Bayern's star-studded side were expected to romp past the Dons atMunich's Olympic Stadium.
A crowd of 35,000 turned out to witness the slaughter but weresilenced by a composed display from the Dons.
Manager Alex Ferguson described the displays of his key defensivetrio - keeper Jim Leighton, Willie Miller and Alex McLeish - as"immense."
But it was far from a backs to the wall display from the …
Australian crocodiles have hit a dry spell during the severe drought that continues to linger down under. Not only does a male crocodile's sperm count fall during dry periods, but females tend to reabsorb their eggs as a survival mechanism if droughts became prolonged. John Lever, owner of the Koorana Crocodile Farm in the eastern state of Queensland, said in December that if the drought did not break soon, his production of 1600 baby crocodiles per year would be cut by half. "It's pretty rough when your sex life …
Suspected al-Qaida militants armed with pistols and shotguns attacked a police guard post outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday, sparking a gunbattle that left three attackers and three officers dead.
Turkish and U.S. officials publicly labeled the shooting a terrorist attack and a police official in Istanbul told The Associated Press that authorities suspected al-Qaida was behind it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists on the investigation.
The U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Turkey's foreign ministry said security around all American diplomatic missions in Turkey had been increased.
…
NEW YORK - Is the situation comedy dead? Or merely evolving? Candrama and comedy co-exist on one show? Two smartly written, if low-rated programs have their season send-offs this evening.
First is "NewsRadio" (8:30 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) has always been onthe verge of cancellation. More ink has been spilled about thisshow's travails than its comedic triumphs. It's been on for years,and never had a steady slot. This absurd comedy even survived thetragic murder of star Phil Hartman. In tonight's fifth-seasonfinale, media tycoon Jimmy has moved to New Hampshire and is bribingand beguiling the staff to come join him. One smart, funny bit ontonight's show occurs when Lisa (Maura …
DOUGLASVILLE, Georgia (AP) — A Muslim woman who was arrested after she refused to remove her headscarf in a west Georgia courthouse has sued the city and the officers who arrested her.
Lisa Valentine claims in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that her free speech rights were violated when she was ordered to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court in December 2008 after she refused to remove …
UPCOMING FOR FRIDAY, MAY 21:
ISTANBUL _ U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Turkey co-hosts a high-level conference on Somalia to discuss efforts to end anarchy and restore a functioning government. Through May 23. All formats covering. Print staffing.
GERMANY-FINANCIAL CRISIS
BERLIN _ German parliament to vote on eurozone rescue package.
GERMANY-BRITAIN
BERLIN _ New British Prime David Cameron meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Presser expected about 1300GMT.
MOVED THURSDAY:
FRANCE-MUSEUM THEFT
PARIS _ A thief steals five paintings possibly worth hundreds of millions of euros, …
Because of recent Charleston Police Department computer problems,the following crime listings extend from July 15 to July 31, 2002:
ZONE 1
* 2000 block of Hutchinson Street, brandishing about 6:56 p.m.July 28.
* 1700 block of Fourth Avenue, shoplifting about 8:20 p.m. July15.
* Patrick Street Plaza, grand larceny about 6:05 p.m. July 19.
* 100 block of Hills Plaza, grand larceny about 10:20 p.m. July24.
* 300 block of Hills Plaza, breaking and entering between 6 p.m.July 25 and 8:30 a.m. July 26.
* 1900 block of Seventh Avenue, grand larceny between 8 a.m. and 5p.m. July 23.
* 2100 block of Sissonville Drive, between 9:30 a.m. …
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Five years and four months after his famous innings that won the Ashes for England, Kevin Pietersen has removed all doubts about his importance to the side in the with his finest performance yet with bat and ball.
Day four of the second test began on Monday with him reaching his highest test score of 227 and ended with him taking the crucial wicket of Michael Clarke.
Though his previous best score of 226 came against the West Indies at Headingley in 2007, Pietersen has always struggled to top the 158 on the last day of the 2005 series — until this test.
Pietersen had meanwhile been labelled an outcast in the lead-up to the Ashes by Shane Warne …
The end of the Second World War marked a fundamental shift in America's security that profoundly affected the nation's society, culture, and identity. Prior to World War II, America felt secure with the protection provided by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The country limited its engagement abroad and did not provide foreign aid to any appreciable degree. After World War II, with the beginning of the Cold War (1946–1991) and the proliferation of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the United States could not return to its prewar isolationism. Not only did this change require Americans to rearm but also to become directly involved in restoring prosperity in Europe and in the economic and political welfare of developing nations in the world. Through foreign aid programs, America sought to spread its ideals and to combat the Communist threat to the nation's security.
In the years after World War II, the United States quickly became the world's largest supplier of foreign aid. In fact, the United States assumed the position of a world superpower, and the government sought to implement a foreign policy that would maintain that status. By providing assistance to other countries, the United States hoped to strengthen a liberal, international economic order and promote stable, democratic governments. At the same time, it sought to avoid …
Microbial systems such as E. coli and yeasts are the most effective systems for the production of antibody fragments.
ABSTRACT
Full-length antibodies have captured a significant fraction of the sales volume and value of the biopharmaceuticals market. With increasing knowledge, however, it has been recognized that full-length antibodies may not always be necessary or even desirable. Antibody fragments provide the opportunity for new therapeutic possibilities. Moreover, antibody fragments have the potential for simpler, high-yielding production processes, which can translate into a lower manufacturing cost-of-goods and extended therapeutic benefit. This article discusses the …
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Longshore union says it has reached a tentative settlement to end a months-long labor dispute at the Port of Longview, Wash.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union has been aggressively protesting the company, EGT, since last year, when EGT decided to use a contractor that staffed a new grain terminal with workers from a different union.
Union protesters blocked trains …
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday the United States "will respond firmly" if Iran escalates military action in Iraq and endangers American forces. But Bush emphasized he has no intention of invading Iran.
Bush also acknowledged skepticism concerning U.S. intelligence about Iran, because Washington was wrong in accusing Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. "I'm like a lot of Americans that say, 'Well, if it wasn't right in Iraq, how do you know it's right in Iran,'" the president said.
The president, in an interview with NPR, said the United States was "constantly evaluating and answering this legitimate question by always working to get as good intelligence as we can."
Sharply at odds over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, Washington and Tehran increasingly are arguing about Iraq, where both countries are seeking influence. The White House said last week that American troops in Iraq have been authorized to kill or capture Iranian agents deemed to be a threat. Iran's ambassador followed up by telling The New York Times that Tehran plans to greatly expand its economic and military ties with Iraq and open an Iranian national bank branch in Baghdad.
The United States accuses Iran of supplying terrorists and insurgents in Iraq with improvised explosive devices that have become the most lethal threat to U.S. forces. The Bush administration says it decided to take a tougher line with Tehran after months of evidence showing Iran was assisting anti-U.S. forces.
"If Iran escalates its military action in Iraq to the detriment of our troops and/or innocent Iraqi people, we will respond firmly," the president said. "It makes common sense for the commander in chief to say to our troops and the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government that we will help you defend yourself from people that want to sow discord and harm. And so we will do what it takes to protect our troops."
Bush said it was important to distinguish the nuclear standoff with Iran from the quarrel over Tehran's involvement in Iraq. He said he believed the dispute over Iran's nuclear program could be resolved diplomatically.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said Bush does not have authority to launch military action in Iran without first seeking congressional authorization.
Bush told NPR he had no intention of going into Iran. "This is the kind of thing that happens in Washington," the president said. "People ascribe, you know, motives to me beyond a simple statement - 'Of course we'll protect our troops.' I don't know how anybody can then say, 'Well, protecting the troops means that we're going to invade Iran.'"
Usually the Bears' quarterback changes aren't so easy to forecast.
The Kyle Orton era was born Sunday morning at Halas Hall whencoach Lovie Smith met the rookie in the weight room and summoned himto his office. In the meeting, Smith did what many thought has beenhis only choice since Chad Hutchinson bombed a week ago atIndianapolis: He named Orton the starter for the Sept. 11 seasonopener at Washington.
