In a first for China, resort city opens doors to Miss World beauty pageant

By: Associated Press - SANYA, China ---- It looms above the palm trees, gleaming like a tiara ---- the $12 million convention hall built for a Miss World pageant that this picturesque but poor Chinese city hopes will put it on the global tourism map. | Thursday, December 4, 2003 9:48 PM PST ∞

On Thursday, factory worker Wang Qiuyan gazed at the building in wonder, soaking it all in.

"It looks like an emperor's crown," said Wang, 20, who came from out of town for the pageant. She couldn't afford a ticket but wanted to be in Sanya anyway for the excitement of the pageant finals Saturday.

"For China to host this event is a great honor," said Wang, who lives 120 miles east of Sanya. "It shows that we are opening up and are willing to have more interaction with the rest of the world."

Sanya is China's southernmost city, a palm-shaded resort on Hainan Island ---- dubbed "China's Hawaii" by boosters ---- some 2,700 miles southwest of Beijing.

Until now, the city has perhaps been best known as the site of a military base where a damaged U.S. Navy surveillance plane made an emergency landing in 2001 after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet. The Chinese pilot was never found, and the American crew was held for 11 days before being released.

Though Hainan attracts millions of mostly Chinese visitors a year to its golf courses and sugar-white beaches, most here still make their living farming or fishing.

Sanya has invested millions to host Miss World, the first such international competition in China and the latest in the country's efforts to become a global player.

"It is a milestone in the development of Chinese culture," said Sanya Mayor Chen Ci at a press conference. "We did spend quite a lot of money, but the consequence will be huge. It will have a positive influence on the city's future."

Chen said he hoped Sanya would make $100 million from the exposure brought by the competition.

The city of 500,000 people has spent $31 million repaving and repairing roads, highways and bridges, the mayor said. He said that would help with other sporting and business events held on the island.

Government money and private donations paid for a $4.8 million license to hold Miss World. Private money also paid for the $12 million "Beauty Crown Cultural Center."

In return, Sanya will be showcased to a television audience estimated by the contest's London-based organizers at 2 billion.

"That is the best advert you can have in front of the greatest audience that the world's television has ever seen," said Paul Ridley, a spokesman for the Miss World competition.

On Thursday, banners welcoming Miss World contestants and promoting the city were found every few feet ---- strung across busy roads, fluttering from lampposts, hanging in the fronts of restaurants, banks and office buildings.

"Bring on the beauties of the world, show the world the beauty of Sanya," read one banner. Said another: "Beautiful Sanya, beautiful life."

Newspapers have been filled with stories about the competition, which began late last month with preliminary events such as the naming of "Miss Sports" and "Miss Top Personality."

"I was really happy to see the girls when they passed by the other day," said Du Juan, 20, who works in a beauty salon. "I do want a little to be beautiful like them."

Tickets for the event have sold briskly, although the prices ---- $80 to $1,000 ---- are preposterously steep for a country where monthly salaries urban salary averages $100.

"The people buying have got to be foreigners," said painter Zhong Senghe, 40. "Who else can afford them?"

Under China's tight security, the competition seems unlikely to experience the upheaval that it did last year in Nigeria. That contest was hastily moved to London after more than 200 people were killed in rioting between Muslims and Christians.

The fighting erupted after a Nigerian newspaper suggested the Muslim prophet Muhammad would have approved of the Miss World pageant ---- and might have wanted to marry a contestant.

In one Sanya neighborhood filled with Muslims of China's Hui minority, many said the pageant and the hubbub surrounding it didn't affect them. No one seemed too upset at the contest, though a few dismissed it as irrelevant.

"It doesn't interfere with our beliefs," said Hai Yelong, a 60-year-old Muslim pedicab driver. Besides, he said of the contestants, "Everyone likes to see them."

Federal prosecutor from Baltimore found dead in Pennsylvania creek

BALTIMORE ---- A federal prosecutor was found stabbed to death in a Pennsylvania creek Thursday after failing to show up at the trial of a rapper and another man accused of dealing heroin.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna, 38, was discovered face-down in the water behind the parking lot of a well-drilling company in Lancaster County, Pa., about 70 miles from Baltimore, police said. A car was near the body, police said.

"Let there be no doubt. Let there be no doubt that everyone in law enforcement, local police, state police, the United States Marshals Service, ATF, FBI, are united," U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio said. "We will find out who did this and we are dedicated to bringing the person responsible for this tragedy to justice."

Luna was prosecuting Baltimore rapper Deon Lionnel Smith, 32, and Walter Oriley Poindexter, 28, who were accused of dealing heroin and running a violent drug ring from their Stash House Records studio. Smith recorded under the name Papi Jenkinz.

Authorities did not say whether the two men are under suspicion in the slaying. They were behind bars at the time.

Luna and the defense attorneys negotiated through the afternoon Wednesday and reached a plea bargain on the drug charges at the end of the day, said U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr., who presided over the case. The men entered their guilty pleas around noon Thursday.

Smith pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin and possession of a weapon for the purposes of drug trafficking. Poindexter pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin to a government witness.

Luna got a phone call at his home Wednesday night and left the house about midnight, said a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity. His wife reported him missing, and the FBI later began looking for him.

Luna's body was found around daybreak not far from an exit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The judge said Luna had been stabbed and shot, but the police report only mentioned stab wounds.

Luna was married and had two children. He grew up in New York City, attended Fordham University and went on to law school at the University of North Carolina.

He was an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission from 1994 until 1997. He then worked as a prosecutor in Brooklyn before coming to Baltimore.

