Danish-born Czarina Maria Feodorovna and Czar Alexander III of Russia pose at Fredensborg Palace north of Copenhagen in 1893. Czarina Maria Feodorovna, who fled from the Russian revolution and died in 1928 in Denmark, was buried at the Roskilde Cathedral 40 kilometers west of Copenhagen. The Danish government has agreed that the remains of the Czarina now will be returned to Russia and laid to rest with her family in St. Petersburg. Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark ---- The remains of Danish-born Czarina Maria Feodorovna, mother of the assassinated Nicholas II, will be returned to Russia and laid to rest with her family in St. Petersburg, Denmark's government said Wednesday.

Born in 1847 in Copenhagen, Feodorovna, originally Danish Princess Dagmar, married Czar Alexander III in 1866 and had six children, including Nicholas II. When the Bolshevik revolution swept Russia in 1917, she fled St. Petersburg.

"I am happy, very happy," said Prince Dmitry Romanov, a descendant who lives in Denmark. "Finally she can be put to rest next to her husband which was her wish."

Feodorovna was the sister of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Britain's Queen Alexandra and King George I of Greece. She returned to Denmark in 1919 and lived there until her death in 1928.

She was buried at the Roskilde Cathedral ---- 25 miles west of the capital where dozens of Danish kings and queens are buried.

In a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Danish Queen Margrethe wrote that she "would not stand in the way" of the Romanov's family wishes.

The letter was given to Russian Ambassador Dmitry B. Ryurikov Wednesday by Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller.

In the missive, Denmark asked that the reburial be "carried out in a dignified and respectful way."

Moeller said the remains cannot be touched and any DNA analysis is forbidden.

In 1991, the remains of Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their five children were exhumed and reburied in the gilded, 18th-century cathedral in 1998. They were killed by a firing squad in 1918 in the Siberian city of Yekaterinburg. Their bodies were burned, doused with acid, and thrown into a pit outside the city.

After the 1991 Soviet collapse, Romanov family members had asked Margrethe to repatriate Maria Feodorovna's remains, Romanov told the AP. Romanov is the great-great grandson of Czar Nicholas I who was the great-grandfather of Nicholas II, Russia's last emperor.

Publisher recalls soap recipe book

WASHINGTON ---- A publisher is recalling 5,400 copies of "Candle and Soap Making for Dummies" because the instructions for one recipe call for an incorrect mix of ingredients that could cause the solution to bubble over and burn consumers.

The book's recipe for lye, an ingredient in soap, provides an incorrect mixture of sodium hydroxide and water, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement Wednesday. No injuries have been reported.

The paperback, published by John Wiley & Sons of Hoboken, N.J., features a black and yellow cover with a photograph of candlestick and slices of soap.

Book shops and discount department stores sold the book from August through September for about $20. Customers can return the books to the stores where they purchased their copies for a full refund.

Consumers can contact the publisher at (877) 762-2974, from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. EDT.

Tate Modern unveils weather work

LONDON ---- If the stereotype that Britons are obsessed with the weather can be taken as fact, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has given them plenty to talk about with a new work at the Tate Modern gallery.

A giant orb of light resembling the sun hangs at one end of a large open hall, which is empty but for a fine mist permeating the air, like fog creeping in from the Thames river outside.

Eliasson said he chose to create "The Weather Project" because it is a topic of constant discussion and it's "accepted we have very different opinions about it."

Visitors who enter the gallery pause momentarily when confronted by what appears to be a foggy London day in late autumn or winter -- inside.

"I had my dark glasses on and thought I was confused but when I switched them over, the mist was still there and we were drawn over to this part of the gallery," said Charlene Haar, 62, a visitor from Washington, as she gazed up at the giant sun. "I think it's wonderful that he thinks that the British are consumed by the idea and it does affect their social life."

Eliasson, the Danish-raised son of Icelandic parents, said he thinks the preoccupation with the weather extends further, to Northern Europe as a whole.

"There is a history of being dependent on good weather to feed and care for families. Fishermen, farmers -- it's all weather driven somehow," he said.

Eliasson, 39, has long been obsessed with the weather himself. At the Marc Foxx gallery in Los Angeles he cut a hole in the roof, allowing sunlight to stream into the space. In the Kunsthaus Bregenz gallery in Austria, he created a sequence of spaces filled with natural materials including water, fog, earth, wood, fungus and duckweed.

"The weather has a couple of qualities I like," Eliasson said. "One is that it somehow defines a sense of community ... it also gives us a very clear or distinct sense of time because we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

Eliasson's work is the fourth in a series of large-scale commissions for the gigantic Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern. Consumer goods giant Unilever has donated $2 million over five years, allowing the gallery to commission a new work for the hall each year until 2004.

The sun is actually half a circle -- the top half is created by mirrors that also extend along the ceiling of the gallery, reflecting the space and the visitors below.

"With a glance overhead it allows the visitors to see themselves and the immense space reflected around them overhead," said curator Susan May.

"In this sense the installation draws attention to the fundamental act of perceiving the world around, of being caught in a moment which the artist has often described as 'seeing yourself sensing."'