Orton's start will mark the 27th change in the last 92 regular-season games for the quarterback-challenged franchise. There is asense of optimism this time, driven by the fact that Orton does notbring with him the retread" tag like so many who preceded him throughthe quarterback turnstile.
The Bears have been around so long, precise records for rookiequarterbacks are not readily available. This much is known, though:No rookie has started the season opener since 1965, and the earliesta rookie has started since then is Cade McNown, whose forgettablecareer got going in Week 6 of 1999. Jim McMahon made his first startin Week 3 in 1982, but that was Nov. 21 after a two-month strike.
Orton has a swagger not common in rookies and does not seem in aweof his position as the leader of an offense that must complement aplayoff-ready defense.
I wasn't surprised," he said of the switch. I kind of thought itwas going to happen. I still realize that I'm young and I've got alot of improvement I can make. Now I've got to quicken the process alittle bit."
Orton's teammates figured the move was coming, too. Theygravitated toward him Friday during the Bears' 16-12 victory over theBuffalo Bills while Hutchinson -- who will be released soon -- wasleft to stew alone on the sideline. The list of rookie quarterbackswho have played well in the NFL is short, but that history lesson wasa tough sell as players left the practice field Sunday.
Roethlis-something," wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad joked about BenRoethlisberger, who guided the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 15-1 recordas a rookie last season. I have confidence in Kyle. He came in andsparked the offense when he played and created a lot of momentum. I'mready for him."
The Bears are hoping they can re-create the Steelers' winningformula with an elite defense and a power running game.
There is a pretty good blueprint they had," Orton said.[Roethlisberger] didn't have to do a whole lot from what I saw, andI'm not going to try to go out there and be an MVP. I'm going to tryto make plays when they're there and hang on to the football."
Roethlisberger wound up going to the Pro Bowl, but his numbersweren't spectacular: 2,621 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.His efficiency was, though, as he completed 66.4 percent of histhrows and had a 98.1 passer rating.
We have a pretty good running game," Muhammad said. I don't think[Orton] is going to have to win every game. Hopefully we put him insituations that are favorable. Rookies tend to struggle becausesometimes they're not afraid to throw certain balls that theyshouldn't throw. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not."
The Bears still want to refine Orton's throwing motion; he had adifferent arm slot on almost every throw at Purdue. But working inthe spread offense helped him develop good vision, and it showed on atouchdown drive against the Bills when he looked outside and cameback inside, throwing strikes to Justin Gage and Bobby Wade in tightspots for first downs.
Defenses attack the spread by blitzing, and Orton is adept atgetting the ball out of his hand quickly. Like the spread, the WestCoast offense deploys almost everyone, allowing for few maximum-protection situations.
It's hard," quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson said. There are thingsthat we can teach him and show him, but he's going to have to go outand actually experience those on the field."
Orton figures to see the kitchen sink and then some against theRedskins, whose defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, is regardedfor his creative pressure schemes. Orton will play only briefly inthe exhibition finale Thursday against the Cleveland Browns atSoldier Field (7 p.m., Ch. 5, 780-AM). Jeff Blake is now the backupand will see extended time, with Kurt Kittner now No. 3.
Blake has yet to practice in the system as all of the reps hadgone to Hutchinson and Orton. He's preparing himself now and calledit a blessing to go from unemployed to No. 2 in two weeks.
I have to be ready any time," he said. It has nothing to do with arookie. He can get hurt. Anything can happen."
Even a newcomer realizes the starter never remains the starter forlong with the Bears. Because it is the preseason, center Olin Kreutzwas able to laugh about a situation that isn't one bit funny. Ortonwill be the 14th quarterback Kreutz has snapped to since 1998.
I don't even know what [consistency] is about," said Kreutz,cracking himself up. Of course it's important. That's your No. 1position. We've chosen our guys and tried to stick with them, butthere have been freak injuries and things like that. Hopefully, Kyleis our guy."
Hutchinson left the practice field without commenting. He brokeinto a jog as he neared the weight room.
I'm not talking right now," he said as reporters approached.Thanks, though."
Smith likes Orton because of the way he has handled his brusheswith adversity, such as the bad interception he threw against Miamiin the Hall of Fame Game. Hutchinson just seemed to dig his hole evendeeper.
[That made the decision] a lot easier," Smith said. We think he'llbe OK, and we're going to grow with him."
Orton doesn't know much about team history, but he does know thatin the NFL, Not For Long" applies to the Bears' quarterback situationas much as anything.
I know the city and all the fans want a talented quarterback who'sgoing to play well and win a lot of games," he said. Hopefully I'mthat guy. I think I will be."
Wall Street headed for a moderately higher open Friday, but was still cautious about embarking on a year-end rally following dreary preliminary readings on holiday spending.
Not surprisingly, Americans spent much less on gifts this season than they did last year, according to SpendingPulse, a division of MasterCard Advisors. Retail sales dropped between 5.5 percent and 8 percent compared with last year, the data showed, or between 2 percent and 4 percent after stripping out auto and gas sales.
Personal consumption is a huge part of U.S. economic activity _ comprising more than two-thirds of gross domestic product _ so Wall Street is nervous that a more frugal consumer could keep the economy weak in 2009.
But investors did get a some good news on Christmas Eve, when the Federal Reserve allowed GMAC Financial Services _ the finance arm of struggling Detroit automaker General Motors Corp. _ to become a bank holding company and thus qualify for the government's $700 billion rescue fund. Analysts had said that without financial help, GMAC might have had to file for bankruptcy protection or shut down.
So far, with just four trading days left in the year, no news has been upbeat enough to spark a year-end rally on Wall Street. December is usually a strong month for the stock market, with a flurry of trading known as a "Santa Claus rally" often seen in the month's final week.
Japan on Friday reminded U.S. investors that the recession is not isolated to the United States. Japanese automakers and other manufacturers slashed their output last month by 8.1 percent _ the biggest drop since records were started in 1953 _ in the face of slowing demand overseas.
Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 46, or 0.55 percent, to 8,469. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.70, or 0.66 percent, to 866.40, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 8.50, or 0.72 percent, to 1,188.50.
Trading volumes are expected to be extremely low on Friday as they were earlier this week. When trading is light, stock movements are often not indicative of broader market sentiment. Friday is also likely to be a quiet day of trading because there are no major economic or corporate reports scheduled.
In overseas trading, Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 1.63 percent. Hong Kong markets were closed, as were those in Britain, Germany and France.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices slipped.
Light, sweet crude rose 99 cents to $36.34 a barrel in electronic premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude prices had tumbled Wednesday for the ninth straight day following a raft of bad economic news and growing stockpiles of unused gasoline that suggested demand for energy has continued to erode. Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell as low as $35.13 on Wednesday just before the market closed for the Christmas holiday.
___
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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Gunmen fatally shot a radio broadcaster as he drove his car with his wife and son in what an advocacy group said Friday was the 150th journalist slain in the Philippines since democracy was restored in 1986.
Police said they did not yet know the motive for the attack late Thursday in southern General Santos city on Christopher Guarin, 42, a broadcast journalist on Radio Mindanao Network and a publisher of a small local tabloid.
He read a text message on air this week in which the sender warns Guarin he would be killed, but his co-anchor said Guarin found the text puzzling and did not know of any enemies.
Guarin managed to flee his vehicle when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire, but the assailants chased him down and shot him repeatedly at close range before escaping, regional police chief Benjardi Matele said.
His wife, who was slightly injured in the attack, said in a radio interview that her husband had received death threats.
Guarin's 12-year-old son was not injured but was traumatized, said Supt. Resty Damaso, a regional police spokesman.
Police planned to question Guarin's wife on the nature of the death threats against him, Damaso said.
Fred Solinap, Guarin's co-anchor in their program on herbal medicine, said Guarin was puzzled by a text message he got during their radio broadcast on Tuesday. The message, which Guarin read on air, warned him in the local dialect not to go out or he will be killed.
He said Guarin was not aware of any enemies. But he lost a city council race in the 2010 election and was a hard-hitting commentator on another radio station years ago.