Luna, who was black, was a champion of the disadvantaged, often writing letters to the editor on behalf of minorities and the poor.

In 1991, he wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times, saying he was "offended" at the title of a recent series of articles on the Mott Haven section of the south Bronx where he grew up. The series was titled "Life at the Bottom."

Luna wrote that there were people in the neighborhood like his parents who were "struggling every day to make a life for themselves and their families in Mott Haven. My dad struggled in the restaurant business, while my mom stayed at home to raise my brother and me."

Quarles described Luna as a "wonderful young man, responsible, charming and highly intelligent. He had genuine trial skills as a lawyer and juries loved him."

Attorney General John Ashcroft called it a "tragic death."

"I express our deepest condolences to Jonathan's family, colleagues and friends," Ashcroft said. "We share his family's grief and will provide any support and assistance to help them through this difficult time."

Smith's attorney, Kenneth Ravenell, called Luna a "a good friend."

"I was kind of his mentor in many ways," Ravenell said. "He'd call me often and discuss things outside of what we did on cases."

During opening statements in the trial, Ravenell urged jurors to separate what they have heard about rap music from the trial.

"I suspect that what a lot of you know about rap music is what you hear on the radio or see on the TV, and a lot of that's not good," he said. "But Mr. Smith isn't on trial for being part of the rap industry."

He said that as Smith tried to build a legitimate career in the music business, he made the mistake of failing to cut his ties with criminal associates from his past.

The charges against Smith carry up to 25 years in prison, and those against Poindexter carry up to 60 years.

Luna had also prosecuted cases against a man who videotaped a neighbor child as she slept in her home and against a man who plotted to burn down a home to force six Mexican men out of a neighborhood. Luna also tried three men involved in a violent crack distribution network in Baltimore. All the defendants entered guilty pleas.

Other federal prosecutors have been the target of violence in the past.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Wales was shot to death in Seattle three years ago in an unsolved murder. The search for the killer has focused on at least one of the cases he had prosecuted.

Federal prosecutor Larry Barcella, now in private practice, was the target of a thwarted murder-for-hire scheme by ex-CIA agent Ed Wilson, whom Barcella had helped put behind bars for selling weapons and explosives to Libya. Barcella lured Wilson out of hiding and into federal custody in 1982.

Goodyear blimp drifts into truck; cameraman injured

CARSON ---- A cameraman inside a Goodyear blimp was injured when the airship came loose from its moorings, drifted into a parked truck and nose-dived into a fertilizer pile beside a plant nursery.

The Goodyear cameraman hurt his knee and was transported to a hospital where he was treated for a few bruises and released, said Goodyear spokeswoman Jennifer Arnold.

The pilot of the blimp, called the "Spirit of America," was not injured. Nobody else was onboard and there were no other injuries, said Sgt. Paul Rice of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The accident shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday caused a large tear in the polyester fabric front of the blimp, which remained upended and partially inflated overnight. The gondola's front window also was knocked out, said sheriff's Sgt. John Hocking.

The accident occurred after the blimp returned from downtown Los Angeles where it had been shooting video of the Staples Center during an NBA game, Arnold said.

As the blimp landed in this suburb south of Los Angeles, "the ground crew wasn't able to secure it on the first approach," Rice said. "The plan was to circle around again, but there was not enough power for liftoff, so it got away from the ground crew."

The blimp finally touched down up to 300 yards away from its landing site, he said.

Arnold said Goodyear was investigating the accident and cooperating with authorities. She declined to further discuss the accident.

"We're thankful there were no serious injuries," she said.

A crew of 21 people operates the Spirit of America, Goodyear's newest blimp, Arnold said.

The 192-foot-long blimp, christened in September 2002, has flown up and down the West Coast, as far north as Canada. It provides aerial photography for major sports events and has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including ABC's "The Bachelorette."

The other two Goodyear airships in the United States are housed in Akron, Ohio, and Pompano Beach, Fla.

Flu outbreak spreads across country, killing at least 11 children

FORT WORTH, Texas ---- Tissues are disappearing so rapidly from teacher Irma Natoli's desk that she's resorted to handing out paper towels to sniffling seventh- and eighth-graders struggling with flu symptoms.

"We've gone through boxes of them," said Natoli, who teaches at Morningside International Academy, a Fort Worth school for sixth- through eighth-graders. "They are constantly going to the bathroom for toilet paper and to wash their hands."

As a nasty flu outbreak spreads across the country, schools are reporting more empty seats as parents keep children at home to recuperate or to protect them.

The flu is being blamed for the deaths of at least six children in Colorado, three in Texas and one each in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Children are particularly susceptible because their bodies have not previously been exposed to the virus that infects the nose, throat and lungs, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Children's Medical Center Dallas has seen more than 500 children with the flu since October. On Thursday more than two dozen were in the intensive care unit, Dr. Jane Siegel said.

"Most of those children require IV fluids ... and most have significant enough lung disease so they're on a ventilator," she said.

In a typical year 36,000 Americans die from the influenza virus, but flu researchers expect a higher death toll this year.

The flu season usually stretches from October to May, peaking in December and January, but this year cases were reported in some Western states as early as September.

Texas was the first state this season where the flu was considered widespread, the CDC's most severe ranking. Nine other states ---- Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania ---- have since been classified as having widespread flu outbreaks.

More than 6,300 flu cases have been reported in Colorado, more than in the previous two years combined. North Dakota has tallied 292 flu cases so far, compared to just two this time last year.

Many states, including Texas, do not calculate the number of flu cases because they are not required to report such cases to the CDC.

