SERRA SAN BRUNO, Italy (Reuters) - Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has yet to show the form of last season that would make him top favorite for the Giro d'Italia, according to Juan Jose Cobo, the last non-Team Sky rider to beat the Briton on a Grand Tour.

"He's not necessarily the strongest rider," Spaniard Cobo told Reuters before Tuesday's fourth stage where Wiggins lost 17 seconds as the peloton split in the final kilometers.

"Personally I think (Italian) Vincenzo Nibali is equally likely to win."

Wiggins dropped from second to sixth overall on Tuesday, 34 seconds adrift of Italian Luca Paolini. Nibali is in fourth and last year's winner Ryder Hesjedal of Canada fifth, 31 and 34 seconds off the pace respectively.

Cobo, who toppled Wiggins and his Sky team mate Chris Froome to win the 2011 Tour of Spain, believes Wiggins may not be at his best, while others have shown they are in great shape.

"If Bradley had the same level as in last year's Tour then he's probably unbeatable but that's not at all clear yet this season," he said.

"Nibali has been very strong in all the races he's done this year and Wiggins hasn't yet had a chance to show his hand.

"Hesjedal has been very active in a lot of races too, and yesterday (Monday) when he attacked on that last climb, he showed he's got really good form," he added.

"That was very impressive, and he's the most recent winner of the Giro. He's somebody who has to count."

Wiggins has not won a race this season, while Nibali has taken the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race ahead of Froome and the Giro del Trentino, Italy's key warm-up race for the Giro d'Italia, ahead of Wiggins.

"Bradley is a favorite, but one of several, not the top candidate," Cobo said. "He's not been up there yet, but we'll see what happens."

STRONGEST TEAM

Cobo, who raced against Wiggins in last year's Tour de France but as part of his build-up for the Tour of Spain, his big target of the year, said Sky were the strongest team collectively in the Giro.

"When it comes to the third week, they'll be the ones who really matter, they'll make the running," he said.

Cobo said although he beat Wiggins in the 2011 Tour of Spain, wrenching the lead from him on the Angliru, Spain's toughest single climb, the Briton had not been in his top condition then.

"He was coming back from a lot of injuries and a bad crash in the Tour de France. It's nice to have done it, I won't forget that I beat him but you have to keep it in perspective," he said.

Racing injured after he crashed and hit his knee in the reconnaissance of Sunday's team time trial, Cobo was dropped on Tuesday's final climb of the Croce Ferrata early on.

"I was hoping to do well, perhaps even a top-10 result but with this injury, that's not going to happen," he said.

"My best option now is a stage win and to work for (Spanish Movistar overall contender) Benat Intxausti (who lies third behind Rigoberto Uran and Paolini). I'm not going to be beating Wiggins in this year's race, that's for sure."

(Editing by Sonia Oxley)

Each driver and car owner was docked 25 championship points, dropping Keselowski from second to fourth in the Cup standings and Logano from ninth 14th.

Along with the $100,000 fine they each got, Keselowski crew chief Paul Wolfe and Logano crew chief Todd Gordon were suspended for the next six championship points races and placed on probation for the rest of the calendar year. Also suspended and put on probation were Travis Geisler, who serves as team manager for both cars, and the individual car chiefs and team engineers for the two cars.

NASCAR also announced penalties for Martin Truex Jr. and Ron Hornaday Jr., but neither was as steep as those against the Penske cars.

Penske Racing vowed to appeal, a move that would put any suspensions on hold.

"Penske Racing will appeal utilizing the appropriate NASCAR process," the team said. "We have no further comment at this time."

NASCAR inspectors confiscated the original rear-end housing with suspension parts from Keselowski's No. 2 Ford and Logano's No. 22 before Saturday night's race, causing a pre-race scramble for both teams. Logano was late to the starting grid because of additional inspections and had to start at the back of the field. He recovered to finish fifth and Keselowski was ninth.

Keselowski was livid following the race.

"The things I've seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything that I believe in, and I'm not happy about it," Keselowski said. "I have one good thing to say, and that was my team and the effort they put in today, in fighting back with the absolute (expletive) that's been the last seven days in this garage area."

