Fun Flash Games

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Atlanta Falcons' offense kept stalling in the cold of the Meadowlands until finally busting through the New York Jets' top-ranked defense at the end.
Tony Gonzalez caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan on a fourth-down play with 1:38 remaining to lift the Falcons to a 10-7 victory on a Sunday.
A day after the Falcons (7-7) were eliminated from playoff contention, they likely also ended the chances for the stunned Jets (7-7), whose three-game winning streak was stopped.
Ryan, starting after missing two games with a toe injury, drove Atlanta downfield for the win at a cold, windy and half-filled Meadowlands. Frustrated Jets fans in the upper deck tossed snow, the remnants of a major snowstorm in the Northeast, and booed loudly after the score.
The Falcons, eliminated from playoff contention with Dallas' victory over New Orleans on Saturday night, are still in contention to post back-to-back winning records for the first time in their 44-year history.
On third-and-9 from their 42, Roddy White had a 16-yard catch and the Falcons moved up 15 more yards on a facemask penalty on Donald Strickland. Jason Snelling followed with a 20-yard run up the middle to the 7. After Snelling's 1-yard run, Ryan was incomplete to White in the end zone, and again to Gonzalez on a pass that was nearly picked off by Darrelle Revis.
With the game on the line, Ryan found Gonzalez at the front of the end zone for the go-ahead score. It was another late-game touchdown allowed by New York, which blew late leads against Miami twice and Jacksonville earlier this season.
The Jets could've put the game out of reach, but the offense mustered little other than Braylon Edwards' 65-yard touchdown catch. Jay Feely missed a field goal on a high snap, had another blocked, and Kellen Clemens mishandled the snap on another. Mark Sanchez, starting after missing a game with a sprained right knee, also threw three interceptions, including the game-sealing pick by Brent Grimes.
Ryan finished 16 for 34 for 152 yards and the TD to Gonzalez, while Sanchez was 18 for 32 for 226 yards.
New York got on the scoreboard early as James Ihedigbo tipped Michael Koenen's punt that went 28 yards before it was downed at the Falcons 35. On the Jets' next play, Sanchez reared back and fired a pretty pass that hit Edwards in stride at the 15. Edwards — a few steps ahead of Christopher Owens — zipped into the end zone for a 7-3 lead with 2:48 left in the opening quarter and set off a snow-tossing celebration by the fans in the upper-deck seats.
The Jets had a chance to increase their lead with a 19-yard field goal with 6:40 left in the half, but Clemens mishandled a low snap and Feely never had a chance to kick.
The Jets wasted another scoring opportunity when Feely was wide right on a 38-yard attempt as time expired in the first half.
Atlanta failed to make it a one-point game when Matt Bryant was wide left on a 48-yard attempt with 10:10 remaining.
Looking to make it 10-3, Feely's 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Chauncey Davis with 4:27 left, keeping Atlanta in it.
Sanchez's first pass in his return was picked off by Thomas DeCoud on the Jets' third offensive play. The rookie tried to connect with Jerricho Cotchery in double coverage, but DeCoud stepped in front of the pass, juggled it for a second and held on.
After a 15-yard pass to Gonzalez put the ball at the 1, the Jets' top-ranked defense stiffened and the Falcons settled for a 24-yard field goal.

The NFL is partnering with Boston University brain researchers who have been critical of the league's stance on concussions, The Associated Press learned Sunday.
The league now plans to encourage current and former NFL players to agree to donate their brains to the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which has said it found links between repeated head trauma and brain damage in boxers, football players and, most recently, a former NHL player.
"It's huge that the NFL actively gets behind this research," said Robert Cantu, a doctor who is a co-director of the BU center and has spoken negatively about the league in the past. "It forwards the research. It allows players to realize the NFL is concerned about the possibility that they could have this problem, and that the NFL is doing everything it can to find out about the risks and the preventive strategies that can be implemented."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the AP on Sunday that the league also is committed to giving $1 million or more to the center. Aiello said the league already has held discussions with the NFL Alumni Association about suggesting that retired players look into participating in BU's work by offering their brains for study after they die.
The league also will contact the nearly 100 retired football players who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or dementia and are receiving benefits from the league to ask their families to consider donating those players' brains to the BU study.
"The people affiliated with the center have identified the donation of brains, both from healthy people and those that have had multiple concussions, as their most critical need right now to further the research into this disease," Aiello said. "We ... will discuss with the center its research needs as we go forward in this partnership."
Cantu said he and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell met in October to discuss concussions and the BU project.
Sunday's news represents the latest in a series of moves the NFL has made in recent weeks to step up its attention to concussions in the aftermath of a congressional hearing on the topic.
That included stricter return-to-play guidelines detailing what symptoms preclude someone from participating in games or practices; a mandate that each team select a league- and union-approved independent neurologist to be consulted when players get concussions; and the departure of the two co-chairmen of the NFL's committee on brain trauma.
"They have done a bit of an about-face. Pressure probably has played a role in that," Cantu said in a telephone interview. "But I honestly think that Goodell does believe in player safety and the product is just better with your best players on the field, not your best players injured."
Aiello said Sunday that a concussion study the league has been conducting since 2007 is on hold until the former committee co-chairmen — Ira Casson and David Viano — are replaced. They resigned last month. He said the league is interviewing candidates, none of whom is currently affiliated with the league or any team.
"Now that we're changing the committee, we want to make some revisions in how the study proceeds," Aiello said in a telephone interview.
The New York Times first reported that the study is on hold.
Casson is slated to testify at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Jan. 4 about football head injuries. He did not attend the panel's hearing Oct. 28, when BU's Cantu said there is "growing and convincing evidence" that repetitive concussive and subconcussive hits to the head in NFL players leads to a degenerative brain disease.
Another co-director of the BU center, Ann McKee, showed the committee images of brains of dead football players with the disease and told lawmakers, "We need to take radical steps" to change the way football is played.

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
A ferocious snow storm blanketed much of the eastern United States Sunday, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of homes, paralyzing air traffic and stranding motorists.

The governors of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Delaware declared states of emergency in advance of the storm, the worst to hit the region in decades.

Three people died on Virginia roads Saturday as some 3,000 accidents shut down interstates for several hours, according to the state's department of emergency management. The Virginia Department of Health confirmed one other weather-related death.

Hundreds of thousands of customers lost power in West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.

The worst of the storm was over for Washington as it swept northeastward, but a lot of roads were still unplowed in the city unused to so much snow so early in the year.

