The bell arrived shortly after 11 a.m. at the Liberty Bell Center, a new facility constructed as part of a sweeping $314 million transformation of Independence Mall. Workers then moved the fragile artifact into place.

The bell began its slow journey after a town crier dressed in colonial garb brought the event to order, clanging his bell and hollering, "Oyez, oyez, clear the way for liberty. Let freedom ring, let freedom ring."

The procession was interrupted every few minutes by vignettes in which actors impersonating historic figures delivered proclamations or reenacted historic moments.

An actor impersonating Jefferson espoused the values of self-government, and a Frederick Douglass impersonator assailed the institution of slavery. There were black Civil War soldiers, World War II sailors and a Benjamin Franklin impersonator, a common sight at Philadelphia historic celebrations.

A team of engineers walked alongside the 2,080-pound bell during the journey, monitoring with a hand-held electronic device the vibrations caused by the move and the size of the famous crack.

Phil Sheridan, spokesman for Independence National Historical Park, said the move from its previous display at the Liberty Bell Pavilion was necessary to provide space for displays and exhibits around the bell.

A couple of hundred people watched the move.

"This place is so special because it just has the evocation of everything this country stands for -- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," said Bobbie Shaffner, of Bala Cynwyd, a songwriter who attended with her husband.

The bell was delivered to Philadelphia in 1752 and hung in the Pennsylvania State House, later Independence Hall, starting in 1753 before being moved to the Liberty Bell Pavilion for the bicentennial in 1976.

The pavilion and the new center are only 300 feet apart. The longer procession was designed to travel across the flattest terrain possible and generate public attention.

At a dry run of the procession two weeks ago, a forklift carrying a deadweight equivalent to the bell rolled over a drain cover and broke it, said Karie Diethorn, chief curator of the park. The forklift was abandoned, and planners tinkered with some of the details.

The move came three months after a mishap at the National Constitution Center, where a dedication ceremony was marred when a 650-pound frame fell over, slightly injuring five people and narrowly missing the guest of honor, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Two men arrested in N.J. in kidnapping of senator's wife

CARTERET, N.J. -- Two men suspected of kidnapping a senator's wife in Virginia and forcing her to withdraw money at knifepoint were captured in New Jersey after they stumbled into an undercover drug-surveillance operation.

Police in Carteret spotted the suspects' stolen car in a known drug trafficking area late Wednesday after Virginia police put out an alert for the vehicle, Carteret Police Chief John Pieczyski said.

"Obviously, the Virginia plate stood out, and they saw these guys leave their vehicle and walk around and around and around, acting suspiciously," Pieczyski said.

Kathleen Gregg, wife of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., managed to escape unharmed after her ordeal Tuesday, and police said there was no indication the kidnappers knew she was a senator's wife. Some of her jewelry was found in the suspects' car, authorities said Thursday.

An unmarked police car approached the stolen car late Wednesday, prompting one suspect to run off and the other to veer the car toward officers before speeding away, the chief said. The car smashed into a fence a short distance away and the driver suffered a broken leg.

Fairfax, Va., police identified the suspects as Michael Pierre, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md., and Christopher Forbes, 31, of no fixed address. Forbes was hospitalized in good condition; Pierre was jailed.

Both were charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, possession of stolen property and other counts, and authorities said they will be charged in Virginia with abduction, robbery and burglary.

Mrs. Gregg said two men entered her McLean, Va., home Tuesday, threatened her with a knife and tied her up face down on the floor. The intruders went through the house, rifling through jewelry. They took her engagement ring, golf clubs and $50 from her wallet.

"One man was sitting on me and I kept thinking, `I need to get out of this house,' and I said, `The only way I can get you money is if we go to the bank,"' she told WMUR-TV of Manchester, N.H., on Wednesday.

After lying tied up on the floor for more than an hour, she persuaded the men to untie her and take her to the bank. Inside the bank, she asked for money from a teller, and gave it the men, then bolted and hid in a closet.

"Her decision was perfect in terms of going along until she could safely get herself free," Fairfax Police Chief Tom Manger said.

Man sentenced to death for killing Indian immigrant after Sept. 11

MESA, Ariz. -- A man was sentenced to death Thursday for killing an Indian immigrant during a shooting rampage four days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Frank Silva Roque was convicted of murder last week in the death of gas station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi.

Prosecutors said Roque targeted Sodhi because he thought he was an Arab. Sodhi wore a turban and beard as part of his Sikh faith.

After Sodhi's shooting, Roque shot at another gas station where the clerk was a man of Lebanese descent, and shot at the home of an Afghan family, authorities said. They were not injured.

