How Not To Fly (about)

Cereal Chief Gets US Commerce Job

President George W Bush has picked the chief of food giant Kellogg to become the US's new Commerce Secretary. Cuban-born Carlos Gutierrez is to take over from Don Evans, one of the cabinet members who resigned after Mr Bush's 2 November re-election.

Ukraine's Parliament Rejects Election Results

Lawmakers also voted to dissolve the country's Central Election Commission. Observers say Saturday's actions, though largely symbolic, could usher in new voting.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission declared Viktor Yanukovych the winner on Wednesday, but protests from Viktor Yushchenko and his supporters -- and international election observers -- began before the final results were announced.

Panda Handstand Makes Its Mark

Remarkable new film of wild pandas shows how the rare bears engage in some gymnastics to mark their territory.... The bear goes upside down on its front paws with the aim of pushing its urine as high up a tree trunk as possible.... It is said to be the first time wild pandas have been filmed in this activity.

Artest: 'I Shouldn't Have Gone Into The Stands'

[Indianapolis] For now, [Ron] Artest says he's going to leave the [suspension] appeals to the players' union and his lawyers. He tells NBC he will "try to just do positive things." He also got in a plug for his music, which he says is "about love" and "not hardcore."

Minnesota Hmong Fear Backlash After Wisconsin Shooting

The arrest of a Hmong-American in the shootings of eight hunters in northwest Wisconsin left some Hmong citizens in [St. Paul] fearful of a backlash....

State Sen. Mee Moua, one of two Hmong legislators in Minnesota, rejected the idea that cultural differences or racism played any role in the shooting.

"He's probably crazy," she said. She acknowledged that Hmong-Americans feel racism on a daily basis, but "that doesn't mean you kill people."

Not Guilty Plea On Fake Plastic Surgeon Case

According to Miami Beach Police, Silvestre, who was not licensed to practice medicine, was posing as a plastic surgeon and had little medical training.

Police allege Silvestre gave patients animal tranquilizers instead of anesthesia and operated with nonsurgical instruments, such as a spatula.

One patient of his -- a former Mr. Mexico named Alexander Baez -- claimed that instead of the more muscular chest he wanted, he was given breast implants.

"When Mr. Baez finally woke up from this procedure he had two full female breasts and had to walk around like that for several months until the female breasts could be removed..."

House Probes U.N.-Saddam Scam

The humanitarian program, begun in 1996, allowed Iraq to trade oil for goods to help Iraqis get food, medicine and other necessities that became scarce under strict U.N. economic sanctions imposed after the Gulf War. It was credited with preventing widespread starvation....

Investigators who have been following a money trail say the former Iraqi president tapped secret bank accounts in Jordan -- where he collected bribes from foreign companies and individuals doing illicit business under the humanitarian program -- to reward the families [of suicide bombers] up to $25,000 each.

Ex-Navy Seal On Trial For Stalking Pop Singer

After his arrest, Kappos told a police officer that he and the pop rocker were destined to be together, get married and have children....

[Assistant DA Tara] Daly said Crow's entourage knew who Kappos was because he had left his base in Virginia earlier [2003] and flown to Missouri to see Crow's sister and parents. The visit, in which Kappos told Crow's father that he found the family's home by following a bird and that he wanted a date with the singer, disturbed the father, Daly said.

Expert: FDA Failed Nation On Vioxx

In a scathing attack, FDA safety researcher David Graham blamed a "broken" regulatory system that has left the American public "virtually defenseless" against bad drugs such as Vioxx, which he said may have caused as many as 139,000 heart attacks....

Graham's testimony was in many ways extraordinary. It is highly unusual for a government official to so publicly and harshly attack his own agency for failing to protect the public health -- let alone go outside formal channels to challenge the safety of five multimillion dollar medicines the FDA has sanctioned as safe and effective....

[Senate Finance] Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said it "looks like the FDA allowed itself to be manipulated by Merck on labeling changes" in 2002. The evidence suggests the "FDA has a relationship with drug companies that is too cozy..."

Microsoft 'Warns Of Linux Claims'

Microsoft has reportedly told Asian governments that they could face intellectual property rights claims if they use free software such as Linux....

US firm SCO, the company behind the suits, says Linux includes some code to which it owns rights, although the firm is losing its financial backers and has been reluctant to show any proof of its claims....

[Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer] also said that security fears over the use of Microsoft software were overblown.

GOP Alters Rules To Aid DeLay

The former [House of Representatives] rule, from 1993, required leaders who were indicted to step aside....

Three DeLay associates have been indicted in the Travis County case, involving allegations that the political committee funneled illegal corporate donations to state legislative candidates....

The House [Ethics Committee previously] cited DeLay for pressuring a fellow Republican to vote for Medicare legislation, for fund-raising activities that gave the appearance of impropriety and for trying to use his influence with the Federal Aviation Administration to track Texas Democrats during redistricting battles....

"It is absolutely mind-boggling that as their first order of business following the elections, House Republicans have lowered the ethical standards for their leaders," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi...

Dollar Hits New Low Against Euro

European policymakers have called the dollar's slide "brutal..."

