The Monitor from McAllen, Texas • 9

Sunday, December 30, 2001 THE MONITOR, McAllen, Texas 9A CAMBODIA El mm Odyssey becomes to adopt children dream come true I Mi" Mtdian if 7 17 f' Sfl Signs and symptoms. Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms usually are pain, numbness, tingling, or a combination of the three. The numbness or tingling most often takes place in the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers. The symptoms usually are felt during the night but also may be noticed during daily activities such as driving or reading a newspaper. Patients sometimes notice they have a weaker grip, occasional clumsiness, and may drop things.

In severe, cases, sensation may be permanently lost and the muscles at the base of the thumb slowly shrink (thenar atrophy). VALLEY E1AUD PLASTIC SURGERY P.A. Armando Moncada, MD Phnom Penh oh Dec. 26 to bring home their adopted daughter, 8-month-old Mickaela Amber. Sitting in their hotel room, they recalled their odyssey.

"We had our hopes up so many times," Rebecca Skinner said, adding she had been uncertain whether she would ever be able bring her child home. When her friends talked about presents as Christmas was approaching, she would tell them "just give me Mickaela." "This is the best Christmas we've ever had," she said, adding that she would share a New Year's champagne toast with her husband on the plane when they depart for home Monday. Under the parole, the families will have to legally adopt their children within two years, during which time investigations into how the babies were obtained would continue, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Kent Wiedemann said Thursday. If any of the children are found to be stolen or bought, he said, the parents will be asked to return them to Cambodia.

994-0888 Orange Medical Plaza 1421 N. 2nd, Suit McAlUn new JLN1 After announcing it was suspending issuing visas to adopted Cambodian children to stem illegal adoptions, the INS made an exception to issue a parole to allow visas for the 12 children whose cases had already been processed. Adoptions for other Americans are still suspended. That move came after angry would-be parents complained widely, both through the media and to their elected representatives. Their case was featured on the U.S.

television news program "2020." For the Skinners, from Fort Belvoir, and the other families, it was a happy ending after many had returned home empty-handed without their adoptive children because the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia was concerned that the babies may have been bought or stolen from their biological parents. The parents have faced not only an emotional roller-coaster but substantial financial costs. Some of the families estimated they had spent $30,000 in expenses in addition to $15,000 in adoption fees. The Skinners arrived in 3 50 4 Information You Can Bank On Every Thursday in The Monitor i i SALE 12.99 JOHN ASHFORD MEN'S SPORTSHIRTS Solid, twill, oxfords or denim ENTIRE STOCK MEN'S VINNERS WARMUPS FLEECi By KER MUNTHIT The Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia The holidays had turned glum for Kenneth and Rebecca Skinner when the U.S.

government stepped in to thwart their extended and costly efforts to adopt a baby from Cambodia. Depression was the dominant mood, too, at the homes of 1 1 other would-be parents whose plans to bring home Cambodian babies were dashed because the government concerned over questions of human trafficking announced last month that it wouldn't issue visas for the children. Then, on the night of Dec. 2 1 Rebecca Skinner received a phone call. She screamed with glee.

It was the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Office. "They said they were granting humanitarian visas for the children," she said Friday. Her husband was a bit behind the curve: "I was upstairs watching television," said Kenneth Skinner. "When she started screaming I thought something happened to my mother-in-law." BAHRAIN Arab country to contribue troops for U.S.

war on terrorism By ADNAN MALIK The Associated Press MANAMA, (Bahrain Bahrain became the second Arab country after Jordan to contribute troops for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan on Saturday, when its only frigate, a gift from the U.S. Navy, joined an international naval coalition in the Arabian Sea. Bahrain, a close ally of the United States, is home to the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet. "We are totally prepared for taking part in the international humanitarian effort and the task aiming at strengthening the stability and reconstruction of Afghanistan," Maj.

Gen. Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, chief of staff of the Bahrain Defense Force, told reporters aboard the frigate Bans Sabha. The guided-missile cruiser and its 240-member crew will begin their duties within a week, Al-Khalifa said. Those duties include escorting ships that provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and taking part in search, rescue and evacuation operations at sea. Last week, more than 200 Jordanian special forces troops and military medical staff arrived in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to set up a field hospital there.

The troops will not take part in any combat operations. The commanding officer of the Bahrani warship, Col. Sager al-Maawdah, said that the crew had been training for a month for this particular mission. While Bahrain is the first to be so open about it's support of the campaign, other Gulf states close to Washington have been quietly providing staging grounds and other kinds of support. For example, U.S.

officials announced earlier this month that the Third U.S. Army had temporarily moved its command headquarters, including for its campaign in Afghanistan, to Kuwait Saudi Arabia also is believed to be offering behind-the-scenes support, though the dilemma for the desert kingdom is clear. Many ordinary Saudis have said they see Saudi-born terror suspect Osama bin Laden as a champion of Arab and Muslim rights. Bin Laden and his al-Qaida network are the prime suspects in the Sept. 1 1 attacks in the United States.

The Bans Sabha is Bahrain's largest warship. The Oliver Hazard Perry class ship operates a guided-missile launching system with standard surface-to-air and Harpoon surface-to-surface Son-touch microflber and nylon warmups. Sanded and Zero Proof fleece in crews, 12-zips, jackets and pants. Orig. SALE iz-zips, jaciwis ana pants.

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