Orders to U.S. factories have fallen for a second straight month. The worse-than-expected performance is further evidence that a prolonged slowdown in housing and a severe credit crunch are raising risks of a recession.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that factory orders dropped by 1.3 percent in …
WASHINGTON--Iraq's weapons declaration bears out U.S. skepticismthat President Saddam Hussein would come clean, Secretary of StateColin Powell said Monday, adding that using force to disarm Saddamremains an option.
Powell withheld a detailed assessment of the declaration untilchief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix reports to the UN SecurityCouncil on Thursday, but said the declaration appears suspect.
A senior White House official said the administration would have areaction to the documents by the end of the week, but that nodecision has been made on whether President Bush would …
LAST YEAR AT PASSOVER, JUST WEEKS before Israel Independence Day, Jews around the world sat down at their seders, shocked and horrified by the news that a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up guests at a seder at a hotel in Netanya, ultimately killing 29 and wounding some 150 people.
For good measure, the Hamas Palestinian terrorist was prepared to use a bottle of cyanide to "enhance" his mass attack, but failed to do so due to a technicality.
Then, by last Israel Independence Day Jews began demonstrating on behalf of Israel in an outpouring of solidarity and support.
THREE IMPORTANT RESULTS FOLLOWED the Netanya bombing, which was the most muderous attack in Israel in a …
Scoreboard at tea Friday on the second day of the first cricket test between Australia and India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Australia, 1st Innings
(Overnight: 254 for four)
Matthew Hayden c Dhoni b Khan 0
Simon Katich c Dhoni b Sharma 66
Ricky Ponting lbw Harbhajan 123
Michael Hussey not out 135
Michael Clarke lbw Khan 11
Shane Watson b Sharma 2
Brad Haddin c Laxman b Sharma 33
Cameron White c Harbhajan b Sharma 6
Brett Lee not out 26
Extras: (10lb, …
Gordon was injured in the second quarter but completed the 121-118 double-overtime victory over the Celtics that tied the best-of-seven series. He finished with 22 points, including the three-pointer that forced the second overtime.
Gordon is listed as day-to-day for Game 5 tonight in Boston, but he sounded Sunday as if he would play as long as the MRI didn't reveal serious damage.
''I'll do what I need to do to play,'' he said. ''We've played pretty well against them there the first two games. We just have to play with the same edge and see what …
NEW YORK U.S. stocks rose for the first time in four days after aFederal Reserve report indicated the economy is expanding with littleinflation. Computer-related shares led the gains, lifted by higher-than-expected sales at Cisco Systems Inc.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 132.65, or 1.2 percent, toclose at 10,787.80. The gains followed through on a rebound thatbegan Tuesday afternoon, when the Dow and other indicators struggledback from steep losses to end modestly lower.
Broader stock indicators were also higher today, with the Standard& Poor's 500 index gaining 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite indexgaining a healthy 3 percent.
Traders said the …
SYDNEY (AP) — John Daly walked off the course at the Australian Open on Thursday after hitting seven balls into the water on the 11th hole at The Lakes.
Infuriated Australasian tour officials, calling Daly's actions unprofessional, responded immediately by banning the controversial American from playing in the Australian PGA in two weeks.
It started on the short par-4 10th when Daly tried to drive the green. He thought his ball was in the front bunker, but after blasting out to about 4 feet, he realized he had hit a practice ball from the adjacent range. That's when he was told his ball was in the back bunker, and with a penalty shot and a three-putt, he wound up with a triple …
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says 2.5 percent of coffeehouse owners and 3.5 percent of their customers have quit smoking since Turkey extended a ban on indoor public smoking to bars, restaurants and coffeehouses a year ago.
Erdogan says 33 percent of the owners and 25 percent of the customers also have reported lighting up less frequently since the ban was introduced …
Boys and girls in Roxbury now have an expanded and renovated club for after-school activities. The Boys & Girls Club has completed an $8 million renovation that provides accommodations for 30 percent more than the 2,600 youths it currently serves. The newly designed facility includes a teen education center, a conference room, a fitness center, a computer room, an auditorium and a number of other amenities.
