Organizer: WC 2010 preparation on schedule

South Africa's organizing chief for the 2010 World Cup says preparation for the tournament is moving ahead on schedule.

Danny Jordaan says organizers expects some 450,000 foreign visitors to attend the tournament that kicks off June 14 next …

Greylord book offers chilling look at scandal

Filled with the blunt language of corruption, an advance copy ofBrocton Lockwood's new book about Greylord showed up on our desk,bringing with it memories of the scandal Lockwood helped to splashacross the front pages.

The book presents a chilling picture of justice in Chicago notso long ago: fat bundles of greenbacks slipped into the hands of hackjudges, grinning mobsters shuffling through bought trials, judgespaying "rent" for lucrative courtrooms.

All of this was dragged into the light with the help ofLockwood, a Downstate judge who, horrified at what he saw after beingtransferred to Chicago, cooperated with an FBI probe that ended upconvicting cellblocks …

Trying to save troops' lives with flying hospital

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AP) — A light rain fell on a runway in the early morning darkness as vans pulled up to what one officer calls the "Cadillac" of medical evacuation aircraft.

Dozens of service members began loading wounded comrades onto a huge C-17 military transport plane in a carefully choreographed process. As many as eight people carry a single patient, who often is connected to more than 100 pounds of advanced medical equipment.

The giant plane had been converted into a flying intensive care unit to evacuate the war zones' most seriously wounded for advanced care in Germany and the U.S. The wounded travel under the watchful eye of Air National Guard Critical …

Guy Ritchie hopes hard work pays off with 'Holmes'

All in all, Guy Ritchie has had a pretty good 2009. He had a blast making his big-budget thriller "Sherlock Holmes," stayed focused on his work _ and avoided coverage of the fallout from his split with Madonna.

"I haven't read the papers for so long now," said Ritchie. "I don't watch TV.

"Head down, arms swinging _ I've been like that for a couple of years now."

The British filmmaker and the queen of pop divorced in November 2008, eight years after they wed in a Scottish castle and became darlings of the tabloid press.

Fortunately, Ritchie, 41, had plenty to distract him from the inevitable media frenzy. …

Tom's US drive

Tractor Tom is being sent to the United States in an attempt tobreak into the pre-school toy market.

The Contender Entertainment Group (CEG) has appointed Hasbro to bethe master toy licensee for its pre-school property.

Hasbro …

Kim Bingham: background

Born and raised in Montreal, Kim began her career singing and writing with Me, Mom and Morgentaler in early 1988. After leaving the band in 1993 she hibernated in her apartment in Montreal and flirted briefly with a career in television before recording a series of 4-track demos in an effort to see what she was capable of on her own.

Late '94 found her in Vancouver where she formed Mudgirl and recorded First Book. The EP yielded three singles, …

Pandas evacuated from earthquake-hit area in China because of landslide threats

Pandas living in earthquake-hit southwest China are facing a food shortage and some have been evacuated to temporary shelters because of the continuing threat of landslides and other hazards, an official said Tuesday.

Only seven pandas of the original 63 are left in the Wolong Nature Reserve deep in the lush mountains of Sichuan province, close to the epicenter of last month's magnitude-7.9 temblor, said Zhang Hemin, the director of the Wolong Panda Breeding Center.

They are being fed only a fraction of their daily allowance of bamboo because the plants were either damaged or destroyed by the quake, he said. Their diet is being supplemented by milk and …

Wife's vacation-rage conviction stands Punched mother-in-law while demanding trip start at 5 p.m.

Anne LaBarbara would not be denied her vacation.

The Niles woman stormed into her husband's workplace, repeatedlypunched her mother-in-law and smashed framed pictures over the headof another woman, according to court documents. Throughout therampage in August 2002, she demanded that her husband shut down thefactory he was running so they could leave on time for their familyvacation, documents say.

LaBarbara, 42, was convicted of battery and sentenced to a year'sprobation. She hoped to have it overturned, saying she wasn'tconvicted beyond a reasonable doubt. But the Appellate Court ofIllinois on Tuesday ruled against her.

The court rejected her plea that because …

Marion Jones: Life in the Fast Lane, An Illustrated Autobiography

Marion Life in the Fast An illustrated Autobiography by Marion Jones with Kate Sekules Warner Books, July 2004 $24.95, ISBN 0-446-52455-7

The Golden Girl

Marion Jones's glory shines through in her memoir. By Fred Lindsey

For more than a decade, Marion Jones-with her five-feet-eleven inch, lean, copper-colored frame-was hailed as the "the fastest woman on the planet." At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, she became the first woman to ever win five medals at one Olympics. That year, the Associated Press and ESPN named Jones "Athlete of the Year." A happy, infectious glow from these accomplishments will reflect on Jones's fans upon reading her illustrated …

US board turns down parole for wealthy killer

John du Pont, the multimillionaire chemical heir convicted of murdering an Olympic athlete in 1996, has lost a bid for parole.

A jury found du Pont guilty but mentally ill in 1997 in the shooting death of gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz. The 70-year-old Du Pont was sentenced to 13 to 30 years in prison, but first was …

Santa is finally using his escape Claus

Well, it's about time.

I've managed to come up with the first bona fide scoop of mycareer. Even Irv Kupcinet would be glad to get his hands on thisone.

Here it is: After nearly a century of marriage, Santa Claus andhis wife, the former Mary Christmas, have decided to call it quits.That's right, ladies.

He's hot.

He's heavy.

And now he's single.

In a rare journalistic coup, Single File risked life, limb andconsiderable ridicule to travel to the North Pole for a one-on-oneinterview with the newly eligible Mr. Claus.

Q. Santa - if I may call you that - your marriage was consideredone of the most successful in the world. …

China: Occupy Wall Street's issues worth thought

BEIJING (AP) — China's foreign ministry said Monday the Occupy Wall Street movement highlights issues that are worth considering, but that debates generated by the protests should promote global economic growth.

The movement began a month ago in Manhattan's Zuccotti Park with loosely organized protests against what demonstrators consider unbridled corporate greed.

It has swelled to include demonstrations on Saturday elsewhere in the U.S. and in Europe involving hundreds of thousands of people. In China, online calls for similar protests did not appear to elicit any responses.

"We feel that there are issues here that are worth pondering," said Liu Weimin, a foreign …

EU raids drug makers on suspected antitrust abuse

Drug makers Sanofi-Aventis SA, Novartis AG and Ratiopharm International GmbH said Wednesday that EU regulators had carried out surprise raids at their French offices as part of an antitrust probe.

The European Commission on Tuesday said it had visited the offices of several pharmaceutical companies that it did not name as part of an investigation into suspected monopoly abuse and restrictive business deals.

