Four buildings that make up Great Western Court, at the BristolParkway North Office Park, have changed hands for GBP6.75 million.
The development has been sold by Lothbury Property Trust toprivate investment company Bentley Hall.
The buildings were originally developed by Crest Nicholson Estates15 years ago.
Roger Chubb, of Hartnell Taylor Cook, advisers to the LothburyProperty Trust, said:
"The …
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. representatives saw first-hand the issues facing Cuban people during their August 30 to September 7 visit to Cuba.
They visited Brethren in Christ and Mennonite churches, as well as MCC partners in Cuba: the Martin Luther King Jr. Center and the Cuban Council of Churches.
"We hoped to increase our exposure to Cuban life and gain a greater understanding of the effects of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba so we can address U.S.-Cuban issues here," explained Daryl Yoder- Bontrager, assistant director of MCC Latin America/Caribbean programs.
What the group found was a poor country and a people with a strong spirit. With 2 established …
When Amy Morris' twin boys, then 11, went on an academic trip to Washington last year, she agreed to give them cell phones at the program's request. But this summer she was dismayed to learn that girls at her 8-year-old daughter's day camp were using cell phones they'd taken along in their backpacks.
"We were outraged," says the Connecticut mother, who adds that the camp didn't know. "These girls think it's a cute game. But it's inappropriate, and it's unnecessary."
It's a signature parenting dilemma of the wireless age: Should kids have cell phones? And how old is old enough? It pits our understandable desire to keep tabs on our offspring _ …
I am trying to contact a young American ex-pat by the name ofGenevieve.
I believe she may be living and working in Bath and was last seenat the Ely …
The Blackhawks' final four games may be all but moot shouldPhoenix win or tie at St. Louis Saturday.
If the Coyotes pick up a point, the ninth-place Hawks wouldtrail them by three points as the two teams take the United Centerice Sunday.
Edmonton and San Jose, sixth and seventh in the eight-teamconference playoff picture, did the Hawks no favors by winningThursday night, shortly after the Hawks dropped a 3-2 decision at St.Louis."We have to get everybody hungry by Sunday," said coach CraigHartsburg.Had the Hawks been hungry enough the last three games - alllosses - the franchise would not be facing the possibility of missingthe playoffs for the first time …
THE TROUBLES: Eastman Kodak Co. is teetering on a financial precipice, having failed to find its focus after facing fierce foreign competition and a digital revolution it was slow to embrace.
FUELING THE TALKS: Even as Kodak tries to bat down sudden talk of bankruptcy, it has enlisted a legal …
North Korea's main newspaper printed photographs and biographical details Tuesday of senior officials appointed a day earlier at a rare parliamentary session.
The brother-in-law of leader Kim Jong Il was promoted to a key position in the secretive nation's leadership and a new premier was named Monday.
North Koreans looked at the Rodong Sinmun newspaper on display stands in Pyongyang, according to exclusive footage from broadcaster APTN in Pyongyang. The front page featured a large photo of Kim Jong Il and other senior officials presiding over Monday's parliamentary session.
The reclusive Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke two years …
DAILY MAIL HEALTH REPORTER
Amber Beanblossom has blisters on her feet, but they're notstopping her forward motion.
She plans to walk 60 miles over three days during a Susan G. KomenBreast Cancer Foundation fundraiser in Washington, D.C., Aug. 13 to15.
"I always try to do something for God on my birthday," the 24-year-old Charleston resident said. She chose the Komen walk in honorof several older friends who have survived breast cancer.
But Beanblossom might never have walked at all, if not for herfamily.
She was born with talipes, better known as clubfoot. Both of herswere affected.
"My feet were turned all the way around," she …
OPEC will study the weak U.S. dollar's effect on the oil cartel's earnings and investigate the possibility of a currency basket, Iran's oil minister said Sunday.
"We have agreed to set up a committee consisting of oil and finance ministers from OPEC countries to study the impact of the dollar on oil prices," Gholam Hussein Nozari told Dow Jones Newswires at a rare heads-of-state OPEC summit.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani also confirmed that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was forming the committee, which would "submit to OPEC its recommendation on a basket of currencies that OPEC members will deal with." He did …
ATLANTA -- A better blood test and new statistical methods show the number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is far higher than had been estimated, U.S. health officials said Saturday. There were 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006, not 40,000.
BIN LADEN DRIVER COULD STAY AT GITMO INDEFINITELY
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- The commander of the Guantanamo Bay detention center said Saturday …
Nine years later, Afghan city is buzzing
TALOQAN, AFGHANISTAN- Nine years ago, when I was using this provincial Afghan capital as a base to cover the battle of Kunduz, Taloqan was a dangerous place with medieval charm. Donkey carts and horse-drawn carriages plied muddy ruts that passed as roads. The only motorized transport belonged to Western NGOs. Commerce consisted of a few sad huts - primitive convenience stores - and an outdoor bazaar where 90 percent of economic activity came from sales of opium paste.
In 2001 I wrote that good roads would change everything. They have.
It's impressive. Based on my 2001 experience, I had budgeted three to four days to travel …
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida's branch remains a powerful threat in this deeply unstable nation, even after a U.S. drone strike that eliminated three of its key figures. Its military leadership remains intact and is only growing stronger amid months of political turmoil tearing Yemen apart.
As the president struggles to keep power, Islamic militants have taken advantage of the government's crumbling control to take over several cities in the south, raising the danger they can establish a permanent stronghold. On Saturday, militants holding Zinjibar, a southern provincial capital, battled government forces in fighting that killed at least 28 soldiers and militants.