In any bricks and mortar project undertaken by a nonprofit organization, the most difficult donation to land is for the naming rights, which will usually cover one-third or more of the cost. The Roxbury Boys & Girls Club project was made possible because of a $3 million …
UPCOMING COVERAGE FOR SUNDAY, JAN. 6:
VATICAN-POPE
VATICAN CITY _ Pope presides over Epiphany service. 0900 GMT.
UPCOMING COVERAGE FOR MONDAY, JAN. 7:
WAR CRIMES-TAYLOR
THE HAGUE, Netherlands _ Resumption of war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, more than six months after its chaotic adjournment.
BRITAIN-DIANA
LONDON _ Resumption of inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed. 0900 GMT.
CHINA IN AFRICA
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa _ Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi begins a tour of Africa that also will take him to Congo, Burundi and …
The typical person who buys a $200,000 home or refinances that amount starting on Jan. 1 would have to pay roughly $17 more a month for their mortgage, thanks to a fee increase included in the payroll tax cut bill that the Senate passed Saturday. The White House said the fee increases would be phased in gradually.
The legislation provides a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits that would otherwise expire on Jan. 1. It would …
Bill Ward
Executive Director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County
Woody Allen once joked, "I'm not afraid to die ... I just don't want to be there when it happens."
The quote has been borrowed and bastardized in countless ways over the years, mostly by people addressing the subjects of death and dying.
Bill Ward, executive director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, has put it to a different use.
He summons it when he talks with people about confronting business and societal matters that maybe they don't want to confront, but must- It takes a definite lack of fear - and generous amounts of determination - to prevail in such …
A sprawling crackdown on the violent underworld in one of China's biggest cities that riveted the country with tales of gangland corruption has been a success, the city's mayor said Tuesday.
The crackdown in the southwestern city of Chongqing exposed deep links between government officials and police officers who provided cover for crime syndicates. The trail led as high as the former director of the city's judicial department, who was executed after convictions on a number of corruption charges.
The campaign in the city of 32 million began last year and has led to thousands of arrests and trials that have captivated the public with lurid testimony about sex, corruption and gangland violence.
"We strictly enforced the law, and we achieved great success," Mayor Huang Qifan told reporters Tuesday. The campaign "effectively improved the stability and safety in Chongqing."
Huang said about 530 people were prosecuted and 370 sentenced, while more than 500 murder cases were investigated. He said more than 100 government officials were investigated, including police, prosecutors and members of the court.
The focus on officials had "effectively punished the protective umbrellas, or shields for gangsters," he said.
In late July, authorities announced the arrest of a former deputy of Chongqing's legislative body, Wang Neng, on charges of assault, possession of guns, extortion and organizing a gang. More than 20 alleged members of his gang also were arrested or detained.
Earlier this month, the former director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, Wen Qiang, was executed after conviction on charges involving bribery, rape, extortion and gang-related activities.
Wen was also accused of protecting the gang operations masterminded by his sister-in-law, Xie Caiping, known as the "godmother" of the Chongqing underworld. Xie was sentenced to 18 years in prison in November for running illegal casinos and bribing government officials.
Despite the progress made in busting gangsters, Huang said there is still work to be done.
"There will be new cases emerging in the future, so there is no way to say that our efforts are over," he said.
Terry Twist's latest and most serious run-in with the law ended indisappointment Thursday, as the 26-year-old left federal courtshaking his head and carrying a 28-month prison term for hooking upwith a batch of teens in a botched bank heist.
The affable Aurora man, whose nine other convictions ofteninvolved excessive boozing, has already been in jail for about 13months and hoped his sentence Thursday would come close to equalingtime served.
But U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer refused to give Twisttwo significant sentencing breaks Thursday.