NASCAR said both Penske cars used parts that had not been approved before getting to Texas. This is the first year of the series' new cars that underwent nearly two years of testing before their debuts.

With the team manager and the engineers of both cars also being suspended, the penalties against the Penske teams went further than last season, when Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 car failed the opening day inspection at the Daytona 500. Five-time championship winning crew chief Chad Knaus and the car chief for that Hendrick Motorsports car were suspended for six races.

Knaus still had to pay a $100,000 fine, but the bulk of the penalties levied against him and the car chief were later overturned by NASCAR's chief appellate officer, the highest level of appeal. Johnson also got back 25 points that had been docked.

Logano said Wednesday on NASCAR Race Hub that the fines and penalties won't be a distraction for Penske Racing.

"We can definitely move ahead. We are ready for that and obviously we have talked a lot about it," said Logano, whose appearance on the Speed Channel show was previously scheduled. "Penske Racing has a lot of depth inside the company, and we can make adjustments to make sure we still run well.

"I think it goes to show we made some adjustments before the race started and we still were able to come home with a top-five finish," he said, also noting Keselowski's top-10 finish. "Proud of that effort in Texas, and especially after all of the adversity there. I think it says a lot about our company."

Keselowski, who has six top-10 finishes, got a penalty a week earlier at Martinsville for pitting outside his stall. He still disputes that.

"There's so much stuff going on. You guys have no idea ... what's going on," Keselowski said Saturday night. "I could tell you there is nobody, no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we've been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful."

NASCAR didn't punish Keselowski for his post-race rant.

Keselowski spent Tuesday at the White House, where President Barack Obama honored him and his crew for winning the Sprint Cup championship.

Truex, who finished second at Texas behind Kyle Busch, was punished for having a front end that was too low. He and owner Michael Waltrip were each docked six points and crew chief Chad Johnston was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until June 5. The points deduction dropped Truex from 16th to 19th heading into this weekend's race at Kansas.

NASCAR fined Hornaday $25,000 and docked him 25 points for spinning Darrell Wallace Jr. under caution in Sunday's Truck Series race at Rockingham.Hornaday's team, NTS Motorsports, said it wouldn't appeal the penalties.

___

AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - For years, headlines about Catholic schools in the United States have told gloomy tales of falling enrollment and multiple closings.

Between 2000 and 2013, 2,090 U.S. Catholic schools closed or consolidated and enrollment fell 24.5 percent, according to the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). In places like Chicago's Leo Catholic High School for boys, student numbers have plummeted from 1,200 students in the 1950s to 157 this year. In New York, the Catholic Archdiocese plans to close 24 schools.

This decline has implications for public schools throughout the nation, say Catholic school supporters. According to the NCEA, the 2 million U.S. students they serve save the nation approximately $21 billion a year in public school costs.

But while schools are closing in northeastern and Great Lakes cities, they're expanding in places like Indiana, Texas, North Carolina and Florida, which have growing Catholic populations, governments willing to support private school, or both.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, for example, Cardinal Gibbons High School has expanded three times since 1994 and now has two facilities for 1,240 students.

"Enrollment in this area is very, very strong," said diocesan superintendent Michael Fedewa. When he came to Raleigh 19 years ago there were so few Catholics it was considered "missionary territory." The diocese has since opened eight new schools.

Nationally, 32 percent of Catholic schools have waiting lists, showing the mismatch between space and demand.

LOSS OF CHEAP LABOR FORCE

Catholic schools took root in the United States when 19th century church officials, responding to anti-Catholic sentiment in public schools, urged every parish to build its own school. Enrollments peaked in the early 1960s, when there were more than 5.2 million students.

Staffed by religious orders like the Jesuits, the schools gained reputations for discipline and academic rigor. Catholic schools outscore public schools in reading and math significantly, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For eighth-grade reading, for example, Catholic school scores were 7.2 percent higher, the NAEP found.

Graduates joke about getting smacked by nuns but brag about their education. "In my time as an editor, I could always pick out which reporters went to Catholic school, because they could spell," said Leo President Dan McGrath, a former Chicago Tribune editor.