Defense attorneys argued that Roque suffered from a mental illness and that the terrorist attacks triggered an episode of insanity.

Small quake shakes desert park in San Diego County

BORREGO SPRINGS -- A small earthquake shook Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in eastern San Diego County early Thursday, and there were no reports of injuries or property damage.

The magnitude-3.1 quake struck at 12:34 a.m. and was centered 11 miles north of Borrego Springs, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The town is located near Riverside County about 55 miles east of San Diego.

The temblor was followed by another small quake over the U.S.-Mexico border, about 35 miles south of Calexico. That magnitude-3.0 quake came at 2:29 a.m. and was in the same location as a magnitude-4.3 quake that jolted Baja California residents early Wednesday morning.

Sheriff's dispatchers in Riverside and San Diego counties said they had received no reports of injuries or damage.

Black clergy leaders outraged at 'Ghettopoly'

PHILADELPHIA -- Cheap Trick Avenue instead of Boardwalk? Hernando's Chop Shop instead of Reading Railroad?

Black leaders are outraged over a new board game called "Ghettopoly" that has "playas" acting like pimps and game cards reading, "You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50."

Black clergymen say the game, the brainchild of a Pennsylvania man, should be banned, and have called for a boycott of Urban Outfitters unless the company stops selling Ghettopoly in its chain of clothing stores.

Urban Outfitters has not publicly commented on the issue, and did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

"If we are silent on this issue there is more of this type to come," the Rev. Robert P. Shine Sr., president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity, said at a sidewalk rally Wednesday in front Urban Outfitters' corporate headquarters in Philadelphia.

Shine displayed the game board, with properties including Westside Liquor, Harlem, The Bronx, and Long Beach City, and squares labeled Smitty's XXX Peep Show, Weinstein's Gold and Platinum, and Tyron's Gun Shop.

Players draw "Hustle" and "Ghetto Stash" cards with directions like, "You're a little short on loot, so you decided to stick up a bank. Collect $75," and "Steal $$$ if you pass Let$ Roll."

The creator of Ghettopoly, David Chang, did not immediately answer e-mails or phone calls seeking comment about the game.

On his Web site, Chang is unapologetic, and promises that more games - Hoodopoly, Hiphopopoly, Thugopoly and Redneckopoly - are coming soon.

"It draws on stereotypes not as a means to degrade, but as a medium to bring together in laughter," Chang maintains, adding, "If we can't laugh at ourselves … we'll continue to live in blame and bitterness."

But the Ghettopoly board depicts figures labeled "Malcum X" and "Martin Luthor King Jr." - intentionally misspelled - noted Rev. Glenn Wilson, pastor of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.

"This is beyond making fun, to use the caricature of Dr. King in this regard," Wilson said. "There's no way that game could be taken in any way other than that this man had racist intent in marketing it."

The Philadelphia black clergy and Men United for a Better Philadelphia were just the latest to protest the game. In Chicago, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church, called for a boycott of Urban Outfitters. In Florida, the St. Petersburg and Hillsborough County chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People urged the company to stop carrying the game.

"I was outraged. We called Outfitters, we wrote them a letter, we held a press conference, but we've had no response," Pfleger said Wednesday.

New London art gallery keeps ex-public toilet from going down the drain

LONDON -- The sinks were mounted high on the walls and turned into light fixtures, a toilet bowl was converted into a fountain and in the corner, a woman dressed as a soap dispenser was giving out fortune cookies.

Britain's newest art gallery opened Thursday in a converted Victorian-era public restroom. The Toilet Gallery, in Kingston in southwestern London, aims to be a showcase for nontraditional work by young artists.

"For most of the last century, this toilet provided a vital public service for many people in Kingston. We hope the unique setting for this new art space will keep a historic civic building in business well into the 21st century," said gallery founder Paul Stafford, director of Foundation Studies in Art and Design at Kingston University.

The Toilet Gallery was inaugurated by veteran performance artists Gilbert and George, who cut a strip of toilet paper instead of a ribbon.

Apparently, the gallery is not flush with funds. Stafford told The Associated Press converting the lavatory has so far cost only $20.75.

"So much was given to us for free, from the paint to the doors, and entry to the gallery is going to be free, too," Stafford said. "So, unlike the old days, a visit to the Toilet gallery won't cost you a penny."

Man walks along bottom of Loch Ness

LONDON -- Lloyd Scott has just spent 12 days at the bottom of Loch Ness, but he reported no sightings of the lake's legendary monster.