Most of the outbreak this fall has been a strain called A-Fujian-H3N2, which was not selected for this year's flu vaccine, according to the CDC. Health experts say the strain is closely related to the strain the vaccine targets, A-Panama-H3N2.

The high number of cases has prompted more people to seek flu shots this year. More than a dozen stood in line Thursday outside Fort Worth's Bagsby-Williams Public Health Center.

"I just got over the flu, and I don't want to go through anything like that again," day care worker Cynthia Bolen said. "It gets to your bones. You don't want to eat and you just ache. It's a thing that will paralyze you."

The outbreak in Texas started last month in Houston and spread quickly, according to the state Health Department. The weekly number of cases at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston peaked at 129 in mid-October. In previous years, the hospital averaged 10 or fewer weekly cases during the season's peak.

Hospitals are taking precautions. Wyoming's Campbell County Memorial Hospital has restricted anybody under 18 from visiting patients. And the Great Plains Regional Medical Center in North Platte, Neb., is asking anyone with even mild flu symptoms ---- runny nose, sore throat or a cough ---- to put on a mask before visiting someone.

Truckers asked to help in Ohio highway shooting investigation

COLUMBUS, Ohio ---- In one of 12 linked shootings on Ohio highways, an Akron couple reported that one of several juveniles on an overpass had a gun and shot at a horse trailer they were towing, a State Highway Patrol report said.

The couple did not report the Aug. 31 trailer damage until three days after the Nov. 25 shooting that killed a woman on Interstate 270.

Franklin County sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Martin said Thursday that investigators have not discounted the couple's report, but there is no indication that juveniles are responsible for any of the other shootings.

Ballistics tests have definitively linked four of the 12 shootings ---- three at vehicles and one at an elementary school ---- but investigators believe they all are connected.

The shootings took place on or near the same short stretch of I-270 south of Columbus; the woman who was killed, Gail Knisley, was the only person hit.

A bullet from the trailer did not come from the same gun as the four, but the report is included with the 12 because it came from the area police are investigating, Martin said.

A sheriff's report on the damage said it happened on I-270, but Patrol Sgt. Rick Zwayer said the couple was not sure where they were driving and a witness said they were on a different highway.

Since authorities began connecting the shootings, there has been one more reported in the area, police told The Columbus Dispatch for its Thursday editions. A woman reported Tuesday that a bullet hit her car Sunday.

"It appeared to be a bullet strike, but the bullet did not penetrate," Columbus homicide detective Wayne Goss said.

Authorities would not confirm the report Thursday. Martin said no shooting since Knisley's killing has been linked to the string of shootings that began in May but have occurred mostly in the last two months.

Ohio is a crossroads for truck traffic, and the American Trucking Associations sent an alert to drivers this week to report anything out of the ordinary to a toll-free number that links them with law enforcement.

Truck driver Lance Weaver said he has started watching fences along the highway for any movement as he hauls steel, lumber, military equipment and other cargo around the Midwest.

"You're looking, when normally, you wouldn't even think about it," said Weaver, 25.

A truck driver was credited along with another man with tipping police to the location of suspects in the Washington-area sniper shootings.

"We have about 30,000 members who can act as eyes and ears on the road," trucking association spokesman John Willard said.

The Columbus shootings took place near an interchange of two highways that see 77,000 vehicles a day on average.

"Ohio's one of the top states in terms of all traffic, not just truck traffic," said Dave Bartosic, spokesman for the Ohio Trucking Association. "You have to go through here to go just about anywhere."

Trucks carrying hazardous materials use I-270, which rings the city, because they are prohibited from bringing their loads through downtown Columbus.

"Guys are nervous," said Weaver, who has been driving professionally for about six years. "Most are thinking, 'Anything like that couldn't happen to me.' But it's in the back of your mind, where's he at right now? If someone's on the rampage, he could be anywhere."

Authorities investigating the highway shootings say they're relying heavily on tips from the public ---- they have received more than 885 since the shootings. The alert to truckers has helped, Martin said.

"That is a very viable source, and we're glad that they did that," he said.

Secret Service makes arrests in Home Depot, Lowe's scam

ATLANTA -- Secret Service agents arrested three people Thursday on charges of defrauding Home Depot and Lowe's stores across the South out of $150,000 in rugs and other merchandise by switching the bar codes on products.

David Oliver, 34, of Hampton, Ga., his wife, Mindy Oliver, 38, and Marcus Abercrombie, 33, of Duluth, Ga., allegedly took bar codes from cheaper items and affixed them to expensive rugs at Home Depot and Lowe's stores in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.

They would then go through the checkout lines and leave with rugs worth hundreds of dollars for $29 each, authorities said.

Investigators said the three would later return the rugs at other Home Depot and Lowe's stores for a refund. In Home Depot's case, when people return items without a receipt, the store routinely gives store credit instead of a cash refund. The store credit is in the form of a gift card.

The thieves would take the gift cards and sell them on eBay or through a pawn shop run by Abercrombie, the agents said. They would also buy items with the gift cards, including refrigerators, faucets and other household goods, and sell those on eBay.

The three were charged with conspiracy as well as possession and trafficking of the gift cards.

Authorities are investigating at least a half-dozen other people in the scheme.

David Oliver has convictions for burglary, forgery, credit card and bank fraud. His wife has been convicted of shoplifting and claiming fraudulent refunds. Both are unemployed.

In June, Home Depot learned of the scheme when an employee noticed numerous rugs were being bought for $29 each when they looked more expensive, authorities said. In August, the crimes were reported to the Secret Service, which specializes in electronic crimes.

Atlanta-based Home Depot is the nation's largest home improvement store chain. Wilkesboro, N.C.-based Lowe's, with about half as many stores, is the nation's second-largest.