The sun is lit from behind by mono-frequency lamps that emit light at such a narrow frequency that colors other than yellow and black are invisible, transforming the scene into a vast two-toned landscape.

The artist marketed his work with simple statements about the weather, such as "73 percent of London cab drivers discuss the weather with their passengers," being placed in magazines, taxis or the Internet.

"The Weather Project" is on display, free of charge, until March 21.

On the Net:

Tate Modern:

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

Rioting after canceled concert damages cars, shops in Montreal

MONTREAL ---- A crowd infuriated by the last-minute cancellation of a punk rock concert tore through downtown Montreal, overturning cars and smashing into shops, police said Wednesday. Five people were injured.

Seven people were arrested in Tuesday night's violence ---- one woman for armed assault, and five adults and one minor for mischief and disturbing the peace, police Inspector Yves Surprenant said.

"The event surprised us, by its magnitude and the speed with which it happened," Surprenant said. At least 42 cars and 11 shops were damaged.

Some 1,000 people were waiting for the concert to begin when told at about 7:30 p.m. that the performers ---- bands named The Exploited and Total Chaos ---- were delayed at the U.S. border, witnesses said.

Most of the concertgoers left, but a few hundred started breaking car windows, turning vehicles over and setting them on fire. Many also vented their fury on nearby shops.

Philippe Yeung, who lives next to the concert hall, said he called police several times before they arrived more than 30 minutes later.

"When the police came, the cars were already on fire, they were already overturned and (the rioters) were moving up the street," he said.

Riot police wearing helmets and shields eventually cordoned off several downtown blocks and the rioters fled.

Surprenant said it took time to assemble a force equipped to take on the rioters.

"We don't have people at every street corner in Montreal. They're spread all over the city and it takes time to get them all in one specific area and ready for action," he said. "We're not going to send in five officers to deal with several hundred people."

Three police cruisers were damaged in the rioting, and three police officers and two security guards suffered minor injuries, according to police.

Construction worker briefly trapped when dirt wall erodes at Capitol Visitor Center

WASHINGTON ---- Part of an unfinished tunnel wall that will lead to the future Capitol Visitor Center collapsed Wednesday, briefly trapping a construction worker.

The man, whose name was not released, was freed from the dirt after a few minutes and later taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, said Tom Fontana, spokesman for the visitor center project.

The man complained of back pain but appeared otherwise uninjured, Fontana said.

Construction resumed shortly thereafter on the tunnel, which will allow trucks to get to the lower level of the massive three-story underground visitor center, due to be complete in 2005.

6-year-old disabled boy has four fingers gnawed off by dog

TAMPA, Fla. ---- A 6-year-old boy who is partially paralyzed had four fingers chewed off by his family's dog because he couldn't feel the animal gnawing at his hand.

Dontavius Bryant suffered partial paralysis on his left side when he was the victim of a hit-and-run crash a year ago, police said. That is why he did not feel the dog chewing off his fingers to his second knuckle while he slept, police said.

He was in good condition at Tampa Children's Hospital on Wednesday.

Dontavius's 10-year-old brother, who shares a bed with him, found blood on the bed when he awoke sometime between 5 and 5:30 a.m. Monday.

"My brother told me to look at my hand," said Dontavius, sitting in a wheelchair Tuesday afternoon at the hospital with his left hand wrapped in white gauze. "I looked at it, and it was bleeding."

Animal control officials destroyed the 5.5-week-old puppy, a mixed breed of chow and pit bull named Chaka. Dontavius and his two older brothers had received the puppy as a gift two to three weeks ago, family friend Diona Thomas said.

"I believe the dog didn't know what he was doing," Thomas said. "He was friendly. Everybody loved him."

Dontavius, who still has use of his right hand, is taking his latest injury in stride. "I'll be OK. I can still play video games with one hand," he said.

Recently retired U.S. soldier dies trying to protect son

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ---- A Gulf War veteran who retired last week after 21 years with the Army died trying to protect his son from a falling tree, family members said.

David Garrity, 43, was cutting down a tree in his back yard early Sunday when his 5-year-old son wandered into the path of the falling timber. The tree crushed Garrity as he rushed to push the boy out of the way. The boy was unhurt.

"Maybe another step and he could have made it," said his wife, Nedelia.

Garrity, a father of three, had retired Friday as a first sergeant with the Night Stalkers, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he was sent to Afghanistan. He also took part in the invasion of Panama, his family said.

"He was a hero at the end, and a hero at the beginning," said his father, Don Garrity.

Father accused of raping girl who apparently killed herself

SYRACUSE, N.Y. ---- An 11-year-old girl apparently hanged herself in her bedroom after being raped by her father earlier in the day, police said.

Valerie Charlene Lucie was found dead on Sept. 30. Timothy Lucie, 46, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of rape and sodomy and released Wednesday on $35,000 bond.

Lucie told police he raped the girl in the shower after threatening to cut her hair unless she did what she was told, authorities said.

"It's a case that leaves you numb," Sgt. Tom Connellan said.

