Families exiled by Saddam return to Iraq

An Iraqi immigration official says 20 families who were sent into exile in Iran by Saddam Hussein following a failed uprising have returned to Iraq.

The head of immigration and displaced persons in Basra says the families crossed the border Thursday into southern Iraq.

Atheer Kamil says the families, about 250 people, are mostly from Basra. They are the first of two groups that will arrive this week, he added.

The families were exiled following their involvement in a failed uprising against Saddam in 1991. The families settled into refugee caps on the Iranian border.

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George Bekefi, Physics Researcher

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. George Bekefi, a physics researcher andprofessor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, died ofleukemia on Thursday. He was 70.

Mr. Bekefi, born in Prague, joined MIT's Plasma Physics Group in1961. He contributed to the production of extremely high-poweredmicrowave generators and free-electron lasers, which are …

Judge finds Indiana teen guilty in school shooting

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A central Indiana teenager who insisted for weeks that he hadn't intended to kill a former classmate admitted in court Monday that he had hoped the shots he fired would be fatal, bringing an unexpectedly fast end to his trial.

Sixteen-year-old Michael Phelps softly answered "Yes, sir," when defense attorney Steven Litz asked him if he had intended to kill 15-year-old Chance Jackson in the March 25 shooting at Martinsville West Middle School. A few moments later, prosecutors dropped all charges but attempted murder, the one count on which Morgan Superior Court Judge G. Thomas Gray found Phelps guilty. The trial lasted 15 minutes.

"This was essentially …

Celtics handle Kobe onslaught and lead LA 3-2

It's looking a lot like 2008 again, with Paul Pierce carrying the Boston Celtics to victory in the NBA finals and leading them to the brink of yet another title.

Pierce scored 27 points _ his best performance of this year's finals _ and the Celtics withstood 38 points from Kobe Bryant to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 92-86 on Sunday night and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 6 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles, and a victory then or in Game 7 in L.A. on Thursday would give the Celtics a record 18th NBA championship.

Pierce was the finals MVP in '08, when the new Big Three beat the Lakers to raise an NBA-record 17th banner to the rafters …

Muscular dystrophy fundraiser 'arresting'

Innocent Kanawha Valley citizens will be arrested this week for agood cause.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is joining forces with HolidayInn Express Civic Center to raise money for "Jerry's Kids" andothers in the Kanawha Valley living with neuromuscular disease.

Holiday Inn will host the the jail 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today andThursday. The goal is to raise $145,000 to fight …

Lawyers required in claims disputes

Many employers will either be muzzled or forced to hire a lawyer in disputes over unemployment compensation after a little-known court decision changed the procedure for such cases.

Commonwealth Court ruled that employers cannot hire nonlawyers to represent them at unemployment compensation hearings. The Unemployment Compensation Board of Review conducts such hearings to decide whether former employees' claims for jobless benefits are justified. The board says the Commonwealth Court decision requires many employers to send attorneys to the hearings, although some can send senior executives, instead (See "About the ruling," page 5). The decision, issued Feb. 3, is not …

RAB Capital surges on cost savings, balance sheet

Shares of RAB Capital PLC surged 29 percent Friday morning after the hedge fund announced it would save money by closing a number of troubled funds and revealed its balance sheet was stronger than analysts had expected.

RAB said the funds it planned to shut down included one prime broker with exposure to collapsed Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The value of assets under management by RAB has fallen from $5.5 billion on July 1 to $2.8 billion on Nov. 1, the company said.

"We have taken the necessary action to focus the business and reduce its scale of operations in the context of …