"The Home Depot realizes the significant impact this kind of crime has on business in general," the company said in a statement. "We have put into place the necessary resources, both people and technology, to combat incidents like the one that just occurred."

A spokesman for Home Depot would not elaborate on those changes, saying the details would only help thieves.

Defense in Janklow trial calls Tom Daschle to stand

FLANDREAU, S.D. ---- Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle joined another pillar of South Dakota politics in the courtroom Thursday as he testified at the manslaughter trial of Rep. Bill Janklow.

The defense called Daschle to bolster its contention that Janklow, a diabetic, had not eaten the day he collided with a motorcyclist. The defense contends a diabetic reaction caused Janklow to miss a stop sign before the deadly Aug. 16 crash.

Daschle said he was on stage with Janklow for about an hour at a Korean War veterans event the day of the crash.

"I didn't see him eat" or drink anything, Daschle said in his testimony, which lasted less than five minutes.

The senator added that he and Janklow ---- the state's lone representative in the House ---- are friends. "I think he's a very truthful person," Daschle said of the Republican.

Janklow, 64, is charged with second-degree manslaughter, running a stop sign, reckless driving and speeding in the crash that killed Randy Scott, 55, of Hardwick, Minn.

Janklow faces a maximum 10 years in prison if convicted of the manslaughter charge. A guilty verdict would also prompt the House ethics committee to investigate.

Janklow's chief of staff, Chris Braendlin, testified Wednesday that Janklow hadn't had anything to eat all day.

An emergency medical technician said Janklow didn't appear to be suffering from low blood sugar after the accident, but he said Janklow did accept a Coke and some candy at the scene ---- two items that diabetics do not usually take unless they are low on sugar.

On Thursday, an accident reconstruction expert testified that Janklow was going 63 mph or 64 mph at the time of the crash ---- less than the Highway Patrol's estimate of 71 mph.

Engineer Robert O'Shea said he used evidence from the state and information taken from an electronic sensing device in the car ---- data that state troopers were not able to download.

O'Shea also said the motorcyclist could have been traveling 65 mph ---- faster than the 59 mph estimated by the Highway Patrol.

The speed limit on the rural road is 55 mph. Janklow had a stop sign; Scott did not.

Janklow, a former state attorney general and four-term governor, was elected to the House last year.

Judge considers whether to allow Hinckley to make unsupervised trips

WASHINGTON ---- Lawyers for the man who shot President Reagan said Thursday that psychiatrists support letting an unsupervised John Hinckley Jr. leave a mental hospital for visits with his parents. Government attorneys insisted the would-be assassin was still dangerous and trying to deceive his doctors.

Both sides completed their arguments on the fifth day of a hearing on Hinckley's request for permission to leave St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington for the visits. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman declined to say when he would issue a ruling.

Hinckley, 48, has been at the hospital since he was acquitted in 1982 by reason of insanity in the shootings of Reagan, presidential press secretary James Brady, and two law enforcement officers. Reagan was nearly killed and Brady was permanently disabled. Hinckley said he shot Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster.

In closing arguments attended by Hinckley, his lawyer said Hinckley's mental illness was in remission and that he would pose no threat on such visits.

Attorney Barry Levine said that all of the mental health professionals who testified, even those representing the government, supported unsupervised visits. They only disagreed on the conditions of the trips, and Levine has said he would support all of them.

"The government has offered no evidence that contradicts the unanimous opinion in this case," Levine said.

In addition, Levine said, Hinckley is sure to be watched by the Secret Service, which has shadowed him when he leaves the hospital grounds on supervised trips to the theater, shopping mall and bowling alley.

"The fact that the Secret Service may be there ought to supply the court with a greater level of comfort," Levine said. "They've been there 100 percent of the time."

Government lawyer Robert Chapman maintained that Hinckley remained a threat and was hiding his true mental conditions from his psychiatrists. They noted that he had stopped reading and writing, two activities that helped professionals determine his mental health.

"The hospital cannot get enough information to fairly evaluate all the information because Mr. Hinckley has shut down, has closed the blinds," Chapman said.

Chapman said there is no guarantee the Secret Service will continue to watch Hinckley. The law enforcement agency "cannot provide a private security detail for Mr. Hinckley," Chapman said.

Reagan's family and Brady's wife, Sarah Brady, have publicly opposed the request. Sarah Brady sent a letter to the judge. Reagan's children, Patti Davis and Ron Reagan Jr., made their opposition known in the media.

Limbaugh's prescriptions target of search

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ---- Investigators who raided the offices of Rush Limbaugh's doctors said in search warrants filed Thursday that the conservative radio commentator engaged in illegal drug use and "doctor shopping" for prescription painkillers.

The warrants ---- which name four doctors and several prescription drugs ---- show investigators were looking for records including prescription disbursements, appointment schedules, receipts and a medical questionnaire when they raided the offices Nov. 25.

"Mr. Limbaugh's actions violate the letter, and spirit" of the law that relates to doctor shopping, stated one of warrants, signed by Asim Brown, a law enforcement agent assigned to the state attorney's office anti-money laundering task force. Doctor shopping refers to looking for a doctor willing to prescribe drugs illegally.

Limbaugh denied any wrongdoing to listeners on his radio show earlier Thursday and accused prosecutors in Palm Beach County of going on a "fishing expedition."

Reading from a statement prepared by his attorney Roy Black, Limbaugh denied any wrongdoing and said the medical records will clear him.

"What these records show is that Mr. Limbaugh suffered extreme pain and had legitimate reasons for taking pain medication," Limbaugh said. "Unfortunately, because of Mr. Limbaugh's prominence and well-known political opinions, he is being subjected to an invasion of privacy no citizen of this republic should endure."

