would consider a higher offer. The rejection came less than a week after the Disney board said it would carefully consider the Comcast offer, which would have created the world's largest media company. The board in a statement expressed support for current chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner and said the company's current structure and strategy are sufficient to maximize shareholder value. But it left open the possibility it would sell for a higher price.