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Netanyahu Defeated - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conceded defeat to Labor Party leader Ehud Barak shortly after the voting ended Monday. Separate exit polls gave Barak nearly 60 percent of the votes to roughly 40 percent for the incumbent. Netanyahu also said he intends to step down as leader of the right-wing Likud party. [Wired News]
New Red Menace - China has been so successful at stealing US nuclear secrets over the past quarter century that it may be less than a year away from testing weapons that will enable it to match American nuclear capability. A House investigative committee report released Tuesday concludes that a systematic espionage operation, begun in the 1970s, accelerated China's ability to develop strategic nuclear weapons. Specifically, Chinese spies managed to infiltrate four government research laboratories and steal the design secrets for seven nuclear warheads, including every weapon in the US arsenal. Combined with the sophisticated computer systems that it has been buying from US companies since 1996, China will be able to upgrade its nuclear capability very rapidly, the report warns. [Wired News]
New Rules - With Clinton's impeachment trial under way, the Senate is scrambling to set up procedures for a process that last occurred 131 years ago. Democrats and Republicans gather Friday morning to discuss such issues as when opening statements will be heard and whether witnesses are called. A vote on how to proceed is tentatively scheduled for Friday afternoon. [Wired News]
New Year, Old Tune - US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says her country deplores the continuing human rights violations in China. Her Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, politely invited Albright to mind her own business. And so, another round of high-level US-China talks is underway in Beijing, this one aimed at gaining China's membership in the World Trade Organization. According to the State Department, which monitors these things, China remains a lousy place to be a dissident. Another one was recently shipped off to a labor camp for 18 months on what the State Department called a "trumped up" charge. For its part, China says that internal instability justifies its harshness. And, again, that it's none of America's business. [Wired News]
News from the Top - Members of an expedition trying to determine whether Englishmen George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were the first to climb Mount Everest say they've found Mallory's body near the summit. Mallory and his climbing companion disappeared in 1924. The expedition is still searching looking for evidence that the two conquered the world's highest peak 29 years ahead of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Members of the expedition identified Mallory by a nametag in his clothing. [Wired News]
Nicked at Nite - Are Bill and Hillary Clinton becoming the '90s version of Ralph and Alice Kramden? Granted, Ralphie Boy didn't go chasing every skirt that climbed aboard his bus, but the Clintons' public bickering bears a certain resemblance to The Honeymooners. Just as Alice used to forgive her hubby for acting like a shnook, only to have him do something equally inane almost immediately, Hillary has gamely covered for Bill's slightly less humorous antics, with similar results. Hillary: My husband's infidelities are the result of a traumatic childhood that scarred him forever. Bill (through his press secretary): "There was no physical abuse. He was blessed with love and a wonderful life." In other words, howdja like to go to the moon, Hillary? [Wired News]
Niger Coup? - Tanks surround the presidential palace, soldiers roam the streets, and a military coup appears to be underway in Niger, according to news reports from Niamey, capital of the West African nation. An early Reuters dispatch said that President Ibrahim Mainassara had been ambushed and shot by army troops, but a later report merely stated that Mainassara was away from the capital. The country has been in turmoil since some shaky local elections in February. The opposition called for Mainassara's resignation Thursday after the Supreme Court ordered a recounting of ballots in most of the districts. [Wired News]
Niger President Slain - Earlier reports that Niger's president, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, was assassinated Friday have apparently been confirmed by foreign diplomats, the Associated Press said. Niger's prime minister, talking to the nation on television, said Mainassara had been killed in "a tragic accident," but other Niger officials said he was shot by members of his own bodyguard. Meanwhile, a military coup appears to be underway in the West African country. Mainassara, who seized power in a 1996 coup, successfully put down several attempts by the military to topple him. Until Friday, apparently. [Wired News]
No Beef with Meat - It looks like beef, it tastes like beef, and -- dang it -- it actually is beef. But it's cloned beef and fears abound that consumers won't be in any hurry to line up for the stuff. In Japan, however, they ARE lining up to buy cloned beef (mainly because it's cheaper than genuine Kobe beef), and the first returns from test markets indicate the average Japanese consumer likes it, too. One patron at a Tokyo rib joint, Takashi Kimura, seemed to sum up the general feeling: "I don't really know much about beef, but if we can have top quality meat for a lower price, I'm for it," he told a reporter. If this catches on, what's next? Cloned beef on rye? [Wired News]
No Bull: Cepeda's In - Orlando Cepeda, whose 1975 drug conviction overshadowed his prodigious achievements on the field and kept him out of baseball's Hall of Fame for years, is an outsider no more. The Hall's Veterans Committee voted Tuesday to enshrine the Baby Bull, making him only the second Puerto Rican player -- Roberto Clemente was the first -- thus honored. The numbers for Cepeda, who played 17 seasons, mostly with the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, tell the tale: He hit .300 or better nine times, compiling a lifetime batting average of .297; he was Rookie of the Year in 1958 and the National League MVP in 1967; he hit 25 or more homers eight times, finishing his career with 379; he had 1,365 lifetime RBIs; he was a nine-time All-Star. After the announcement, the Giants announced that they would retire his number 30. [Wired News]