Only scattered flurries remained after snowfall shattered a 1932 December snowfall record, with 16 inches (40 centimeters) covering streets and homes. It was also one of the biggest snowstorms to hit the capital since records began in 1885.

Service slowly returned to the capital region's main airports after hundreds of flights were cancelled Saturday, stranding thousands of passengers on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

Washington Dulles International Airport reopened one of its four runways. Snow-clearing crews were still busy on the airfield there and at Reagan National Airport, where runways were expected to reopen around 10:00 am (1500 GMT), Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokeswoman Tara Hamilton told AFP.

Baltimore Washington International Airport also resumed air traffic, although many flights were delayed or cancelled.

But bus service remained suspended and limited Metrorail operations saw trains servicing only underground stations at 30-minute intervals. Heavy-duty diesel-powered trains moved back and forth throughout the night along exposed, above-ground sections of the track to clear and de-ice them.

"For now, the responsible decision is to limit service until conditions are safe for our customers and employees," said Metro general manager John Catoe, adding that officials would reevaluate conditions later in the day in hopes of resuming halted service.

The massive storm at one point stretched some 500 miles (800 kilometers) across a dozen states, affecting around a quarter of the US population.

Much of the East Coast, home to tens of millions of Americans, turned into a winter wonderland, even if the conditions were as perilous as they were scenic.

The monster weather system was moving steadily northeastward, blanketing Baltimore with roughly 20 inches (51 cm), Philadelphia (23 inches, 58 cm) and New York, where the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast near-blizzard conditions and as much as 14 inches (36 cm) of accumulation before the snow tapers off later Sunday.

Further north, Boston was facing a similar fate, with blizzard warnings in effect for parts of Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.

Some parts of Virginia received more than two feet of snow. Areas in Maryland recorded 23 inches (58 cm).

Officials reported many Virginia drivers and passengers had been stranded in their vehicles, some for more than 12 hours. Emergency services delivered hot meals and 400 bottles of water for stranded motorists, while others were moved to shelters.

Greyhound Lines, the country's biggest provider of bus transportation, canceled service on nearly 300 routes across the eastern seaboard.

President Barack Obama raced home from a climate change summit in Copenhagen to avoid the worst of the storm that hammered the East Coast with over two feet (61 cm) of snow in some places.

He got back before dawn on Saturday, two days before winter's official arrival.

With near white-out conditions forcing many residents to stay home and shopping malls shuttered or closing early, the extreme conditions also looked likely to take a bite out of retail sales on "Super Saturday."

The major shopping day usually accounts for some 15 billion dollars of all nationwide sales on the last weekend before Christmas.

Most churches and other places of worship were closed, along with museums and schools.

And snow could return to the capital as early as next week, with NWS meteorologists forecasting more flurries on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

"O Thou who, through holy Baptism, hast given unto Thy servant remission of sins, and hast bestowed upon him (her) a life of regeneration: Do Thou, the same Lord and Master, ever tgraciously illumine his (her) heart with the light of Thy countenance. Maintain the shield of his (her) faith unassailed by the enemy [i.e., Satan]. Preserve pure and unpolluted the garment of incorruption wherewith Thou hast endued him (her), upholding inviolate in him (her), by Thy grace, the seal of the Spirit, and showing mercy unto him (her) and unto us, through the multitude of Thy mercies..."

For the reception of adult converts, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is performed, at which the clothing with the baptismal garment is optional.

Christening Gifts

LONDON (AFP) –
The executive director of Eurostar Richard Brown between England and France confirmed Sunday that passenger train services remained suspended for the day and was unable to say when they would resume.

"I can't guarantee our services will be working because we've suspended the service again today until we get to the bottom of what happened on Friday night," he told BBC television on Sunday morning.

More than 2,000 passengers spent the night trapped in the Channel Tunnel, some without anything to eat or drink, after five Eurostar trains broke down in freezing weather.

The breakdowns were blamed on trains being unable to cope with the change in temperature as they moved from the bitter cold of northern France into the warm air of the tunnel.

"We did run two or three trains yesterday, they all got through the tunnel OK, but one or two of them showed symptoms of the problem that happened on Friday night.

"We will not start services again until we're sure that we can get them through safely," he emphasised.

Eurostar estimated that around 24,000 passengers were waiting to cross the Channel on Sunday after two days of disrupted services, the company's deputy director Nicolas Petrovic said Saturday.

NEW ORLEANS – A court-appointed overseer wants to liquidate the remnants of a movie studio tied to a $1.7 million dispute with members of the New Orleans Saints.
Fifteen current and former team members paid the money to Louisiana Film Studios LLC late in 2008 for what they thought would be state movie industry tax credits returning $1.33 for each dollar invested. State officials said the studio never applied for the credits and the money has not been returned.
A group of the credit buyers later forced the company into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. But in a motion filed Tuesday, trustee Gerald Schiff asked a federal bankruptcy court to order a Chapter 7 liquidation of the studio's assets.
Schiff said the shuttered company had no cash, no employees and no source of income and "it is unlikely that the debtor could achieve a successful Chapter 11 reorganization" involving a new business plan to pay off creditors.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Magner set a hearing for Dec. 29. The AP was unable to reach studio head Wayne Read for comment. A cellular telephone number that Read has used was not working.
According to bankruptcy court filings, Louisiana Film Studios has $2.8 million in debts, including nearly $1.7 million for the unredeemed tax credits. The company also owes $700,000 to a construction company half-owned by former Saints player Kevin Houser, now with the Seattle Seahawks.
Read previously said that he was trying to line up new investors for the studio, but no plan has emerged.

Pipeline transport sends goods through a pipe, most commonly liquid and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes can send solid capsules using compressed air. Any chemically stable liquid or gas can be sent through a pipeline; sewage, slurry, water and even beer pipelines exist,while long-distance networks are used for petroleum and natural gas.

Intermodal freight transport is the combination of multiple modes of transportation for a single shipment; containers allow seamless integration of sea, rail and road transport and have reduced transshipment costs.