The raids also follow a July warning from the EU's top antitrust official, Neelie Kroes, that major drug makers face a wave of antitrust investigations. The EU concluded a broad inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector by saying that drugs companies are deliberately stalling cheaper generic versions of their own medicines once exclusive patents expire.

If regulators find proof to confirm suspicions, the next step is to charge the companies with antitrust abuse and hear their defense before taking a decision to fine them up to 10 percent of their global annual turnover.

The Commission said the inspections did not mean the companies were guilty of anticompetitive behavior.

A spokesman for Switzerland's Novartis, Eric Althoff, said Tuesday that EU officials had visited the premises of its generics unit Sandoz in France. He said the company was fully cooperating with authorities.

France's Sanofi-Aventis was also targeted by the probe, spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin said, adding that the company was also cooperating with the authorities. Germany's Ratiopharm also said its French unit was searched.

Until now, the EU has only gone public about one other investigation involving France's Les Laboratoires Servier for hindering the launch of generic versions of its heart disease drug perindopril.

Regulators said they suspected that Servier did deals with generic rivals Krka, Lupin, Matrix, Niche Generics Ltd and Teva to hold back cheaper versions.

The EU says generic drugs are on average 40 percent cheaper than their branded rivals two years after they launch. It warned that it knew of at least 200 settlement agreements _ some including payments to delay drug launches _ between generic and brand-name drug makers that could restrict the rollout of generic versions.

Jury hears taped Allen-Stevens phone conversations

Jurors have begun hearing secretly recorded phone calls between Sen. Ted Stevens and the government's star witness at the Alaska senator's corruption trial.

In audiotapes played Monday for the jury, witness Bill Allen warns Stevens that the FBI was asking questions about their relationship. Prosecutors accuse Stevens of lying on Senate forms about more than $250,000 in renovations on his cabin and other gifts from Allen, a wealthy businessman and longtime friend.

The senator tells Allen that they have a fight ahead and "we're going to win because we didn't do anything wrong."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A federal judge said Monday the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens will go forward despite another request to throw out the case.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the government to file a formal response at the end of the day to repeated defense claims that prosecutors intentionally withheld evidence favorable to their client.

Stevens' lawyers says the government kept hidden FBI interviews in which star witness Bill Allen says Stevens would have paid for improvements to his Alaska house if asked.

Sullivan gave prosecutors until late Monday to respond. Meanwhile, he want Allen, the former head of VECO Corp., to return to the witness stand.

Stevens is on trial for not reporting more than $250,000 in gifts from Allen and VECO.

On Friday, Sullivan had denied a similar motion from Stevens' attorneys, who had persuaded the judge on Thursday to suspend the trial, send jurors home and consider a mistrial.

Prosecutors have insisted that they made an honest mistake in not following rules of evidence requiring the government to share information that could help criminal defendants prove their innocence, and pleaded with the judge to let the trial go on. He agreed on condition they turn over the additional documents that could prove valuable in cross-examining Allen.

Stevens, 84, is accused of lying on Senate finance disclosure forms to conceal renovations on his ski chalet and gifts from Allen.

Allen testified last week he ignored requests by Stevens to send him bills for work by VECO employees who helped remodel the home, claiming a mutual friend told him the senator made the requests only to cover his tracks. Stevens says he was adamant that he pay all the bills and had no idea Allen was absorbing most costs himself.

Prosecutors next plan to introduce phone conversations with Stevens secretly recorded by Allen, who's testifying as part of a plea deal made with federal authorities investigating corruption among Alaskan legislators.

Stevens, a patriarch of Alaska politics for generations, has been holed up in the courtroom for more than two weeks while a Democratic opponent mounts a strong challenge back home to the seat the senator has held for 40 years.

___

On the Net:

Justice Department documents: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/us-v-stevens/

Dazzling Defense Helps Do in Cardinals

NEW YORK - The New York Mets kept catching breaks, mostly because David Wright, Endy Chavez and their teammates caught most every ball.

Dazzling defense was a key to the Mets' 2-0 victory over St. Louis in the NL championship series opener on Thursday night.

Right to the end, the Mets showed off glittering gloves.

"Defense was great, and obviously I needed it to be great," said Tom Glavine, who stretched his scoreless streak this postseason to 13 innings. "I'm relying on those guys a lot. They know that. And I think they accept that."

First baseman Carlos Delgado speared Albert Pujols' liner off Billy Wagner to start the ninth inning, prompting the St. Louis slugger to drop his bat in frustration. Juan Encarnacion followed with a hard grounder up the middle, and second baseman Jose Valentin backhanded the ball and made a leaping throw to first for the out.

Throw in a strong peg by center fielder Carlos Beltran for a double play, a fast reaction by Wright to catch a liner at third base and a sprawling grab by Chavez in left field, and the Mets cut off every Cardinals' chance.

"When we hit the ball, they seemed to have a guy there," Cardinals leadoff man David Eckstein said.

During the regular season, New York was in the middle of the pack defensively, eighth in the 16-team league. But the Mets were flawless against the Cardinals, making two inning-ending double plays and keeping the game scoreless until Beltran's two-run homer in the sixth off Jeff Weaver.

Wright started the good glove night in the third, after the bottom two hitters in the Cardinals' batting order, Yadier Molina and Weaver, singled with one out.

Eckstein hit a liner to Wright, who flipped to Valentin to end the inning. Wright easily could have tagged out Molina himself.

"It's a momentum changer, to be able to get a double play in a big situation," Wright said. "It's huge, especially in the postseason, because everything is so magnified and every out is so important."

Pujols, perhaps the league's best hitter, walked with one out in the fourth and Encarnacion hit a fly to Beltran in shallow center. He made the catch and easily doubled up Pujols at first.

"Those double plays are huge for us," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "Any short series, any playoff situation, you have to make the plays at the right time."

Cliff Floyd started in left field, making a pair of easy catches before re-injuring his left Achilles' while running on a foul ball. He was replaced in the third by Chavez.

"I wasn't prepared at all. I didn't expect that," Chavez said.

He wound up getting a key putout in the fifth.

Jim Edmonds singled with one out and Ronnie Belliard hit a fly ball. Chavez broke back, then hustled in a dove for a backhand catch, with the ball just sticking in the web of his glove.

"Defense is a big part of the game for me," he said.

Did the ball come close to popping out of hit glove?

His eyes widened and he smiled.

"Very close," he said. "Very close."

Detroit papers set to announce major changes

Newspapers are desperately seeking new business models that will help them survive dwindling readership and a deep advertising slump exacerbated by the recession.