Yemen is …
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island lawmaker is asking for a state investigation of a hospital network after five of its facilities reported that up to 2,000 patients received the wrong form of medication.
Sen. James Doyle wants a legislative review of Lifespan, the hospitals' operator.
Lifespan on Wednesday said a software problem caused patients prescribed timed-release medications to instead receive regular forms of their medications. There are no reports of patients harmed by the mix-up.
Doyle, a Pawtucket Democrat, says he wants the state to ensure the problem isn't the result of hospital mismanagement.
State health officials say they are working closely with Lifespan to review the medication mistakes.
A message seeking comment was left with Lifespan on Thursday.
Legislative leaders have not yet responded to Doyle's request.
"Welcome to my home," Mary Laney says as she sweeps open the doorof her Evanston town house.
Vases of flowers are everywhere. Some towering in sterlingsilver urns. Nicely worn burgundy oriental carpets fit the hardwoodfloors perfectly.
Two chairs, made especially for her mother by her father but nowre-covered in a hand-painted leopard fabric from France, are in anearby sitting room.
Plopped into one of them, Laney is taking a break. Her feetrest up on an ottoman.
The Chicago broadcaster, who has enough awards to fill a librarywall, is as elegant as her home. Moreover, she's extremelydown-to-earth. Startlingly so.
"Walk around, have a good look," Laney suggests.
Framed photographs of friends and family take up two roundtables adorned with candles. The photos are among her prizedpossessions.
A golden triptych given to her by the late Joseph CardinalBernardin is open above a white brick fireplace.
A kitchen wall is decorated with photos of great writers. Onephoto is of Ernest Hemingway reading in the buff.
So, she has a sense of humor.
A quick peek into the refrigerator is next.
Junior Mints. Diet Coke. Prego spaghetti sauce. Loaves ofbread. No fishes. The freezer? Popsicles and Lean Cuisine macaroniand cheese, among other things.
She shrugs and laughs.
The world's smallest sink sits in a powder room on the firstfloor. A back-scratcher is on the kitchen counter.
Laney's home is laden with family antiques, and each has astory.
A full basement serves as an office, where Laney recentlyfinished writing a film script and a novel. Although Laney stilldoes many documentaries, she hints that she may soon appear again oneither television or radio.
Over her back door hangs a moosehead, of the oversizedhand-puppet variety.
It wears a lopsided grin.
Chicago-based CNA Financial Corp. said it will cut 5 percent ofits work force after a second-quarter loss in insurance underwriting,and Newell Rubbermaid said it will lay off 170 workers in northwestIllinois.
CNA didn't say how many jobs would be cut. Based on its 15,500employees at the end of 2002, it may eliminate about 775 positions.
The company's net income more than doubled to $70 million, or 25cents a share, from $31 million, or 14 cents, in the same threemonths last year because of $249 million in investments gains.
Excluding the gains, CNA lost $179 million, or 86 cents a share,as it added $308 million to reserves to pay claims for workerscompensation and directors and officers' liability. Analysts polledby Thomson Financial expected earnings after investment gains andlosses of 35 cents a share.
Chief Executive Officer Stephen Lilienthal is cutting jobs andboosting reserves after selling policies too cheaply in the 1990s.The company also lost an arbitration ruling over a 1995 fire claimthat trimmed profit.
Also, Newell Rubbermaid will lay off 170 employees who makedrapery hardware for the company's Levolor-Kirsch Window Fashionsdivision.
The company said Wednesday it also will move some production linesto Mexico within 12 to 18 months.
The news comes six months after Newell announced it was cutting100 jobs at its Amerock division in nearby Rockford.
Stephenson County community and business leaders said they arewilling to offer tax breaks to manufacturers in exchange for keepingjobs. Stephenson County is iwest of Rockford in northwest Illinois.
"There are people who have been with Newell for many years, andtheir only sin is company loyalty," Freeport Mayor Jim Gitz said."It's not because people stopped buying the product, it's because ofinternational competition."
Newell said the company will continue to manufacture highlyautomated product lines, sold under the Newell Window Furnishingsname, in Freeport.
Laid-off workers will be given severance pay and outplacementassistance.
AP, Bloomberg News
Manny Ramirez ended his longest homerless drought to start aseason with a grand slam and a two-run shot, and Matt Clement won inhis Fenway Park debut to lead the Red Sox over the Tampa Bay DevilRays 6-2 Saturday night in Boston.
Ramirez hit a two-run shot in the third inning, his 39th at-batthis season. In 2003, he didn't connect until his 35th at-bat. He hitthe 18th grand slam of his career in the sixth.
Alex Gonzalez went 4-for-4 with a double and three singles for theDevil Rays.
Clement (1-0), signed as a free agent during the offseason afterpitching for the Cubs last year, gave up one run and seven hits whilestriking out six and walking two in seven innings.
ATHLETICS 1, ANGELS 0: After Rich Harden and Jarrod Washburndueled through eight scoreless innings, Nick Swisher scored fromfirst base on reliever Scot Shields' throwing error in the 10thinning to lift host Oakland.
Swisher led off the 10th with a single. Shields bobbled MarcoScutaro's sacrifice, then made a bouncing throw past Chone Figginscovering first base. Swisher slid headfirst into home plate, beatingVladimir Guerrero's throw from right field.
ORIOLES 7, YANKEES 6: Brian Roberts hit a three-run homer off TomGordon to cap a five-run seventh inning, and host Baltimore ralliedto beat slumping New York.
The Yankees have lost five of six to fall into last place in theAL East. New York (4-7) is off to its worst start in 14 years.