In what has been billed as the world's first underwater marathon, the British man walked 26 miles along the loch bottom wearing a 1940s diving suit, complete with a 40-pound metal helmet.

The experience -- despite frequent rest breaks -- was "very cold and very lonely," Scott, 41, said on finally emerging Thursday at Lochend, near Inverness.

"You don't know what's underfoot -- sometimes it's mud, silt, rocks or nothing. The air line also kept getting caught and I also had to deal with a buildup of carbon dioxide in the helmet," he said.

It was the first time that Scott, who is known for wearing the suit in land marathons, has used it for its proper purpose. "It's definitely been far more difficult doing it under water," he said.

Scott, from Rainham, east of London, began his journey on Sept. 28 at Fort Augustus on the opposite end of the loch.

A former firefighter and professional soccer player, he spent more than a month training for the marathon, which raised money for children with leukemia.

For decades, people have reported seeing a sea monster in the picturesque lake; the existence of such a creature has never been proven.

Man arrested after 'spiderman' ascent of China's tallest building

SHANGHAI, China -- A man was ordered jailed for 15 days after scaling, spiderman-style, the 88-story Jinmao Tower, China's tallest building, police said Thursday.

Television reports showed Wang Huan, a 27-year-old from northeastern Liaoning province, climbing the silvery 1,400-foot structure in Pudong, Shanghai's new financial district, as a crowd gathered to watch. He scaled the tower's scaffold-like exterior without ropes.

Footage showed him stopping to wave about halfway through the ascent, which took more than an hour, according to an officer at a nearby police station, who refused to give her name.

Wang, who was not the first to climb the building without ropes, staged the stunt Tuesday, but it was only reported the next day.

Police came prepared, laying out a cushion in case he fell. At the top of the building, officers were waiting to arrest him.

Wang was arrested for "infringing public security," police said.

91-year-old man pleads guilty to robbing Texas bank

LUBBOCK, Texas -- A 91-year-old man who walks with a cane and is hard of hearing pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing nearly $2,000 from a bank, his third such robbery in less than five years.

Leaning on his cane and wearing a headset to listen to the judge, J.L. Hunter "Red" Rountree initially responded "not guilty" when asked for his plea.

"I mean, 'Guilty,' " Rountree later said. "I'm sorry."

In August, Rountree handed a First American Bank teller in Abilene an envelope with "Robbery" written on it in red marker, prosecutors said. He gave her a second envelope, telling her to put money in it. Twice the teller asked if he was kidding. After the first time, Rountree said, "Hurry up or you will get hurt."

A bank employee and some customers got Rountree's license plate number as he left the parking lot. Authorities stopped him about 20 miles from Abilene.

His lawyer, Shery Kime-Goodwin, declined to comment.

Authorities say Rountree's crime spree began in 1998, a week before his 87th birthday. He was arrested in Biloxi, Miss., minutes after robbing a bank. He was given three years' probation, fined $260 and told to leave Mississippi.

Less than a year later, in October 1999, he was arrested outside a NationsBank in Pensacola, Fla., after giving a teller a note that said "ROBBERY" and telling her, "Give me the $100s." He was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to three years in prison, becoming the oldest inmate in the Florida prison system.

Rountree faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the Texas robbery. A sentencing date has not been set.

Iranian gets death eight times, 173 lashes

TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian court has sentenced a convicted child rapist to eight death sentences and 173 lashes, the judge in the case said Thursday.

Mohammad Ali Firouzi, 34, was sentenced under Islamic law this week to hang in each of the eight rape counts he confessed to, Judge Karam Ali Bahrami told The Associated Press.

The court ruled that Firouzi will be hanged in public, a rare occurrence in Iran. Convicts are hanged in public in Iran only if a court deems that their offenses injured public sentiments.

Firouzi was also found guilty of raping 15 other children, plus kidnapping and molesting 36 others.

The judge said he sentenced Firouzi to 10 years in jail for the molestation and robbery charges, plus 15 years imprisonment for kidnapping, but under Iranian law the execution would be carried out first.

Firouzi will also receive 173 lashes -- 74 for robbery and molestation and 99 for the 15 rape counts he did not confess to.

He has 20 days to appeal. The Supreme Court must decide whether to uphold the death sentences.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the eight rape counts during a trial that began Oct. 1 in the southern Iranian town of Marvdasht, where the crimes occurred.

Police said they received the first victim filed a complaint in early 2002.

One of the victim's mothers, who refused to be identified, told the AP in a telephone interview that most of the children were between the ages of five and nine.