State Attorney Barry Krischer said in a statement that Limbaugh's rights have been "scrupulously protected."

"Whether Mr. Limbaugh is subject to prosecution for any crimes is still under investigation. Mr. Limbaugh is presumed innocent," Krischer said.

The search warrants were filed at Palm Beach County Circuit Court. One was executed at Palm Beach Ear, Nose and Throat Association in Palm Beach Gardens, where investigators seized five months of records from a Palm Beach pharmacy that they say support the doctor-shopping allegations.

Two warrants were executed at the offices of Jupiter Outpatient Surgery Center. Information on the fourth warrant wasn't immediately available.

The records seized include prescriptions for Norco, Niacin, OxyContin, Xanax, Lorcet and other medications. The physicians named in the warrants are Dr. Nathaniel Drourr, Dr. Antonio De La Cruz, Dr. Lawrence Deziel and Dr. John Murray.

Drourr and officials at both centers declined comment, citing privacy laws. Murray did not return a phone call seeking comment, and the other doctors could not be immediately reached.

Limbaugh was absent from his show for five weeks recently while spending time at a drug rehabilitation program because of his addiction to prescription painkillers.

Previously, law enforcement sources in Palm Beach County, where Limbaugh owns a $24 million oceanfront mansion, confirmed that a criminal investigation into a prescription drug ring involved Limbaugh. His former maid, Wilma Cline, reported supplying him with OxyContin and other painkillers.

Last month, a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity said authorities also were investigating whether Limbaugh illegally funneled money to buy prescription painkillers. The radio host responded with a blanket denial of the allegations during his third day back on the air.

Another Mexican state investigating possible sex charges against Trevi's manager

TAMPICO, Mexico ---- The top prosecutor in a state south of Mexico City says he is investigating possible sex crimes involving pop star Gloria Trevi's former manager, who is on trial in northern Mexico.

Morelos state Attorney General Guillermo Tenorio Avila said in an interview late Wednesday that his agency was looking into allegations there against Sergio Andrade, who is accused of raping and corrupting a minor.

Andrade masterminded the career of several young singers, including Trevi, who was one of Mexico's top pop stars of the 1990s.

Tenorio, who was in this northern city to attend a conference, said that investigations in Cuernavaca led to a house "where it seems that crimes of rape and abortion of the youths involved in the cases were committed."

He said he was following the course of the case against Andrade and Trevi in the northern border state of Chihuahua to determine if action should be taken in his state.

Andrade, 48, arrived in Mexico last week after a three-year fight to avoid extradition from Brazil, where he was arrested along with Trevi in 2000.

In a courtroom appearance in Chihuahua on Wednesday, Andrade acknowledged having sex with Karina Yapor, who was 15 in 1998 when she abandoned a baby in Spain while part of Andrade's entourage, prompting the legal investigations. Andrade was father of the child.

Before extradition, Andrade told Mexican television in an interview that Yapor was 13 when they first had sex. Yapor's parents say they allowed the girl to join Andrade for musical training after encouragement from Trevi.

"I offered to marry her ... when we talked about having sex for the first time," Andrade told the court on Wednesday.

Asked by prosecutors if, as Yapor claims, he beat and forced her into having sex, Andrade said "absolutely not."

Similar accusations have been leveled against Andrade by other young women, notably his former wife Aline Hernandez, who wrote a 1998 book alleging that Andrade had sex with her and with other teenage girls before they were married when she was 15.

Lawyers for Andrade have said that while he may have committed some crimes, none occurred in northern Chihuahua state, where he is being tried, and that the charges should thus be dismissed.

Trevi, accused of helping lure girls to Andrade, has told local media that he "is no longer that person" she used to love. Trevi, 35, gave birth behind bars in Brazil. DNA tests revealed the baby was Andrade's.

British actor David Hemmings dies on set of new movie

LONDON ---- David Hemmings, the British actor who became one of the screen icons of the swinging '60s with roles in films such as "Blow Up," died of a heart attack on a Romanian movie set. He was 62.

Hemmings collapsed Wednesday shortly after shooting scenes for the movie "Samantha's Child," said agent Liz Nelson.

"He had just finished his final shots of the day and was going back to his dressing room," Nelson said Thursday.

Hemmings was enjoying a renaissance in his acting career after a couple of decades behind the camera directing and producing TV shows such as the "A-Team," and "Airwolf." An appearance in Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning "Gladiator" in 2000 led to a flood of offers, including the critically acclaimed "Last Orders" with Michael Caine in 2001 and most recently "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" with Sean Connery in 2003.

But it was roles in films including Roger Vadim's science-fiction romp "Barbarella" in the 1960s that defined him for a generation.

"He was very charismatic, beautiful smile, beautiful eyes, rather small and he had just an enormous impact in the '60s," film director Michael Winner told British Broadcasting Corp. television Thursday. "He was wonderful company, David. Very witty, very charming, very light, bright."

Born Nov. 18, 1941 in Guildford, England, Hemmings was a notable boy soprano and was featured in English Opera Group performances of the works of Benjamin Britten.

He then studied painting at the Epsom School of Art where he staged his first exhibition at 15 before returning to singing in his early 20s with nightclub appearances before moving onto the stage and gradually into films.

His early British movie roles usually saw him cast as misunderstood or belligerent youths. His international breakthrough came when he auditioned for role of the fashion photographer in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film "Blow Up."