TIGERS 7, ROYALS 1: Jeremy Bonderman rebounded from a rough startlast week to shut down Kansas City for eight innings and helpvisiting Detroit snap a five-game losing streak.
Bonderman (2-1) allowed six hits and one run six days after givingup six runs on five hits in the first inning of a loss to theCleveland Indians.
BLUE JAYS 8, RANGERS 0: Blue Jays rookie Gustavo Chacin pitchedeight shutout innings, and Reed Johnson was hit by a record-tyingthree pitches -- two with the bases loaded -- to lead visitingToronto.
AP
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has struck Gaza weapons manufacturing sites following mortar fire toward Israel.
The military says three airstrikes hit their targets early Thursday in response to a string of Gaza mortar attacks at southern Israeli communities.
The military says five projectiles were fired at Israel, lightly injuring one man. No one was wounded in the Israeli retaliation.
The flare-up is rare in a region that has remained largely quiet since Israel's three-week-long offensive into Gaza two years ago.
Israel launched the offensive to halt near-daily rocket fire from the Palestinian territory ruled by the militant Hamas group. Some 200 projectiles from Gaza have landed in Israel this year.
BEIRUT (AP) — The discovery of three corpses with their eyes gouged out set off a sectarian killing spree that left 30 people dead in a chilling sign that the Syrian revolt against President Bashar Assad is enflaming long-simmering religious tensions.
The opposition accused the president's minority Alawite regime of trying to stir up trouble among the Sunni majority to blunt the growing enthusiasm for the four-month-old uprising. The protesters have been careful to portray their movement as free of any sectarian overtones.
The killings over the weekend in the central city of Homs "undermine the peaceful nature of the revolution and serve its enemies who want to turn it into a civil war," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Homs-based activist Mohammad Saleh said the violence began Saturday after the corpses of three Alawite government supporters were dumped in Homs with their eyes gouged.
The men had gone missing two days earlier.
On Sunday, six bodies from various sects were found in the city, apparently in revenge attacks, Saleh said. Pro-government Alawite thugs called shabiha then went on a rampage, another activist said, opening fire in predominantly Sunni neighborhoods of Homs.
The dead included a 27-year-old mother of three, who was shot as she left her home, and a man in his 50s who was struck by a bullet on his balcony, a resident said.
"I was at the man's funeral yesterday, all he did was go out on his balcony," he said, adding that civilians have started setting up roadblocks to protect their neighborhoods. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Up to 40 shops were vandalized or burned, he said.
"It was a catastrophe, the situation could easily have slipped out of control," the resident said, adding the situation calmed down Monday but tensions were high.
Sectarian warfare is among the most dire scenarios facing Syria.
The country is home to more than 1 million refugees from neighboring Iraq, who serve as a clear testament to the dangers of regime collapse and fracture in a religiously divided society. They also see the seemingly intractable sectarian tensions in Lebanon as a cautionary tale.
"The Assad regime itself has a vested interest to portray the protest movement as one which is violent led by criminals, terrorists and by external actors," said Anthony Skinner, associate director at Maplecroft, a British-based risk analysis company.
"This is potentially an issue that Assad can manipulate to try and divide the momentum that we have seen building up," he said.
The Assad regime has long held together a fragile jigsaw puzzle of Middle Eastern backgrounds — Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites, Christians, Kurds, Druse, Circassians, Armenians and more.
An offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Alawite sect represents about 11 percent of the population in Syria. The sect's longtime dominance has bred seething resentments, which Assad has worked to tamp down by enforcing a strictly secular identity in Syria.
But now, Assad is relying heavily on his Alawite power base to crush the uprising, particularly amid rumors that Sunni army conscripts have been refusing to fire on civilians.
He has tried to dampen enthusiasm for the revolt by blaming the unrest on "armed gangs" and a foreign plot to sow sectarian strife.
Minority groups have been receptive to Assad's argument that only his regime can guarantee law and order, in part because they fear being marginalized if the Sunni majority takes over.
In part due to the shabiha's role in the crackdown, Syria's sectarian tensions have been laid bare for the first time in decades — a taboo subject because of the Assad family's 40-year dynasty of minority rule. Assad's father and predecessor crushed a Sunni uprising in 1982, shelling the town of Hama and killing tens of thousands in a massacre that is seared into the minds of Syrians.
On Monday, the Interior Ministry said it will deal firmly with "terrorist groups" and armed gunmen who are carrying out terrorist acts and torching private and public property.
Human rights group say more than 1,600 people, most of them unarmed civilians, have been killed in Assad's crackdown on a largely peaceful protest movement. The government disputes that toll and blames the unrest on gunmen and religious extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife.
Some 350 soldiers and policemen also are believed to have died in the unrest.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Saleh, the Homs activist, put the death toll in Homs at 30 and said they have the names of the victims.
But another activist in Homs said he's not certain if the death toll was as high as 30 and said the number could be lower.
Also Monday, Syria's pro-government Al-Watan newspaper said that the Qatari embassy in Damascus has suspended operations because of recent protests outside the embassy against Al-Jazeera's coverage of the Syrian uprising. Al-Jazeera is based in Qatar.
Syria accuses Al-Jazeera and other media of incitement and fabricating events in their coverage of the protests.
___
Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram
PITTSBURGH - Middle school students at Schiller Classical Academyare taking a bite out of history in an effort to improve the qualityof their lunch.
The students, who were inspired by civil disobedience in theBoston Tea Party and the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., havestarted their own revolt of sorts. Since mid-December, students havebegun a boycott of the lunchroom and adopted the slogan: "We won'teat if it smells like feet."