The latest are the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, which said Monday they will announce "a sweeping set of strategic and innovative changes" on Tuesday.

The Detroit Media Partnership, which runs the business operations of the papers, said the changes are "designed to better meet advertiser and reader needs in an era in which digital delivery is revolutionizing how people get information."

Detroit would be the largest metro area to undergo a major media makeover.

The Christian Science Monitor next year will become the first national newspaper to drop its daily print edition and focus on publishing online.

The East Valley Tribune, a daily in suburban Phoenix owned by Freedom Communications Inc., is reducing the number of publication days of its print edition while posting news on its Web site daily. The Daily Tribune in Royal Oak, a Detroit suburb, recently cut its print edition to four days a week from six.

The changes at the Detroit papers include "a focus on more robust and more engaging digital delivery methods, and support the continued publication of two daily newspapers in Detroit," the partnership said in a statement Monday evening.

Big-city papers have suffered from a loss of classified advertising, but "Detroit is suffering more than most," said John Morton, an independent newspaper analyst in Silver Spring, Maryland.

"When you have automotive, real estate and help-wanted in the tank, it can have a profound effect on revenue," he said.

Bassett said the Free Press is the 20th-largest daily in the country, with a circulation of 298,243; double on Sunday. The News, which does not publish on Sunday, had circulation of 178,280 at the end of September.

The rank-and-file are eager to hear what's next. The Free Press is owned by Gannett Co. and the News by MediaNews Group.

"I am as much in the dark as my members are," said Lou Mleczko, president of Local 22 of the Detroit Newspaper Guild, which represents 350 newsroom employees at the papers.

Joint-operating agreements allow papers like the News and Free Press to share business and production operations while keeping their newsrooms separate.

The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 makes the arrangement exempt from antitrust laws if the attorney general certifies one paper is in danger of failing.

Telling tales // Columbia gathers fiction writers to celebrate the art

The Story Week Festival of Writers, which begins today,highlights five authors as diverse as their wide-ranging works.

The lineup at Columbia College includes a thirtysomething NewYorker, an Egyptian doctor once jailed, a Chicagoan whose firstnovel - 21 years in the making - was published last year, a sciencefiction writer and an author of children's books.

"The authors represent a striking range of backgrounds, subjectsand voices - a range certainly in keeping with the diversity ofwriting found in Columbia fiction writing students themselves," saidDr. Randall Albers, chairman of Columbia's fiction writingdepartment.Here's the lineup of free events:Today, Scott Heim, 1:30 p.m., Ferguson Theater, 600 S. Michigan.Tuesday, Nawal El Saadawi, 7 p.m., Hokin Hall, 623 S. Wabash.Wednesday, Phyllis Eisenstein, Sandra Jackson-Opoku and LaurieLawlor, Hokin Center (Gallery), 7 p.m., 623 S. Wabash.Friday, 20th anniversary celebration of Hair Trigger magazine, 7p.m., Student Residence Center, 731 S. Plymouth Ct.Heim will read from his soon-to-be-released novel. His earlierMysterious Skin and In Awe earned him distinction as "one of 30artists under the age of 30 most likely to change the culture in thenext 30 years" by the New York Times Magazine.Dr. El Saadawi, a leading spokeswoman on the status of women inthe Arab world, is a visiting scholar at the University ofIllinois-Chicago. A psychiatrist by training, she has writtennovels, nonfiction, short stories and plays. Her outspoken views onthe oppression of women cost her her job as director general of theEgyptian Ministry of Health. She was jailed in 1981 for criticizingthe government. Her novel Memoirs From the Women's Prison waswritten during her imprisonment, on toilet paper with an eyelinerpencil borrowed from a fellow inmate.Three authors who are part-time faculty members of Columbia'sfiction writing department will team up for Wednesday night'spresentation.Jackson-Opoku's novel, The River Where Blood is Born, startedas a travelogue of her first trip to Africa. The intergenerationaltale charts the journey of an African woman and her decendants over200 years.Lawlor is the author of five Addie Mills books. She was afreelance writer and editor before devoting herself full-time tochildren's books.Eisenstein, who says she "inhaled science fiction as a child,"knew from age 8 she wanted to be a science fiction writer. Born toExile and Sorcerer's Son are among her titles.The "Hair Trigger 20" party celebrates the college'saward-winning fiction magazine. Contributors past and present willread.For more information, call (312) 663-1600.

Composting handbook

Charleston, West Virginia

The College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences at West Virginia University just released The Handbook for Commercial and Municipal Composting in West Virginia, written by Thomas R. Wilmink and Robert G. Diener. The book provides guidelines and procedures for developing large-scale composting facilities capable of producing high quality compost. Information is provided on meeting regulations and the permitting process in West Virginia, compost pile construction options, odor control, choosing equipment and marketing end products. The $65 book is available from Jim Hill, West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, Building 3, Room 732, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. East, Charleston, WV 25305.

Mandela Opens Shopping Mall in Soweto

SOWETO, South Africa - Former President Nelson Mandela opened the largest shopping center in Soweto on Thursday, more evidence of the business boom that is transforming South Africa's most famous township.

The 699,654-square-foot, $86 million Maponya Mall is the latest venture by Richard Maponya, a close associate of Mandela and one of Soweto's oldest entrepreneurs.

"With this action, we declare this mall open," said a beaming Mandela after cutting a large gold ribbon.

Soweto, the sprawling township in the southwest of Johannesburg, was envisioned by apartheid's architects as merely a warehouse for workers. Since the end of apartheid more than a decade ago, it has increasingly established itself as a community - where people live, work and shop, and where business sees opportunity.

Shopping malls, once chiefly associated with Johannesburg's wealthy northern suburbs, are sprouting up across Soweto, as black South Africans reap the benefits of a growing economy.

"There are big changes in Soweto," Sowetan Cecile Daubanes said at Maponya Mall's opening, struggling to push a shopping trolley loaded with groceries.

Soweto is the most populous black urban residential area in the country with about 1 million people, nearly a third of Johannesburg's total population.

It was at the center of the anti-apartheid struggle and home to the country's most important political figures, such as Mandela and fellow Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Today, its cosmopolitan residents continue to define black urban style in South Africa.

"I have been one of the sons of this town for a very long time. I have seen it grow," Maponya said at the opening, standing in front of a statue inspired by an iconic photograph of a dying Hector Pieterson, the youngest victim of the 1976 Soweto student uprising against apartheid.

Maponya, dubbed the "father of black retail," spoke about how he battled to access business financing as he tried to build up a career as an entrepreneur.

"I refused to listen and kept on knocking on doors. Today, I deliver to you my dream of 28 years," he said as people poured into the mall, eager to take advantage of the many opening sales.

Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo said a 2004 study showed that Sowetans spent $611 million on retail goods, but only 25 percent of this was spent in the township due to a lack of retail outlets. Since then, there has been an "explosion" of new shops in Soweto, including the Maponya Mall, he said.

"Soweto is not just undergoing a face lift," he said. "It is undergoing a radical reconstruction and the mood is one of excitement."

Sowetan Susan Lebitso, laden with sheets and pillows at Maponya Mall Thursday, embodied that mood.

She said: "The mall has come to us."

RJC seeks new principal

In a notice sent to all Saskatchewan and Alberta MC Canada churches, George Epp, chair of the Rosthern Junior College (RJC) Search Committee, has formally announced the retirement of current RJC principal Erwin Tiessen after 18 years at the school.

The search to find a suitable replacement has begun and churches are being asked to pray for this process.

"The selection of a principal is a very important task," notes Epp, "and we welcome your prayers, suggestions and support as we seek the Lord's leading in choosing leadership for our high school."

[ CHICAGO VETS ON PETS ]

Q. My dog has a problem, which is weird and a more than a littledisgusting. Calvin cleans up after himself while he is in the act ofvoiding his bladder. He has done this ever since I adopted him at age1. Now 2, he is neutered and seems normal in all other respects. Whydoes he do this disgusting behavior and how can I stop it?

A. Before we attribute this to some strangeness in your dog'sbehavior, we should first consider the possibility that Calvin has aphysical abnormality. Readers may be interested in knowing that themedical name for sugar diabetes is diabetes mellitus, Latin for sweetwater.

Individuals with diabetes spill sugar into their urine, whichmakes it sweet, and centuries ago doctors diagnosed diabetes bytasting their patients urine! Yuk! Thank goodness I'm practicingmedicine now!

If Calvin has diabetes, he may be attracted to the sweet taste.Another, different kind of diabetes, diabetes insipidus, causesafflicted individuals to be unable to concentrate their urine, andwithout constant water, they will become dehydrated.

Diabetes insipidus patients produce urine almost as dilute as purewater. There are also forms of kidney disease that can cause similardehydration. Please take your dog to your veterinarian for a full setof blood and a urinalysis. If it turns out he has a disease, let yourvet handle the problem.

If there is no disease, ask your vet to refer you to a veterinarybehaviorist for help in understanding what's going on. And, please,write back and let us know how Calvin is doing.

LARRY FOX, DVM

Members of the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association provide theanswers to this column. Write Chicago Vets on Pets, c/o CVMA, P.O.Box 5017, Oak Brook, Ill. 60522-5017. Or send e-mail to vetsonpets-@chicagovma.com.

Kuwait opposition boosts pressure after FM resigns

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Opposition groups in Kuwait are pledging to step up pressure on the government after the resignation of the Gulf nation's foreign minister amid allegations of high-level corruption.

Opposition parliament members are calling for a protest rally Wednesday and are trying to bring Kuwait's prime minister into the chamber for questioning. Kuwait's key affairs are run by the ruling Al Sabah family, but it has one of the region's most politically active parliaments.

Sheik Mohammad Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah's resignation was accepted Tuesday. The official Kuwait News Agency gave no reason, but Kuwaiti media speculated it was linked to allegations of illegal money transfers by government officials and others.

Sheik Mohammad also was deputy prime minister.

deleted ZINES: DIGGING THE DIRT ON EX ZINESTERS

A zine by any other name is still a zine.... Unless it's been recycled and is now a cup of coffee.

As I pondered how to pull this column off, (it's the DIY how to issue don't you know) I began to quiver. I mean, logistica I Iy, if you know how to make a zine but have no idea how to delete a zine, you might need to take some entry-level zine courses at your local college. Then I thought about it. Yes the physical act of destruction- piece of cake- but deleting a zine by administrative means might not be as easy as you think.

In general, there are no medicines you can take, or creams you can rub on them. I mean, you could put suntan lotion all over your zine and leave it at the beach. But then people might say you have issues, or are a polymorphous capitalist.

Back to the lecture at hand. In 2002 a library zine collection at the Minneapolis Community Et Technical College was started after Chris Dodge donated almost 1,000 zines from a personal collection. Though this is not deleting a zine by any means, it's a way to isolate them from spreading. "Zines are indexed by author/editor, title and broad subject area and are searchable from an index on the library's web site. All zines are non-circulating, meaning that they must be used in the library only. However, zines may be photocopied."

"Stop making them," declared Billy Mavreas when I asked him how he would in fact delete a zine. We were sitting in his recently refurbished gallery, Monastiraki. Mavreas is about to embark on a tour for his new graphic novel Inside Outside Overlap. The idea of deleting a zine seems to clash with Mavreas's entirety, since he has such an obsession with memorabilia. For the cover of their nostalgia issue, Matrix Magazine used photos of Mavreas as a child posing with Dukes of Hazzards "Boss Hogg." Mavreas (who drew Broken Pencifs beaver many issues ago) is a respected artist in the Montreal community. He co-founded Montreal's small press/zine fair Expozine and manages the renowned gallery/boutique Monastiraki, and has been internationally published in over 200 publications and exhibited in over 40 group/solo shows in Cuba, Slovenia, Greece, the US, Japan and more.

I asked Mavreas if he had any zines or projects he knows he'll never produce but has material for. He shrugs, then a spark billows in his eyes. Can a spark billow? Anyway he tells me that he and his ex-girlfriend had a plan for an art book and sent out a call to 200 artists. After receiving 20 pieces of work: "I still have the work" Mavreas says, "and it's good work. But the couple/creators broke up. So that's definitely one way to delete a zine," Mavreas says with a wry smile.

So perhaps that's the trick, to delete your zine, come up with a project wherein you know there could be problems. It will give you and others something to talk about, as well as cutting down on the actual creation of zines.

QUICK TIPS FOR DELETING ZINES

1. Secretly place little parts of your zine (e.g. table of contents, contributor's bio page, centrefold) in various parts of your workplace, church, house or psychiatrist's waiting room.

2. Tell your zine you are going to take it for a walk. Dump it on a picnic table or near a pile of fermenting books. Make sure the aroma of the zine is much stronger than that of the area where you dump it. This will attract bears.

3. Cut off pieces of the zine while your family is asleep. Put some of it on their pillow and in their coffee grinds. This will make them ponder or scare off anyone in your family from making a zine.

4. Go to your husband/brother/father's side of the medicine cabinet. Replace half of that "facial cleanser for men" that he uses after every bath with a zine, and blame his narcissism, not your zine.