Lucie recanted after meeting with his lawyer, Raymond Dague, who said Lucie gave the statement only after police told him he failed a lie detector test and threatened to take away his four other children.

The defense attorney said Lucie is wrongly accused, and Lucie's wife does not believe the charges.

"This is a good family. They went through hell losing their daughter, and now that's compounded by these false allegations against the dad," Dague said.

The girl left no note, and her death has not officially been ruled a suicide. Lucie came under suspicion after an autopsy revealed physical signs that Valerie had been sexually abused before her death, according to court documents.

Prosecutor William Fitzpatrick has said that evidence indicates there was one assault, and that the girl decided to end her life afterward.

Valerie and her four brothers were home-schooled by their mother.

If convicted, Lucie faces up to 25 years to life on each charge.

Texas couple befriends separated Egyptian twins, holds vigil with parents

DALLAS ---- With emotions running high, a nurse brought the news everyone was waiting to hear. Holding up two fingers, she said, "We have two boys."

The boys' father fainted. Their mother cried. And the Dallas-area family that had befriended the 2-year-old Egyptian boys born conjoined at the tops of their heads rejoiced along with them.

"It was just euphoric," said Barbara Hassan, who along with her husband opened their hearts to the boys, their parents and their caregivers.

"The room went wild," added El Sayed "Joseph" Hassan.

The journey to that room in Children's Medical Center Dallas began June 2, 2001, in a small village in southern Egypt with the birth of Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim.

A year later, the twins arrived in Dallas to be evaluated for separation. Hearing about their situation, the Hassans felt a connection: They, too, have twins, 15-year-old girls, and Joseph Hassan is from Egypt.

"I think we did the right thing because God gave us healthy twins and we have to give back," said Joseph Hassan, 51, who came to the United States in 1980.

The friendship began in February, when Barbara Hassan, 49, contacted the World Craniofacial Foundation, a nonprofit organization that brought the boys to Dallas. She invited the boys' father and two Egyptian nurses to their Plano home to celebrate the end of the Muslim holiday Ramadan.

The father, Ibrahim Mohammed Ibrahim, had arrived in the United States in the fall to learn more about the surgery and spend time with his sons. His wife stayed behind in Egypt with their two other chidren. He and the Egyptian nurses were lonely so far from home.

There were concerns before that first meeting. Barbara Hassan was worried about how her young daughters would handle meeting the boys. Joseph Hassan wondered how to put the boys in his car.

But within 10 minutes, Barbara Hassan said, it was clear there would be no problems.

"You have the babies laughing -- you forget they're attached," she said.

After a while, the Hassans were getting together regularly with Ibrahim and the nurses, Wafaa Dardir and Naglaa Mahmoud. Joseph Hassan and Ibrahim talked on the phone every day.

When Ibrahim and Mahmoud went back for a visit to Egypt in June, the Hassans visited the twins several times a week.

"We just got attached to the babies," Barbara Hassan said.

The twins' parents and their 6-year-old brother arrived in Dallas last week, days before the surgery. The mother, Sabah Abu el-Wafa, saw her twins for the first time in 16 months.

Keeping vigil was "pretty tense, pretty scary," said Barbara Hassan. The father took frequent breaks to smoke. People were praying and sharing memories of the calm Ahmed and the rambunctious Mohamed.

After bracing for the worst, the hourly updates were amazingly good. "Not once did they come down with an 'uh-oh,"' Barbara Hassan said.

By Saturday night, Barbara Hassan went home. Joseph Hassan spent the night, calling his wife at 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. with updates.

Then came news that the boys were physically separated at 11:17 a.m. Sunday. On Wednesday, they were still in critical but stable condition.

On the Net:

World Craniofacial Foundation: http://www.worldcf.org

Gibson's film renamed to 'The Passion of Christ'

LOS ANGELES ---- Mel Gibson has renamed his epic about the last hours of Jesus to "The Passion of Christ" because the original name ---- "The Passion" ---- was claimed by another movie in the works.

Gibson had to pick a new name because Miramax owns the rights to the title for "The Passion," a historical romantic fantasy adapted from Jeanette Winterson's novel.

A Gibson spokesman said Wednesday that at least in the United States, the film would be released as "The Passion of Christ." Gibson was still researching whether he could use the title "The Passion" overseas.

Gibson's film has drawn complaints from Jewish leaders, who say it suggests Jews were responsible for Christ's death. Conservative Catholics who have seen the film have called it a powerful rendering of the hours leading up to Christ's crucifixion.

The film stars Jim Caviezel as Christ and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene, and the dialogue is in Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic. Gibson considered releasing the film without captions but has decided to include English subtitles.

Negotiations continue with potential distributors, with Gibson hoping to have the film in theaters just before next Easter. Gibson has indicated he might release the film himself if he does not strike a deal with a distributor.

German man avoids charges for training dog to perform Nazi-style salute

BERLIN ---- A man who trained his German shepherd to raise a paw in imitation of the Nazi salute won't be prosecuted for the unusual trick, although he faces other charges, including allegedly shouting "Heil Hitler!" just before the dog's feat, judicial authorities said Wednesday.