They complain their pre-packed provided meals often include half-thawed frozen peaches, watery macaroni and cheese, greasy pizza anddiscolored meat. School officials say Schiller is limited in itsofferings because the school lacks a cafeteria.
"They're not good ... and every other day it's the same thing,"said sixth-grader Brittany Ford, 11.
The protest was sparked in Antoinette Jones' eighth-grade historyclass after Jones urged students to take action, instead of justcomplaining.
"I told them to find a cause, document what they feel is wrong,document the steps they will take to change it, and I told them theymust be willing to make a sacrifice," Jones said.
In a move that would change a century-old method of doingbusiness, Chicago's futures exchanges are planning to introducehand-held computers into the pits to replace paper trading cards.
The move is aimed at saving the traditional open-outcry tradingstyle that has drawn intense criticism since an FBI undercoverinvestigation of alleged fraud in the pits surfaced in January.
The new computer system is designed to provide the irrefutableaudit trail needed to "catch every single abuse that someone woulddare attempt," said Leo Melamed, chairman of the Chicago MercantileExchange executive committee. "(It) will automatically prevent most,if not all, of the indictable offenses we have seen." Added ChicagoBoard of Trade President Thomas Donovan, "There is no price that wewouldn't pay for better credibility."
The system is being developed in an unusual joint venturebetween the rival CBOT and Merc, targets of the federal probe. Theexchanges so far have pledged $5 million to develop the hand-heldterminals called AUDITs (Automated Data Input Terminal) that are thecenterpiece of the project. They plan to have a working prototypewithin a year. Said CBOT Chairman Karsten "Cash" Mahlmann, "We'renot waiting for any store to produce it."
The terminals automatically would record the time of each trade,and that feature alone would discourage abuse, exchange leaders say."There is no eraser," said Melamed. Once it's recorded, "There is noway you can change the time of execution."
With the new system, most traders would use hand-held AUDITterminals to immediately record every trade as it's made, enteringthe computer price, quantity and other essential details that now arescribbled with a pencil on trading cards.
Independent locals, who trade for their own accounts, would usesimpler hand-held terminals, while most brokers would use morecomplicated versions of the same device.
A few brokers in each pit who handle the biggest volume ofcustomer orders might use larger computer terminals mounted onpedestals directly in the pits. Other large computer workstationsmight be mounted on pedestals just outside the pits, manned by clerkswho would verbally relay orders to their brokers inside the pits.Brokers also might use their larger workstations to receive orders,then fill the orders using the hand-held devices.
The new computer system would substantially reduce the amount ofpaper used on the trading floors. In conjunction with the electronicorder-entry systems introduced last year, the system also wouldsubstantially reduce the need for "runners" who carry orders on thefloors.
"This is all working toward a paperless trading floor," saidMerc Chairman John Geldermann, who believes the new system will leadto new jobs that replace those lost to the new technology. "If we canbury the dinosaur (of the runner's job), I'm sure there will be otherjobs created."
Several traders interviewed Wednesday said they're worried thenew system will slow down the pace of trading so much that it coulddisrupt the markets. Several wondered if traders using the hand-heldterminals would be able to punch in a few shorthand details of atrade during a busy moment, then go back a few minutes later and fillin the rest of the necessary information, a common practice withpaper trading cards.
And the idea of broker workstations mounted within the alreadytight confines of the trading pits also drew questions. As one U.S.Treasury bond trader said, "It's going to be a major obstacle."
Exchange leaders said the AUDITs could be as quick as thecurrent trading card system, and just as compact. Melamed said, "Itisn't going to be a television set they're going to carry around."Added Geldermann, "Eventually the brokers will accept this and forgetthey ever had a card and a pencil."
And most trading sources said they believe the new system willbe accepted by traders, with some hailing it as a revolutionary step.
"Traders are not going to like it, but I think it's alifesaver," said Jack Barbanel of the Gruntal & Co. futures tradingfirm. Added Chicago commodities attorney James McGurk, "It's abreakthrough development. Clearly errors are going to continue tooccur and it will be possible to abuse the system, but it will beprofoundly more difficult."
One practice that would be more difficult with a computer thatautomatically time-stamps transactions is pre-arranged trading,McGurk and other industry sources said. One of the principal targetsof the federal investigation is pre-arranged trading, in whichtraders working with each other invent fictitious transactions topass money among themselves. "It's the working with someone we'retrying to stop," Melamed said. As for trades arranged ahead of timeoutside the pit, he said, "That cannot occur anymore" with the newsystem.
The automatic time-stamp feature also would virtually eliminateany abuses of curb trading, when transactions are made after theclosing bell officially ends trading. And it would improve detectionof trading patterns that indicate front-running, when brokers abuseinside information about big orders by trading ahead of theircustomers. Said Barbanel of the AUDIT system, "It will be literallytaking a picture of each trade as it happens."
Defending champion Kim Clijsters briefly lost her footing on a windy day before recovering in time to win her 15th straight match at the U.S. Open.
The second-seeded Belgian beat Hungary's Greta Arn 6-0, 7-5 in the first round Monday. She fell behind 4-0 in the second set, and the 104th-ranked Arn had a chance to serve out the set at 5-4. But Clijsters got the break, then did it again to clinch the straight-set victory.
Clijsters said she wasn't aggressive enough playing with the wind, waiting for the ball instead of moving up for it.
"She kind of put me under pressure a little bit where it should have been the other way around," she said.
A year ago, Clijsters was a wild-card entry in only her third tournament back after 2 1/2 years away from the sport. Now she's one of the favorites to win the Open.