Reasons for declining enrollment include climbing costs and demographic changes - smaller families and the departure of parents with children from northeastern and Great Lakes cities for the suburbs or for jobs in the south and west, according to Catholic school experts. The clergy sex-abuse scandal hasn't helped either.

The expansion of charter schools, which offer an alternative to traditional public schools and charge no tuition, have also hurt Catholic schools. About one in three students gained by charter schools in New York State came at the expense of Catholic schools, according to a new study by Abraham M. Lackman, scholar in residence at the Graduate School of Education, Fordham University.

Where Catholic schools are growing, it's often because of innovative ideas, voucher systems, and outreach programs for growing numbers of Hispanic immigrant children.

Money is a big problem. The number of religious sisters has declined from nearly 180,000 in 1965 to 54,000 in 2012, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, or CARA. That has meant a large loss of cheap labor. Only 3.2 percent of the professionals at today's Catholic schools are clergy or in religious orders, compared with 90.1 percent in 1950, the NCEA said.

"They're replacing low-paid nuns with medium-paid lay people," said Charles Zech, an economics professor at Villanova University near Philadelphia and a specialist in church finances. Whereas lay teachers receive modest salaries, nuns receive "very small" annual stipends, room and board in the convent, and no pension, Zech explained.

Another issue is that Catholics on average give 1.2 percent of their income to the church, compared with 2.5 percent given by Protestants, Zech said. "At least since the mid-60s, we've seen a pattern of Catholics giving half of Protestants."

Weekly church attendance among Catholics fell from 47 percent in 1974 to 24 percent in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center. The clergy abuse scandal, which cost the U.S. church about $3 billion in settlements, and disagreement over the ban on contraception helped drive some people away, according to a Pew study. Less in the collection plate means less to subsidize school tuition.

Catholic school experts worry that soaring tuition is pricing out the low- and middle-income children the Church is supposed to serve. Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, school superintendent for the Chicago archdiocese, recalled how in the mid-1960s she apologized to her parents because her high school tuition rose to $470 (almost $3,000 in today's dollars).

Now tuition averages $3,673 a year for Catholic grade school and $9,622 for high school. The K-12 cost for private school averages $20,612, according to the National Association of Independent Schools. McCaughey said some families are afraid to even consider Catholic school, though scholarships are available.

School officials hope smart planning can save schools. In New York, the diocese is trying to improve its finances by closing underused schools, creating regional centers of control and bringing in help from lay experts for "our Achilles' heels" - marketing, finance and building management, said Timothy J. McNiff, school superintendent for the New York archdiocese.

Right-sizing has been painful. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the New York Times she was "heartbroken" that her old Bronx grade school, Blessed Sacrament, would close. The Philadelphia archdiocese closed 34 schools last year.

The Chicago archdiocese will close five schools this year but has seen signs of a turnaround, with city elementary enrollment up three years in a row. McCaughey said young parents in gentrifying neighborhoods and a seven-day public school strike last fall are helping to boost the numbers.

LOOKING FOR TAX SUBSIDIES AND CHARITY

In Indiana, a voucher program for low- and middle-income students has been a boon for Catholic schools. In the archdiocese of Indianapolis alone, the number of voucher students more than doubled from 2012 to 2013, to 2,328.

"We've had to open up new classrooms," said Gina Fleming, assistant superintendent for schools. "We're finally able to provide a desired Catholic education to families who wanted it all along."

Teachers' unions oppose vouchers because they drain money from public schools, and such a program is unlikely in Democrat-majority states like New York and Illinois. Catholic school officials see more hope in programs that allow individuals and corporations to allocate part of their state taxes toward private-school scholarships. Fourteen such programs exist in 11 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Catholic schools also are pushing for more private charity to help needy students.

"We try to turn nobody away for financial reasons. If they really want to come here, we try to find a way to make it work," said Leo's McGrath, whose desk is piled with letters to potential donors. One selling point: over the last five years, every Leo senior has graduated and gotten into college.