Displaying Nazi symbols in public is a crime in Germany.

Police stopped the 54-year-old man, identified only as Roland T., in March after he was heard shouting the Nazi slogan.

As the officers watched, he called a command ---- "Do the salute" ---- to his dog, named Adolf, and the German shepherd mongrel raised its right paw, the Bild newspaper reported.

Since the man faces trial Thursday on several similar violations that are more serious, the Berlin court dropped charges relating to his training of the dog, said Bjoern Retzlaff, a judicial spokesman.

The man also was stopped by police at another time this year for shouting "Heil Hitler" on a busy street and for walking around in a Hitler T-shirt, Bild said.

He faces up to three years in prison under postwar laws meant to prevent any recurrence of Nazism.

Mayor's wife kidnapped in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras ---- Four armed men kidnapped the wife of a mayor in central Honduras on Wednesday, police said.

A search was on for Aida Cabrera, wife of Santa Rita Mayor Mariano Llanos. Santa Rita is a city in the central Honduran province of Yoro.

Police did not provide other details.

A total of 13 people have been kidnapped this year in Honduras, where wealthy businessmen and political figures are frequently abduction targets. A total of 232 people have been kidnapped in the country since 1994.

Philadelphia police search for laptop with airport-screening information

PHILADELPHIA ---- An instructor training newly hired airport security screeners lost his laptop computer to a thief after leaving it in a hotel meeting room during a lunch break, officials said.

The laptop contained sensitive ---- but not highly classified ---- material, a Transportation Security Administration official said. The files outlined standard screening procedures, such as the use of magnetometers.

"It is not any kind of reverse road map to penetrate the security system," TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield said Wednesday. "Nonetheless, it's not something that we're interested in seeing proliferated or distributed publicly."

The theft occurred Tuesday in a meeting room at the Embassy Suites Hotel near the Philadelphia airport, authorities said. The computer apparently belonged to a subcontractor hired by Lockheed Martin, which has the contract to train federal airport screeners, Hatfield said.

The instructor and a hotel employee checked to ensure that the room was locked during the training session's lunch break, Hatfield said. However, the room had a second door that may have been used to gain entry, he said.

Police and federal investigators were working on the case

The approximately 25 students in Tuesday's training session were among about 200 new airport screeners hired in Philadelphia.

Family of U.S. businessman kidnapped in Mexico say they will press for investigation

MEXICO CITY ---- The sister of a U.S. businessman possibly kidnapped by Mexican army deserters-turned drug traffickers said Wednesday that the family would press authorities to investigate the case.

Several relatives will travel later this week to northern Mexico to ask officials to do more to find Hayward businessman Jesus Villarreal, his sister Maria Villarreal said in a telephone interview from Houston.

Jesus Villarreal, a 78-year-old tortilla-store owner, was kidnapped Sept. 27 from his Mexico home in Sabinas Hidalgo, a town south of Nuevo Laredo, by a commando of at least 30 masked men carrying assault rifles. Officials originally had misidentified him as Juan Villarreal.

Maria Villarreal said witnesses and police told her the abduction resembled a military-style operation involving at least six vehicles.

Although no one knows for sure, it appears that Villarreal could have been kidnapped -- in a case of mistaken identity -- by members of the "Zetas" or "Zs," a new drug gang comprising deserters from an elite paratroop and intelligence army battalion that fought drug traffickers on the border in the 1990s.

Jesus Villarreal has heart disease and Maria Villarreal said she fears he may have suffered a heart attack during the abduction. She said the most important thing for the family is to find out what happened to him.

"It is a shame that the police aren't doing more to fight this scourge of drug trafficking," she said. "There are many innocent victims like my brother, who had nothing to do with them. If they don't stop this, Mexico will end up like Colombia."

Odds and ends

LINDEN, N.J. ---- The Planet Kidz clothing store just had one tough customer: A rowdy deer.

The full-grown, antlered buck wandered in, then wandered around Monday for more than an hour, showing its appreciation for the merchandise by knocking down shelves and trampling clothes.

A few customers were inside, but they quickly left and no one was hurt, said head manager Joseph Velelis.

He said he tried to calm the deer down by talking to it, but the animal panicked and charged toward the back of the store.

At one point, the deer, which weighed between 160 and 180 pounds, approached a full-length mirror and apparently thinking its reflection was another deer, jumped into the mirror front hooves first.

Linden authorities contacted the closest emergency unit with a tranquilizer gun, a Staten Island-based NYPD team.

Team members fired three tranquilizer darts, and the officers were able to subdue the animal and carry it out.

The deer was taken to the Linden animal shelter and was expected to be returned to the woods once the tranquilizers wore off.

The 10,000-square-foot Planet Kidz store is in a shopping center near a 26-acre forest. A Union County wildlife official said deer often get confused during this time of year, which is the height of mating season.

"They kind of get disoriented," said Karen Invillo, assistant director of the county's Trailside Nature Science Center.

NEW YORK ---- What kind of pad will a million bucks buy these days? In Manhattan, just something a notch above average.