"Other players kind of didn't really know what to expect," Clijsters said.
Melanie Oudin and Francesca Schiavone also know how quickly perceptions can change. Oudin struggled with higher expectations since her crowd-pleasing run to the U.S. Open quarterfinals last year. So did Schiavone after her breakthrough French Open title in June.
But neither showed any signs of the pressure in cruising to dominant first-round wins.
Oudin, 18, needed just 56 minutes to beat Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-3, 6-0. Schiavone, the Italian who won her first Grand Slam weeks before her 30th birthday, dispatched Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-1, 6-0 in 58 minutes.
If anything, Schiavone seems to be having fun in the spotlight. Asked why she's a fan favorite, she playfully replied, "I attract them because I'm beautiful."
Schiavone acknowledged that maybe she's a bit more motivated at a Grand Slam than at other tournaments. Schiavone, seeded No. 6, had been just 3-6 since winning at Roland Garros. She lost in the first round at Wimbledon and dropped her opening match at three other tournaments.
She was pleased that her first-round match was in the grandstand _ a year ago, she was relegated to an outer court.
"I like to do it, because adrenaline is coming up and I enjoy much more than play in faraway court," she said with a laugh. "Maybe because I am 30 years old and now I want to enjoy with people."
Venus Williams, a two-time champion in New York, and Roger Federer, who counts five U.S. Opens among his record 16 Grand Slam titles, were scheduled to play in the night session.
The ninth-seeded Roddick celebrated his 28th birthday by beating Stephane Robert of France 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Roddick, who recently discovered he had a mild case of mononucleosis, was under doctor's orders to limit his physical activity, but he said he feels a lot better now than he did a month or so ago.
"It's going the right way," he said. "To be honest, once you decide to play, I think you throw all the excuses and everything else out the window. If I decide to play, then it's up to me to give 100 percent of what I have. So it's not something I really want to discuss too much from this point forward."
Two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling was pushed to five sets by a qualifier ranked 214th in the world. The No. 5-seeded Swede beat Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 5-7, 6-4.
Other winners included No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, No. 11 Marin Cilic of Croatia, No. 13 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, No. 17 Frenchman Gael Monfils and No. 22 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, while No. 27 Fernando Gonzalez Chile quit in the third set of his match against Croatia's Ivan Dodig because of a knee injury.
Women moving into the second round included French Open runner-up Sam Stosur of Australia, two-time major finalist Elena Dementieva of Russia, Belarusian No. 10 Victoria Azarenka, No. 13 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 16 Shahar Peer of Isreal, and No. 24 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who beat Russian former No. 1 Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4.
BEIJING -- A hotel manager and a madam who organized a mass orgyfor 300 Japanese businessmen and 400 prostitutes were jailed for lifein southern China on Wednesday.
Another hotel manager and 11 nightclub "hostesses" were sentencedto between two and 15 years for their part in the three-day party atthe Zhuhai International Conference Center hotel.
Reports of the orgy, many made by outraged hotel guests, gave riseto an outpouring of anti-Japanese venom in China, which has neverforgiven Japan for atrocities in the 1937-45 war.
The three days ended on Sept. 18, the anniversary of the 1931Mukden incident that launched Japan's attempts to colonize China.Internet chat rooms were bombarded with messages claiming it was adeliberate attempt to "rub Chinese noses in it."
The sentences, far longer than any served by those Japanese warcriminals who escaped the death penalty after the war, show theextent to which the Chinese authorities are prepared to give vent tonationalist feeling.
Chinese authorities Wednesday issued arrest warrants for threeJapanese they say were in touch beforehand to arrange the weekend.China is seeking their extradition through Interpol.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said there was noextradition treaty between Japan and China. Daily Telegraph
President Barack Obama told a sometimes hostile audience of American doctors that they must join him in fixing a crumbling health care system, pitching an overhaul to a group deeply suspicious of government involvement.
The crowd of physicians from the powerful American Medical Association was uncharacteristically unreceptive to parts of the popular president's speech, an omen perhaps that his task in selling his plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system is going to get rockier.
Boos erupted when Obama told the doctors in his speech in Chicago, Illinois, that he would not try to help them win their top legislative priority in Congress, to set limits on jury damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.
To a degree, Obama's appearance Monday smacked of his having walked into the lion's den. While American physicians are discouraged and even angry about a system that overburdens them with paperwork and allows private insurance companies too much power to dictate treatment, many doctors worry even more about government involvement in their relationships with patients.
Denying yet again that he wants to establish a government-run system of "socialized" medicine, Obama told the physicians to beware of "scare tactics and fear-mongering" from those with vested interests in the current system.
"They'll give dire warnings about socialized medicine and government takeovers; long lines and rationed care; decisions made by bureaucrats and not doctors. We've heard it all before, and because these fear tactics have worked, things have kept getting worse," Obama said at the AMA gathering in Chicago.
In one of his longest dissertations on the need for reform, Obama yet again promised Americans:
"If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what."
Aside from the extraordinary growth in health care costs in the United States, Obama again raised the needs of an estimated 50 million Americans who have no insurance to help with medical costs, creating a reality "where a single illness can wipe out a lifetime of savings."
The United States spends about two-and-half times as much on health care as do other industrialized countries, but its citizens do not enjoy longer life expectancies than nations that spend far less.
A 2003 study estimated that health care costs for the uninsured account for about 3 percent of health care spending, with taxpayers covering about 80 percent to 85 percent of the cost through a variety of government programs.