Phoenix Airport Transportation

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration asked Congress Tuesday to give the federal government power to oversee the safety of subways, light rail and other urban train systems.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in testimony before a House panel, outlined a plan to give the Federal Transit Administration authority to set standards for and inspect the nation's 50 local rail transit systems in 27 states.
Currently there are no nationwide minimum standards for rail transit safety, only voluntary standards produced by industry groups. The administration sent a legislative proposal to House and Senate leaders that would effectively eliminate a legal prohibition in place since 1965 that prevents the federal government from imposing broad transit safety standards.
LaHood also announced the formation of an advisory committee to help develop new safety regulations. The bill would allow states to receive federal transit assistance to staff and train safety inspectors to enforce regulations. States would have to show they have adequate safety programs in place in order to receive federal transit aid.
State agencies conducting oversight would be required to be fully financially independent from the transit systems they oversee. At some transit agencies, safety inspectors rely on the systems they oversee for their salaries.
"The current system for federal rail transit safety oversight is weak and inadequate and does not guarantee a consistent level of safety for transit passengers," LaHood said.
The bill would also give the secretary of transportation the option to establish a safety program for public bus systems.
Peter Rogoff, head of the transit administration, told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that with the exception of California, which he called the "gold standard," states have an average of less than one safety inspector per rail transit system.
Transit systems carry 14 million passengers daily. That's more than airlines or long-distance passenger railroads, which both get federal safety oversight.
Nine people were killed and 70 injured in a subway accident in Washington in June. There have also been recent high-profile accidents on rail transit systems in San Francisco, Boston and Chicago.
One concern is the more than $50 billion maintenance and repair backlog at the nation's seven largest systems which carry over 80 percent of rail transit passengers.
Rogoff held up a fist-sized, 65-year-old screw that he said was common in Chicago's transit system, forcing trains to travel no more than 6 mph in some locations or risk an accident.
Some lawmakers noted that rail transit systems overall have a significantly lower accident rate than freight or long-distance passenger trains, which are subject to federal safety regulation. They questioned whether imposing new regulations would be burdensome on systems that for the most part are already very safe.
Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., said the two rail transit systems in his state have never had a fatal accident.
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., warned against "a tombstone mentality." He said that if the government doesn't act until "people die, then it's too late."
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House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee http://transportation.house.gov/
Federal Transit Administration http://www.fta.dot.gov/

LOS ANGELES – Nelson Mandela made it clear that Morgan Freeman was the man he would want to play him in a film.
When it came time to play Mandela in "Invictus," Freeman told producing partner Lori McCreary that he had two men in mind to direct the film, which dramatizes Mandela's partnership with a South African rugby star (played by Matt Damon) to rally their post-apartheid countrymen behind the team's underdog quest for the 1995 World Cup.
"I said, `I can only think of two. Clint Eastwood, and then there's Clint Eastwood.' He's the best director I know," Freeman says of the filmmaker who gave him a plum role in "Unforgiven" and an Academy Award-winning part in "Million Dollar Baby."
Freeman's comment comes moments before Eastwood enters the room for a joint interview, amiable banter and wisecracks ensuing as the two longtime friends and colleagues talk about their third collaboration.
"Are you supposed to be here?" Freeman demands of Eastwood.
Informed of the compliment Freeman had just paid him as his only choice to direct "Invictus," Eastwood shoots back: "That's very kind of him. He's obviously a man of very good taste and selectivity in life."
Freeman follows with a reminder that Eastwood had once "stood up in public with a microphone and called me the best actor in the world."
The exchange continues:
Eastwood: "That was right after I told Matt that he was the best actor in the world."
Freeman: "Doesn't matter. ... You always go for the best."
Eastwood: "I do pride myself on that. I believe in surrounding myself with the very best people, and that cuts down the margin for error, and that covers my inadequacies."
Freeman: "And he says, he can stand back and let them do their thing, then take all the credit."
Their give-and-take reflects the camaraderie that Eastwood, 79, and Freeman, 72, captured on screen as hired mercenaries in 1992's Western "Unforgiven" and as ringside pals in 2004's boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby." Both films dominated the Oscars, their wins including best picture and director for Eastwood.
With both movies, Eastwood came calling for Freeman. With "Invictus," Freeman was the first man on board, sending the script Eastwood's way, hoping his friend would want to direct.
Freeman had been meeting with Mandela since the 1990s with the idea of adapting the jailed-activist-turned-president's memoir "Long Walk to Freedom" for the big-screen. The actor eventually set it aside, finding Mandela's life story too expansive to fit into a film.
"How can you take all that and put it into a movie?" Freeman says. "Even if you condensed it down to a three-hour movie, how could you do it justice?"
Then journalist John Carlin told Freeman about his book, "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation," recounting the new South African president's cheerleading that united whites and blacks behind the national rugby team.
The effort defined the healing spirit Mandela brought to the nation, Freeman says.

But "Invictus" is not being embraced by all South Africans, who complain that South Africans should be starring in movies about their own stories rather than American actors. South Africans do, however, have key roles in the film, including Patrick Mofokeng as Mandela's chief bodyguard.

Eastwood sees a lot of similarities between Mandela and Freeman.

"I've always thought he was the perfect guy to be playing Nelson Mandela," Eastwood says. "Morgan has the same presence when he walks in the room as an actor that Mr. Mandela has as a politician walking into a room. ... They both are intelligent, and they both seem to have a lovely sense of humor and a lot of life. They both get in trouble in the same way, sometimes."

"Ssh," Freeman interjects.

"Invictus" marks the first time Eastwood worked with Freeman as a director only, not as a co-star, too.

Eastwood jokes that he's been trying to give up acting for the last decade, but roles keep coming along that he feels are right for him, among them the racist widower who becomes unlikely defender for his young Asian neighbors in last year's "Gran Torino."

"I read it and I liked it. I said, `Gee, I know this guy,'" Eastwood says. "I've seen this guy many times. And sometimes, these guys will grow at an older age and become more open, and sometimes they don't. But it was fun to talk about racial relations by playing a guy who doesn't want any part of anybody and is bitter because his neighborhood has all died off."

Eastwood wants to stick solely to directing, though he doesn't rule out going in front of the camera again.

"I'm perfectly willing and happy to have him direct from here out, and if he wants to step in front of the cameras again, that's fine, and I'm hoping I can be there with him when he does," Freeman says. "But you know, I think he's hellbent on becoming another (famed Japanese filmmaker Akira) Kurosawa, if he isn't already. I think he already is."

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) –
Low interest rates will prevail through most of next year as the U.S. economy expands modestly and the unemployment rate remains stuck in double digits, the UCLA Anderson Forecast group said on Wednesday.

"Specifically, we forecast that after growing at 2.8 percent in the most recent and current quarters, real GDP growth will settle into a 2 percent growth path for much of 2010 and be closer to 3 percent in 2011," the forecasting unit said in its report.

"With such sluggish growth, the unemployment rate will likely peak at 10.5 percent in the first quarter and remain at or above 10 percent for almost all of next year," the closely watched report added.

For many, the tough jobs market will obscure how the economy will be regaining its footing. "Things will be improving but it won't be obvious to people on Main Street," said David Shulman, a senior economist with the UCLA Anderson unit.