Guarin published the Tatak News tabloid, where columnists sometimes criticize mining companies, police, drug traffickers and local officials, though he did not write himself.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said Guarin's death was the 150th slaying of a journalist since 1986, and the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned killing.
The IFJ called on President Benigno Aquino III to honour his pre-election commitment to defend press freedom in the Philippines by seeing that all media workers' murders are investigated and punished quickly.
Aquino's spokesman Edwin Lacierda also condemned the killing. He said police have identified leads that will hopefully lead to apprehension of the suspects.
Injuries have forced Pitt to shape and reshape its roster more this season than most teams do in two or three. This latest version is looking like one that could still be playing when most of the other tournament teams are done.
Led by 23 points from Levance Fields, the fourth-seeded Panthers won their sixth straight game Thursday, blitzing 13th-seeded Oral Roberts 82-63 in the first round of the South Regional.
Pitt (27-9) is making its seventh straight NCAA tournament appearance, though none of those previous teams have made it past the third round.
This team looks different, though _ coming off the Big East tournament championship and playing its best basketball of the season in March, for once, instead of January or February.
Next up, an intriguing matchup Saturday against fifth-seeded Michigan State, a team with a big-and-brawny reputation much like Pitt's. The Spartans defeated Temple 72-61 in an earlier game.
Sam Young, the star of Pittsburgh's run through the Big East, had 14 points. DeJuan Blair finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Blair's 265-pound frame made things impossible in the paint for Oral Roberts (24-9). So bad, in fact, that at one point late in the first half, the Golden Eagles were 5-for-9 from 3-point range, 1-for-16 from everywhere else _ the sign of a team that's simply unable or unwilling to take the abuse down low.
Robert Jarvis had 16 points, most well after the game had been decided, for the Eagles, who won the Summit League tournament to make their third straight trip to the NCAAs. Andre Hardy added 15 points and Moses Ehambe had 13.
At Oral Roberts, they live with constant reminders of the school motto, "Expect a Miracle," but there were no miracles this day, not against that team.
The Panthers ended it early with an 18-0 run that spanned 5 1/2 minutes in the first half and put them ahead 28-13. Fields was the key, hitting a 3-pointer, driving to the hoop for an easy layup, throwing in a 17-footer while getting fouled. The only hiccup came when he actually passed up an open look and threw the ball away. Coach Jamie Dixon called a timeout moments after that, and Fields came back with a 3-pointer to make it 31-15.
Fields was among the injured; he missed 12 games in the middle of the season with a fractured bone in his foot, causing one of the many roster shuffles that made things so difficult on Dixon's team.
Pitt also lost senior forward Mike Cook and redshirt freshman Austin Wallace to season-ending injuries. Combine that with an injury to Cassin Diggs and nagging injuries that limited Gilbert Brown and Ronald Ramon, and there were days when Pitt's practices, notoriously physical and rough, had to be scaled down to little more than glorified walkthroughs.
The return to health, and to everyone getting more comfortable with their new roles, has worked wonders, as their four wins in four days at the brutal Big East tournament surely attests.
This latest victory was convincing, even if the opponent wasn't as impressive.
Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton said he's proud to have led a team that lost its two top players _ Caleb Green and Ken Tutt _ after last season, but knows his team has to actually win one of these to really get the boost it's looking for.
He also said beating Pitt would be a tall task, and he was right.
JERUSALEM - In an effort to salvage a Middle East peace conference planned for next month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hoped to find some common ground during a meeting Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
After her first round of talks with Israeli leaders on Sunday, State Department officials indicated the conference, called by President Bush, might have to be postponed.
The Israelis and Palestinians even differ on whether prior agreement is essential. After Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Rice that a statement of principles would be not be a condition for proceeding with the conference, Palestinians were saying the opposite - that they would not attend the gathering without a meaningful document that covers all the main outstanding issues.
These are the same issues that have defied solution for decades: borders for a Palestinian state and the extent of Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank, sharing Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
While Israel has hinted at ceding Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods, that has not satisfied the Palestinians. They, like the Israelis, claim sovereignty over the key holy site, where the Al Aqsa mosque compound sits atop the ruins of the biblical Jewish temples. Israel further angered the Palestinians on Sunday by approving resumption of an archaeological dig and renovation project just outside the holy site.
Palestinians have shown some interest in land exchanges that would give them the equivalent of all of the West Bank while letting Israel keep some of its settlements, but details and quantities are far from agreement.
No discussions over refugees have been reported. Palestinians have traditionally demanded the right of about 700,000 people who fled or were driven out during the war that followed creation of the state of Israel 1948 to return to their original homes - along with millions of descendants. Israel rejects that as an attempt to destroy the Jewish state.
Palestinians also insist that the document include a solution for division of vital water resources. No talks have been reported on that issue.
Heads of negotiating teams have been appointed only in recent days - former Palestinian premier Ahmed Qureia last week and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday - and officials said they would meet for the first time later this week, six weeks before the tentative date of the Mideast gathering.
After Rice's first series of meetings Sunday, a senior State Department official hinted that the date could slide.
"This is going to take some time," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity to describe the private conversations. "This is going to require a lot of hands-on American diplomacy. These are really tough issues."
Rice cautioned against expecting breakthroughs during her four days of meetings, punctuated by a trip to Cairo and followed by talks in London with the king of Jordan.
Olmert also appeared to scale back hopes for broad agreement before the conference.
Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that he did not believe the joint statement was a prerequisite for the conference. He repeated that in his two-hour-plus meeting with Rice, according to his office.
The goal, Olmert said, "is to arrive at a joint statement during the international conference, even though the existence of such a statement was never a condition for holding this conference."
But the acting Palestinian foreign minister, Riad Malki, said his side would skip the conference without agreement on a statement.
"Without a document to resolve this conflict, we can't go to the conference next month," he said. "Olmert is looking for a public relations conference and one that will allow normalization with Arab countries. We will not help him in this."
Ahead of her meetings, Rice delivered a rare warning to Israel not to take any steps that might erode confidence in the peace process.
"This is a very delicate time," she said. "It's just a time to be extremely careful."
Her comments referred to the renewal of a road project that Palestinians fear is intended to tighten Israeli control over strategic West Bank areas near Jerusalem. Israel says construction is not imminent and is meant to ease Palestinian movement.
Rice also met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who later issued a statement saying the military's freedom of movement in the West Bank was a "fundamental principle that must be demanded in the future as well."
The comments from Barak, who later headed to Washington for talks with the Bush administration, came despite long-standing Palestinian demands for a reduced Israeli presence in the West Bank.
Rice is on her third trip to the region since June, when the United States began to try to revive peace efforts after the Islamic militant Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.
That takeover has left Abbas in control of just the West Bank. His expulsion of Hamas from the government has, in U.S. eyes, freed him to pursue a peace deal that would create a Palestinian state.
The surprise is that INXS has been around for 11 years. What,you don't even know how to pronounce it? Try "in excess," a pun thatHutchence admits is lost on non-English-speaking audiences that havenonetheless embraced the band's bracing rock and dance-floordialectics.
As a performer, Hutchence has been dubbed "a cross between JimMorrison and Madonna, a young heir to the great tradition ofambisexual rock stars."
Hutchence's physical resemblance to Morrison, his penchant forpop poses and his ability to mesmerize an audience above sensuallypercolating beats don't do much to dissuade comparisons to the Doors'dead singer, a founding member of rock's Hedonists R Us fraternity.
All of which amuses Hutchence, who so far has managed to keephis head on his shoulders. Considering Morrison, Hutchence observes:"He didn't last very long, did he?"
INXS has lasted for 11 years - an eternity, in rock terms -though it's probably fortunate that only in the last few years hasHutchence emerged as the front man for a band.
INXS currently has another hot single, "Devil Inside," which isNo. 2 on Billboard's current pop chart. "Kick" is No. 4 on the albumand Compact Disc charts.
Now the unity of INXS is being buffeted by the pop media's hypehabit. "We don't want people to try and pull us apart," says INXSguitarist Tim Farriss. We want to be represented as a band."