"I'm on your side," Pallmeyer assured Twist after imposing thesentence. "There's nobody in here who doesn't want to see you comeout of this in a positive way."
Twist_whose other convictions include possessing drugs at aGrateful Dead concert, driving under the influence and under-agedrinking_pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit banklarceny. While working as a bank supervisor in 1999, Twist helpedstage a nearly $90,000 heist at the TCF branch where he worked insidea Naperville grocery store. Several area teens also were recruitedinto the scheme.
Twist was once accused as the mastermind, but two othersupervisors are now charged as ringleaders. Twist helped authoritiesbuild charges against the two women. Both have pleaded not guilty.
"He's obviously disappointed," Twist's lawyer, Jim Tunick, saidafter Twist was taken back to the Metropolitan Correctional Center."He learned his lesson . . . and he doesn't want to spend any moretime in prison."
The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.
Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks. Authorities say al-Qahtani missed out on taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the U.S. by an immigration agent.
But in reviewing the case, the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford, decided to dismiss the charges against al-Qahtani and proceed with the arraignment for the other five, said Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, the Saudi's military lawyer.
Crawford dismissed the charges Friday without prejudice, meaning they can be filed again later, but the defense only learned about it Monday, Broyles told The Associated Press.
The attorney said he could not comment on the reasons for the dismissal until discussing the case with lawyers for the other five defendants. Officials previously said al-Qahtani had been subjected to a harsh interrogation authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, confirmed the case was proceeding against the five defendants and that their arraignment will be within 30 days of the charges being served at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Gordon declined further comment since the Office of Military Commissions had not yet released the formal announcement about the legal developments.
The five defendants include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the terrorist attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people, and Ramzi Binalshibh, who is said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and al-Qaida leaders. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all of them.
Their trial is the first capital case thus far before the military tribunals at Guantanamo, where the U.S. holds about 270 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban. The military has said it plans to prosecute about 80 prisoners in the first U.S. military war crimes tribunals since World War II.
Authorities have said they plan to broadcast the trials to military bases in the United States so relatives of the victims of the attacks can see the proceedings.
Critics of the tribunals have faulted a rule that allows judges to decide whether to allow evidence that may have been obtained with "coercion." U.S. authorities have acknowledged that Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding by CIA interrogators and that al-Qahtani was treated harshly at Guantanamo.
Al-Qahtani in October 2006 recanted a confession he said he made after he was tortured and humiliated at Guantanamo.
The alleged torture, which he detailed in a written statement, included being beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female personnel.
The U.S. has alleged that al-Qahtani, who military records show is about 28, barely missed becoming the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001. The Saudi was denied entry into the country by immigration agents at the airport in Orlando, Florida.
At the time, he had more than US$2,400 in cash, no return plane ticket and lead hijacker Mohamed Atta was waiting for him, the military has said.
Separately Monday, Gordon said the Pentagon has not decided whether to appeal a ruling that ousted a top legal official from a detainee case scheduled to become the first to go to trial at Guantanamo Bay.
In a ruling last week, a military judge at Guantanamo found that Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the legal adviser for the tribunals, lacks neutrality and should not participate in the case against a Yemeni who is a former driver for Osama bin Laden. His trial is set for June 2.
____
Associated Press writer Michael Melia contributed to this report.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — U.S. investigators will soon examine the flight data recorders from a Caribbean Airlines jet that skidded off a rain-slicked runway in Guyana and split apart, officials said Monday. No one died in the weekend accident.
Kelly A. Nantel, a spokeswoman with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, said the recorders from the cracked Boeing 737-800 were expected to arrive at an agency lab on Monday evening.
The U.S. agency has a team in Guyana assisting the South American country's civil aviation authority with their crash investigation.
Caribbean Airlines spokeswoman Laura Asbjornsen said the pilot and crew remain in Guyana to work with investigators.
"We have no other information at this time about the incident," said Asbjornsen, adding the Trinidad-based carrier has set up a counseling center for passengers and their families.