"People won't be spending aggressively and people will be worrying about their jobs," he said. "It'll be a long, slow healing process."

Shulman said his unit's outlook mirrors Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on Monday. Bernanke said the recovery remained fragile and unemployment may be high for some time, cooling talk of an early rise in interest rates fueled by a surprise fall in the jobless rate reported last week.

The U.S. central bank was holding to its pledge to keep benchmark borrowing costs at exceptionally low levels for an "extended period," Bernanke added.

Lower unemployment and more normal growth of 3 percent to 4 percent will return by mid-decade, Shulman said.

CAUTIOUS CONSUMERS AND EMPLOYERS

Consumers who had been stashing cash and reducing debt during the worst recession since the Great Depression will continue to spend cautiously for some time.

Shulman said he expects real consumer spending to grow next year and in 2011 at a 2 percent rate, well below its more historical 3 percent to 3.5 percent rate, as the labor market remains beset by layoffs and weak hiring.

The UCLA Anderson report noted that in prior recessions marketing, finance, research and administrative employees were largely immune from layoffs. Today their jobs are vulnerable and employers are in no hurry to rebuild payrolls in the face of a potential surge in regulation, the report said.

"Indeed, such previously recession-resistant industries as finance, advertising and media have witnessed an unprecedented amount of job cuts. Further exacerbating the employment situation is uncertainty about tax, healthcare and energy policies coming out of Washington," the report said.

But many construction workers who lost jobs during the extended housing slump may be rehired as the homes market, propped up by bargain-basement mortgage interest rates, is "finally on the road to recovery," the report said.

"With 23 percent of the nation's houses with mortgages underwater, foreclosures continue to rise; but we believe that is already factored into the decision making process of both buyers and sellers," the report said.

It predicted housing starts will rise to around 850,000 units next year from an estimated 574,000 this year.

The forecasting unit cautioned that signs of economic recovery may be illusory since policy makers are "highly medicating the economy with record federal deficits and a zero interest rate policy coming from the Federal Reserve."

The unit said it is uncertain how much strength the economy has without that support so it does not see the Fed tightening rates until late in 2010, amid modest 2 percent inflation . For the same reason, the unit does not expect tax hikes, except for healthcare, beyond those already scheduled for 2013.

(Editing by Andrew Hay)

BERN, Switzerland – Roman Polanski will be held in jail at least three more days because he needs more time to pay his $4.5 million bail, Swiss authorities said Tuesday.
All other conditions have been satisfied for the 76-year-old director's house arrest at his Alpine chalet, and the bail transfer is expected in the next couple of days, Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli said.
Once fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet, Polanski will not be allowed to leave his house in Gstaad while Switzerland decides whether to extradite him to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
Polanski will need to pay the $4.5 million in full, according to Swiss standards that differ from other countries such as the United States where bail bondsmen often post a percentage of the total.
Polanski has been in Swiss custody since being arrested Sept. 26 on a U.S. warrant as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival. Authorities in Los Angeles want him returned to be sentenced after 31 years as a fugitive.
The director of such film classics as "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" was being held at a jail in Winterthur, near Zurich, where he was visited Monday by his lawyer Lorenz Erni and French diplomat Jean-Luc Faure-Tournaire.
Faure-Tournaire said Polanski was in "good spirits" and pleased with how he has been treated.
It was unclear when Polanski's wife and two children would join him in Gstaad. His sister-in-law, Mathilde Seigner, told the Le Parisien newspaper that his family usually goes to the chalet around Christmas and plans to meet there again this year.
Polanski was initially accused of raping the 13-year-old girl after plying her with champagne and a Quaalude pill during a modeling shoot in 1977. He was indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molestation and sodomy, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.
In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the remaining charges and sent him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. The evaluator released Polanski after 42 days, but the judge said he was going to send him back to serve out the 90 days.
The filmmaker fled the U.S. on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was to be formally sentenced. He has lived since then in France, which does not extradite its citizens.
Polanski claims that the U.S. judge and prosecutors acted improperly in his case. His attorneys will argue before a California appeals court in December that the charges should be dismissed.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Serbia says Kosovo's declaration of independence was unlawful and amounts to a challenge to the international legal order.
Dusan Batakovic, Serbia's amabassador to France, made the comments Tuesday at International Court of Justice hearings into the legality of Kosovo's February 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia.
Batakovic calls Kosovo the "historical cradle of Serbia."
Belgrade wants the world court to give an opinion on the independence declaration's legality. Such opinions are not legally binding.
Kosovo is expected to argue later Tuesday it was never part of Serbia.
NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999 in a bid to end a brutal crackdown by the forces of then-President Slobodan Milosevic against separatist Kosovo Albanians.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina has died from complications after undergoing cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.
Solange Magnano, a mother of twins who won the crown in 1994, died of a pulmonary embolism Sunday after three days in critical condition following a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires.
Close friend Roberto Piazza said the procedure involved injections and the liquid "went to her lungs and brain."
"A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," he said.
Magnano's burial Monday was shown on Argentine television.
Dr. Gonzalo Cortes y Tristan said she arrived at his hospital with an acute respiratory deficiency. Her condition deteriorated until she suffered the embolism.
(This version CORRECTS spelling of doctor's name in fianl graf)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson needs surgery again.
The All-Star will have arthroscopic surgery Wednesday on torn cartilage in his left knee, the team said. He is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Nelson was injured in the fourth quarter of Monday night's win against Charlotte. But he finished the game on the court and showed no signs of injury.
"I feel pretty good," Nelson said after the game. "My energy level just physically wasn't there, but mentally ... I think that's one of the parts of my game that adds toughness to this team."
This is the second straight season he has been sidelined.
Nelson injured his right shoulder in February and had surgery. In a surprise move, he returned for the NBA finals, struggling to regain his form as Orlando lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. Nelson is averaging 13.7 points and 5.5 assists this season.
This is the latest in a series of setbacks this season for the Magic.
Rashard Lewis missed the first 10 games of the season, suspended by the NBA for testing positive for an elevated testosterone level. Vince Carter and forwards Ryan Anderson, Mickael Pietrus and Brandon Bass all have missed time with injuries, and backup center Marcin Gortat is out indefinitely with the flu.
That leaves Jason Williams, who will turn 34 on Wednesday, to start at point guard. Anthony Johnson will move to the backup spot.
After taking a year off, Williams has returned to give Orlando (8-3) a solid guard who brings energy off the bench. Williams, who helped the Miami Heat win the championship in 2005-06 as a starter, is averaging 5.4 points and four assists in 18.4 minutes.
The Magic were off Tuesday. They host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, the same team that beat them by 28 points in their first meeting this season.

