S.African students return to new library

Children returning to classes in southeastern South Africa Monday have a new library, part of a campaign to improve education in impoverished rural areas of the country.

Sakhisizwe Primary School in the Mount Ayliff area, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Johannesburg, doesn't have running water. But it now has a library with 956 shiny new books in Xhosa, English and Afrikaans.

The South African National Library's Centre for the Book raised 400,000 rand (about $55,000) from the Nedbank Foundation for Sakhisizwe's library, which is shared by five schools in this region of the Eastern Cape. Some children travel 25 miles (40 kilometers) to use …

:Lightning Rod: Not easy bein' green: Three takes on climate change and the law

In Monday's 5-4 decision on climate change, the Supreme Courtdeclared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are airpollutants under the Clean Air Act. The Environmental ProtectionAgency has the authority to regulate those emissions from new carsand trucks under the law, the court said.

Does C02 have horns?

The liberals on the Supreme Court have decided that climatechange is ruining the Earth. The church of global warming has beenenergized like never before. One more Bush appointee on the courtand we won't have to put up with this nonsense for years to come.We're close, that is if John Paul Stevens ever retires. . . . …

Del Potro advances to 2nd round at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Juan Martin del Potro reached the second round at Wimbledon by beating Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 Tuesday in a match that started a day …

Coker, Henry (L.)

Coker, Henry (L.), jazz trombonist; b. Dallas, Tex., Dec. 24, 1919; d. Los Angeles, Nov. 23, 1979. His big buttery sound was a part of Basie's band in the 1950s. Raised in Omaha, Nebr., Coker played piano from an early age; he studied music at Wiley Coll., Tex. Coker's first regular work was with trumpeter John White's Band (1935). He was with Nat Towles' Band from 1937-39 and then worked in Honolulu, Hawaii, with drummer Monk McFay and others until 1941. He was in Pearl Harbor Hospital with a …

Radio changed hands faster than ever in '06

More than half of the top 25 radio stations in Chicago were soldor put on the block in 2006, marking an unprecedented ownershipturnover in a single year. Among the biggest deals were thoseinvolving Clear Channel Radio (which owns seven stations here),Univision Communications (which owns five here) and ABC Radio(shifting two of its four here). All three deals are expected to befinalized in 2007.

Emmis Communications, which owns two stations here, attempted togo private but withdrew its plans for now. Tribune Co. is shoppingits media assets, including its sole radio station, news/talk WGN-AM (720).

All of this turnover comes at a time when consolidation …

Peru Congress Cuts Age of Consent to 14

LIMA, Peru - Peru's Congress has voted overwhelmingly to lower the age to 14 for participating in consensual sex, a move some activists said could expose children to sexual abuse.

Lawmakers voted 70-10 on Thursday to approve the measure lowering the age at which criminal law recognizes the legal capacity of a person to consent to sexual activity. It was previously 17.

The age of consent for sex in many U.S. states is 16 or older.

The Peruvian measure was written by a member of President Alan Garcia's center-left Aprista party and Garcia is expected to sign it into law.

One supporter of the measure, lawmaker Raul Castro, said the law will bring Peru in …

AP Exclusive: NY rampage victim recounts horror

For an hour, the Asian man cowered amid the chaos of what had been his adult English class. Blood soaked through his jeans where a bullet had fractured the bones of his lower right leg. More blood flowed into his eye from a bullet wound on his temple; a hole in his sweater sleeve marked the path of another shot.

His teacher and 11 fellow students lay dead around him. Two other students were critically wounded.

Finally, he heard police voices outside the classroom. "Help me," he cried.

Suddenly, a gun was pointed at his head.

Three Binghamton Police SWAT officers responding to a receptionist's frantic 911 call _ looking for an …