In a report likely to make even the most jaded New Yorker blanch, real estate firm Douglas Elliman says the average price of a Manhattan condo in the third quarter was $919,959, breaking $900,000 for the first time.

The price topped the previous high, $894,617, set in the second quarter of 2001, and was a 3.7 percent increase from the average price for the third quarter of last year, according to the report.

Because there are so many high-end apartments in the borough, the average is much higher than the median, which was $575,000, the report said.

Even on the low end of the spectrum, studio apartments averaged $303,895, up 17.4 percent, and one-bedrooms were priced at an average of $471,531, up 12.6 percent.

The average prices for luxury apartments -- the top 10 percent of sales -- increased 10.6 percent, from $3,128,424 to $3,461,532, the report said.

OMAHA, Neb. ---- In a neighborhood where most homes are plain brick or brown, Andy and Amy McAuliffe's purple palace stands out. So much so that the neighbors are taking them to court.

The Hillsborough Homeowners Association is suing the McAuliffes, contending they violated the northwest Omaha neighborhood's covenants when they changed the house's color from gray to purple.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the McAuliffes to repaint their house to look like the others in the neighborhood.

"We're not trying to be the arbitrators of good taste here, but that house sticks out like a sore thumb. In this case, it's egregious," said Larry Beasley, who handles covenant complaints for the association.

Speaking on behalf of the McAuliffes, attorney John Grant said the couple has no plans of painting their house again until it needs a new coat.

"They didn't do this to antagonize their neighbors," Grant said. "They don't think this is a problem that prevents them from being good neighbors."

LOS ANGELES ---- Eleanor Bralver is fond of using her life experience to educate and inspire students. After all, experience is one thing the 90-year-old teacher doesn't lack.

Bralver, wearing a personalized blue baseball jersey, clapped and laughed at a birthday party Monday at the Sylmar High School auditorium, where the school chorus sang and cheerleaders spelled out her name.

"It's bigger than I am," she said of her cake, before blowing out the candles. About 600 former students, students and others attended the celebration.

Bralver, whose birthday was Sunday, later told her third-period health class that they can live long like her by keeping healthy habits.

"You live to be 90 and you'll get a party like I did," she told the students.

Bralver is the oldest teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District and may be among the oldest in the nation, though no national records are kept, said district spokeswoman Monica Carazo.

Bralver began teaching physical education in Detroit in 1935, then took a 22-year break to raise her two sons. She returned to teaching health at age 52, and began working at Sylmar High in 1969.

The school district has no official retirement age, and students say they can relate to her despite her years.

"I don't think of her as being 90," said Heather Martinez, 14. "She knows what we go through -- you can feel that she can relate to us when she talks to us."

Man gets four years in prison for explosion during 2002 Winter Olympics

SALT LAKE CITY ---- A former power company worker who admitted setting off a bomb that knocked out a substation during last year's Winter Olympics was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson also ordered Vince R. Rogers to pay $25,000 restitution to the utility.

The sentence was based on an August plea deal in exchange for Rogers' cooperation with prosecutors. The maximum sentence for destruction of an energy facility is 20 years.

On Feb. 24, 2002, the last day of the games, Rogers set off a homemade bomb at the substation, causing as much as $217,000 damage.

The blast caused widespread power outages, sparked a fire at a nearby oil refinery and raised terrorism fears.

Rogers told authorities he was mad at the utility in part because of a dispute over nearby fields where he pastured cattle. Utah Power had ordered Rogers to remove the cattle days before the explosion.

'Curb Your Enthusiasm' actress Cheryl Hines announces pregnancy

LOS ANGELES ---- "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Cheryl Hines is expecting her first child in March.

The announcement was made Wednesday by Hines' publicist, Ann Gurrola. Hines and her talent manager-producer-husband, Paul Young, were married in December 2002.

The 38-year-old actress co-stars with comedian Larry David on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which will begin its fourth season in January.

She's currently at work voicing the female lead on the NBC animated series "Father of the Pride," about a family of white lions that work for Las Vegas showmen Siegfried & Roy.

Conan O'Brien and wife are the parents of a baby girl

NEW YORK ---- "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien and his wife, Liza Powel O'Brien, are the parents of a baby girl, NBC announced Wednesday.

Neve O'Brien was born Tuesday in New York City. She weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and mother and daughter are doing well, the network said.

She is the couple's first child.

The 40-year-old comedian and Powel were married in January 2002 in a ceremony in Seattle. They met when Powel, a Seattle ad executive, made an appearance on his show.

O'Brien will return to the air Thursday night, NBC said.

Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn are the parents of a baby girl

LOS ANGELES ---- Former "Law & Order" actress Angie Harmon and her pro football player husband, Jason Sehorn, are the parents of a baby girl.

Finley Faith Sehorn was born at 10:55 a.m. Tuesday at a Dallas hospital, publicist Troy Mankin said Wednesday. No other details were released.

Sehorn, a free safety for the St. Louis Rams, was at Monday night's 36-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons, then flew to be at his wife's side for the birth. Mother and child were doing fine, Mankin said.