Hutchence says he refuses to be singled out. "I hate to beboring, but I just like singing," he says. "It's what I do - it'spart of the process of my being in a band. What has been created hasbeen created fairly naturally, and I will deal with it naturally.I'm not prepared to be a big demigod of music, particularly if itgets out of control."
To that end, he has decided to reduce his drinking. "Now I havea very different attitude," he says. "I'm enjoying myself, standingback and watching it all rather than watching it all go down thedrain."
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican staged its largest mass beatification ceremony ever Sunday, putting 498 victims of religious persecution before and during Spain's civil war on the path to possible sainthood.
The ceremony has drawn criticism from some in Spain who see it as implicit criticism of the current Socialist government as it takes a critical look at the country's civil war past and the fascist dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, which was supported by the Roman Catholic Church.
Seventy-one bishops from Spain, a host of Spanish politicians and Spanish pilgrims massed in St. Peter's Square for the ceremony, waving Spanish flags and breaking into applause after Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, declared the 498 beatified.
Spain's 1936-69 civil war pitted an elected, leftist government against right wing forces that rose up under Franco, who went on to win and presided over a nearly 40-year dictatorship staunchly supported by the Catholic Church.
Violence against clergy had been simmering since 1931, with leftist forces targeting the institution they saw as a symbol of wealth, repression and inequality. Their attacks against the clergy gave Franco a pretext for launching his rebellion.
The church estimates that nearly 7,000 clergy were killed in Spain from 1931 to 1939.
The 498 people beatified on Sunday - who were killed in 1934, 1936 and 1937 - are comprised of two bishops, 24 priests and 462 members of religious orders, as well as a deacon, a subdeacon, a seminary student and seven lay Catholics.
By declaring the 498 martyrs, the Vatican could proceed with beatification without having to confirm a miracle attributed to the intercession of each of the victims. A miracle is necessary for any of them to be declared a saint.
Pope Benedict XVI appeared from his studio window after the Mass to greet the pilgrims, saying the beatification of so many ordinary Catholics showed that martyrdom wasn't reserved to a few but "is a realistic possibility for the entire Christian people."
"This martyrdom in ordinary life is an important witness in today's secularized society," he said.
Some in Spain have questioned the timing of the ceremony, coming three days before Parliament is to pass a Socialist-sponsored law seeking to make symbolic amends to victims of the war and of the Franco dictatorship.
The bill mentions people persecuted for their religious beliefs, but for the most part it is an unprecedented, formal condemnation of the Franco regime.
Critics say the Vatican, which since the late 1980s has beatified nearly 500 other clergy killed in the war, is acting with political motivation and is hitting back at the government by choosing now to beatify nearly another 500 all at once.
The church says the ceremony is being held now because Benedict finished signing the decrees only two months ago.
Ties between the Holy See and Spain have been strained since the Socialists took office in 2004. The government has angered the Vatican by introducing legislation facilitating divorce on demand and gay marriages, as well by scrapping plans by a previous conservative government to make religion an obligatory subject in schools.
Spain also permits abortion.
Saraiva Martins took aim at all those initiatives in his homily Sunday, saying Catholics must defend church teaching on protecting life from conception until natural death - Vatican language for opposing abortion.
Drawing sustained applause from the crowd, he cited the need to protect the family "founded on the sole and indissoluble marriage between a man and woman, on the primary right for parents to educate their children, and on other question that spring up in daily life in the society in which we live."
Tenor Saxophonist Charles Lloyd took several hiatus from the jazz scene at the height of the quartet's progressive trend in 1970 but returned to assist the young pianist Michel Petrucciani and with that collaboration regained his critical acclaim in America, the United States and Japan. Then when pianist Petrucciani became famous he disappeared again, but return in 1988 with a new quartet and has been active every since. It is obvious that he did progress while absent from public performance.
The audience at the Symphony Center this past weekend were amazed at his artistic prowess as he was assisted by Geri Allen on Piano, John Abercrombie, guitar, Robert Hurst, brass and Eric Harland on drums.
While reed virtuoso is quite mature, he ability to perform in various styles of jazz has not suffered. The tenor's abundant talent enchanted the audience and there was evident that kind of honey-haired vigor for which he is famous is present. His technique is that kind of effortless agility which a great artists maintains with his individuality and masterful authority.
SBC Jazz at Symphony Center series 2003-2004 concerts will be held with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on Feb. 13, Cassandra Wilson on March 19, Herbie Hancock Quartet with special guest Wayne Shorter on April 9, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette on April 16, Dave Brubeck Quartet on May 7, Hank Jones Trio on May 28 and John Scofield "Real Jazz" Trio with the Brad Mehldau Trio on June 25.
PIANIST AHMAD JAMAL introduced Centre East inaugural jazz series. Jamal who lived in Chicago and operated a restaurant on Michigan near 14th St. provided the kind of performance that is fitted for kings and excites people who just enjoys listening to him perform. He has often been featured at the Jazz Showcase, at Mister Kelly's at the Sutherland and other places.
Following Pianist Jamal, the future series continues with be Jane Monheit Saturday, March 27 and Dianne Reeves Friday, May 21. All performances will be held in the Centre East Theatre at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd.
The Jazz Institute of Chicago in partnership with the hot-house/Center for International Performance and Exhibition (CIPEX) is presenting the first Jazz Links High School Jam Session Thursday, Nov. 20 from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. at the Hot House, 31 E. Balboa.
Roscoe Mitchell, co-founder of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), founding member of the world-renowned Art Ensemble of Chicago and an interpreter of contemporary music.
The Jazz Institute and the Hot House gratefully acknowledge Kraft Foods for its support of this series.
Article copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.
Photograph (Ahmad Jamal)
Summaries of Saturday's games in the Bundesliga, the German first-division football league (home team listed first):
Borussia Moenchengladbach 1, Wolfsburg 2
Moenchengladbach: Dante (79).
Wolfsburg: Edin Dzeko (20), Sascha Riether (85).
Attendance: 49,152.
Bayern Munich 4, Eintracht Frankfurt 0
Bayern: Franck Ribery (3), Luca Toni (17), Lucio (36), Bastian Schweinsteiger (48).
Attendance: 69,000.
Hannover 2, Hertha Berlin 0
Hannover: Mike Hanke (30), Arnold Bruggink (62).
Attendance: 47,187.
Schalke 2, Karlsruhe 0
Schalke: Kevin Kuranyi (24), Jefferson Farfan (80).
Attendance: 61,397.
Hoffenheim 0, Bochum 3
Bochum: Stanislav Sestak (42, 55, 70).
Attendance: 30,150.
Energie Cottbus 2, Arminia Bielefeld 1
Cottbus: Dimitar Rangelov (43), Stanislav Angelov (59)
Bielefeld: Vlad Munteanu (48).
Attendance: 17,150.
Borussia Dortmund 3, Cologne 1
Dortmund: Neven Subotic (30), Tamas Hajnal (50), Pedro Geromel (own goal, 81).
Cologne: Nemanja Vucicevic (10).
Attendance: 80,552.
Allstate Corp. says it has relaxed its standards for minoritycity dwellers to get comprehensive homeowner insurance policies, buta fair housing group said Wednesday it sees no evidence that changeshave occurred.
The Northbrook insurer said it began lifting restrictions inApril on providing policies to homes more than 40 years old or worthless than $40,000. It also said it removed a rule that limitsreplacement costs to 150 percent of a home's market value and isincreasing inspection requirements for dwellings considered forinsurance coverage.
The policy change comes to light less than a month aftercompetitor State Farm Insurance announced it was changing its urbanguidelines to settle a discrimination complaint filed with the U.S.Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Allstate spokesman Al Orendorff said the changes were notdirectly linked to such complaints.
"We are always about the business of change," he said."Frankly, we found out that there's good business out there that wecan access. We're just plunging ahead, doing what we normally do."
Insurance industry analysts had predicted major insurers wouldfollow the lead of Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm, the country'slargest insurance company, in changing its rules. Allstate issuespolicies to one out of every eight houses in the country and is thelargest issuer in inner cities.