FREDERICK, Md. – More than 150 years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued the notorious Dred Scott decision affirming slavery, a Maryland city has erected a plaque to educate visitors about the decision and the local man who wrote it.
The bronze marker was dedicated Tuesday at Frederick city hall on a granite pedestal about eight feet from a bronze bust of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (TAW'nee). The one-time Frederick resident wrote the 1857 decision, which also held that freed slaves and their descendants could never be U.S. citizens. The case became a catalyst for the Civil War.
The plaque is a compromise between residents who wanted the Taney statue removed and those who believe it deserves the place of honor it has occupied for 77 years.

WASHINGTON – Pollution typically declines during a recession. Not this time.
Despite a global economic slump, worldwide carbon dioxide pollution jumped 2 percent last year, most of the increase coming from China, according to a study published online Tuesday.
"The growth in emissions since 2000 is almost entirely driven by the growth in China," said study lead author Corinne Le Quere of the University of East Anglia. "It's China and India and all the developing countries together."
Carbon dioxide emissions, the chief man-made greenhouse gas, come from the burning of coal, oil, natural gas, and also from the production of cement, which is a significant pollution factor in China. Worldwide emissions rose 671 million more tons from 2007 to 2008. Nearly three-quarters of that increase came from China.
The numbers are from the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
According to the study, the 2008 emissions increase was smaller than normal for this decade. Annual global pollution growth has averaged 3.6 percent. This year, scientists are forecasting a nearly 3 percent reduction, despite China because of the massive economic slowdown in most of the world and in the United States.
The U.S. is still the biggest per capita major producer of man-made greenhouse gases, spewing about 20 tons of carbon dioxide per person per year. The world average is 5.3 tons and China is at 5.8 tons
Last year, the U.S. emissions fell by 3 percent, a reduction of nearly 192 million tons of carbon dioxide. Overall European Union emissions dropped by 1 percent. The U.S. is still the No. 2 biggest carbon polluter overall, emitting more than the next four largest polluting countries combined: India, Russia, Japan and Germany. China has been No. 1, since pushing past the United States in 2006.
The world remains on a dangerous path, despite the recession, scientists said.
"There's a very clear gap between the path we are on and the path we should be on if the goal is to limit global warming to 2 degrees (1.3 degrees Celsius)," said Le Quere, who also works for the British Antarctic Survey.
The world has spewed 715.3 trillion tons of industrial carbon dioxide since 1982, which is the same amount civilization produced in all the previous years, said study co-author Gregg Marland of the Oak Ridge National Lab.
Outside scientists said the study was thorough and the results sobering.
"Basically these numbers are screaming out at decision makers that whatever they are doing now is not working," said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver, who wasn't involved in the study.
The report comes as countries from around the world prepare for a December U.N. conference on reducing carbon emissions. Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen of Denmark, who will host the conference in Copenhagen, said Tuesday that President Barack Obama supported his proposal for a sweeping political deal that would include commitments by industrial countries to reduce carbon emissions and to provide funds for less developed countries to fight the effects of global warming.
Obama, who was in China, said after a meeting with President Hu Jintao Tuesday that he wanted an all-encompassing agreement in Copenhagen, even if it falls short of a legal treaty. And he said he wants something "that has immediate operational effect."
Le Quere said the numbers point specifically to developing world as the cause for the most recent growth.
China is opening up new coal-fired power plants at a breakneck pace and carbon dioxide emissions in that country have doubled since 2001.
Not all the emission increases in China and other developing countries come from new power plants. About one-quarter of the emissions growth is because western countries, like the United States, buy more manufactured products from those countries, Le Quere and Marland said.

"We're shipping our emissions offshore," Marland said.

Other countries beside China to increase their carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5 million tons in 2008 were India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Indonesia, Iran, Poland, Mexico, Canada and the Netherlands.

The paper also raised concerns because it shows that the percentage of carbon dioxide emissions that hang in the air — compared to those sucked into the oceans and forests — is growing.

Fifty years ago, only 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions stayed in the air. Now in this decade it's up to 45 percent, Le Quere said.

That steady rise is alarming because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the warmer it gets, and the warmer it gets, the higher percentage of carbon dioxide stays in the air, Le Quere said.

It's a feedback loop that is not good news for global warming, she said.

___

On the Net:

Nature Geoscience: http://www.nature.com/ngeo

NEW YORK – Elton John says he's back on his feet after being sidelined for the flu and an E. coli bacterial infection.
The entertainer spoke about his recovery before Monday's annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which honored former President Bill Clinton and Sharon Stone among others.
Earlier this month, John was forced to cancel shows after becoming ill. He says he hated having to cancel performances but he's fine now and "bouncing around."
Among those in attendance were Anderson Cooper, Tony Bennett and Daniel Craig.
___
On the Net:
http://www.ejaf.org/

NEW YORK – Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is ready to show some razzle-dazzle on Broadway.
The pop singer who was recently booted from "Melrose Place," is set to play Roxie Hart in the long-running musical revival of "Chicago."
Producer Barry Weissler says Simpson-Wentz will join the production on Nov. 30 for a 10-week engagement ending in early February. The performer played Roxie in the London production of "Chicago" in 2006.
Among her best-selling singles are such songs as "Pieces of Me," "Boyfriend" and "L.O.V.E." She is married to musician Pete Wentz.

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius said she expects the Senate to pass an
overhaul of U.S. health care next month and President Barack
Obama prefers taxing high-end medical plans to help pay for the
revamp.

“The hope is there will be 60 votes mid-December to pass
bills in Senate” before House and Senate leaders get to work on
merging their legislation in a conference committee, Sebelius
said today at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council conference
in Washington. She didn’t say when she thought final legislation
would reach President Obama.

A remake of U.S. health care, Obama’s top domestic
priority, is intended to cover tens of millions of uninsured
Americans while curbing medical costs. Senate proposals for
purchasing exchanges, subsidies and a requirement that all
Americans have coverage would cost more than $800 billion over
10 years and mark the biggest changes to U.S. health care in
more than four decades.

Obama would prefer that Congress raise revenue for a
health-care overhaul through a tax on high-end health-care
plans, as the Senate Finance Committee has included in its bill,
Sebelius said. Obama’s “preference both ultimately in terms of
cost control, but also in the fact that the payment is directly
tied to health-care, is the excise tax,” Sebelius said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nicole Gaouette in Washington at
ngaouette@bloomberg.net .