ATTRACTING HISPANICS

Many dioceses have seen an increase in the Catholic population due to Hispanic immigrants. But while Hispanics make up nearly 40 percent of U.S. Catholics, they account for just 14 percent of Catholic school students.

The problem is partly cultural. While U.S. Catholic schools have long taken children of various income levels, the schools are seen by many Latin American immigrants as only for the rich. So schools have to let Hispanic families know they're wanted, and explain that scholarships are available.

"You can't do that by giving them a pamphlet," said Raleigh's Fedewa. "You have to build relationships."

The diocese of Venice, Florida, worked directly with the pastor of a majority-Hispanic parish. He in turn reached out to 10 leading parish families to spread the word about Catholic school.

Bringing in Hispanics means being more culturally aware - from hanging images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico's famous icon, in the hall to having more chairs outside the office to accommodate extended families, said Kathleen Schwartz, diocesan education director.

The other way to expand Catholic schools is by offering innovative, competitive ideas, said Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, head of the Roche Center for Catholic Education at Boston College.

She cited St. Jerome grade school in Hyattsville, Maryland, a school that's not in a wealthy area but is attracting parents willing to pay for a classical education that includes Latin and rhetoric.

Another example is Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Washington, D.C., where students work one day a week at a designated job partner. This helps teach real-world skills and pay for tuition.

Above all, according to Lorraine Ozar, director of the Center for Catholic School Effectiveness at Loyola University, schools must be true to their religious function: "to communicate the person of Jesus and the worldview that comes out of Gospel values ... We need that kind of school now even more than we did before."

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Arlene Getz and Prudence Crowther)

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ACTIVISION ANNOUNCES THE NEXT GENERATION OF CALL OF DUTY WITH CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS

[More from BGR: ]

Call of Duty: Ghosts will set a new Benchmark for the Next Generation

All-New World, Story, Characters and Experience, All Powered by New, Next Gen Call of Duty Engine from the Developer that started it all, Infinity Ward

For an Exclusive First Look at the Game, Tune in to Xbox: The New Generation Revealed, May 21 at 10AM PDT on Xbox.com, Xbox Live or SPIKE TV

Groundbreaking Title Lands on November 5

Santa Monica, CA May 1, 2013 Prepare for the next generation of Call of Duty. The franchise that has defined a generation of gaming is set to raise the bar once again with the all-new Call of Duty: Ghosts. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), and developed by Infinity Ward, the studio that created the original Call of Duty and the seminal Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, Call of Duty: Ghosts ushers in the next generation of the franchise. The new title delivers a riveting all-new gameplay experience built on an entirely new story, setting and cast of characters, all powered by a new, next generation Call of Duty engine that redefines the series for the next generation.

Infinity Ward set the gold standard for first-person action for a generation, and theyre going to do it again with Call of Duty: Ghosts, said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. Ghosts delivers an all-new story, all-new characters, an all-new Call of Duty world, all powered by a next generation Call of Duty engine, which is a leap forward for the franchise. Infinity Ward is going all-in to create the next generation of Call of Duty worthy of the worlds greatest fans.

Everyone was expecting us to make Modern Warfare 4, which would have been the safe thing to do. But were not resting on our laurels, said Mark Rubin, executive producer of developer Infinity Ward. We saw the console transition as the perfect opportunity to start a new chapter for Call of Duty. So were building a new sub-brand, a new engine, and a lot of new ideas and experiences for our players. We cant wait to share them with our community.

To see an exclusive first look at Call of Duty: Ghosts tune in to Xbox: the Next Generation Revealed on May 21 at 10AM PDT on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE or SPIKE TV for the debut of the all-new game from Infinity Ward.

We are consistently thrilled with the overwhelming response received from critics and consumers alike to the Call of Duty series, which has firmly established its home on the Xbox 360 with the games largest and most engaged community, said Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft. With Call of Duty: Ghosts, we have no doubt that our longtime partners, Activision and Infinity Ward, will raise the bar higher than ever before for this incredible franchise.

Starting today, fans can begin pre-ordering their copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts at retail outlets worldwide.

Theres no other video game property like Call of Duty. Its the biggest game franchise on the planet that has had some of the biggest game entertainment launches in history, said Tony Bartel, president of GameStop. We are very excited for the launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts, as we transition to next generation consoles.