But Shanna Smith, executive director of the Washington-basedNational Fair Housing Alliance, said the group's studies found noevidence that Allstate had changed its practices in recent months.She cited a discriminatory complaint filed against Allstate by ablack Cincinnati homeowner.
Candis Smith of Cincinnati contends Allstate and NationwideMutual Insurance Co. in May denied her the replacement cost coverageon her $58,500 home, instead saying it could cover only the cost ofthe mortgage should the house be destroyed. Replacement coverage isthe actual amount of money it would take to rebuild a home.
"Neither one of the insurance companies came out to look at thehouse; they told me over the phone they couldn't give me insurancebecause the house was 50 years old," said Smith, no relation toShanna Smith.
Shanna Smith, of the fair housing group, contended that Allstateroutinely denies such coverage in black and Hispanic neighborhoods,while approving it in white areas.
"Allstate says they're a big insurer of inner-city policies.That's true," she said. "They're a big insurer of inferior policiesthat cost more."
Orendorff said he wasn't familiar with the Cincinnati complaint.But he added that the problem could have arisen because the companyhad not yet gotten regulatory approval to make changes in itsunderwriting guidelines.
"We're rolling out these changes nationwide," Orendorff said."These guidelines are rolled out on a state-by-state basis; they'reapproved at different times."
Shanna Smith said she will ask HUD to complete its investigationof Allstate and Nationwide. The group also will continue to pressfor a Justice Department investigation of whether insurers haveviolated the federal Fair Housing Act by denying black and Hispanichomeowners the same insurance given to whites in comparableneighborhoods, she said.
Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain has shot an 11-under 60 to win his first European Tour title by one stroke over Benn Barham at the Austrian Open.
Cabrera-Bello was in seventh place overnight, trailing leader Barham by eight strokes. He overtook the Englishman with 11 birdies on Sunday to finish at 20-under 264.
Barham bogeyed the par-4 third in a 2-under 69. Ryder Cup player Soren Hansen of Denmark took third, another two strokes behind.
The 24-year-old Cabrera-Bello returned from the Challenger Tour this season. He lost his place on the European Tour in 2007.
It was his fifth top-10 finish this year.
Who can say anything bad about spring, that long-awaited season ofglorious golden color, of sunshine, crocus, daffodils and forsythia?Spring showers, too, are occasions for delight, especially this yearwhen so much of the country is worried about drought after a long,snowless winter.
But there is a downside to spring, first noticeable about the sametime as the robin's return. I'm talking mud.
I'm not complaining. Mud means the ground is thawing, that thereis moisture in the dirt and that gardens are ready to be planted.It's just that we have to deal with it.
In the design of many mid-century houses often traditional countryhouse features were abandoned in favor of a more streamlined,contemporary look.
One relic of America's early country homes was the mudroom.Mudrooms were a standard precisely because they allowed farmers andgardeners coming in out of the yard a transitional space to take offcover-alls, boots and soiled clothing before coming into the house.
In modern homes, the mudrooms were left out of the design becausethey were reminders of a rural past that many wanted to forget. Butthere still was all that mud to consider.
Fortunately, many homes built within the last 10 years do addressthe transitional space. However, if your home is like mine and wasbuilt without a mudroom or with the attitude that the servants cantake care of the mess, let's address how you can keep order withoutrelying on a full-time staff.
If space at the back door is an issue, as in there is no spacethere and it opens right into a kitchen or living area, considerthis: Choose an all-weather metal door that swings out rather thanin. If there is no porch overhang or protected area, attach awaterproof canvas or metal awning above the door and provide a benchoutside where people can sit and remove boots.
If you do have a closet inside the door but it is inadequate foryour needs, first consider if some type of closet organizing systemwould help you create order out of chaos.
The Container Store and Hold Everything catalogues have lots ofideas for closet organization. Or call a company such as CaliforniaClosets to come in and redesign the space for you.
If taking care of the floor is your biggest concern at theentrance where mud is likely to happen, consider tiling a portion ofthe entryway.
An alternative floor covering is an old-fashioned, washable floorcloth that you create yourself.
Author Chris Casson Madden is the host of "Interiors by Design" onHome & Garden Television.
Scripps Howard News Service
James Preston warmed up for next week's English Schools' Track andField Championships with a double victory in the Under-15 shot anddiscus at the latest National Young Athletes' League fixture.
The 13-year-old Bristol & West athlete may be a rookie in thesport but, at 6ft 3ins and weighing in at 18 stones, he certainlycuts an impressive figure.
"There is no doubt James has a lot of talent and has already donereally well this season," said his coach Hilary Nash.
Preston, a student at The Grange School in Warmley, has beenselected for the junior boys' shot putt, having improved his personalbest from 11.51m to 13.04m this summer.
"I am very pleased with the way things have gone and I seem to begetting better and better," said Preston.
"I'm not sure how I will get on at the English Schools'Championships, I haven't really thought about it yet."
Preston was encouraged to take up athletics by his school lastsummer and won a place in the Avon Sports Hall team during the winterbefore linking up with Nash at Bristol & West AC.
Now barely a year after taking up the sport, he will be mixing itwith the best junior athletes in the country at Birmingham'sAlexander Stadium from July 8-9.
Preston's wins at Solihull on Sunday helped Bristol & West finishrunners-up behind the host club with Charnwood, Yate and Leicesterfilling the next three places.
In the Under-17s, Joel Hartley and Rob Trinick dominated thehorizontal jumps while Joel Chamberlin, Alex Broomsgrove, Matthew Dewand Jonathon Angrove featured prominently in the throws.
Richard Peters won the 3000m impressively while Chris Knight, BenRobinson, Nick Todd and Jamie Golding did well in the middledistances.
Sarah Smart was just below her best in the long and triple jumpsand ran a creditable time in the 80m hurdle race.
Lucy Taylor showed a range of abilities in the Under-15s whileDaisy Da Silva, one of the youngest team members, set PBs of 1.30min the Under-13 girls' high jump and 3.83m in the long jump.
The top performance of the day came from Yate's Emily Fitzhugh,whose victory in the Under-13 girls' 1200m in 3:56.8 earned her thefemale track athlete of the match award.
David Burns, who will be running the junior 800m at the EnglishSchools', improved his 400m PB to 54.6secs.
Malaysia's mobile phone operator DiGi said Tuesday its net profit in the quarter through December rose 22 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by growing subscriber base and higher revenue.
The company, a unit of Norway's Telenor ASA, said it earned a net profit of 293 million ringgit (US$91 million; euro61 million) during the quarter, while revenue rose 22 percent on-year to 1.18 billion ringgit (US$365 million; euro246 million).
For the full year, its net profit soared to 1.06 billion ringgit (US$328 million; euro221 million), up 32 percent from 2006. Revenue for the full year rose 19 percent on-year to 4.36 billion ringgit (US$135 million; euro91 million).
It said its customer base in 2007 grew to 6.4 million from 5.3 million at the end of 2006.
DiGi said it expected the Malaysian mobile market to remain favorable in 2008, with growth in the cellular broadband market. It targets a five percent growth in 2008 net profit.
The company expects to spend up to 800 million ringgit (US$248 million; euro167 million) to roll out its third-generation or 3G services over the next three years. But it said 3G services would only contribute to its revenue in the medium to longer term.
Robots equipped with navigational aids could one day do dangerous jobs for soldiers and help the emergency services to save lives. Ben Sampson reports
Robots are useful to have around, especially for any dull, dirty or dangerous jobs we humans don't want to do. In industry they perform many repetitive tasks better than humans ever could, although their usefulness in areas outside industry has always been held back by technological limitations.
But autonomous robots that can look after themselves are finally promising to take on the kinds of roles previously reserved for science fiction. Research is taking off, in recognition of the large number of potential uses for autonomous robots: search and rescue, plant monitoring, automotive driving aids, and even space exploration.