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
People who have had repeated flu infections -- or repeated flu vaccines -- may have some protection against the new pandemic swine influenza, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They found evidence that the human immune system can recognize bits of the new H1N1 virus that are similar to older, distantly related H1N1 strains.

"What we have found is that the swine flu has similarities to the seasonal flu, which appear to provide some level of pre-existing immunity. This suggests that it could make the disease less severe in the general population than originally feared," said Alessandro Sette, director of the Center for Infectious Disease at California's La Jolla Institute.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may also help explain why many older people are less likely to have severe disease, said Allison Deckhut-Augustine of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"Adults may have some pre-existing immunity for H1N1," Deckhut-Augustine said in a telephone interview.

That does not mean older people are protected from infection, and Deckhut-Augustine stressed that people should still be vaccinated against H1N1.

Swine flu has infected millions of people globally and killed an estimated 3,900 in the United States alone, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug makers are struggling to make vaccines and governments are working to vaccinate their populations.

Bjoern Peters and colleagues at the La Jolla Institute looked at flu epitopes -- molecular markers or structures that the immune system recognizes -- dating back 20 years.

"We found that the immune system's T-cells can recognize a significant percent of the markers in swine flu," Peters said in a statement.

DUAL PROTECTION

The human immune system has two kinds of protection. Antibody response can prevent infection, while T-cells fight infection once it has occurred.

Peters and colleagues found T-cell protection but not antibody response.

"This T-cell response decreases severity of disease but doesn't prevent infection," said Deckhut-Augustine, whose agency helped pay for the study and maintains the public database that Peters used.

The effect could be cumulative, Peters said, which could explain why people over 50 seem to be less likely to get noticeable H1N1 infections.

"This may also suggest why children are more susceptible to severe infection and why they might need two boosts," Deckhut-Augustine said. "They haven't been around as long and they haven't been exposed to different strains of H1N1 as long as adults."

Influenza is a very mutation-prone virus and from year to year the circulating strains drift, or change slightly. This is why new vaccines must be formulated each year and why people can catch flu again and again.

The new H1N1 was a never-before-seen combination of swine flu viruses, with a sprinkling of human and avian flu virus genetic sequences. But its long-ago ancestor was an H1N1 virus first seen in the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed upwards of 50 million people.

The researchers found that the new H1N1 swine flu shared 49 percent of its epitopes with older, seasonal H1N1 strains.

Using blood from healthy donors, they found that T-cells could recognize about 17 percent of these markers.

(Editing by Eric Beech)

LONDON – World stock markets mostly fell Tuesday amid renewed concerns about the banking sector after Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland PLC got more government help and Switzerland's UBS AG booked another massive charge.
Uncertainty about a raft of key economic developments later this week, which culminates in Friday's closely watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for October, kept a lid on sentiment too.
"Stocks are registering hefty losses as the market takes risk off the table in the wake of another run of bad news from the banking sector," said Jane Foley, research director at Forex.com.
That raises fears that major economies "will only be able to manage lackluster growth going forward," Foley said.
In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 106.52 points, or 2.1 percent, at 4,997.98 while Germany's DAX fell 93.20 points, or 1.7 percent, to 5.337,62. The CAC-40 in France was 73.40 points, or 2 percent, lower at 3,566.06.
Most attention in Europe focused on the banks, particularly Lloyds Banking Group PLC and Royal Bank of Scotland PLC.
Royal Bank said that it was taking an additional 25 billion pounds from the government and joining the government's Asset Protection Scheme. Meanwhile, Lloyds confirmed it was looking to raise at least 21 billion pounds ($34.2 billion) through a record share issue and debt swap, instead of joining the insurance scheme.
As a result, the pair faced differing reactions in the markets. Lloyds was the top riser on the FTSE, up over 1 percent, while Royal Bank of Scotland slid 4.5 percent.
Results from UBS kept the banks in focus across Europe. The Swiss bank reported a third-quarter net loss of 564 million Swiss francs ($542 million) — its fourth straight quarterly loss — after 2.15 billion francs in accounting charges.
UBS shares fell more than 4 percent on the Zurich exchange.
It wasn't just the banks causing concern in Europe. German carmaker BMW AG saw its share price slide over 7 percent after it reported a bigger than expected 74 percent decline in third quarter net income.
Many analysts think that the markets are at a crucial juncture and that stocks, which have rallied for most of the year, could be facing a year-end slide. Over the last couple of months, most of the dips have proved to be short-lived.
"At the moment however, it seems that traders do not have the same conviction that they have displayed previously and rallies from here are proving to be unsustainable," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.
Economic matters will be at the forefront of traders' attention this week. In particular, they will be looking to see what the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England say about the world economy when they announce their latest interest rate decisions.
Though all three banks are expected to keep their benchmark rates at historic lows, investors will be focusing on what they say about economic prospects and when extraordinary measures to boost the world economy will start to be unwound. The Bank of England is the only one that may well change current policy, with most analysts now predicting that it will increase the amount of money it pumps into the economy.
Investors remain particularly nervous about the U.S. jobs report for October, which often sets the stock market tone for a week or two.
U.S. stocks were poised to open down later after a volatile session on Monday despite an encouraging manufacturing survey. Dow futures were 80 points, or 0.8 percent, lower at 9,655 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 9.3 points, or 0.9 percent, at 1,029.80.
The earlier quarter point interest rate hike in Australia failed to inspire the same jubilation among investors as last month's. October's rate hike, the first in a major economy since the onset of the crisis, was greeted as evidence of an improving world economy. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.2 percent.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng led Asia's losses, falling 380.13 points, or 1.8 percent, to 21,240.06 while South Korea's Kospi was down 0.6 percent at 1,549.92. Japan's market was closed for a holiday.

China's Shanghai index bucked the trend, gaining 1.2 percent to 3,114.23 with sentiment still boosted by a weekend report manufacturing expanded for an eighth straight month in October.

Benchmark crude for December delivery fell $1 $77.13 a barrel. The contract rose $1.13 to settle at $78.13 on Monday.

The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 90.07 yen while the euro dropped 0.8 percent to $1.4646.

____

AP Business Writer Stephen Wright in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Where a fence or hedge has an adjacent ditch, the ditch is normally in the same ownership as the hedge or fence, with the ownership boundary being the edge of the ditch furthest from the fence or hedge. The principle of the rule is that an owner digging a boundary ditch will normally dig it up to the very edge of their land, and must then pile the spoil on their own side of the ditch to avoid trespassing on their neighbour. They may then erect a fence or hedge on the spoil, leaving the ditch on its far side. Exceptions often occur, for example where a plot of land derives from subdivision of a larger one along the centre line of a previously existing ditch or other feature.