5. Call loved ones. Make some tea. Place an ad in the local paper for zine pick up. When they arrive to pick them up, answer the door in full mourner garb with snotty tissues and red puffy eyes.

6. Spill cooking oil, grease, wine or tomato sauce on the zine and ask for your money back.

7. Intentionally, but acting innocent, place the zine on a busy subway seat.

8. In the same way as when humans die the public is informed through small obituary notices, write press releases and post online declarations that your zine has been officially deleted.

9. Take it to the library. Many libraries might not know what a zine is and may think you're looking to sell crystal meth to the kids on the Internet at the local branch, but some libraries do have a zine contingency. What better way to drop off your remaining stock than by pushing it on the local library?

10. You could also call Ottawa. If anyone knows about deleting things it's them. After all, they start everything, what with all the ISSNs and ISBNs they hand out on the hour.

Ozzy says Sharon is cancer-free

LONDON--Sharon Osbourne is free of cancer after months oftreatment, said her rock star husband, Ozzy.

Ozzy Osbourne said he was emotionally overwhelmed last year whenher illness coincided with the success of their MTV reality show,which follows the misadventures of the couple and two of their threechildren, Jack and Kelly.

"She's got no cancer in her body now, they tell me, but there'salways a chance of it coming back," Ozzy told the music magazineKerrang! "She's doing great, but I must confess that I'm stillworried about her."

Sharon, 50, announced last year that she was undergoing treatmentfor colon cancer, which she allowed cameras from "The Osbournes" todocument.

"With Sharon's cancer and the success of the TV show, I lost itlast year, I just freaked out," the 54-year-old Osbourne said. "Ithink I had something like a nervous breakdown--my nervous systemjust imploded. This is all too much for me sometimes."

AP

Blagojevich in rare state company

In the 190 years since Illinois joined the republic, only Theophilus Smith ever got to feel the sting of being impeached.

Smith was a Supreme Court justice in the 1830s, and one of his missteps was jailing a Quaker juror for contempt because he refused on religious grounds to remove his hat during a trial.

Smith faced six other infractions that the Illinois House used in 1832 as a basis to vote for his impeachment, but the state Senate refused to convict him.

Impeachment is one of the most lethal weapons in the state Legislature's arsenal, but it is one of the least used and most misunderstood legislative powers.

The last time the House went down the impeachment path was in 1997, when former Chief Justice James Heiple was accused of misconduct during a traffic stop.

After six weeks of hearings, a House impeachment panel declined to recommend that Heiple be impeached.

Comment at suntimes.com.

The Boundaries of Her Body: The Troubling History of Women's Rights in America

The Boundaries of Her Body: The Troubling History of Women's Rights in America by Debran Rowland, Esq. Sphinx Publishing/Sourcebooks, Inc., August 2004 $29.95, ISBN 1-572-48368-7

Female disenfranchisement in America has a sad 400-year-old history that Rowland's book catalogues in meticulous detail. Both a lawyer and journalist, Rowland marshals almost 800 pages of history and case law to chart the issues confronting women and girls from the 1600s to the present: workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, an oversexed culture and gender violence. The specter of violation lurking behind the title's concerns with bodily boundaries recalls "Poem About My Rights," in which the late poet June Jordan protests, "I can't do what I want to do with my own body because I am the wrong sex the wrong age the wrong skin." What women are allowed to do, Rowland argues, has always been based on who women are or, mostly in the opinions of others, should be.

From time immemorial, women's biology has too often been destiny, with the ability to bear children made into a moral and societal duty. But in the late 1960s and '70s, second-wave feminists, belittled in today's conservative backlash as bra-burning man-haters, paved the way for rights younger women now take for granted: playing college sports; entering professional schools; choosing to have a baby, or not. With an administration seen as hostile to reproductive freedoms, and the expected vacancies on the Supreme Court, Boundaries is openly concerned about Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that ended coat-hanger abortions but has endured challenges ever since. The President declares that a strict construction, or reading the Constitution in the light that the Framers intended, will determine his Court nominations. That standard, Rowland implies, leaves women's rights, reproductive and otherwise, hanging in the balance, for while the notorious three-fifths clause dubiously recognized the nation's black presence, the Constitution is silent on women, who were considered wards of their fathers or husbands, without social identity or consequence.

The comparison with slavery, as if all enslaved African Americans were men, reveals this volume's own biases about who a woman is, from the cover photo of a downcast white girl holding an American flag to chapter analyses that downplay race. For instance, a glaring omission here is the debate over welfare reform, one of the biggest battles in recent memory, which scapegoated poor, black single mothers as lazy freeloaders foregoing marriage for a handout.

Rowland means for Boundaries to be a call to arms for a moribund women's movement whose complacent and decorous tones "has taken on the feel of a wealthy women's charity." The irony is that Rowland, who herself is black, traffics in the all-the-women-are white assumptions that have alienated women of color.

[Author Affiliation]

Reviewed by Angela Ards

Angela Ards is an independent journalist who is also pursuing a Ph.D. in English Literature and African American Studies at Princeton University.

Asian stocks up on results of Europe's bank tests

Asian stock markets posted moderate gains Monday following reassuring news that most European banks passed much-anticipated "stress tests," suggesting the continent's banking system is strong enough to weather a massive debt crisis.

Oil prices hovered above $79 a barrel as regional stock markets extended a rally from last week amid improving investor optimism. The dollar edged up against the yen; the euro strengthened.

Japan's Nikkei index turned in the strongest showing, up nearly 1 percent amid a report showing that exports from the world's No. 2 economy rose for the seventh straight month in June. Other major indexes _ including Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi _ were up, but not as vigorously.

Investors took heart from Friday's results out of Europe that only seven out of 91 banks flunked the tests. But some analysts said the stress test results were widely anticipated and even questioned whether they were stringent enough to yield an accurate picture of the continent's financial sector.

Because the results were issued after the close of trading in Europe, it won't be known until later Monday how investors on the continent react, but the response in Asia was tepid.

"The markets are still neutral to the news," said Castor Pang, director of research at Cinda International in Hong Kong. "We don't see any big jump or drop in Asia's trading session."

Steven Leung, director of institutional sales at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd., said China's policy on credit and earnings reports out of the U.S. this week would be the driving factors in this week's market performance. Some investors expect China to announce it is loosening credit curbs to pep up slowing economic growth.

"This week, we are watching for another round of earnings out of the U.S.," Leung said. "People are waiting for another round of signals."