Man accused of killing landlord over $10 late fee

WACO, Texas -- A man has been charged with murder for allegedly beating his landlord in the head with a board in a dispute over a $10 late fee.

Neal Young, 69, was beaten at an apartment complex about 15 miles north of Waco. He died Monday at a hospital, police said.

Johnny Loa, 40, has been jailed on an attempted murder charge since his arrest Oct. 1. He was charged with murder Wednesday. His bond was raised to $250,000 at his arraignment Thursday.

Former officer pleads guilty in shooting spree

TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- A retired police officer pleaded guilty to murder Thursday for a shooting spree in which he walked house to house, killing his granddaughter and three other people.

In a deal with authorities, John W. Mabie pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and dropped his defense claiming diminished capacity, Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Robert Gasser said.

In return, prosecutors will drop a weapons charge and recommend a 30-year term at sentencing next month, Gasser said.

Authorities said Mabie locked his wife in his basement on Feb. 21, 2002, and walked out of his home with a .38-caliber revolver.

Then 70, Mabie walked down the street to his mother-in-law's house, where he shot and killed 22-year-old Natalie Gingerelli, said to be his favorite granddaughter.

He left the house, walked to a nearby home and fatally shot Sue Keiran, 42.

Mabie then went to another home and shot Thomas Luyster, 27. The body of Luyster's fiancee, Suzanne Lavecchia, 27, was found on the lawn in front of the house. The couple had been planning a June 2002 wedding.

Acquaintances have said Mabie, who retired from the Newark police on disability in 1976, never got over a 1971 accident in which he struck and killed an 11-year-old boy in a go-cart.

Mabie's was the first of two deadly Toms River shooting sprees, both allegedly by lawmen. On April 9, 2002, Seaside Heights police Officer Edward Lutes Jr. fatally shot five neighbors before he wounded his boss and committed suicide in a stranger's driveway.

Odds and ends

DELAND, Fla. -- In a state known for close elections, the mayor's race in Ponce Inlet came down to the tightest of margins -- one vote.

A recount Wednesday broke a tie in the race, ending an election that started the day before.

Incumbent Mayor Bill Hoak won by a single vote, earning 465 votes to challenger Frank Vitale's 464.

"That's democracy, you know, at its best," said Vitale, whose political advisers have not yet ruled out a challenge.

Hoak, declared the winner by Elections Supervisor Deanie Lowe after a recount of all ballots, said he had hoped to win a third term by a wider margin.

"I guess I'll have to find out the reason why so many voters went the other way," Hoak said. "I've got to do my homework."

Ponce Inlet is about 30 miles south of Daytona Beach.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Former Drake kicker Billy Cundiff is now part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Well, his shoe is there, anyway.

Cundiff's shoe was sent to the Canton, Ohio, hall after he kicked seven field goals for the Dallas Cowboys in a 35-32 overtime victory over the New York Giants on Sept. 15.

The seven field goals tied the NFL record. His shoe will be added to an exhibit that features kickers who have booted seven field goals in a game.

"Right now this is probably one of the highest moments in my career," said Cundiff, who's from Harlan. "I'll enjoy it while I can."

The other National Football League kickers with seven field goals in a game are Chris Boniol of the Cowboys, Rich Karlis of the Minnesota Vikings and Jim Bakken of the St. Louis Cardinals.

SAN BERNARDINO -- Geores Buttner-Clevenger can't escape the fact that he turned 66 last year -- the road signs won't let him.

Buttner-Clevenger is jogging historic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in six months and six days as part of an extended birthday celebration.

He's been trying to cover six miles in the morning and six miles in the evening and was set to finish the 2,448-mile trek on Sunday -- at 6:06 p.m.

The retired radiation technician from Berkeley, now 67, says that along the way, he's been attacked by ticks and slowed by everything from arthritis to muggers. He had to dodge numerous cars and was robbed twice in Oklahoma.

"My adrenaline is keeping me going now," Buttner-Clevenger said, munching an avocado at a rest stop in San Bernardino.

MIAMI -- Police said they arrested a man who robbed two neighboring banks within 20 minutes, then stopped to rest his tired feet.

Daniel Gallagher, 46, was charged with two counts each of armed bank robbery and threats to discharge an explosive device.

Gallagher allegedly walked into two banks in downtown Miami and told tellers he had a bomb in his bag. In both cases, he then demanded and received $100. Police said the bag actually contained a can of beer.

Gallagher told police that after the second robbery his feet had become tired, so he sat down for a break. A witness soon identified him and he was arrested.