The film, in which Hemmings' character reportedly believes he may have witnessed a murder, won the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Golden Palm award in 1967. Scenes in which Hemmings photographed a model, played by Vanessa Redgrave, have often been ranked among the sexiest moments captured on film.

Hemmings' boyish good looks were also put to use in the 1967 musical "Camelot," "Charge of the Light Brigade" in 1968, and "Alfred the Great," in 1969.

With 1972's "Running Scared," Hemmings began a new career as a director of several movie and TV productions in England, Australia and Canada.

With fellow producer John Daly, Hemmings formed the production company Hemdale in the early 1970s. Hemdale was responsible for many notable films, including John Schlesinger's "The Falcon and the Snowman," Gillian Armstrong's "High Tide" and Denzel Washington's film debut "Carbon Copy."

Hemmings then worked on some of the biggest TV hits of the 1980s including "Magnum PI," "The A Team," "Airwolf" and "Quantum Leap."

"People thought I was dead. But I wasn't. I was just directing The A-Team," he once remarked.

Hemmings returned to acting in the role of Cassius, in "Gladiator."

"People saw me in 'Gladiator' and said, 'He's still alive. Good Lord!' All of a sudden I've done eight pictures in the last 16 months," Hemmings said last year. "I probably won't do another until I'm 70. If I live that long."

He appeared in "Gangs of New York," "Spy Game" and "Last Orders," which also starred Hemmings' son Nolan. The father and son played the same character at different ages.

Hemmings is survived by his fourth wife, Lucy Williams, and their two children. Nolan is the only child from his second marriage, to American actress Gayle Hunnicutt. Hemmings also has a daughter from his first marriage, to Genista Ouvry, and two sons from his third marriage, to Prudence de Casembroot.

Funeral plans were not immediately announced.

8-year-old ordered to sex offender program

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. ---- An 8-year-old boy accused of fondling four female classmates will be the youngest participant in Wayne County's sex offender rehabilitation program, prosecutors said.

The boy, who was not identified because of his age, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and no contest to a felony assault charge. He was sentenced Wednesday.

If he completes the program, the felony charge will be dropped. The boy will receive individual counseling because the group sessions for teenagers are not age-appropriate, prosecutors said. The judge also sentenced him to two years probation.

Authorities said the boy fondled a 7-year-old girl and touched three other 7-year-old girls inappropriately outside their clothing while the children watched "Mary Poppins" at a Mount Clemens school in May.

Defense attorney Richard Marcil said he was satisfied with the outcome of the case.

Starbucks conquers last state

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. -- Starbucks plans to open its first full-fledged coffeehouse in West Virginia, the last state reached by the virtually ubiquitous chain.

The giant coffee chain, with more than 7,200 outlets in 30 countries, will open the store Friday this suburb of Huntington.

South Dakota and West Virginia were the last states without regular Starbucks stores before the company opened a shop in Sioux Falls, S.D., several months ago.

Starbucks said it has been trying to establish a full-fledged store in West Virginia for years.

"We can't look at all the different locations and be everywhere we want to be as fast as we want to," company spokeswoman Shannon Jones said.

West Virginia already has two Starbucks stands, but the new store will have seating and a full menu.

State wants part of Wellstone insurance settlement

ULUTH, Minn. ---- The state of Minnesota has asked a court to grant it part of a $25 million insurance settlement paid to heirs of people who died in a plane crash with Sen. Paul Wellstone last year.

The state says it is owed at least $1 million to repay workers' compensation benefits given to the families of four campaign workers. The state paid the money because the Wellstone campaign had no workers' compensation insurance.

Heirs of the other four victims of the Oct. 25, 2002, crash near Eveleth were not eligible for benefits. The senator and his wife, Sheila, were not campaign committee employees, and the pilots were covered through their charter aviation company.

"We are not looking to make a penny here. We are trying to make the state whole. It's taxpayers' money," said state Labor and Industry Commissioner Scott Brener.

Judge James Florey, who sealed court records in the case in November, said he expects to rule in the next few months.

The campaign committee agreed in January to turn over an estimated $400,000 and paid a fine of nearly $3,400 for not carrying the workers' compensation insurance.



Odds and ends

NEW YORK ---- Potty parity. Squatters rights.

Go ahead, make fun of the fact that several City Council members introduced a bill Wednesday to have more restrooms set aside for women than men in most buildings. To women ---- and one male law professor ---- it's a matter of gender equity.

"Women need more restroom facilities simply because women take longer," John F. Banzhaf III, a public interest law professor at George Washington University Law Schools, said Wednesday.

Banzhaf, who has filed several court complaints, wrote recently that these legal cases show that women are standing up for their rights "even if they can't stand up while exercising those rights."

"We would never tolerate a system where women would routinely have to wait five times longer than men to have their blood tested, even if men's and women's blood were tested for different things," Banzhaf argues. "And we shouldn't tolerate a system where women routinely are forced to wait five or more times longer than men to perform a basic and necessary personal function."

So why might women take longer in the bathroom? Because they often have small children to tend to, they wear more clothes, and, as Councilwoman Yvette Clarke put it, there's that anatomical difference.

"We don't have the same type of equipment that men have," Clarke said.

MIRAMAR, Fla. ---- Mrs. Jolly thinks her son's teacher is a Grinch.

Sandra Jolly said her 6-year-old son's Christmas was spoiled when his teacher told the first-grade class Monday that "Santa Claus is make-believe."

"He had this sad, lost puppy dog look on his face. This unhappy, empty look," Jolly said. "He said his teacher informed the entire class that Santa is make-believe."

D.J.'s teacher, Geneta Codner, was reading a story about the Tooth Fairy when the class started discussing what was real and what was not, said district spokesman Joe Donzelli.