The Demonstration of Robot Autonomy project, or DORA, is funded by the Ministry of Defence through its Defence Technology Centre programme. It aims to produce an autonomous robot that can enter a room, explore it, construct a structural representation of it, and then leave it. DORA is derived from the same basic aim as the MoD's recent Grand Challenge competition, which encouraged inventors to develop robots that could be placed in dangerous situations instead of soldiers. But, because the DORA robot would operate indoors, it will have no GPS signal to navigate by.
The DORA robot has to navigate using information derived solely from the environment in front of it. Chris Harris, principal consultant on the project from Roke Manor Research, devised the "structure for motion" image processing technology that enables the robot to do just that. Harris has impressive credentials - he was part of the team that gave us number plate recognition, and also developed the Hawkeye ball tracking system used to referee cricket and tennis matches.
Surprisingly, DORA does not use an expensive suite of sensors, but just one black-and-white video camera. "By seeing the world move as the camera moves around we can understand the motion of the vehicle and the structure of the world, where the floor is, where the obstacles are, and where the ceiling is," he explains.
The software uses a "point cloud", a number of points located in 3D space which are represented as colour-coded pixels to indicate the height of things. It also extracts local patches from the video image, where there is a distribution of bright and dark pixels, to help it to detect edges, corners and obstacles. "These are tracked and put in the structure for motion algorithm to determine where the robot is and how it is moving," says Harris.
Using this information, the robot is able to build up a 3D plan of the room, tell where obstacles are, and determine a free path as it travels. Essentially, Harris explains, the robot judges distance in the same way that humans do as they move. "When you look at the world you see it in 3D, but it's not in 3D when it hits your eyes. The three dimensions are all constructed in your head, by similar sorts of processes which turn the 2D into 3D in DORA," he says.
But the team did not really consider any "higher vertebrate" processing because of the overwhelming complexity and differences. For example, our eyes run continuously, whereas cameras operate frame by frame. Most of us also see in stereo, which makes determining distance easier. Twocamera stereo vision is the next step for the Roke team, which is currently developing a "man portable" stereo system, mounted on a helmet, to help manned exploration and mapping activities.
Harris says he would also like to improve the robot's mobility. It is built around a hobbyist remote control platform, and can only climb the height of a pencil. Another limitation being worked on is its ability to track moving objects, something it is unable to perform accurately. "The real proof of the pudding is controlling the vehicle. If you can do that without bumping into things and getting lost you really have done the job," he says.
A robot reliable enough to be used in real-life situations will take between three and five years to develop, he adds. There is MoD funding for the next five years, so it is possible that the technology could be used by the army in the field and saving lives soon.
Another research initiative has the aim of developing search and rescue robots to assist fire and emergency services. The EU-funded Viewfinder and Guardian projects are being run from Sheffield Hallam University by Dr Jacques Penders, in collaboration with other universities throughout Europe. The Viewfinder robot will be remotely controlled, and Guardian will be autonomous. The robots must be able to scout ahead of firemen and detect for structural integrity, toxic chemicals and sources of smoke in a warehouse.
The robots, which are 30cm in diameter and 20cm high, move in swarms and are linked together wirelessly to form a communications network. They are fitted with infrared and ultrasound sensors and video cameras. The first Guardian robots were tested in a warehouse in Catalonia, Spain last month. According to Penders, the robots "worked a little bit".
"The Guardian robots have to do the normal navigation, but the smoke also adds to the challenge because of the restricted view. Cameras and infrared sensors are not suitable," says Penders.
To overcome the smoky environment, researchers have devised technology to enable the robots to work out their positions from each other using proximity sensors and the wireless communications network. Although this is the most reliable method, the accuracy is poor, says Penders, with errors of 50 to 100cm usual. The aim is to develop a hierarchy of information that will enable the robots to navigate according to the environmental conditions.
Penders says it will be five years before the robots start saving lives.
Robots to the rescueRobots equipped with navigational aids could one day do dangerous jobs for soldiers and help the emergency services to save lives. Ben Sampson reports
Robots are useful to have around, especially for any dull, dirty or dangerous jobs we humans don't want to do. In industry they perform many repetitive tasks better than humans ever could, although their usefulness in areas outside industry has always been held back by technological limitations.
But autonomous robots that can look after themselves are finally promising to take on the kinds of roles previously reserved for science fiction. Research is taking off, in recognition of the large number of potential uses for autonomous robots: search and rescue, plant monitoring, automotive driving aids, and even space exploration.
The Demonstration of Robot Autonomy project, or DORA, is funded by the Ministry of Defence through its Defence Technology Centre programme. It aims to produce an autonomous robot that can enter a room, explore it, construct a structural representation of it, and then leave it. DORA is derived from the same basic aim as the MoD's recent Grand Challenge competition, which encouraged inventors to develop robots that could be placed in dangerous situations instead of soldiers. But, because the DORA robot would operate indoors, it will have no GPS signal to navigate by.
The DORA robot has to navigate using information derived solely from the environment in front of it. Chris Harris, principal consultant on the project from Roke Manor Research, devised the "structure for motion" image processing technology that enables the robot to do just that. Harris has impressive credentials - he was part of the team that gave us number plate recognition, and also developed the Hawkeye ball tracking system used to referee cricket and tennis matches.
Surprisingly, DORA does not use an expensive suite of sensors, but just one black-and-white video camera. "By seeing the world move as the camera moves around we can understand the motion of the vehicle and the structure of the world, where the floor is, where the obstacles are, and where the ceiling is," he explains.
The software uses a "point cloud", a number of points located in 3D space which are represented as colour-coded pixels to indicate the height of things. It also extracts local patches from the video image, where there is a distribution of bright and dark pixels, to help it to detect edges, corners and obstacles. "These are tracked and put in the structure for motion algorithm to determine where the robot is and how it is moving," says Harris.
Using this information, the robot is able to build up a 3D plan of the room, tell where obstacles are, and determine a free path as it travels. Essentially, Harris explains, the robot judges distance in the same way that humans do as they move. "When you look at the world you see it in 3D, but it's not in 3D when it hits your eyes. The three dimensions are all constructed in your head, by similar sorts of processes which turn the 2D into 3D in DORA," he says.
But the team did not really consider any "higher vertebrate" processing because of the overwhelming complexity and differences. For example, our eyes run continuously, whereas cameras operate frame by frame. Most of us also see in stereo, which makes determining distance easier. Twocamera stereo vision is the next step for the Roke team, which is currently developing a "man portable" stereo system, mounted on a helmet, to help manned exploration and mapping activities.
Harris says he would also like to improve the robot's mobility. It is built around a hobbyist remote control platform, and can only climb the height of a pencil. Another limitation being worked on is its ability to track moving objects, something it is unable to perform accurately. "The real proof of the pudding is controlling the vehicle. If you can do that without bumping into things and getting lost you really have done the job," he says.
A robot reliable enough to be used in real-life situations will take between three and five years to develop, he adds. There is MoD funding for the next five years, so it is possible that the technology could be used by the army in the field and saving lives soon.
Another research initiative has the aim of developing search and rescue robots to assist fire and emergency services. The EU-funded Viewfinder and Guardian projects are being run from Sheffield Hallam University by Dr Jacques Penders, in collaboration with other universities throughout Europe. The Viewfinder robot will be remotely controlled, and Guardian will be autonomous. The robots must be able to scout ahead of firemen and detect for structural integrity, toxic chemicals and sources of smoke in a warehouse.
The robots, which are 30cm in diameter and 20cm high, move in swarms and are linked together wirelessly to form a communications network. They are fitted with infrared and ultrasound sensors and video cameras. The first Guardian robots were tested in a warehouse in Catalonia, Spain last month. According to Penders, the robots "worked a little bit".
"The Guardian robots have to do the normal navigation, but the smoke also adds to the challenge because of the restricted view. Cameras and infrared sensors are not suitable," says Penders.
To overcome the smoky environment, researchers have devised technology to enable the robots to work out their positions from each other using proximity sensors and the wireless communications network. Although this is the most reliable method, the accuracy is poor, says Penders, with errors of 50 to 100cm usual. The aim is to develop a hierarchy of information that will enable the robots to navigate according to the environmental conditions.
Penders says it will be five years before the robots start saving lives.