"Nobody has ever devalued their way to prosperity," [US Treasury Secretary John Snow said....] Some analysts maintain the US is secretly happy with a lower dollar which helps makes its exports cheaper in Europe, thus boosting its economy.

Green Party Candidate Is Set To Pay For Ohio Recount

The state allows candidates to demand a recount if they pay for it -- about $113,000 for a statewide race. [David] Cobb's campaign announced it raised $150,000 in just four days, entirely in online donations....

Cobb spokesman Blair Bobier said the campaign was less concerned with changing the outcome of the race than with investigating rumors of voter fraud. "We're doing it to protect the integrity of the voting process," he said.

'Virgin Mary' Sandwich Back On eBay

Diana Duyser put the sandwich up for sale last week, drawing bids as high as $22,000 before eBay pulled the item Sunday night. The page was viewed nearly 100,000 times before being taken down....

Company spokesman Hani Durzy said the listing was mistakenly removed because officials doubted whether Duyser could deliver the product.

"After looking at it a second time, there's nothing to indicate that the seller isn't willing to give up this cheese sandwich to the highest bidder," he said. "We're going to allow it to stay up."

Medic Rocks With Docs

"I have been on over 200 individual [EMT] rides now," Roth told The Post. "Not once has anyone recognized me, which is perfect for me."

Producer Who Broke Into 'CSI: NY' Fired

CBS News has fired the producer responsible for breaking into "CSI: NY" last week for a special report on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death, a CBS executive said Monday... The news report came during the last five minutes of the forensics mystery last Wednesday, prompting viewer complaints...

...with Arafat reportedly near death for several days, CBS News had left explicit instructions for how to deal with that event: run a news "crawl" at the bottom of the screen and direct viewers to the next newscast for more information. That's how CBS's competitors at ABC and NBC handled the news.

Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA

John E. McLaughlin, a 32-year CIA veteran who was acting director for two months this summer until Goss took over, resigned after warning Goss that his top aide, former Capitol Hill staff member Patrick Murray, was treating senior officials disrespectfully...

Yesterday, the agency official who oversees foreign operations, Deputy Director of Operations Stephen R. Kappes, tendered his resignation after a confrontation with Murray. Goss and the White House pleaded with Kappes to reconsider...

Michael V. Kostiw, who was Goss's first choice for executive director -- the agency's third-ranking official -- withdrew his name after The Washington Post reported that he had left the agency 20 years ago after having been arrested for stealing a package of bacon.

Patrick Stewart Romances Girl 39 Years Younger

The pair first met while working in the theatre last summer, when Dillon [25] auditioned for a part in a production of Ibsen's 'The Master Builder', which also starred Stewart [64]. In October 2003, shortly after the play's run had finished, the actor announced his second marriage to television producer Wendy Neuss was over.

Quechua 1.0: Microsoft To Launch Windows In The Language Of The Inca

Peru was the cradle of the Inca empire which in the 16th century stretched from modern-day Colombia down to northern Chile. Bolivia is the only majority indigenous country in South America. Its indigenous people speak Quechua and Aymara.

Madonna Calls For Troop Pullout

US pop star Madonna made a rare foray into politics on Tuesday, calling for her home country to withdraw its troops from Iraq during an interview with British radio.

Juror Excused From Peterson Trial After Apparently Doing Research

During the jury selection process she told the attorneys and [Judge] Delucchi that she could vote to execute someone, but after reading some of the media coverage didn't see a motive for Peterson to murder his wife, Laci, and their unborn child.

Tech Chemical Car In Competition

[Austin, TX] For [the American Institute of Chemical Engineers] competition, the cars will travel only between 50 feet and 100 feet. And when the cars are disassembled, all of their parts must fit in a container about the size of a shoe box.

...a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., said General Motors was interested in her team's work with a fuel cell for their car. The team put the fuel cell into a car team members made out of Legos.

F-16 Strafes School In Jersey

Although the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School was closed, four custodians were working inside the one-story brick building when the rounds landed just after 10 p.m., officials said. None of the workers was injured.

The pilot of the single-seat F-16 was preparing for target practice at the nearby Warren Grove Gunnery Range when the aircraft's 20mm cannon accidentally discharged, firing 25 rounds in rapid succession...

Man Strips Naked, Scales LAX Fence

A naked man climbed a fence at Los Angeles International Airport, ran across the tarmac and climbed into the wheel well of a departing plane before firefighters talked him out, airport officials said.

130-Year-Old Chinese Fire Put Out

A fire that broke out more than 100 years ago at a Chinese coalfield has finally been extinguished, reports say....

In the last four years, firefighters have spent $12m in efforts to put out the flames at Liuhuanggou colliery, near Urumqi in Xinjiang province.... Local historians said the fire first broke out in 1874...

At the Earle Brown Elementary School in Brooklyn Center [MN], one woman got to skip to the front of along line because she was in labor, election judge Nancy Carlson said.

"Two minutes labor and she's still in line to vote," Carlson said.

Once the woman cast her ballot, she was put into a wheelchair and carted away...