When the subject of Santa came up, the teacher started questioning parts of his story ---- How could a fat jolly man fit down a chimney? How could reindeer fly around the world in one night? ---- and told the children that wasn't possible.

"It's all been blown out of proportion," Codner said. "I'm sorry (parents) think I meant it that way. We were just having a discussion. I don't know where all this hurt came from."

The teacher said none of the children acted upset or sad during class.

But Jolly and others disagree.

"How do you destroy a 6-year-old like that?" said Pam Sturt, whose son Bradley is in D.J.'s class.

Donzelli said the school's principal "had a real stern conversation" with the teacher. But there will be no written reprimand because she did not violate any school district policy.

"We have no Santa clause," Donzelli said. "We would think that teachers would use better judgment."

GOLDSBORO, N.C. ---- The Wayne County sheriff says his deputies had a hard time finding what they were looking for in the aisles filled with holiday shoppers at Wal-Mart.

Not gifts ---- jurors.

Judge Ripley Eagles Rand ordered deputies Wednesday to go to the department store after he failed to find enough possible jurors for a murder trial set to begin Monday. About half of the 150 jurors summoned for the case were excused or had their duty deferred, a court clerk said.

But Sheriff Carey Winders says the search forced his officers into confrontations with people shopping for Christmas gifts.

Some shoppers were upset by questioning Wednesday, a day before Thanksgiving, he said. Some were rude, but the deputies were instructed to be cordial and apologetic.

"They were raising Cain with my officers and don't understand why they have to" serve, Winders said.

The officers found 50 possible jurors Wednesday.

Names in the news

NEW YORK ---- Barry Manilow grew up Jewish in Brooklyn, but he's had a longtime love of Christmas music. He's recorded two albums of holiday songs, which he'll perform from Friday night on A&E's "Live by Request."

"It's holiday music, really. It's not religious music," Manilow told The Associated Press. "What I love about the holidays is families getting together, people giving to each other, stopping, smiling, hollering at each other."

But Manilow said the show, airing live from 8-10 p.m. EST, will mark the first time he and his band will perform these songs live.

"We're gonna cross our fingers," the 57-year-old said Wednesday, laughing. "I'm going to rehearse right now. We're rehearsing 40 songs. We'll be ready for anything they throw at us."

And if someone calls in or sends an e-mail wanting to hear "Mandy" or "Weekend in New England" or another of Manilow's hits?

"It's a Christmas special, so maybe they won't put that call through," he joked, though he acknowledged that he might give in if there's a clamor for his old favorites.

The singer also will make a cameo Dec. 11 on NBC's "Will & Grace," which he called "the funniest show on television." In the episode, ultimate Manilow fan Will (Eric McCormack) waits in line for tickets to his concert.

"I said yes immediately," Manilow said. "I said, 'Tell me what to do.' "

BATON ROUGE, La. ---- The judge who accepted rapper Mystikal's guilty plea to sexual battery shouldn't be allowed to sentence him because he has seen an "inflammatory" videotape of the assault, his lawyer says.

The rapper, whose real name is Michael Tyler, had been scheduled for sentencing Wednesday, but it was put off until Jan. 15 after a hearing on attorney David Bourland's complaint.

Judge Tony Marabella refused to step down, saying Bourland's request is groundless.

Tyler, 33, and two bodyguards pleaded guilty in June to sexual battery, which has a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

They'd videotaped themselves in forced sex acts with Tyler's hairstylist. The woman said Tyler accused her of stealing $80,000 worth of his checks and told her he wouldn't go to police if she did something "degrading," according to prosecutor Sue Bernie. The woman has denied stealing money.

Bourland said he and the bodyguards' attorneys would argue to withdraw the guilty pleas next month.

"My client would not have entered a plea if he knew the tape was going to be shown, because it's inflammatory," he said. "The tape doesn't reflect the entirety of the events."

DALLAS ---- The Dallas Symphony Orchestra's music director says he'll leave the organization when his contract expires in 2006, but will remain music director emeritus and conduct occasional concerts.

Andrew Litton, who's been director since 1994, said Wednesday he wants to spend more time developing television shows about music for children as well as conducting opera.

Earlier this year, the 44-year-old took on additional jobs as principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway and artistic director of the Minnesota Orchestra's festival, Sommerfest.

"Twelve years is a long time," Litton told The Dallas Morning News in Thursday's editions, "and I feel like we're at a place now where I'm leaving when everybody's feeling good. I didn't want to leave when people would say, 'Thank goodness he's leaving."'

Litton has hired almost one-third of the Dallas orchestra's musicians and led them on three European tours and in four concerts at Carnegie Hall. The director and the DSO also collaborated on 23 music CDs, including symphonies by Gustav Mahler and Dmitri Shostakovich. Litton has led the DSO in annual summer residencies at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

Fred Bronstein, who took over as president of the Dallas Symphony Association last year, said the DSO will form a search committee in early 2004. Guest conductors for the next two or three seasons will be chosen with an eye to possible successors to Litton, with a new music director ideally in place by fall 2006.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Terri Clark, Ronnie Dunn, Del McCoury and Joe Nichols are among the guests scheduled to pay tribute Dec. 13 to country music duo the Louvin Brothers at the Grand Ole Opry.

Dierks Bentley, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Rhonda Vincent and Jon Randall also will appear, along with surviving member Charlie Louvin.

Charlie and Ira Louvin scored several country hits in the 1950s including, "When I Stop Dreaming," "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby," and "Hoping That You're Hoping."

The duo broke up in 1963, and Ira Louvin died in a car crash two years later.