Call of Duty: Ghosts will release on Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and PC on November 5. Call of Duty: Ghosts will also be available for next generation platforms. For the latest intel, check out: , , or follow on Twitter @InfinityWard. Call of Duty: Ghosts is not yet rated.

This article was

Hamlin has missed four races after sustaining a compression fracture of a vertebra in his lower back in a last-lap accident at California on March 24.

"Don't call it a comeback LL cool J," Hamlin tweeted.

Joe Gibbs Racing said exact plans will be determined at the track. Hamlin could start the No. 11 Toyota, then give way to a relief driver.

"Welcome back Denny!" NASCAR tweeted.

Mark Martin took Hamlin's place in the No. 11 car at Martinsville, and Brian Vickers drove at Texas, Kansas and Richmond.

Now, a new study finds that at least one dino took a birdlike approach to hatching eggs. Troodon was a small, meat-eating dinosaur that grew to be about 8 feet (2.4 meters) long. Thedate back to the Late Cretaceous, about 75 million years ago, and they apparently incubated their eggs much like modern birds.

Most birds sit on their eggs to warm them, but crocodiles and their relatives completely bury their nests. The difference between the two shows up in the eggshells: Croc eggs have many pores to allow for air and water exchange, lest the eggs suffocate in their closed, humid nests. Bird eggs exposed to the air have fewer pores, because their eggs would be more in danger of drying out. []

University of Calgary dinosaur researcher Darla Zelenitsky and Montana State University paleontologist David Varricchio studied Troodon egg clutches from Canada and Montana, examining the fossilized shells for signs of burial. They compared the porosity of the eggshells with that of eggshells from modern-day crocodiles, birds that nest by burying their eggs in mounds, and birds that nest by brooding, or sitting on their eggs.

They found that porosity varied across the dino eggshell, suggesting the dinosaur laid its eggs almost vertically in sand or mud, but didn't bury the eggs completely. The adult would have had direct contact with the upper portions of these partially buried eggs, Varricchio said.

"There are similarities with a peculiar nester among birds called the Egyptian plover that broods its eggs while they're partially buried in sandy substrate of the nest," Varricchio said in a statement.

The plover, a wading bird, nests by laying its eggs in warm sand and then sitting on the nest with a wet belly, cooling the eggs from above.

The findings demonstrate that birdlike behavior evolved in theropods, the caste of bipedal dinosaurs related to today's birds, Zelenitsky said in a statement. The researchers reported their findings in the spring issue of the journal Paleobiology.

Previous studies have found that dinosaurs were doting parents. In 2008, Zelenitsky and her colleagues reported in the journal Science thatwhile dino moms went out to snag meals. Another study published this month in the journal Nature found thatand kicked in their eggs before hatching.

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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Old and young mutants are coming together for the time-traveling "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

One of the returnees is Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde, who in "X-Men: The Last Stand" became the third actress in as many big screen installments to take on the role. Director Bryan Singer revealed a first look on Friday when he tweeted out a photo of Page on set as Kitty.

Joining Page will be the old pros such as Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. The kids, graduates of Dr. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, will bring back Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence. It will all make sense in Singer's alternate dimensional world. We hope.

Still, you'll have to be patient to see Kitty Pryde, Wolverine and your other favorites back in action. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is due out in theaters July 18, 2014.

Jhabvala died at her home in New York City, a spokesman for Hollywood agency Paradigm told Reuters. The spokesman did not give the cause of her death but said she had been sick for some time.

Jhabvala also worked on several movie adaptations with filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, winning two Academy Awards for her screenplays for 1985 movie "A Room With a View" and "Howards End" in 1992.

Jhabvala was born in Germany but emigrated with her family to Britain during the Nazi regime. She later married an Indian architect and moved to India, where she began to write about her life there.

Her novel "Heat and Dust," a romance about a young woman living in India in the 1920s, won Britain's coveted Booker Prize in 1975, and was adapted for the big screen in 1983.