With its multiple layers of private insurance companies and public health programs, administrative costs in the United States are higher than in other countries. A 2005 study estimated administrative costs in California, the most populous U.S. state, at about 20 percent, and a national study from the 1990s put the share at 25 percent.
In a speech that stretched to nearly an hour, Obama made news when he recommended that all Americans, except those too poor to afford it, be required to have health insurance, whether through the private system or his proposal for creating a "government option."
"Every American bears responsibility for owning health insurance," the president said, adding that the government would help those without the means to buy even the most inexpensive and bare-bones coverage.
The somewhat muted response that greeted Obama applause lines from the gathered physicians turned outwardly negative when the president brought up the malpractice lawsuit tinderbox.
Doctors complain that part of the big rise in the cost of health care grows out of the huge prices they must pay to insure themselves against lawsuits from patients who claim they were given improper care.
While glancing off plans ranging from savings through computerized medical records to cutting the cost of medical education, Obama sought to drive home the need for an overhaul by telling the assembled physicians that the system is "a ticking bomb."
Health care spending, Obama said, could force America to "go the way of GM _ paying more, getting less, and going broke." General Motors Corp. is the American automaker that recently filed for bankruptcy in part because of the cost of insuring the health of its workers and retirees.
While standing alone as the only major industrial nation without a government health care system, the issue has deep philosophical roots in the United States. Most Republican lawmakers, organizations in the health care industry, insurance companies and some conservative Democrats are balking at even modest government intervention in the system.
Gestational Diabetes: What to Expect: Your Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy and a Happy, Healthy Baby (Fifth Edition)
(American Diabetes Association, 2005)
Gestational diabetes is not something you want to hear about when you're pregnant. It can leave you feeling quite anxious and overwhelmed. You have plans for your pregnancy and your new baby, and learning you have diabetes may cause you to worry about your baby's health. Luckily, this book, written in clear, plain language, offers all the information you need to help you understand what you need to do to stay healthy and have a healthy baby. The book covers many topics, including: learning about what you need to do to stay well, information on insulin therapy, exercise and pregnancy, nutrition, how to monitor gestational diabetes, and sample meal plans.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has arrived in southern Austria for a quick personal visit.
Schwarzenegger, who grew up in the area, is expected to go to his mother's grave and meet with friends at a hotel in the city of Graz.
Television images Wednesday showed the former bodybuilder and actor getting off a private jet at the Graz airport and later waving to reporters from a black limousine. He did not take questions.
Local media say Schwarzenegger is not expected to stay the night. He flew to Austria from Switzerland, where he attended the Geneva Motor Show.
The 2010 Formula One calendar after Wednesday's revised date for the Monaco Grand Prix:
March 14 _ Bahrain Grand Prix
March 28 _ Australian Grand Prix
April 3 _ Malaysian Grand Prix
April 18 _ Chinese Grand Prix
May 9 _ Spanish Grand Prix
May 16 _ Monaco Grand Prix
May 30 _ Turkish Grand Prix
June 13 _ Canadian Grand Prix
June 27 _ European Grand Prix (Valencia, Spain)
July 11 _ British Grand Prix
July 25 _ German Grand Prix
August 1 _ Hungarian Grand Prix
August 29 _ Belgian Grand Prix
September 12 _ Italian Grand Prix
September 26 _ Singapore Grand Prix
October 3 _ Japanese Grand Prix
October 17 _ South Korean Grand Prix
October 31 _ Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
November 14 _ Brazilian Grand Prix
__
NOTE: Some dates are subject to change, with the final calendar to be adopted at the December meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.
Bus fares in Aberdeen will rise this month - sparking claimspassengers are being exploited.
First Aberdeen will increase the cost of some single journeys by10p and all-day tickets by up to 20p.
The cost of weekly and monthly tickets will remain the same.
But today deputy city council leader Kevin Stewart saidtravellers were getting a raw deal compared to other cities.
He said: "First Aberdeen seems to have a different faresstructure in Aberdeen as they do in other cities.
"I appreciate the fuel cost pressures, but I do not know how theycan justify having higher fares than in Edinburgh, for example."
Transport giant First Group, which is based in Aberdeen, operatesin more than 20 UK cities.
A typical fare from the city centre to a suburb costs pounds1.80 - around 40p more than in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
First Aberdeen managing director George Mair said the company hadto cope with a rise in operating costs of around 7%, includingsalaries.
He said: "We're part of a big group but we're a local businessthat has to work within a local market. Aberdeen's an expensiveplace to live, work and play in.
"I can't tell why Edinburgh charges what it does but I've got tolook at our business and ask how do we make it succeed."
On March 16, an adult single fare for 1-2 stages will go from 70pto 75p with a 3-5 stage ticket from pounds1.30 to pounds1.40. Theprice for six stages or more remains unchanged at pounds1.80.
Unlimited day travel tickets, including peak times, increasesfrom pounds3.50 to pounds3.70.
Mr Mair said: "It is 12 months since the last fares review andduring this time the industry has come under increasing economicpressure."
He highlighted changes to the Government's fuel duty rebate forbus firms.
Mr Mair said: "This will increase industry costs in Scotland bypounds7.5 million over the next 18 months."
He pointed out the company got "almost zero" council subsidycompared to an average of 13% across the country.
And he also said profit was being reinvested in services withFirst Aberdeen spending more than pounds3 million on 22 new busesthis year.
The vehicles have CCTV cameras and lower floors, making them moreaccessible for parents with pushchairs, wheelchair users and olderpeople.
The new fares will start ahead of route changes on April 6.
Mr Mair said: "While we never like to increase our fares, we haveworked hard to ensure that regular travellers can benefit from nochange to weekly and monthly tickets.