The plane, carrying 162 people, slid off the end of the runway early Saturday.
Authorities have been upgrading systems at the airport that help pilots to land, but not all of the new systems were operating at the time of the crash, according to Guyana's Civil Aviation Director Zulfikar Mohamed.
Officials and aviation experts have cautioned it was far too early to say if the lack of the systems was a factor in the crash.
Mohamed has said there was light rain, but visibility was 5 miles (8 kilometers) at the time the plane landed early Saturday.
NEW ORLEANS - Breakfasting on beignets in the French Quarter on a Sunday morning, Dorothy Washington was a tourism official's dream - she saw none of the scars that still mark most of New Orleans 11 months after Hurricane Katrina and she had heard nothing about six weekend shooting deaths.
"Really, I haven't seen any sign of the hurricane or crime. The French Quarter's a whole other world to itself," said Washington, 26, of Philadelphia.
However, city leaders and people who make a living in the tourism industry fear that New Orleans is building a national reputation that could harm its fragile recovery.
That reputation was fostered by the June deaths of five teenagers gunned down while sitting in a sport utility vehicle, the subsequent assignment of state police and National Guard troops to help keep the peace in the city, and then this weekend's six gunshot killings in 24 hours.
"It dampens the progress we are making since the hurricane," said City Councilwoman Shelley Midura. "This is not what most people in New Orleans encounter. Most people in New Orleans do not experience any type of violence. But this is the image that is being formed of the city and it will hurt us if it continues."
This weekend's spate of violence began Friday night when three brothers and a friend were killed several blocks away from the French Quarter in the Treme neighborhood. They were sitting on a porch when two men walked by, turned around and fired, police Superintendent Warren Riley said.
Two other people were gunned down in separate incidents hours later in other neighborhoods, one close to busy St. Charles Avenue, between a daiquiri shop and a restaurant that both had customers at the time.
No arrests had been made in the latest killings as of Sunday afternoon.
"On top of everything else, this is just what we need," said Archie Casbarian, owner of Arnaud's restaurant in the French Quarter. "So far I don't think it's hurting tourism. I haven't heard any tourist expressing concern. But there's no question I'm concerned."
Police and City Council members expressed frustration at their inability to stop the bloodshed, but are eager to spread the word that the violence is usually drug related or retaliatory and rarely touches tourists.
"It bothers me tremendously because there are so many things that are great about New Orleans," Midura said. "But this is what people will be reading about."
Murder and other crimes plummeted in the first months after Katrina hit New Orleans on Aug. 29 and flooded 80 percent of the city, forcing thousands of people to move out.
The population is estimated to be about half of the pre-storm total of about 455,000. But the body count is mounting with 78 homicides so far, 21 of them in July. In the first six months of last year, before the Katrina exodus, 134 people were killed.
"Our population is increasing, and our Police Department numbers are decreasing," Riley said. "We have to get this department back up to a minimum of 1,600 police officers." It currently is about 200 short of that goal.
On June 20, Gov. Kathleen Blanco sent 300 National Guardsmen and 60 state police troopers to assist the city. State police officers are patrolling the French Quarter and the Guard is covering the still thinly populated areas of the city.
The reinforcements freed city police to patrol more violent areas. Arrests were up and the murder rate appeared to be slowing.
However, the weekend's killings showed that putting more people on the street is not the complete answer, Riley said. He blamed the city's long-criticized school system, illiteracy, unemployment and "just basically ignorance" for contributing to the crimes.
"Unfortunately, the city of New Orleans is the victim of 40 or 50 years of neglect as it relates to the education system, as it relates to literacy," Riley said at a news conference Saturday. "Obviously, there has been something that is feeding the mentality of our criminals that allows them to be brazen and vicious, and allows them to kill four and five people at a time."
A roadside bomb critically wounded a military commander of the Fatah movement Tuesday, setting off gunbattles at a Palestinian refugee camp that has been torn by factional fighting, Lebanese and Palestinian security officials said.