On private land in the United Kingdom, it is the landowner's responsibility to fence their livestock in. Conversely, for common land, it is the surrounding landowners' responsibility to fence the common's livestock out.

Fort Worth Fence

LONDON (AFP) –
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband unveiled an interactive map Thursday demonstrating the impact of global warming in decades to come, to underline the looming threat.

The map, presented at London's Science Museum, shows graphically how climate change could lead to water and food shortages, mass migration and conflict if action is not taken at a landmark summit in Copenhagen in December.

"The reason for publishing this map is that for many people, not only in our own country but around the world, the penny hasn't yet dropped that this climate change challenge is real, it's happening now," Miliband said.

The effects of climate change are not in "some far flung future" but would affect hundreds of millions of people within his lifetime, he added, unveiling the map with his brother Ed, Britain's climate change minister.

A four-degree Celsius increase could happen in his children's lifetime, Miliband warned. "The penny hasn't dropped that Copenhagen is the chance to address -- on a global scale -- the challenge," he said.

The map shows sea level rises and storm surges with temperatures rising up to 15 degrees, bringing increased risks of forest fires and droughts in Europe, and slashing harvests by up to 40 percent in southeast Asia and Africa.

Vicky Carroll of the Science Museum said: "We thought it was important for visitors to understand the whole picture.

"There's so much information about climate change but many people are still confused, so this gives them the evidence in a clear and accessible way."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned on Monday that the world faces "catastrophe" if action is not agreed to curb the greenhouse gases held responsible for global warming at the UN talks in Copenhagen.

A car seat is the chair used in automobiles. Most car seats are made from cheap, but durable materials, made to withstand as much beating as possible. The material for these seats is usually used for the back of the seat, as well as the part where one's posterior goes.

This kind of seats prevent forward movement of the occupant in case of collision. It is a safety feature, important for front seats over rear seats.

Dash Covers

STOCKHOLM (AFP) –
US President Barack Obama should do more to push for a US climate deal, Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said Thursday.

"I personally feel he ought to be doing a lot more," Pachauri told reporters after a debate on climate change in Stockholm, adding the president "really has to assert himself to see that the US passes legislation" prior to the Copenhagen summit.

The high-stakes conference in the Danish capital from December 7-18 will see nations attempt to hammer out a new global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.

The US Senate on October 27 is scheduled to take up a climate change bill sponsored by Democratic Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer, but the White House recently recognized the improbability of a Senate vote before Copenhagen.

Pachauri however stated he was "cautiously optimistic" that the Americans could agree on legislation in time for the summit, underlining it was "critically important that the US be part of this world deal."

"He (Obama) has to get the Senate to legislate the Kerry-Barbara Boxer bill," Pachauri insisted during the debate, adding he felt the president had not "put his weight behind it."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Mario Molina, an advisor to Obama on climate change, also took part in the debate.

The US, which has not ratified Kyoto, is along with China the world's highest emitter of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and the two nations are seen as key to the success of global negotiations on climate.

A US bill on climate "could make all the difference to the negotiations," Pachauri said.

LONDON – World stock markets fell sharply Thursday as investor optimism was dented by a broker downgrade of U.S. bank Wells Fargo and concerns about future Chinese economic growth.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 75.01 points, or 1.4 percent, at 5,182.84 while Germany's DAX fell 97.13 points, or 1.7 percent, to 5,736.36. The CAC-40 in France was 67.36 points, or 1.7 percent, lower at 3,805.86.
Earlier in Asia, markets tracked Wall Street lower after influential banking analyst Dick Bove downgraded Wells Fargo over concerns about its loan book.
"After a good earnings season for the banks so far this served to remind investors that we shouldn't be reaching for the Champagne bottles just yet as there are still lingering problems in our financial system," said Tom Salmon, a trader at Spreadex.
And though government figures showed that China grew by a year high of 8.9 percent in the third quarter of 2009, investors were worried that much of the growth stemmed from a domestic stimulus package that can't last forever. Exports and private investment continued to lag.
"Disappointment on the back of this numbers this morning was sufficient to bring risk appetite off the boil," said Jane Foley, research director at Forex.com.
The Chinese growth figures came after the country's Premier Wen Jiabao told a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that policy will focus on balancing economic growth while managing inflation — raising worries the government may cut back on its lavish stimulus efforts.
China has been the world's major driver through the recession and any suggestion that it won't be growing as fast in the months ahead could spook investors, especially if the global recovery is not as strong as many in the markets have been expecting.
The rally in stocks since March's lows have been predicated on hopes that the global economic recovery will be quicker and more substantial than valuations were implying. So far, most U.S. companies have reported better-than-expected earnings and painted a fairly rosy picture for the coming months, helping major indexes push back above the levels they were over a year ago before Lehman Brothers collapsed.
Many now think that the valuations could be too optimistic, especially if governments and central banks think their job is done and start withdrawing some of the stimulus measures they have enacted over the last year or so.
"There's no escaping the simple fact that stocks have been starting to look increasingly overbought for some time now.," said Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets. "As always the question is just how protracted any sell-off will be."
The sell-off is set to continue when Wall Street opens. Dow futures were 21 points, or 0.2 percent, lower to 9,880 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 3.5 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,074.60. On Wednesday, the two main U.S. indexes fell around 1 percent.
Once again, the focus of attention in the markets will be on the latest batch of third-quarter U.S. corporate earnings. Among those due to report later are Amazon, American Express, AT&T and Merck.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 66.22, or 0.6 percent, to 10,267.17, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 107.59 points, or 0.5 percent, to 22,210.52.
In China, the Shanghai index lost 19.18 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,051.41. South Korea's benchmark fell 1.4 percent, Australia's index was off 0.5 percent and India's market shed 1.2 percent.
Oil prices slipped to near $80 a barrel Thursday as a wobbly U.S. dollar steadied. Benchmark crude for December delivery fell $1.24 to $80.13 a barrel. The contract jumped $2.25 overnight after the dollar fell to a 14-month low against the euro.
The fall in stocks has provided the dollar with some relief Thursday. As investors grow more willing to take on risk, stocks have rallied and the dollar has dropped against the euro. Conversely, when shares have fallen, the dollar has tended to rise as it is widely considered a safe haven asset
The euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.4979 while the dollar rose 0.3 percent to 91.23 yen.