On Friday, earnings reports and the Europe bank stress tests lifted stocks as the Dow Jones industrial average gained 102.32 points, or 1 percent, to 10,424.62. Verizon, Ford and American Express Co. reported figures that topped forecasts. A day before, stocks surged after Caterpillar Inc., UPS Inc. and other companies released positive results and forecasts.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average gained 80.93 points, or 0.9 percent, to 9,512.36, led by gains in financial stocks. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank, rose 0.7 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group gained 0.4 percent.

South Korea's Kospi added 0.4 percent to 1,765.24 amid news its economy expanded more than 7 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.7 percent at 4,489.10.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.2 percent to 20,860.01, and markets in Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines also advanced. China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.5 percent to 2,559.59. Markets in Singapore and Jakarta also were down.

In currencies, the dollar edged up to 87.60 yen in Tokyo from 87.43 in New York late Friday. The euro gained to $1.2924 from $1.2901.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 15 cents at $79.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 32 cents to settle at $78.98 on Friday.

Rolen, Cards sock it to the Reds

CINCINNATI -- Scott Rolen hit two of the Cardinals' four homers,repeatedly blunting Cincinnati's comeback and sending the Reds totheir eighth straight loss, 11-10 on Wednesday night.

Jim Edmonds homered in all three games of the series sweep, whichput the Cardinals 11 games up in the NL Central. St. Louis has gone42-14 since May 27, digging itself out of a fifth-place hole.

Edmonds left the game in the fifth inning with a sore back.

Rockies 5, Dodgers 4

DENVER -- Aaron Miles hit a tiebreaking single off Guillermo Motain the eighth inning, and Jeromy Burnitz homered in his sixthstraight home game to tie a team record, leading Colorado past LosAngeles.

Astros 6, Diamondbacks 1

HOUSTON -- Roger Clemens struck out eight and allowed one run inseven innings, sparking Houston to the win. Clemens (12-3) bouncedback nicely after tying a season high by giving up three homers inhis loss to Milwaukee last Friday. He allowed only five hits and gothis 322nd win.

Braves 1, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH -- Russ Ortiz shut out Pittsburgh for seven innings towin his sixth in a row, and Chipper Jones homered for Atlanta's onlyrun.

Ortiz (12-6) gained his 100th major league victory and improved to7-0 against Pittsburgh in 10 career starts.

Marlins 6, Phillies 3

MIAMI -- Hee Seop Choi hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in theeighth inning, and Florida extended its winning streak against thePhillies at Pro Player Stadium to 13 games.

Brewers 6, Cubs 3

MILWAUKEE -- Chris Capuano pitched effectively into the seventhinning, and Bill Hall and Ben Grieve homered to help Milwaukee beatChicago ace Kerry Wood.

Expos 7, Mets 4

MONTREAL -- Tony Batista homered and drove in two runs, and NickJohnson hit a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth in leading Montrealpast New York.

Rolen, Cards sock it to the Reds

CINCINNATI -- Scott Rolen hit two of the Cardinals' four homers,repeatedly blunting Cincinnati's comeback and sending the Reds totheir eighth straight loss, 11-10 on Wednesday night.

Jim Edmonds homered in all three games of the series sweep, whichput the Cardinals 11 games up in the NL Central. St. Louis has gone42-14 since May 27, digging itself out of a fifth-place hole.

Edmonds left the game in the fifth inning with a sore back.

Rockies 5, Dodgers 4

DENVER -- Aaron Miles hit a tiebreaking single off Guillermo Motain the eighth inning, and Jeromy Burnitz homered in his sixthstraight home game to tie a team record, leading Colorado past LosAngeles.

Astros 6, Diamondbacks 1

HOUSTON -- Roger Clemens struck out eight and allowed one run inseven innings, sparking Houston to the win. Clemens (12-3) bouncedback nicely after tying a season high by giving up three homers inhis loss to Milwaukee last Friday. He allowed only five hits and gothis 322nd win.

Braves 1, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH -- Russ Ortiz shut out Pittsburgh for seven innings towin his sixth in a row, and Chipper Jones homered for Atlanta's onlyrun.

Ortiz (12-6) gained his 100th major league victory and improved to7-0 against Pittsburgh in 10 career starts.

Marlins 6, Phillies 3

MIAMI -- Hee Seop Choi hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in theeighth inning, and Florida extended its winning streak against thePhillies at Pro Player Stadium to 13 games.

Brewers 6, Cubs 3

MILWAUKEE -- Chris Capuano pitched effectively into the seventhinning, and Bill Hall and Ben Grieve homered to help Milwaukee beatChicago ace Kerry Wood.

Expos 7, Mets 4

MONTREAL -- Tony Batista homered and drove in two runs, and NickJohnson hit a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth in leading Montrealpast New York.

Rolen, Cards sock it to the Reds

CINCINNATI -- Scott Rolen hit two of the Cardinals' four homers,repeatedly blunting Cincinnati's comeback and sending the Reds totheir eighth straight loss, 11-10 on Wednesday night.

Jim Edmonds homered in all three games of the series sweep, whichput the Cardinals 11 games up in the NL Central. St. Louis has gone42-14 since May 27, digging itself out of a fifth-place hole.

Edmonds left the game in the fifth inning with a sore back.

Rockies 5, Dodgers 4

DENVER -- Aaron Miles hit a tiebreaking single off Guillermo Motain the eighth inning, and Jeromy Burnitz homered in his sixthstraight home game to tie a team record, leading Colorado past LosAngeles.

Astros 6, Diamondbacks 1

HOUSTON -- Roger Clemens struck out eight and allowed one run inseven innings, sparking Houston to the win. Clemens (12-3) bouncedback nicely after tying a season high by giving up three homers inhis loss to Milwaukee last Friday. He allowed only five hits and gothis 322nd win.

Braves 1, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH -- Russ Ortiz shut out Pittsburgh for seven innings towin his sixth in a row, and Chipper Jones homered for Atlanta's onlyrun.

Ortiz (12-6) gained his 100th major league victory and improved to7-0 against Pittsburgh in 10 career starts.

Marlins 6, Phillies 3

MIAMI -- Hee Seop Choi hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in theeighth inning, and Florida extended its winning streak against thePhillies at Pro Player Stadium to 13 games.

Brewers 6, Cubs 3

MILWAUKEE -- Chris Capuano pitched effectively into the seventhinning, and Bill Hall and Ben Grieve homered to help Milwaukee beatChicago ace Kerry Wood.

Expos 7, Mets 4

MONTREAL -- Tony Batista homered and drove in two runs, and NickJohnson hit a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth in leading Montrealpast New York.

Iran releases former police chief

A government-owned newspaper says Tehran's former police chief has been released from jail due to lack of evidence on "morality charges."

The newspaper, IRAN, quotes a spokesman of the Iranian judiciary, Ali Reza Avai, as saying the police officer was released because of insufficient evidence.