The brothers were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 and the Country Music Hall of Fame last year.

A tribute album "Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers" was released this year and includes covers of their songs by country, pop and rock performers.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- Naomi Watts is the prime candidate to play King Kong's female friend in Peter Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic movie, New Zealand media reported Wednesday.

"It's looking OK" for Watts to sign a contract to play Ann Darrow, Fay Wray's role in the original film, Jackson told Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper.

Jackson met Watts in London in October to show her some designs for the remake of the movie, to be shot against a stylized period backdrop of New York City, the newspaper said.

"She got really excited and it was great. Naomi's the only person that we've really approached because she's becoming so eagerly sought after by everybody," the director said.

Watts' films include "Mulholland Drive," "The Ring" and the new movie "21 Grams."

Shooting on "King Kong" is planned to start next August, mainly in his Wellington studios, Jackson said. The director's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the final film in the trilogy, will open in U.S. theaters on Dec. 17.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Nearly a million Swedes ---- or one in nine ---- watched the premiere of Ingmar Bergman's made-for-television movie "Saraband," Swedish network SVT said Wednesday.

Bergman, 85, has said the family drama based on the two main characters from his previous TV series, "Scenes From a Marriage," was his last filmed work.

He initially retired from filmmaking after "Fanny and Alexander," which won an Oscar in 1984, preferring to work on stage productions and occasional TV shows.

"Saraband," starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson ---- two of Bergman's favorite actors ---- aired Monday. They reprised their roles from "Scenes From a Marriage," which was edited and released as a feature film in 1974.

The public network said 995,000 viewers tuned in to see the nearly two-hour show, which it hailed as an exceptional figure.

SVT spokesman Jan-Erik Westman said "Saraband" would also air on German, Italian, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and Austrian TV networks that acted as co-producers on the project. It also will be sold to other countries, he said.

Bergman, whose 60-some films include "The Seventh Seal," spends most of his time in his island home on Faaroe, 100 miles southwest of the capital, Stockholm.

BOMBAY, India ---- Richard Gere visited brothel workers in Bombay as part of his campaign to slow the spread of HIV-AIDS in India.

Gere, who's been a vocal campaigner against HIV-AIDS in the region for several years, is preparing an AIDS awareness campaign called "The Heroes Project" with celebrities he believes can carry the message of prevention and care to the average Indian.

"Obviously there is a huge problem, but there is light at the end of the tunnel when you see so many dedicated (aid) workers," the 54-year-old actor said Tuesday. He also funds various causes in this South Asian country through his charity, the Gere Foundation India Trust.

At least 4 million Indians are infected with HIV-AIDS, according to government statistics that don't count child victims. Aid workers estimate at least 50 percent of some 10,000 sex workers who work in Kamathipura area in downtown Bombay are HIV-positive.

A U.S. government report last year predicted the number of Indians with AIDS, including children and adults, could jump to 20 million or higher by 2010 -- a projection the Indian government rejects.

"I have so many friends who are (HIV) positive. ... There's no way you should leave sick people to die," Gere told The Associated Press. "You've got to do everything you can to take care of sick people and also spend all your energy on prevention."

NEW YORK -- Ray Romano, the Emmy-winning star of CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond," is writing a children's book.

"Raymie, Dickie, and the Bean: Why I Love and Hate My Brothers" is described by the publisher as "the funny and true story of why brothers can be gross, disgusting and downright mean ---- but still love each other."

Romano is writing it with his brothers Richard and Robert, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers announced Tuesday.

"When my brothers and I weren't fighting with each other, we had a lot of fun growing up," the 45-year-old comedian-actor said in a statement.

"Now it's great as adults to collaborate with them on this book and fight with each other once again."

Richard is a retired New York police sergeant and Robert is a New York City schoolteacher. The book is expected to be published next fall.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- South Korean-born Unsuk Chin has won the 2004 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for her violin concerto.

Chin, 42, a native of Seoul, has gained a reputation for electronic music. She lives in Berlin with her husband, Finnish pianist Maris Gothoni, and almost 3-year-old son, Liyun Celestin.

The concerto, written in 2001 for soloist Viviane Hagner and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, is an acoustical work that acknowledges Chin's ethnic heritage while remaining centered in Western musical tradition.

The four-movement score was awarded the $200,000 Grawemeyer prize from 153 submissions. The annual awards were established by philanthropist H. Charles Grawemeyer.

"It was not easy to compose a piece for violin because I'm a pianist," Chin told The Courier-Journal of Louisville in an interview from her home in Berlin.

The concerto will receive its British premiere in February with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. A subsequent performance in Berkeley, Calif., is tentatively planned.

Chin also has a commission to write a work, based on Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," for the Los Angeles Opera.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Country music fans once again voted Alan Jackson their favorite entertainer in Country Weekly magazine's 2003 Fan Favorite Awards.

Jackson, 45, who won the title last year, also took the favorite male artist award and favorite collaborative song for "It's Five O'clock Somewhere" with Jimmy Buffett.

More than 65,000 fans cast votes this year, the magazine said. Fans voted through mail-in ballots and online at countryweekly.com.

Toby Keith won the favorite album award for "Unleashed" and favorite video for "Beer for My Horses" with Willie Nelson, the magazine also announced Wednesday.

Martina McBride was voted favorite female artist; Alabama, favorite group; and Brooks & Dunn, favorite duo.

Darryl Worley clinched favorite song with "Have You Forgotten?" while keith urban was named favorite new artist.

Country Weekly editors honored Dolly Parton with the career achievement award, which they said is given to veteran performers "whose songs and performances have made a lasting contribution to the tradition and heritage of country music."