Talal Sleim was hit while heading to his office in the Ein el-Hilweh camp, on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. A bodyguard was also lightly wounded, they said.
After news of the explosion spread, Fatah guerrillas exchanged machine-gun fire with Palestinian gunmen of the Jund al-Sham group, which follows the extremist ideology of al-Qaida.
Dozens of families fled to safer areas outside the shantytown in fear that fighting would escalate between the two factions, witnesses said.
The bombing came 10 days after three Jund al-Sham militants were killed in clashes with Fatah guerrillas in the camp, leading the extremist group to vow revenge.
Among those killed was a Jund al-Sham military commander, Shehadeh Jawhar, who fought American troops in Iraq and was wanted by Lebanese authorities for numerous acts of violence.
Jund al-Sham _ Arabic for Soldiers of al-Sham, an old word for the region of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan _ has repeatedly clashed with Fatah guerrillas and Lebanese troops deployed around Ein el-Hilweh. It has been blamed or claimed responsibility for a number of bombings and gunbattles in Lebanon and Syria.
Ein el-Hilweh, with a population of 70,000, is the largest of Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps. A hotbed of Islamic extremists, it is notorious for lawlessness and sees frequent gunfights between its various factions.
Baby talk: Chitchat's better than cooing for jogging your baby'sbrain, since the first 12 months are crucial to building lifelongprocessing and reasoning abilities.
According to August's Parenting magazine, infants who werespoken to often - in a tone that engaged their attention - had higherintelligence by ages 3 and 9.
Parenting offers a guide for talking through baby's first year:One- to 3-week-olds are sensitive to overstimulation, so don't worryabout chatting.At 1 to 3 months, babies are taking more in but can't process much.So turn off background noise (TV, radio) when you're talking.Three- to 6-month-olds benefit from a running play-by-play of whatyou're both doing. While they won't understand the words, they'llstore the sounds for later.By 6 to 9 months, babies understand tone of voice. "No!" won'tmean much, but babies catch the tone's urgency.Nine- to 12-month-olds start to assign meaning to the words theyhear. Use gestures to help connect sound and meaning.Gannett News ServiceTick time: Since kids are prone to ticks and the Lyme diseasethey carry, August's Parents magazine urges moms and dads to doroutine tick checks. Lyme disease's symptoms - rash, muscle andjoint aches, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes - can appear two to 40days after the bite.Parents should pay special attention to the back of the neck,armpits, behind the knees and ears, and the groin. Look forsomething that resembles a pin head or a sesame seed. Usingtweezers, grab the tick close to the skin and pull gently. To killticks on clothing, wash in hot water.Gannett News ServiceBetter remedies: Over-the-counter remedies often can do moreharm than good, according to Family Circle magazine. Instead ofself-medicating, take a look at what's causing the problem. Dry andred eyes may not need eye drops, but moist air and less consumptionof alcohol. Multisymptom cold remedies aren't right for every cold.Tea with a bit of honey is usually better for coughs than acough suppressant. And chicken soup really can help a stuffy nose.For minor cuts, wash with soap and water and disinfect with peroxide.Ointments can seal off the wound, trapping dirt and causinginfection.Gannett News ServiceClarification: A photo of churchgoers published on the July 27Family page was taken at Broadview Baptist Church in south suburbanBroadview.
Police say eight people were wounded in a burst of gunfire in downtown Indianapolis during the Indiana Black Expo and two more in separate shootings that followed.
Police spokesman Lt. Jeff Duhamell said early Sunday that authorities made no immediate arrests directly tied to the shootings and were seeking those responsible. He says none of the injuries was life-threatening.
Police say the victims were males ages 10 to 18. Duhamell says hundreds in a crowd scattered when shots first erupted about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, adding a man was wounded nearby in another shooting minutes later and the last man in a shooting about 11:30 p.m.
Duhamell says investigators were trying to determine if the shootings were gang-related. None occurred at the event's venues.