Harmon, 31, and Sehorn, 32, married in Dallas on June 9, 2001, a little more than a year after he proposed to her on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

Sehorn is sidelined indefinitely while recovering from a broken left foot sustained in the opening week of training camp.

Ozzy Osbourne postpones European tour because of tremor medication

LOS ANGELES ---- Ozzy Osbourne has postponed a planned European tour until next year because of the effects of medication he's taking to treat tremors.

Osbourne said in a statement released Tuesday that his doctor advised him to delay the tour, which was to have begun Oct. 22 in Dublin. The former Black Sabbath lead singer said the tremors were "practically destroying my life along with my self-esteem."

"I was no longer comfortable being around people, which, as you can imagine, is not the best trait for a performer," the 54-year-old said.

Osbourne's doctor, Allan Ropper, said a side effect of the medication was dry mouth, which impairs the voice. He added that the problem would subside in about a month.

The European tour will start in January at the earliest, according to the statement.

"I feel like I keep letting you all down, which breaks my heart, but you have my word that I will be over in the new year to complete my European tour," the singer said.

Osbourne and his family have enjoyed a higher profile since they opened up their home life for the hit MTV reality series "The Osbournes," now in its third season.

'Star Trek' actor files for separation from wife

LOS ANGELES ---- Actor Patrick Stewart, who played Capt. Jean-Luc Picard on the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series, is seeking a legal separation from his wife.

Stewart, 63, cited irreconcilable differences in the court papers filed Tuesday. He and Wendy Neuss-Stewart, who have no children, were married in August 2000, the filing said.

Stewart also played Picard in three "Star Trek" films and has starred in two "X-Men" movies. He and his wife co-produced the 2002 cable television movie "King of Texas," starring Stewart.

Neuss-Stewart also served as a producer on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and on the subsequent series "Star Trek: Voyager."

Stewart and his first wife, Sheila Falconer, have a son and daughter.

CBS 'Early Show' anchor details her own breast cancer saga on camera

NEW YORK ---- Rene Syler, an anchor on CBS News' "The Early Show," knows better than many people about the dangers of breast cancer.

Both her mother and father had the disease, and a routine test on the 40-year-old newswoman this summer uncovered an abnormality that gives her a greater-than-normal chance of developing the disease.

Syler has gone public with her emotional journey, keeping a video diary of her experience. It is being broadcast in three parts on "The Early Show," ending Friday.

"What I want people to see is this is not about the person you see on TV every morning with the hair and the makeup and the poise and the polish," she told The Associated Press Wednesday. "This is about a person trying to deal with a scary situation in the best way that she could. I was terrified."

Her mother, Anne, of Fort Worth, Texas, is a breast cancer survivor, six years removed from her surgery. Her father, Bill, died of a stroke 10 years after his breast cancer surgery.

The report contains candid, emotional footage of a scared Syler awaiting her diagnosis -- then relief in finding out she did not have cancer.

However, her condition will require regular monitoring, including mammograms every year, she said.

"It's something like a chronic condition," she said. "It's something we'll have to deal with."

On the Net:

http://www.cbsnews.com

Actor Rhys-Davies claims negligence for on-set accident

LOS ANGELES ---- Actor John Rhys-Davies, who plays dwarf Gimli in the "The Lord of the Rings" films, has sued producers of the not-yet-released miniseries "La Femme Musketeer" for negligence after he suffered serious injuries in an on-set accident last year.

While filming in Croatia last November, Rhys-Davies was injured when a wood and tile stage wall fell on top of him, according to the Superior Court suit filed Tuesday.

The actor names as defendants Hallmark Entertainment Distribution, director Steve Boyum, producer Fred Weintraub, executive producer Larry Levinson and others. He contends they were negligent in "filming and production of the movie so as to cause the wall to fall."

Rhys-Davies, 59, claims in the suit he suffered "severe and permanent" injuries. He is seeking unspecified damages.

Hallmark spokeswoman Kelly Coogan-Swanson in New York didn't immediately return a telephone message left Wednesday.

Rhys-Davies appears in all three "The Lord of the Rings" films and was in 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and numerous other films.

Hollywood trying to get Schwarzenegger to come back

LOS ANGELES ---- They are already trying to lure Arnold Schwarzenegger back to Hollywood.

A week after the "Total Recall" star was elected to replace recalled Gov. Gray Davis, he's being sought by Hollywood's leading cheerleader Johnny Grant to lead the Nov. 30 Hollywood Christmas Parade as grand marshal.

Schwarzenegger once told Grant about his first night in Hollywood, sitting on a curb, watching the annual holiday parade and wondering if he would ever be successful enough to ride in it, Grant said Wednesday.

In 1990, he served as parade grand marshal.

"I hope Arnold can join us again. This would be a wonderful way for the parade spectators to applaud the action hero on his latest accomplishment and a great gift from Arnold to his fans and new constituency," said Grant, Hollywood's honorary mayor.

A telephone message left at Schwarzenegger's Sacramento transition office wasn't immediately returned.