"The changes, which we have kept as minimal as possible on thesmallest range of fares that we could, will help to ensure thatFirst can continue to invest in service improvements and new busesto increase the comfort and reliability for our passengers in theNorth-east."
dewen@ajl.co.uk
The year that the two oldest companies on our list of Top 100 Privately Held Companies were founded, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, Custer and the 7th Cavalry were wiped out at Little Bighorn, and Colorado had just become America's 38th state.
When the youngest company on our list started up, thenPresident Bill Clinton was impeached, a federal judge found computer giant Microsoft Corp. to be a monopoly, and the nation was worriedly bracing for Y2K.
Despite their 12-decade age difference, the leaders of our oldest and youngest firms agreed that the keys to running a profitable and successful business never change. The best firms emphasize customer service and …
France rugby coach Marc Lievremont left the southern hemisphere with a parting shot at New Zealand and praise for Australia after seeing both teams over the past three weekends.
Australia beat France 22-6 Saturday at the former Olympic stadium. The French split two matches with New Zealand on the previous two Saturdays on a Down Under trip that marked the end of its 11-month season.
Lievremont said the Wallabies had shown his side a "real level."
"They were probably better organized than New Zealand, they don't make any mistakes," he told Australian Associated Press through an interpreter.
"They had a better …
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Defense attorneys for a polygamous-sect leader charged with sex crimes in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl and her older cousin began their case Tuesday, trying to debunk the contention that his church places women in submissive roles.
Warren Jeffs, 51, president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is accused of using his influence to push the girl into a marriage with her 19-year-old cousin in 2001 and forcing her to have unwanted sex. He is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice.
The prosecution ended its presentation, and then Jeffs' lawyers called nine church members as witnesses, arguing against …
LVM (Tessenderlo, Belgium), the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and vinyl chloride monomer subsidiary of the Tessenderlo Group, has declared force majeure at its 225,000-m.t./year PVC unit at Mazingarbe, France. The unit was shut due to operating problems. LVM was unable to say when the unit would …
BYLINE: QUINTON MTYALA
POLICE often did not understand the difference between the trafficking and smuggling of human beings across international borders.
Marie Martinez, of the US Department of Homeland Security, said South Africa was a "source, transit and destination country" for those trafficking humans.
She was sent to SA by the US State Department "to assist" the SA Police Service and NGOs involved in fighting trafficking with needs they had identified. From Cape Town she is to attend a conference of judges in Johannesburg as the main speaker.
Martinez said although awareness had been raised about the sexual trafficking of women, there …
Byline: MICHAEL MC KEON - Staff writer
Democratic candidates for county and city posts filed their nominating petitions on Tuesday and once again demonstrated the party's organizational strength.
District Attorney Sol Greenberg, Sheriff James Campbell, County Clerk Thomas Clingan and Family Court hopeful Dennis Duggan filed petitions with 13,336 signatures, including 8,100 from the party stronghold of Albany. No Republicans filed petitions on Tuesday.
Candidates seeking party lines have until Thursday to file signatures to seek a spot on the Sept. 14 primary ballot, while independent candidates don't have to file until August.
The …
Oil prices swung wildly Thursday following a lead from Wall Street, which sank 300 points before investors flooded back into the market.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $2.08 to settle at $58.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude earlier dipped as low as $54.67, a price last seen in January 2007, on reports that the world's biggest economies are in recession and that energy demand has declined to decade-ago levels.
The Dow dropped briefly below 8,000 _ falling more than 300 points _ to retest lows that it hit Oct. 10 before a sharp climb into positive territory. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped to 818.69 before staging its …
Hours before embarking on a goodwill mission to Washington,President-elect George W. Bush named Condoleezza Rice, a Russiaspecialist in his father's administration, as his national securityadviser Sunday.
As he started building his White House staff, Bush also named twoTexans to key posts. As White House counsel, he chose Alberto R.Gonzales, a Texas Supreme Court justice who formerly served as Bush'scounsel in the governor's office. Bush also named Karen Hughes, alongtime adviser and the collaborator on his autobiography, ascounselor to the president, responsible for strategic planning,communications and speechwriting.
Asked if he was sending a message with his first …
SAN DIEGO - The Echo will replace the Tercel at the bottom of Toyota's lineup. But Toyota hopes its new entry-level subcompact will do more than just make up for lost sales.
The Tercel, which was axed in 1998, tended to be picked by new-car buyers on a wafer-thin budget, regardless of age. With the Echo, Toyota will reach out to a new generation of consumers: people under 30, many of whom don't think much of Toyota, if they think of the company at all.
And Toyota is counting on an eye-catching interior, a spirited engine and a reasonable price to do the trick.
``Critics of small cars say times have changed and that the small-car market is dead. …
IT WAS a one-off - and a runaway success.
Members of St Catherine's Hospice Bridlington Support Group held their first ever all-day fundraising event last Saturday at Sewerby Methodist Church and raised well over [pounds sterling]1,000.
Support group member Sally Robson said: "It was the first time we had tried it and it was extremely successful. We will now be considering making it a regular event. We had a great deal of support from the public and friends."
As well as stalls and refreshments the day included an …
Doctors have diagnosed a recurrence of ovarian cancer in Patsy Ramsey, the mother of slain child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, the family attorney said.
The diagnosis came after Ramsey's annual examination earlier this week in Bethesda, Md., attorney Lin Wood said.