Jhabvala collaborated with Merchant and Ivory on more than 20 movies including "The Remains of the Day" and "Mr. And Mrs. Bridge."

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant and Eric Kelsey; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Lilly Chief Financial Officer Derica Rice, 48, will assume the additional role of acting CEO during Lechleiter's surgery and recovery period, the Indianapolis drugmaker said.

Lechleiter, 59, had no symptoms of the condition, but learned of it during recent unrelated medical testing, Lilly said.

Rice and Lechleiter have worked closely together over the past four years in formulating plans to revive Lilly's earnings and sales after ongoing generic competition for some of its biggest drugs, including its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug.

Many other large drugmakers have merged with another big pharmaceuticals company in order to withstand their patent cliffs. But Rice and Lechleiter have adamantly insisted that Lilly will remain independent, and depend instead on a stream of its future new drugs to put it back on its feet financially.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Richard Chang)

The seven-judge court said nothing in the country's Catholic-influenced 1937 constitution could authorize the deliberate taking of a life on humanitarian grounds. It said lawmakers could pass such a law to permit 59-year-old Marie Fleming to die at a time of her choosing, but no such statute existed yet.

Fleming, a former University College Dublin lecturer who is unable to move from the neck down because of advanced multiple sclerosis, testified that her life had been reduced to irreversible agony and that she feared choking to death because she couldn't swallow.

Her lawyers argued that suicide was not a crime in Ireland, therefore a disabled person unable to end his or her own life should receive that help to be equal under the law. They also contended that Fleming's right to personal autonomy under the European Convention on Human Rights was being violated.

But Chief Justice Susan Denham said EU law permits nations to set their own policies on euthanasia, and the Irish constitution contains "no explicit right to commit suicide or to determine the time of one's own death."

As Denham read the judgment, Fleming's partner, Tom Curran, and the couple's three adult children cried and held hands. Fleming herself could not come to the courthouse because, Curran said, she was battling a chest infection that itself might prove lethal.

Outside afterward, Curran said he would help his partner die regardless of criminal penalties if she decided to proceed. After telephoning her to say the verdict was as they both had expected, Curran said the couple was determined to end her life at their home in County Wicklow south of Dublin. If charged and convicted of assisting suicide, Curran would face a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

"It's very difficult to understand how a person with a disability can be deprived of something that's legally available to everybody else. For that not to be discriminatory under the constitution, that's something we fail to understand. The constitution is there to protect people like Marie and to give them solace that they will be looked after," Curran said.

"We will now go back to Wicklow and live our lives until such time as Marie makes up her mind that she's had enough. And in that case, the court will have an opportunity to decide on my future," he said.

The family's lawyers say they could appeal their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. But Curran said that might prove to be too great an ordeal for his partner.

Most of the world, like Ireland, has not legalized assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland have legalized the practice as have the U.S. states of Montana, Oregon and Washington, all under restricted circumstances.

When Fleming testified in court in December she still can speak, though this ability is fading, with life-threatening choking episodes common she said she contracted multiple sclerosis 24 years ago and gradually lost her ability to move. The incurable disease attacks the central nervous system and often proves fatal. Fleming said doctors told her she would eventually become mute and most likely die from asphyxiation.

She said she had seriously considered killing herself three years ago, when she could have done this on her own because her arms still had movement, but Curran persuaded her to desist. She said she now regrets that decision.

When she testified, the judges left their benches to sit beside her, because her voice was so frail. She described a daily regimen involving seven caregivers, having to be slapped in the back to stop sudden struggles against suffocation, and 2 -hour daily efforts to be showered that left her exhausted. She described recurring sensations of pain so searing that, she said, "I'm afraid my head will split open."

"When you have to be showered, toileted and fed, you start to feel like a nobody," she testified. "I want to go peacefully, in my own home, with the people I love around me."

The government-appointed Irish Human Rights Commission testified in support of her claim, while the government itself opposed her bid. And Catholic conservatives, opposed to euthanasia, welcomed the verdict.

"It's very important that we don't create a right to assisted suicide, because of the signal it sends out. We might normalize suicide," said David Quinn, director of a Catholic think tank in Dublin called the Iona Institute.