Two military planes down in Atlantic off South Carolina; pilots rescued by Coast Guard

CHARLESTON, S.C. ---- Two military jet fighters crashed off the South Carolina coast on Wednesday, and their pilots were rescued and brought safely back to land, authorities said.

The pilots were in good condition, said Capt. Don Caetano, public affairs officer for the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station, where the planes were based.

"They were conducting routine training and they had a mishap," Caetano said.

Caetano said it was too early to know if the planes, F/A-18A fighters, might have clipped each other in the air. An investigation has been launched.

The pilots, Capt. Matthew McInerney, 29, of Glen Rock, N.J., and Maj. Breton Saunders, 37, of Orange Park, Fla., had both recently returned from missions in Iraq, Caetano said.

The U.S. Coast Guard began searching over the Atlantic after getting reports from vessels that saw flares about 8:40 a.m., said Lt. j.g. Will Whitehead of the Charleston Coast Guard Base. The two pilots were picked up by a Coast Guard helicopter and were later transported to Beaufort Naval Hospital.

"We got numerous reports from fishing vessels," Whitehead said. "When the pilots ejected, a fishing vessel out of Edisto reported seeing a flare."

The Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station is about 70 miles southwest of Charleston.

Bluesman B.B. King, composer Gyoergy Ligeti win Polar Prize Music award

STOCKHOLM, Sweden ---- American bluesman B.B. King and Hungarian-born composer Gyoergy Ligeti were named the 2004 winners of the Polar Music Prize on Wednesday for their contributions to music.

The award was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA, through a donation to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

King and Ligeti will each receive $130,887. They are expected to travel to Sweden to collect the award May 24 from King Carl XVI Gustaf, award committee chairman Aake Holmquist said at a news conference.

The academy cited King, 78, for his "significant contributions to the blues" and a "total dedication to his music, a rich recording history and tireless touring lasting more than half a century (that has) made him one of the most prominent figures within the blues."

His recordings include "Sweet Sixteen," "The Thrill Is Gone," "To Know You Is to Love You" and "When It All Comes Down."

The 80-year-old Ligeti was cited for "stretching the boundaries of the musically conceivable from mind-expanding sounds to new astounding processes in a thoroughly personal style that embodies both inquisitiveness and imagination."

During the 1960s, Ligeti was a pioneering composer of avant-garde pieces. His works use micropolyphonies, dense textures that blend rhythm and melodies within the music. His most well-known pieces include "Artikulation" and "Atmospheres." Part of his work was used in the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

The prize is typically split between pop artists and classical musicians. Previous winners include Paul McCartney, Isaac Stern, Bruce Springsteen, Pierre Boulez and Quincy Jones.

On the Net:

http://www.polarmusicprize.se/

http://www.bbking.com

Texas appeals court overturns conviction on offensive gesture charge

HOUSTON ---- Giving a fellow motorist the finger may be rude, but it's not necessarily a crime, an appeals court said in throwing out a man's conviction.

Robert Lee Coggin, 34, was charged under an obscure state law that says it's a crime ---- disorderly conduct ---- to make an offensive gesture in a public place if it "tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace."

Last year, a jury found him guilty of disorderly conduct. He was fined $250.

In its ruling issued last Thursday, the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin said that Coggin's gesture was crude, but evidence did not establish it could cause an immediate breach of the peace. It ordered that he be acquitted.

"It vindicates me," Coggin told the Houston Chronicle for Wednesday's editions. He has denied making the gesture, and spent $15,000 in legal fees to fight the conviction.

According to court records, in October 2001, Coggin was tailgating a car in Caldwell County, flashing his lights and motioning for the driver to move to the right lane. When the driver, John Pastrano, pulled over, Coggin allegedly raised his middle finger while passing.

Pastrano -- who, as it happens, was a Caldwell County jailer -- called 911, and Coggin was cited by police.

In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Kenneth Law wrote that "one must ignore the reality of modern life to not recognize that many instances of `road rage' begin in such a manner."

Calls seeking further comment placed to Coggin's lawyer, Donald T. Cheatham, and to Pastrano were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Seventeen girls suspended from Saudi school for uncovering their faces on school bus

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia ---- At least 17 expatriate teenage girls in eastern Saudi Arabia have been suspended from school for a week for uncovering their faces on the school bus, the school's headmistress said in remarks published Wednesday.

The girls also had to sign an agreement not to repeat the act, said Malika Al-Duseiri, headmistress of the Eighth High School in Dammam, 250 miles northeast of the capital Riyadh.

"I noticed that they had removed their head covers on the school bus when I did a surprise call," Al-Duseiri told the daily Okaz. The girls' nationalities were not specified and attempts to reach the school were unsuccessful.

Okaz quoted family members as saying that 20 girls had been suspended since Tuesday but the headmistress referred only to 17.

The families are planning to complain to authorities against the school's decision, the paper said.

All women in Saudi Arabia, including foreigners, must be covered from head to toe in public, in compliance with the country's strict interpretation of Islam. The kingdom only issued picture identity cards to women last year after a three-year debate.

The new photo ID shows the woman's face but her hair must be covered. Previously, women were registered on their fathers' or husbands' papers.