…

NEWS IN BRIEF.

News in brief Allders looks set for a break-up ALLDERS is set to be broken up - leaving thousands of jobs and pensions at risk after a [pounds sterling]70m bid from Alchemy was rejected as too low. Administrator Kroll expects to raise more cash by selling the 45 department stores in chunks to Debenhams, Primark and possibly Philip Green. This means Allders' 3,452 pension scheme members could be left out of pocket, since the scheme is likely to be wound up - triggering liabilities of up to [pounds sterling]75m. Kroll received 36 bids in total.

News in brief HHG spells it out HHG (down 2p at 69p) clarified that Resolution Life is not planning an offer for the entire …

NEWS IN BRIEF.

News in brief Allders looks set for a break-up ALLDERS is set to be broken up - leaving thousands of jobs and pensions at risk after a [pounds sterling]70m bid from Alchemy was rejected as too low. Administrator Kroll expects to raise more cash by selling the 45 department stores in chunks to Debenhams, Primark and possibly Philip Green. This means Allders' 3,452 pension scheme members could be left out of pocket, since the scheme is likely to be wound up - triggering liabilities of up to [pounds sterling]75m. Kroll received 36 bids in total.

News in brief HHG spells it out HHG (down 2p at 69p) clarified that Resolution Life is not planning an offer for the entire …

The contribution of nonvisual information to simple place navigation and distance estimation: An examination of path integration

Abstract In Experiment 1, participants walked without vision to a target location they had either previously viewed, were led to and from blindfolded, or both viewed and were led to and from blindfolded. A course to the target could be set and held without vision only if prior vision of its location was available. The locomotor group reproduced the heading and distance to the target less accurately than the other groups, which did not differ significantly. However, when nonvisual information accompanied vision of the target location, it served to subtly influence performance. Participants in Experiment 2 estimated the distance of a target they either viewed or were led to blindfolded. …

Women in B&C

Some 12% of those profiled on BROADCASTING & CABLE'S "Fifth Estater" page between July 1992 and Sept. 1, 1997, were women. Of the 262 executives featured, 31 were women and 231 were men.

That's according to a study by Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., compiled by students in a course, Women in Mass Communication.

Of the Fifth Estater subjects, 432 held the title of president or chief executive, while 30.5% were vice presidents. Of the men profiled, 44% were presidents, compared with 29% of women. Most of the women, 52%, were vice presidents, compared with 27% of men.

The report also found that men reported changing jobs seven times "before being a position …

Quick arrest made in shooting: Suspect flees in car; officer spots it few hours later.

Byline: Bill Lilley

Feb. 28--CANTON -- Quick police work and a bit of luck enabled the Canton Police Department to apprehend a shooting suspect in less than 2 1/2 hours.

Shan Blackshear, 34, of Ottawa, Ohio, was arrested at 10:48 a.m. Monday and charged with felonious assault and receiving stolen property in connection with the 8:30 a.m. shooting of Jamar Owens, 25, of Canton.

Owens had gone to a house in the 1100 block of Smith Avenue Southwest to recover items he had loaned to residents there, Canton Detective Sgt. Dan McCartney said.

"As Owens was attempting to retrieve his property, a verbal altercation broke out between Owens and the …

GOODBYE TO GUNTHER GEBEL-WILLIAMS LEAVING CROWDS BEHIND, NOT CATS.(Show)

Byline: Martin Moynihan Staff writer

The jungle cats were ominously silent. Mere inches away, their huge yellow eyes followed our every move. Bared four-inch fangs, like curved ivory daggers, glistened in the subdued light. When the tiger finally licked, its tongue was like a rasp.

Or so I'm told.

Gunther Gebel-Williams wasn't allowing any visitors to put their hands on his tigers. But he reached readily into their cages in the animal tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, stroking the cats' whiskers and getting licked in feline appreciation.

Gebel-Williams did this with what looked like relative impunity. Until you notice that both hands and both forearms are nearly a solid mass of scars, some several inches long, showing the marks of hundreds of stitches.

The way to handle a tiger is "very respectfully" said Gebel-Williams, just before a recent opening night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. Gebel-Williams, 55, has been the circus' animal trainer for 22 years, and has become one of the most celebrated performers in American circus history.

"First you have to get their friendship," the golden-haired man said in a German accent that occasionally included some unusual phrasings. Then he corrected himself. "A relationship. Friendship is …

Roddick starts clay-court season by beating Fish in all-American matchup at Rome Masters

Andy Roddick got his clay-court season off to a solid start Tuesday, beating Mardy Fish 6-1, 6-4 in an all-American matchup in the second round of the Rome Masters.

Roddick improved his record against his longtime friend to 8-1.

"It's tough playing against someone you're friends with, and unfortunately for Mardy I've played some good tennis throughout my career against him," Roddick said.

In the first round, 14th-seeded Tommy Robredo defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-1.

Fish outlasted Michael Llodra in three sets Monday and appeared off his game at the start, losing the first set in 22 minutes with 14 unforced errors. The …

Seinfeld to Keep Hot Topic Going

One of the first new episodes of "Seinfeld" will pick up where apopular show from last season left off. Look for Jerry & Co. tospend 30 minutes talking only about orgasms. Kelsey Grammer, who's taping his "Frasier" series in the same studiowhere he spent many years with his "Cheers" buddies, has recorded"Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs," the theme song for his new show. He's guaranteed to be the tallest Klingon ever: 6-foot-9-inch L.A.Laker James Worthy plays Koral in an episode of "Star Trek: the …

-PSA Peugeot Citroen to launch first car from Sanand plant in 2014.

Auto Business News-November 7, 2011--PSA Peugeot Citroen to launch first car from Sanand plant in 2014(C)1994-2011 ENPublishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk

Auto Business News - 07 November 2011

PSA Peugeot Citroen, a France-based automaker, will launch the first car from its Sanand plant in the middle of 2014, DNA India has reported, citing a senior official.

The automaker has invested INR40bn at the …

Irvine Robbins, ice cream maker.(Capital Region)

Byline: ROBERT JABLON - Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Irvine Robbins, who as co-founder of Baskin-Robbins brought Rocky Road, Pralines 'n Cream and other exotic ice cream concoctions to every corner of America, has died at age 90.

Robbins had been ill for some time and died Monday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., said his daughter Marsha Veit.

While the company advertised that it offered 31 flavors, in fact it has created more than 1,000 flavors, according to its Web site.