NASA will try to launch space shuttle Endeavour again Wednesday, after repairing a hydrogen gas leak that thwarted the first attempt.
Top officials decided Monday to bump an unmanned moon mission so Endeavour could have another shot at flying to the international space station. The delayed moon mission is NASA's first in a decade and is critical to the space agency's long-term effort to return humans to the lunar surface.
The Atlas V rocket had been scheduled to blast off Wednesday with a pair of lunar probes _ a moon-mapping orbiter and a craft meant to crash into a shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. That launch is now scheduled for no earlier than Thursday; it would slip to Friday if the shuttle countdown proceeds trouble-free into early Wednesday.
"If you've spent any time on the Space Coast and monitoring launches, you notice that they tend to attract each other, and we've got that very situation here," said Chuck Dovale, launch director for the moon mission.
NASA ended up having to choose between the two missions because Endeavour could not launch this past Saturday. The potentially dangerous hydrogen gas leak in the vent line leading to the shuttle's external fuel tank halted the countdown.
It was the same kind of leak that stalled a shuttle flight back in March. Technicians finished the repairs Monday, replacing the vent line hookup and a pair of seals.
The launch is scheduled for 5:40 a.m. (0940 GMT) Wednesday. Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 80 percent.
NASA is giving Endeavour just one chance, on Wednesday, to get off on its space station construction mission before making way for the moon shot.
Each mission faces a tight launch schedule.
Endeavour and its crew of seven must be flying by this weekend, otherwise it will have to wait until mid-July. That's because of unfavorable sun angles that would heat the shuttle too much while it is docked to the space station.
Delaying Endeavour's 16-day trip until July would end up postponing the next few shuttle missions and, as a result, make it harder for NASA to complete its eight remaining missions by the end of next year. That's the deadline imposed by the White House so NASA can focus on its next spaceship, intended to carry astronauts to the moon by 2020.
NASA's newest moon probes, on the other hand, need to be launched by Saturday. Otherwise, the space agency will have to wait until the end of June before trying again. Waiting that long would complicate the moon-impacting craft's flight and use more fuel.
Dovale said the moon mission will be ready to lift off as early as Thursday, if NASA falls behind in its shuttle launch countdown.
If Endeavour has to step aside for the moon shot, that would bump the shuttle flight into July unless it was shortened, an unappealing option for the space station program, said NASA test director Steve Payne. The Air Force needs two days to switch its launch-monitoring systems from one type of rocket to another.
Endeavour and its astronauts will deliver and install the last piece of Japan's space station lab and drop off hundreds of pounds of food for the six space station residents. Five spacewalks are planned.
Once the shuttle docks, there will be 13 people together in space for the first time ever.
___
On the Net:
NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov
NASA will try to launch space shuttle WednesdayNASA will try to launch space shuttle Endeavour again Wednesday, after repairing a hydrogen gas leak that thwarted the first attempt.
Top officials decided Monday to bump an unmanned moon mission so Endeavour could have another shot at flying to the international space station. The delayed moon mission is NASA's first in a decade and is critical to the space agency's long-term effort to return humans to the lunar surface.
The Atlas V rocket had been scheduled to blast off Wednesday with a pair of lunar probes _ a moon-mapping orbiter and a craft meant to crash into a shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. That launch is now scheduled for no earlier than Thursday; it would slip to Friday if the shuttle countdown proceeds trouble-free into early Wednesday.
"If you've spent any time on the Space Coast and monitoring launches, you notice that they tend to attract each other, and we've got that very situation here," said Chuck Dovale, launch director for the moon mission.
NASA ended up having to choose between the two missions because Endeavour could not launch this past Saturday. The potentially dangerous hydrogen gas leak in the vent line leading to the shuttle's external fuel tank halted the countdown.
It was the same kind of leak that stalled a shuttle flight back in March. Technicians finished the repairs Monday, replacing the vent line hookup and a pair of seals.
The launch is scheduled for 5:40 a.m. (0940 GMT) Wednesday. Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 80 percent.
NASA is giving Endeavour just one chance, on Wednesday, to get off on its space station construction mission before making way for the moon shot.
Each mission faces a tight launch schedule.
Endeavour and its crew of seven must be flying by this weekend, otherwise it will have to wait until mid-July. That's because of unfavorable sun angles that would heat the shuttle too much while it is docked to the space station.
Delaying Endeavour's 16-day trip until July would end up postponing the next few shuttle missions and, as a result, make it harder for NASA to complete its eight remaining missions by the end of next year. That's the deadline imposed by the White House so NASA can focus on its next spaceship, intended to carry astronauts to the moon by 2020.
NASA's newest moon probes, on the other hand, need to be launched by Saturday. Otherwise, the space agency will have to wait until the end of June before trying again. Waiting that long would complicate the moon-impacting craft's flight and use more fuel.
Dovale said the moon mission will be ready to lift off as early as Thursday, if NASA falls behind in its shuttle launch countdown.
If Endeavour has to step aside for the moon shot, that would bump the shuttle flight into July unless it was shortened, an unappealing option for the space station program, said NASA test director Steve Payne. The Air Force needs two days to switch its launch-monitoring systems from one type of rocket to another.
Endeavour and its astronauts will deliver and install the last piece of Japan's space station lab and drop off hundreds of pounds of food for the six space station residents. Five spacewalks are planned.
Once the shuttle docks, there will be 13 people together in space for the first time ever.
___
On the Net:
PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal - The parents of a British girl whose disappearance sparked a four-month international search were declared suspects by Portuguese police Friday, their lawyer said. Kate McCann was named a suspect Friday morning when she went to a police station in southern Portugal for her second straight day of interrogation, lawyer Carlos Pinto Abreu said. Her husband Gerry, who later spent more than seven hours at the same police station, was also declared a suspect, Pinto Abreu told reporters.
"They have not been charged, and the investigation continues," he said without elaborating.
Their 4-year-old daughter Madeleine vanished from their hotel room in …
'On-the-bubble' syndie shows face ax after February sweeps
When syndicators ignored November sweeps' election-muddled results, several "on-the-bubble" series, though not officially renewed for next season, weren't canceled. But after February's no-excuses sweeps, some of the bubbles will have to pop.
None of the ratings-challenged shows posted marks above 2.0 in the weighted metered markets last month, according to Nielsen Media Research. And most of them are doing worse in their time periods versus last year's occupants of those slots.
A few are close to definite dismissal, Judge Mills Lane (1.3 rating/5 share, down 24% from its year-ago …
WASHINGTON -- The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has outlined a comprehensive investor forum that will include presentations from leading experts discussing treatments for some of the most prevalent diseases. The event will be held October 9 through October 11 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
"This year's conference includes a cross section of investors, company representatives and leading academic researchers who will provide tremendous insights into new product development progress, emerging data from clinical stage candidates and the financing and business development trends driving investment in the industry," asserts Alan Eisenberg, executive vice …
Byline: JAY BOBBIN - Tribune Media Services
For one fall show, network executives only had to look as far as the newspaper.
That's where syndicated, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dave Barry has had his largest audience, but the possibility now exists for him to acquire many more fans through a new CBS series inspired by his writings. Premiering Monday, "Dave's World" returns former "Night Court" star Harry Anderson to the weekly lineup as a slightly fictionalized version of Barry, a family man bemused by his roles at work and home.
DeLane Matthews ("Laurie Hill"), Shadoe Stevens, ("American Top 40") and Meshach Taylor ("Designing Women") …
EDITORS:
These are among the top sports events of the week. Coverage of most of these events will move on this circuit:
FRIDAY, Nov. 7
thru 9, Doha, Qatar _ tennis, WTA, Sony Ericsson Championships.
thru 9, Lake Buena Vista, Florida _ golf, U.S. PGA, Children's Miracle Network Classic.
thru 9, Shanghai, China _ golf, PGA European/Asian, HSBC Champions.
thru 9, Mie, Japan _ golf, U.S. LPGA/Japan LPGA, Mizuno Classic.
thru 10, Nagpur, India _ cricket, India vs. Australia, 4th test.