____

AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON – Health care legislation taking shape in the House carries a price tag of at least $1 trillion over a decade, significantly higher than the target President Barack Obama has set, congressional officials said Friday as they struggled to finish work on the measure for a vote early next month.
Democrats have touted an unreleased Congressional Budget Office estimate of $871 billion in recent days, a total that numerous officials acknowledge understates the bill's true cost by $150 billion or more. That figure excludes several items designed to improve benefits for Medicare and Medicaid recipients and providers, as well as public health programs and more, they added.
The officials who disclosed the details did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Some moderate Democrats have expressed reluctance to support a bill as high as $1 trillion. Last month, Obama said in a nationally televised address before a joint session of Congress that he preferred a package with a price tag of around $900 billion.
Obama also said he would not sign a bill that raised deficits, and the CBO estimates the emerging House bill meets that objective. Officials said the measure would reduce deficits by at least $50 billion over 10 years and perhaps as much as $120 billion.
Democrats also said the bill would slow the rate of growth of the giant Medicare program from 6.6 percent annually to 5.3 percent.
"The bill will be paid for over 10 years. It will reduce costs but also will not add a dime to the deficit" in future years, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a news conference.
Still, Obama's speech provoked enough concern among House Democrats that senior presidential aides were called to a meeting in the Capitol to explain precisely what the president had in mind when he set the $900 billion target.
The figure of $871 billion "is a coverage number. I think the White House has made that very clear. It is a number about coverage," Pelosi said recently when asked about the size of the measure.
Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for the White House, said, "The speaker is working on a plan that meets with the president's price tag of around $900 billion for health insurance reform and will not add a dime to the deficit."
House Democrats took steps to fulfill another of Obama's goals during the day, announcing their legislation would completely close a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage within a decade, five years faster than originally contemplated.
In addition, Pelosi said, "as of Jan. 1, 2010, our legislation will give a 50 percent discount for brand-name drugs to recipients in the donut hole and it will reduce the size of the donut hole by $500."
After months of delay, Democrats in the House and Senate are aiming for votes next month on legislation to fulfill Obama's goal of expanding coverage to millions who lack it, banning insurance industry practices such as denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and slowing the growth in health care spending nationally. The House bill will also lift the insurance industry's exemption from federal anti-trust laws, a provision under consideration in Senate negotiations as well.
With time growing short, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are struggling independently with the most controversial of all issues involved with health care, proposals for a government-run insurance option to compete with private industry.
In the House, Democrats have tentatively concluded they cannot win passage of the provisions favored by most liberals, one calling for a nationwide government-run plan with payments to doctors and hospitals linked to rates paid by Medicare. It was unclear what fall-back plan was under consideration, but the internal disagreement cast doubt on plans to publicly unveil legislation early next week.
Across the Capitol, Reid, D-Nev., assessed support for a nationwide government-run insurance option that would allow states to opt out of the system. While the plan evidently enjoys a clear majority, it is uncertain whether it can command the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened Republican filibuster.
Democrats hold 60 votes in the Senate, but one, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has spoken out strongly against a so-called public option. A few other members of the rank and file have been non-committal.
One, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., met with Reid during the day and later issued a statement saying she was encouraged that a compromise might be possible. She also added pointedly that she had told Reid about "the unique challenges Louisiana is facing in terms of Medicaid and the special concerns I have about teaching hospitals," a possible signal that easing home-state concerns could influence her vote on the larger, national question of a government-run insurance option.

Also opposed is Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only Republican this year who has voted for a Democratic-drafted health care bill in committee. As an alternative, she favors allowing the government to step in only if there is insufficient competition in the private insurance industry.

Nor was it clear whether Democrats would be able to enlist additional Republicans. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, frequently mentioned by Democrats as a potential convert, said in an interview, "We can't afford the health care system that we have right now. And if we can't afford the one we have right now, how are we going to afford another one that's going to cost more money."

For Reid, the question of a government-run option is one of a many thorny issues to be settled before he can bring health care legislation to the Senate floor. He and senior committee chairmen have been meeting with top White House aides in recent days to produce a bill, and hopes of largely wrapping up the work by the end of the week went unfulfilled.

_____

Eds: Associated Press writers Chuck Babington, Laurie Kellman and Erica Werner contributed to this story.

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has been fined $25,000 for "violations" on two separate plays against the Cincinnati Bengals, including a helmet-to-helmet hit on receiver Chad Ochocinco.

Lewis leveled "a defenseless" Ochocinco, an NFL spokesman said on Friday, and the ensuing 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty helped keep the Bengals game-winning drive alive.

The veteran linebacker was also cited for kicking one of the Bengals during a pass play.

Both infractions took place during the fourth quarter of the Bengals' 17-14 victory last Sunday.

(Writing by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Editing by Ken Ferris)

A bauble is a spherical decoration that is commonly used to adorn Christmas trees. It is one of the most popular Christmas ornament designs, and you can find at least one bauble on virtually any Christmas tree. Baubles can have various designs on them, from "baby's first Christmas," to a favorite sports team. Baubles have been in production since 1847.

By the 1920s, traditional handblown methods gave way to mass production and before long there was competition from other regions of Germany and from abroad as well. The demand for the decorative items grew steadily, especially as new colours regularly became fashionable.

Photo Ornament

BERLIN – Part of Berlin's red-light scene is going green.
One bordello, hoping to stave off falling demand in the economic crisis, has begun offering discounts to customers who pedal bicycles to the door.
"It's very difficult to find parking around here, and this option is better for our environment," said Thomas Goetz, who owns the brothel Maison d'Envie, or House of Desire.
Local residents in Prenzlauer Berg — a part of former East Berlin now home to scores of trendy boutiques, restaurants and clubs — had staunchly supported the Green party in recent elections and have welcomed the bordello's offer to emphasize the environment.
The bordellos in the capital of Germany, where prostitution is legal, have seen business suffer with the global financial crisis. Patrons have become more frugal, and there are fewer potential customers coming to the city for business trips and conferences.
But Maison d'Envie has seen its business begin to return since it began offering the euro5 ($7.50) discount in July, Goetz said.
To qualify, customers must show the receptionist either a bicycle padlock key or proof they used public transit to get to the neighborhood. That knocks the price for 45 minutes in a room, for example, to euro65 from euro70.
Those who arrive on foot, however, are out of luck.
"We haven't found a way for people to prove they have walked here," Goetz explained.
Other brothels have tried different incentives to cope with the economic downturn. One Berlin bordello offered a flat-rate for an unlimited time before officials' concerns over prostitutes' rights and cleanliness in the club forced them to rescind the offer.
The 450,000 prostitutes working in Germany, some 10,000 of whom are in Berlin, have the same legal rights and social benefits as people in other professions.