Mobile phones with built-in cameras are banned in the kingdom as they may be used to take pictures of uncovered women.

Growing demands for political and social reform -- especially for women's rights -- have been countered by the conservative religious establishment.

Last month, prominent clerics and academics issued a statement warning against calls for equality and increased rights for women, saying such efforts aim to make Muslim women more like "infidel" Western women.

About 1,300 vie for seat in court during sniper trial

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. ---- Some did it on a whim. Others are interested in watching justice at work. One woman just wanted to get out of the house.

About 1,300 people have entered a lottery to win a seat for a day in the courtroom where Washington-area sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad is on trial for his life.

"The last major trial like this that I can remember would be the O.J. trial," said William Dean, 38, of Taneytown, Md., who will have to drive 290 miles to attend the trial if his name is drawn. "It's going to be huge."

Jury selection began on Tuesday. Unlike Simpson's California murder trial, the Muhammad case is not being broadcast, on orders from the judge. So the only way to watch it is to be there in Circuit Court.

Most of the 50 or so seats in Courtroom No. 10 are reserved for reporters, security, attorneys and relatives of victim Dean H. Meyers, who was shot to death a year ago at a gas station in northern Virginia.

That leaves five seats for the public. They will be assigned in weekly drawings, with each winner allowed in the courtroom for a day. There will be no public seats during jury selection, when most of the seats will be filled by potential jurors. With testimony expected to take four to five weeks, that means about 125 members of the public will get a seat.

The judge moved the trial some 200 miles out of the Washington metropolitan area after the defense argued that all residents there could be considered victims because of the fear the sniper attacks caused.

In all, Muhammad, 42, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, are charged with 13 shootings, including 10 killings, during a three-week spree last October in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Malvo's trial is scheduled to start Nov. 10 in Chesapeake, which is next to Virginia Beach.

Dean wants to watch the first sniper trial in part because his life was disrupted by the shootings.

He travels frequently for work and was stuck in terrible traffic when he found himself within a few miles of where some of the shootings happened. His company, which remodels Home Depot stores, ended up pulling him off the road for a while; one of the shootings took place at a Home Depot.

"To me, these guys are crazy. I just don't understand how a kid that young -- what's his mind like?" said Dean, who lives about 40 miles from where the suspects were arrested. "It interests me a lot to get in there and watch this up front."

Clay Wise, 29, of Virginia Beach, wants to observe the trial because he long has been interested in the law -- plus, he has followed the developments in the sniper shootings.

"I know there's an overwhelming amount of evidence against this individual," Wise said. "I just wanted to see how the defense would handle the case."

Maureen Watts, 43, of Norfolk, has never watched a trial in person before but thought it would be interesting to sit in on a case that is attracting international attention.

"Really, I did it just because I could do it," she said.

Rena Moore, 44, of Virginia Beach gave a little laugh when asked why she signed up for the lottery. "The truth? To get out of my house. I'm on disability," said Moore, who has lupus.

On the Net:

Trial lottery information: http://www.vbgov.com/trial/lottery/

Tropical Storm Nicholas strengthens in Atlantic

MIAMI ---- Tropical Storm Nicholas strengthened Wednesday in the open Atlantic but posed no immediate threat to land, forecasters said.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph Wednesday, an increase of 10 mph from the day before, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Nicholas could grow to hurricane force by Friday, forecasters said.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was located 1,010 miles east of the Windward Islands, part of the island chain that separates the Atlantic from the Caribbean.

The storm was moving west-northwest near 8 mph, with a gradual turn to the northwest expected by Thursday.

Weather systems are classified as tropical storms when their top sustained winds reach 39 mph, and become hurricanes with wind of at least 74 mph.

Nicholas is the 14th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

House approves underground visitor center near Vietnam Memorial

WASHINGTON ---- The House on Wednesday approved building an underground Vietnam Veterans Memorial visitor center, which lawmakers said would teach people about the black granite wall and the more than 58,000 names engraved on it.

"Too many visitors to the wall walk away not truly knowing the impact the Vietnam War had on our country," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif.

Under the legislation passed by voice vote, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund would pay for center's design and construction and would maintain its exhibits, while the government would keep the center operating. Spokesman Alan Greilsamer said the group hoped to have the center built by 2005 or 2006 at an estimated cost of $8 million to $10 million.

Planned exhibits include photographs of some of the men and women who died in the war and displays of the thousands of items left over the years at the wall, which is Washington's most popular memorial with more than 4 million visitors a year.

The Senate passed similar legislation in July, and the differences must now be hammered out in conference, including whether to prohibit any more statues near the wall.

Since the memorial opened in 1982, related structures have been built near it, including the Three Servicemen Statue and a memorial dedicated to women.

The National Park Service had earlier protested the visitor center, saying that it could further clutter the area.

"With each addition, the (Interior) Department has been concerned about the risk of diminishing the original work," said P. Daniel Smith, special assistant to the National Park Service director, at a May hearing on the proposed center.

The bills are H.R. 1442 and S. 1076.

On the Net:

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund : http://www.vvmf.org