Nation/world digest 10/06/05

Officials conduct weight test in fatal boat accident

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- Officials investigating the deadly capsizing of a Adirondack tour boat Wednesday conducted a "very scientific road test" of a twin vessel to see whether excess, suddenly shifting weight may have caused the tragedy. The National Transportation Safety Board loaded the Ethan Allen's sister vessel with barrels of water on Lake George to determine how the boat would have handled while carrying a full load of passengers weighing an average of 160 pounds. Just days before the boat overturned, the Coast Guard began rethinking its own per-passenger weight limits to take into account Americans' expanding waistlines. The current standard, set 25 years ago, assumes a 140-pound average for each man, woman and child.

Death toll passes 120 in Central America storms

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Heavy rains pounded Central America for a fourth day Wednesday, pushing rivers over their banks, flooding communities and unleashing at least two deadly mudslides as the region's death toll surpassed 120 people. Hurricane Stan, which had helped spawn rainstorms in Central America, weakened to a depression on Wednesday, a day after making landfall along Mexico's Gulf coast. But punishing rains continued in parts of Central America and southern Mexico. In Guatemala, two mudslides in Solola and nearby San Lucas Toleman, both about 60 miles west of Guatemala City, buried several houses. The additional victims would bring the death toll in Guatemala alone to at least 50, and the total number of confirmed victims past 120.

Iraqi legislature reverses changes to voting rules

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's parliament voted Wednesday to reverse last-minute changes to rules for next week's referendum on a new constitution after the United Nations said they were unfair. Sunni Arabs responded by dropping their threat to boycott the vote and promised to reject the charter at the polls. U.N. officials welcomed the reversal, saying it helped restore integrity to the crucial Oct. 15 referendum and urged all Iraqis to participate. Under the restored election rules, Sunnis can defeat the document if they get a two-thirds "no" vote in any three provinces, even if a nationwide majority approves the charter. Sunnis have a chance of doing so in four of 18 provinces.

Three scientists win Nobel Prize in chemistry

Two Americans and a French scientist won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for developing a chemical "dance" that makes molecules swap atoms, a process now used to create medicines, plastics and other products with more efficiency and less environmental hazard. The $1.3 million prize will be shared by Robert H. Grubbs, 63, Richard R. Schrock, 60, and Yves Chauvin, 74.

Witness: Book replaced 'creation' with 'design'

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Early drafts of a student biology text contained references to creationism before they were replaced with the term "intelligent design," a witness testified Wednesday in a landmark trial over a school system's use of the book. Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, reviewed drafts of the textbook "Of Pandas and People" as a witness for eight families trying to have the intelligent design concept removed from the Dover Area School District's biology curriculum. The families contend that teaching intelligent design promotes the Bible's view of creation. The trial began Sept. 26 and is expected to last as long as five weeks.

-- From wire reports