No Escape - Urban Americans who think they're escaping the pollution of the big city when they beat it out of town are deluding themselves, according to a report by two environmental groups. Actually, pollution levels "out there" are often worse than in town, a CNN story said. To wit: Cape Cod National Sea Shore has higher pollution and more bad air than Boston; Maine's Acadia National Park's pollution levels have equaled those in Philadelphia this year; the Amish farmland and the nearby city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania has had twice as many dirty days as Philadelphia in 1999. Probably all those damned looms. [Wired News]
No Gore, No Glory - Velcro-covered American bulls appeared to suffer less than humans in a bloodless bullfight in Montreal. The animals were covered with blankets of the sticky fabric to which cavaliers on horseback tried to affix Velcro-tipped sticks, or banderillas. Animal rights activists weren't mollified, however. They plan to file charges of animal brutality on the grounds that bullfighting of any kind traumatizes the bulls. [Wired News]
No Morse Code - After 100 years of signalling distress at sea, the Morse code warning SOS is being replaced by a satellite system. The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System can pinpoint the location of any vessel on the high seas within 200 yards. Dots and dashes were first used for a marine rescue off Dover, England. But it was the Titanic disaster of 1912 that prompted the adoption of SOS -- three dots, followed by three dashes and three more dots -- as an international distress signal. [Wired News]
No Rosy Romance - An Italian lover and a mountain of roses failed to persuade a woman to reconsider her broken engagement. Spurned lover Roberto decided to send Alessandra 1,480 roses, one for each day the couple had been engaged. He delivered the final blossom on horseback, along with an impassioned plea for Alessandra to change her mind. Roberto was crushed when she said no, but his grand gesture was worth US$6,000 to a Verona florist. [Wired News]
No! Not the Face! - Fabio, the hunky guy with the flowing mane, literally got the bird Tuesday. In Virginia to promote the opening of a roller coaster ride at Busch Gardens, the Italian heartbreaker, who became famous modeling for the covers of romance novels, was hit in the face by a flying bird while the ride was in progress. It was an inglorious finish to the promotion, which began with Fabio surrounded by adoring, toga-clad nymphets (the ride is called "Apollo's Chariot"), and ended with the Ligurian Lothario staggering away to an aid station with a bloodied face. It wasn't a pretty sight, but the plucky Roman ramrod survived his ordeal no worse for wear. No word on the bird's condition. [Wired News]
No-Mow Lawns - For some people, mowing the lawn is right up there with cleaning the toilet. That is to say, they'd rather not. In a few years, they might not have to. Improved versions of plant growth regulators -- long used for golf courses and sports fields -- are entering the market and may eventually be sold to homeowners. One new product works by shifting the plant's growing energy from up to out. Instead of taller shoots, grass plants produce branches, making a thick turf that might need mowing just twice a summer. Now if they could just do something about the toilets. [Wired News]
Nobody's Waffling - There's trouble brewing at the Waffle House in Mobile, Alabama. One of Tonda Dickerson's regular customers left her a lottery ticket as a tip and -- you guessed it -- she got a winner. Tonda, a 28-year-old waitress, suddenly found herself US$10 million to the good. Unfortunately, it turns out that Tonda and her co-workers were fond of indulging in the "what I would do if I won the lottery" game. The five agreed to split the prize if one of them actually did grab the brass ring someday. So now Tonda's (former) friends are suing her, claiming that the agreement is binding and they're entitled to a share. Tonda disagrees, the matter is going to court, and the Waffle House will never be the same. [Wired News]
Nominated - Shakespeare in Love and Saving Private Ryan topped the list of Oscar nominees announced Tuesday, receiving 13 and 11 nominations respectively. Joining those films as Best Picture nominees are Life is Beautiful, The Thin Red Line, and Elizabeth. For Best Actor: Tom Hanks, Roberto Benigni, Ian McKellen, Nick Nolte, and Ed Norton. For Best Actress: Gwyneth Paltrow, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Fernanda Montenegro, and Emily Watson. [Wired News]
Northern Exposure - The British tabloids, never the paragons of journalistic virtue anyway, are back in hot water after The Sun, Britain's top-selling rag, published a 10-year-old picture of Sophie Rhys-Jones -- soon to be the missus of Prince Edward -- exposing a breast as she frolicked on a Spanish beach with TV star Chris Tarrant. "SOPHIE TOPLESS," screamed The Sun's banner headline, while the caption under the picture inside explained helpfully: "Sophie Rhys-Jones bared a boob when joker Chris yanked her bikini." Sophie and Edward are due to tie the knot at Windsor Castle on 19 June. No riposte yet from the Buckingham Palace press office, which had closed for the day by the time The Sun's big scoop appeared. [Wired News]
Not Knot-Tying - If marriage is the foundation of our society, as conservatives like to claim, we're headed for trouble. The Census Bureau said Thursday that 56 percent of American adults were married and living with their partners in 1998, down from 68 percent in 1970, 62 percent in 1980, and 59 percent in 1990. And more to disturb traditionalists: About 28 percent of children now live with just one parent, a huge rise from 1970 when 12 percent were raised by single parents. [Wired News]
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