Potchefstroom, South Africa _ cricket, South Africa vs. Bangladesh, 1st ODI.
thru 9, Beijing _ figure …
WHEN WOMEN ASK THE QUESTIONS: CREATING WOMEN'S STUDIES IN AMERICA By Marilyn J. Boxer Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998 Baltimore, Maryland 392 Pages Hardcover: $29.95
When Women Ask the Questions is a provocative, yet deeply flawed publication that purports to annotate the creation of women's studies programs within the American academy. Noted as "the first comprehensive account of women's studies," Marilyn Jacoby Boxer presents an incomplete history of the discipline in its maneuverings through the patriarchal elitism of institutionalized discourse.
While it may stand as a healthy exposition of a movement whose confrontations and challenges of societal gender norms, attitudes, and practices changed global consciousness for ever, sadly -- although pertinent insights do abound -- …
The following students from Saratoga Springs High School were honored for their work during the third quarter:
First Honor Roll: Seniors: Donald Allen, James Anderson, Nichole Baldwin, Hannah Barrett, Reilley Barringer, Daniel Barusch, Olivia Bassett, Olivia Batker Pritzker, Lauren Beaulieu, Katlyn Beebe, Ashley Bencze, Duncan Boehle, Megan Boucher, Brandon Boxbaum, Tara Britton, Lara Bryfonski, Ryan Bull, Claire Burke, Rachelle Burke, Reilly Burke, Ryan Cambage, Logan Carr, Saige Cavayero, Kathryn Clements, Justin Coburn, James Collins, Kathleen Conley, Rachael Conway, Thomas Coon, Aron Courville, Shannon Craig, Matthew Crimmins, Courtney Curley, Elizabeth D'Agostino, Angelica D'Aiello, Erin Daley, Kathryn Dana, Hannah Davidson, Erin DeLancey, Sean Doescher, Margaret Doherty, Patrick Donworth, Patricia Dowd, Elizabeth Ekland, Bradford Elliott, Kurt English, Megan Fetterroll, Samantha Ford, Kristen Franciola, Klara Gaardfeldt, Benjamin Gabelman, Jamie Gandron, Lena Geraghty, Monica Ginsberg, Timothy Grande, William Grandin, Alessandro Grandjacquet, Cole Habart, Kenneth Hammond, Michelle Haugan, Charlotte Hauser, Ryan Healy, Kellie Helin, Alexandra Higgins, Kristina Higgins, Christopher Hill, Chloe Holgate, Nathan Hopper, Emily Howard, Gregory Jacot, Brian James, Andrew Jeffreys, Erica Johnson, Lauren Jones, Natalie Jones, Liliana Karam, Caitlin Kelley, Lauren Kelley, Steven Kelley, Ryan Koella, Courtney Krueger, Skyler Lawton, Daniel Levy, Sarah Lokey, Joseph Lombardo, Stephanie Lowe, Katherine Mahlum, Alexandra Manrique, Bryan Marco, Madeline Marens, Bradley Martin, Emily McNally, Kelsey McCarthy, Zachary Meers, Amelia Millar, James Minogue, Kara Monahan, Kaileigh Moore, Matthew Nadareski, Jordan Neville, Dylan Nizolek, Danielle Pacelli, Rachel Palmateer, Lorin Parker, Jeffrey Pawlick, Elizabeth Pennamacoor, Katherine Peterson, Edward Petrak, Neil Pickus, Yuliya Pieletskaya, Cameron Pilkey, Elliott Poppel, Kayla Prather, Vivian Pratt, Hannah Quinn, Stephen Rancour, Andrew Raway, Christopher Reepmeyer, Emily Riley, William Roberts, Kathleen Ronayne, Jonathan Rosebrook, Melinda Rothman, Stephanie Rowland, Brittany Ruggiero, Kerri Sampson, Caitlin Scavone, Maria Scerra, Jeffrey Schumann, Amanda Seymour, Lucy Shafer, Devin Sherin, Raelynn Smith, Jason Smoak, Peter Snyder, Sam Solomon, Elizabeth Starczewski, Caitlin Stephen, Jordan Stern, Matthew Suprunowicz, Jonathan Sutton, Katherine Sutton, Robert Thomer, Cameron Toole, Rachel Torgesen, Jacob Torpey, Vanessa Traver, Laura Tremblay, Kayla Tucker, Benjamin …
Byline: Judy Shepard Staff writer
When the end of my three months' leave of absence came into view, I started thinking of things I could do to ease the transition back to work.
Like a squirrel gone mad, I began stashing foodstuffs away in my freezer, something I'd had neither time nor energy for while working full-time.
I made up quarts of spaghetti sauce and lentil soup, and baked breads and cookies.
But my proudest achievement is the little bundles of cooked beans, which have already been plundered twice for quick suppers.
This was a minor triumph for me, a timid cook. I had been reluctant to cook with dried beans, preferring to buy canned, cooked beans and rinse the salt off them. My excuse for this short- cut was time, but in all honesty the memory of a dismal failure with chili 20 years ago was holding me back as well. (You could say I learned the hard way that if you add tomatoes to beans during the legumes' cooking time, they won't soften.)
But one sister fed me burritos made with her own beans from a recipe from still another sister, and that decided me to live dangerously. …
Top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia successfully defended his Zagreb Indoors title by beating Michael Berrer of Germany 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 on Sunday.
Cilic won in two hours and 38 minutes to claim his second title of the year and the fifth of his career.
The 22-year-old Croatian has been in good form this season, winning in Chennai, India, in January and reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open to break into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in his career.
"Now I can relax," Cilic said, adding that he played a lot of matches this year and "did not have much time to adjust after the …
WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday declined to rule out the possibility of an eventual pardon for former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. But spokesman Tony Snow said, for now, President Bush is satisfied with his decision to commute Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence.
"He thought any jail time was excessive. He did not see fit to have Scooter Libby taken to jail," Snow said.
Snow said that even with Bush's decision, Libby remains with a felony conviction on his record, two years' probation, a $250,000 fine and probable loss of his legal career. "This is hardly a slap on the wrist," Snow said.
With prison seeming all but certain for Libby, …
Cable companies are fighting back on the digital battlefront, reducing the price lead held by digital broadcast satellite providers, a study found.
Cable operators are adding channels to their digital offering at such a rapid rate that their average price per channel is dropping sharply, diving below the cost per channel available via DBS, according to a new report published by The Carmel Group.
The average cost of a basic cable channel fell to 37 cents from 47 cents last year, a reduction of about 20%, while the price for DBS channels, however, went up 3% to 47 cents.
Jimmy Schaeffler, a television subscription analyst at Carmel, says findings …
8, REDS 7
-10
Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Hairston ss-cf 4 1 2 1 0 0 .331
Bruce cf-rf 5 0 2 1 0 2 .457
Griffey Jr. rf 3 1 1 0 2 1 .262
Weathers p 0 0 0 0 0 0
FCordero p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
BPhillips 2b 5 1 0 0 0 0 .275
Dunn lf 4 2 1 1 1 0 .243
APhillips 3b 5 0 1 3 0 2 .231
Votto 1b 5 0 1 0 0 1 .282
DRoss c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .246
Burton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
d-Valentin ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .227
1-EEncrncion pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .236
Janish ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300
Arroyo p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .125
Lincoln p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
c-Bako c …
Byline: MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Shaquille O'Neal has been accused of grabbing a woman by the neck while outside a night spot on the grounds of the Disney World resort earlier this month.
Kim Grant, a 23-year-old employee at the complex, was not injured but filed a battery complaint against the Los Angeles Lakers star.
O'Neal's agent, Leonard Armato, dismissed the accusations as ``completely false.''
No charges have been filed and the offense would be a misdemeanor, said sheriff's officials.
Grant said she notified Disney security, but no report was filed. She said …
A prosecutor has decided to drop charges against a man who chased and tackled a teenager who rang his doorbell in a late-evening prank in eastern New York.
Daniel Van Plew of Bethlehem had been arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child after the July 17 incident.
A spokeswoman for Albany District Attorney David Soares has declined to explain why he decided …