Ramsey, now 45, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1993. She had been free of cancer for 8 1/2 years before doctors noticed the recurrence …
Byline: Michael McKeon Staff writer
The firm managing the Knickerbocker Arena made the best choice when it selected Ticketmaster as its ticketing agent, according to Republican and Democratic members of the Albany County Legislature's Civic Center Committee.
"I have the utmost confidence in Ticketmaster," Paul Scaringe, a Colonie Republican legislator, said after hearing a presentation Tuesday by arena General Manager Patrick Lynch.
The committee met in an effort to stem controversy surrounding the selection of Ticketmaster over rival Ticketron by Spectacor Management Inc., the firm that manages the arena and employee Lynch.
At issue are …
Results Saturday at the Aviva Grand Prix indoor athletics meet at the National Indoor Arena:
Men
60 meters _ 1, Michael Rodgers, United States, 6.57. 2, Daniel Bailey, Antigua, 6.59. 3, Nick Smith, Britain, 6.60. 4, Mark Lewis-Francis, Britain, 6.61. 5, Harry Aikines Aryeetey, Britain, 6.62. 6, Mark Jelks, United States, 6.68. 7, Craig Pickering, Britain, 6.71. 8, Nesta Carter, Jamaica, 6.77.
60-meter hurdles _ 1, Dayron Robles, Cuba, 7.44. 2, Petr Svoboda, Czech Republic, 7.57. 3, Ladji Doucoure, France, 7.65. 4, Gregory Sedoc, Netherlands, 7.66. 5, Dayron Capetillo, Cuba, 7.68. 6, Garfield Darien, France, 7.69. 7, Tyrone Akins, United States, …
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A passenger jet crashed and burst into flames after skidding off a runway at Brazil's busiest airport Tuesday and barreling across a highway, officials said. All 176 people on board were feared dead in what would be Brazil's deadliest air disaster, and at least 15 people were killed on the ground.
The death toll officially stood at 40 after the crash of the Airbus-320 owned by TAM airlines, but that number was expected to rise sharply as rescue workers, forensic experts and doctors scoured the wreckage in South America's largest city.
The crash happened in a driving rain on a runway at …
The team of Cesar Pelli & Associates and Architectural Alliance is the designer of Minneapolis' New Central Library Project. The team will design the 400,000-sq.-ft. library, planned as part of a larger, two-block mixed-use project on the …
Baku, 21 April (AzerTAc) - Member of Milli Majlis Azer Amiraslanov on 21 April has left for St. Petersburg to take part at the meeting of CIS Parliamentary Assemblys Economy and Finance Affairs Standing Committee. In the meetings, the working groups …
Byline: Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Japan's prime minister said Sunday that he expects President Suharto to make ``courageous decisions'' and honor plans to reform his battered economy.
Indonesia has asked for greater flexibility to make an international bailout plan work, and there was no sign that an impasse with the International Monetary Fund was broken.
Emerging from 2 hours of talks with Suharto, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said that he was …
The Arizona Diamondbacks traded away an All-Star pitcher for the second time in a week, sending right-hander Edwin Jackson to the Chicago White Sox on Friday for rookie Daniel Hudson and prospect David Holmberg.
Arizona shipped three-time All-Star Dan Haren to the Los Angeles Angels for left-hander Joe Saunders and three other players last week. The last-place Diamondbacks continued their rebuilding project by moving Jackson, an All-Star in 2009 who tossed the second no-hitter in franchise history June 25 against Tampa Bay.
Jackson became the first pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter and get traded later in the same season since Pittsburgh's Cliff …
When Terry Maness, dean of the Hankamer School of Business, describes Baylor University's latest active-learning offering-an alliance with SAP that familiarizes students with one of the business world's most prevalent enterprise software systems - he uses a phrase that captures the value of the entire undergraduate Hankamer experience.
"We've interested in giving students real-world applications/' Maness emphasizes, "rather than strictly having them learn from textbooks."
A DIVERSE COLLECTION OF HANDS-ON LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES - which include managing a $4.6 million investment fund, operating a record label, running a call center, weighing early-stage investment …
The Kyrgyz border guards yesterday met with Uzbek border guards to discuss border crossing by the population of Barak enclave, which lies on the territory of Uzbekistan.Around 700 ethnic Kyrgyz live in this enclave, Kyrgyz Border Service Vice Chair Cholponbek Turusbekov told AKIpress. 141 children, 46 women, 16 men, 16 cars crossed the border of Kyrgyzstan. They have been placed in Aktala rural municipality. They were provided with all necessary things. "Most part of people do not wish to cross the border yet. The talks were held. It was established that no danger for their life and health. If they wish to cross the border, the corridor exists, the border guards will help them," he …
Byline: DAVID BAUDER Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said he regrets his writings may have led others to murder Malcolm X in a ``60 Minutes'' interview to be broadcast Sunday.
He spoke while seated across the table from the civil rights leader's oldest daughter, Attallah Shabazz. She later issued a statement thanking Farrakhan for acknowledging his role and said: ``I wish him peace.''
Attallah Shabazz later issued a statement thanking Farrakhan for acknowledging his role and said: ``I wish him peace.''
Shabazz, then 6, saw her father gunned down in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on Feb. 21, 1965. Three …
Sweden's military says the gunman who killed two Swedish officers and their local interpreter in northern Afghanistan over the weekend was wearing a police uniform.
The military says the shooter opened fire as a Swedish patrol visited a police station near the village of Gurgi Tappeh, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the Swedish base in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Military …
The 97-room Ocean View International Hotel and Convention Center, located two miles east of Georgetown, has officially opened. The complex is a family venture owned by U.S.-based Guyanese George Lord and …