Generations of kids trooped to Baskin-Robbins stores to buy ice cream flavors like Jamoca, Daiquiri Ice, Pink Bubblegum, Nuts to You and Here Comes …

SELES' RUN STOPS AT VENUS.(SPORTS)

Byline: Associated Press

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Firing 13 aces at speeds up to 113 mph, Venus Williams overpowered Monica Seles 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Acura Classic for the second straight year.

Williams extended her domination of Seles to 6-0 in their first meeting since Williams won their semifinal in the Sydney Olympics en route to the gold medal.

In just her second tournament since May, Seles reached the final by upsetting the top two players in the world. She beat No. 2 Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals, then No. 1 Martina Hingis in the semis.

She missed most of the year with a stress fracture in her right foot that kept her …

MASTERCARD HOLIDAY MARKETING IN OVERDRIVE.

MasterCard Worldwide is proving to be an especially aggressive marketer this holiday season, launching three programs in November. MasterCard began Nov. 1 its Home for the Holidays sweepstakes with a grand prize of $350,000 towards a home purchase. Consumer and small business cardholders are automatically entered with a U.S.-based purchase, or can enter online at the priceless.com Web site. MasterCard also added a daily instant-win game to the site to draw in cardholders, noting that game players typically return to Web sites five to seven times. MasterCard says the 214 issuers participating in the sweepstakes will deliver more than 83 million impressions to cardholders through …

Brazil rolls over Uruguay 4-0 in qualifier

Brazil ended a three-decade drought in Montevideo with a 4-0 win over Uruguay on Saturday to move closer to a place in next year's World Cup.

The victory was Brazil's first in 33 years in a World Cup qualifying match in the Uruguayan capital.

Daniel Alves, Juan, Luis Fabiano and Kaka scored for the five-time World Cup champions.

Alves, starting in place of injured defender Maicon, opened the scoring in the 12th minute on a 30-meter (yard), speculative shot that bounced past goalkeeper Sebastian Viera.

Juan doubled the lead in the 36th and Fabiano made it 3-0 in the 52nd. Kaka converted a penalty in the 75th.

"It was a …

CHA's Phil Jackson denies resigning, but...

CHA's Phil Jackson denies resigning, but...

In an attempt to stomp out rumors that he is fed up with allegedly being administratively handcuffed by some people in the mayor's administration, CHA's CEO Phillip Jackson Tuesday denied he has submitted his resignation.

However, he didn't close the door entirely to those rumors either.

"I absolutely reserve the right to look at my options. I've been at CHA for almost a year. I have accomplished great things at this agency. It is a very difficult job. I reserve the right to do jobs that I care about most," said Jackson. "Everyone should do the same."

When …

Licensing drives children's market.(the children's oral care market)(Brief Article)

NEW YORK--With children's products comprising one of the oral care category's fastest-growing segments, licensed merchandise and technological innovation are playing key roles in driving that success.

"When it comes to selling to a child or a parent, the right property can be more important than a trusted brand name," a buyer for a regional drug chain notes.

According to figures compiled by ACNielsen last year, the children's oral care market is one of the fastest-growing segments in the overall category, accounting for $60 million in toothpaste sales in all three mass market channels and showing potential for more growth in coming years.

Because of …

Woman struck by car, critically injured in Troy.(Capital Region)

TROY - A woman believed to be in her 40s was critically injured Saturday night after she was hit by a car while crossing the road near the intersection of Hoosick and Ninth streets, police said.

Police aren't sure of the woman's name yet, Sgt. Terry Buchanan said. The …

LUNCHEON TO BENEFIT LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: Associated Press

ALBANY Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey said Thursday that she is having ``an intimate policy luncheon'' Sunday on Long Island for supporters willing to ante up $1,000 each.

McCaughey said the event is being held by billionaire businessman David Koch at his posh Southhampton estate.

Koch is on the board of directors for the …

Obama looking for help from Erdogan amid tensions

U.S. President Barack Obama is looking for help in Afghanistan from Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan even as tensions simmer between the NATO allies on Iran and the Middle East.

Before leaving to the U.S. on Sunday, however, Erdogan said Turkey has already contributed the "necessary number" of troops.

Turkey took over the rotating command of the NATO peacekeeping operation in Kabul last month and doubled its number of troops to around 1,750.

Erdogan said Turkish military and police are ready to train their Afghan counterparts, and will press ahead with health, education and infrastructure projects there.

Turkey's …

Unilever to cut 8,000 more

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever will slash8,000 more jobs and close 30 plants as it integrates the recentlyacquired Bestfoods into its operations, a spokesman said today.

The 8,000 jobs are in addition to 25,000 jobs the consumerproducts maker said in February it will cut over five years torecover from a slump in profits. The combined cut of 33,000 positionsrepresents around 11 percent of Unilever's worldwide work force of295,000 people.

Unilever, the company behind such household names as Dove soap,Lipton tea, Vaseline and Pepsodent, made the announcement as itannounced lower first-quarter earnings.

The job cuts are part of the company's …

Raeford.(Eastern)

RAEFORD--Alpla expects to employ 40 within three years making plastic bottles for shampoo and other products at a factory it …

AT 50, ISRAEL ENDURES AGAINST ALL ODDS.(MAIN)

Byline: MARJORIE MILLER Los Angeles Times

JERUSALEM -- At 89, Yosef Burg looks back on Israel's first half-century as an elder, measures the accomplishments of his offspring and issues a sober reality: ``First of all, I would like to say that we exist.''

In fact, this is no understatement from one of Israel's pre-eminent politicians, who has seen the Jewish state from its hardscrabble beginnings through five wars and myriad international crises. Against all odds, Israel exists. Fifty years after its founding, Israel is a full-fledged member of the world community with a $95 billion economy and a nuclear-armed military.

Survivors of the Holocaust in Europe and most of the other Diaspora Jews who wanted to immigrate to Israel have done so, with one-third of the Jewish people in the world now living in their own state. In the words of Israel's Zionist leaders, ``the exiles have ingathered.''

Hebrew, the ancient language of the Jews, has been reborn as the mother tongue of millions who redefined themselves from scholars and merchants in exile into soldiers, political leaders and high-tech engineers.

With these achievements alone, it can be said that Zionism, the Jewish …

Bomber kills manager of election campaign in Iraq

A suicide bomber killed a campaign manager for a major Sunni party near Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Sunday, the latest sign that ethnic and sectarian tensions are rising ahead of this month's provincial elections.

Police said the attacker detonated his explosives inside the reception area of Hassan al-Luheibi's home in Qayara, 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of Mosul, after saying he had pressing business to discuss.

Bodyguards kept the bomber from going inside, but al-Luheibi emerged from the inner rooms to investigate the commotion and was killed in the blast, according to Col. Safaa Abdul-Razzaq. Two guards also were wounded, he said.

…