Police said Gallagher, who has an extensive arrest record, told authorities he committed the robberies because: "I'm too ugly to get a job."

A call to the Miami-Dade public defender's office rang unanswered after business hours and it could not be determined if Gallagher was being represented by an attorney.

Names in the news

HOUSTON -- After a highly publicized failed attempt last year, 'N Sync singer Lance Bass still hopes to go into space one day.

And if a group of Houston middle school students has any say, Bass will do it in "Lance's Lab" while eating chicken strips with salsa, wearing stylish pants and T-shirts and listening to and recording music to fight motion sickness.

On Wednesday, Bass visited Ortiz Middle School as part of World Space Week, which commemorates the Oct. 4, 1957, launch of Sputnik 1, the first human-made satellite, and the Oct. 10, 1967, signing of a treaty that governs exploration and peaceful uses of space.

"Just stick with math and science and dream big," Bass told nearly 40 students after hearing their proposal for "Lance's Lab," part of a national competition in conjunction with World Space Week, which takes place annually from Oct. 4-10. Bass was recruited to promote the importance of academics in preparation for space travel.

The 24-year-old also discussed the training he underwent while trying to secure a ride on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the international space station.

He would have been the youngest person ever in space, but had to cancel his plans to fly last October after failing to raise the estimated $20 million fare. A year ago, he trained at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"The training is very difficult, very physical," Bass said. "There is also a lot of psychological training."

One student asked whether Bass feared being abducted by aliens if he went to space.

"I'm not scared of any aliens," he responded as students burst into laughter. "If there are aliens, I think they'll be friendly."

NEW YORK -- Courteney Cox and her husband, David Arquette, are hoping to bring a new friend into their lives: a baby.

But it hasn't been easy. The actress says she gets pregnant easily but has had "many miscarriages." Similarly, her "Friends" character, Monica, has been trying to have a baby.

"I actually have done in vitro (fertilization)," Cox tells Barbara Walters in an interview airing on ABC's "20/20" at 10 p.m. EDT Friday.

"It's a wonderful thing that people can do in this day and age," the 39-year-old says of the procedure. "And I'm lucky enough to be able to afford to do it. But I think it's great. And I will do it again."

Cox and Arquette, who married in 1999, say they'd consider adopting a child, but she added, "I do want his genes, and I would try probably a surrogate before that … but then, absolutely, adoption."

She says Arquette, her co-star in the "Scream" movies, has been totally supportive during their efforts to have a child.

"He's really great. He goes to every appointment with me," she says. "And he gives me all my shots."

NEW YORK -- Is 21-year-old Britney Spears trying to attract a more mature audience with her upcoming album, "In the Zone"?

No, the pop singer says. "The record label wanted me to do certain kinds of songs, and I was like, `Look, if you want me to be some kind of sex thing, that's not me,"' she tells Esquire magazine in its November issue. "I will never do that. I'm still doing what I love to do."

Spears appears on the cover in a short white sweater and high heels, re-creating a famous pose by actress Angie Dickinson.

But she doesn't see herself as superfamous. "I'm famous, but I'm not famous like freaking Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston. But in my weird little head, I just think we're all here to inspire each other. We're all equal. We just bounce off each other and show the world what we can do."

Spears said if she didn't have a career in music, she "probably would have gone to college and become a schoolteacher.

"That was my dream, because I love kids," she said. "Either that, or an entertainment lawyer."

Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton have a baby boy

LONDON -- Actress Helena Bonham Carter and film director Tim Burton are the parents of a newborn baby boy.

Bonham Carter gave birth to the couple's first child, whom they have not yet named, in London on Saturday, said Nicki Van Gelder, the actress' agent.

The two met when Burton, 45, directed Bonham Carter, 37, in the remake of the science fiction movie "Planet of The Apes." They live in adjoining houses in north London and recently connected the homes with a door.

"I don't know if we'll marry," the magazine Radio Times quoted Bonham Carter as saying. "I find it romantic bearing his illegitimate child and living next door."

Bonham Carter first won fame acting in period films including "A Room With a View" and has starred more recently in "Fight Club" and "Mighty Aphrodite."

Burton has directed movies including "Edward Scissorhands," "Sleepy Hollow" and "Batman."

Barry Manilow donates $25K to fire victimes

NEW YORK -- Barry Manilow has donated $25,000 to help families who were displaced by a fire on the high holy day of Yom Kippur in the Brooklyn neighborhood where he grew up.

The singer made the donation to a fund that the American Red Cross will administer, his publicist and the Red Cross confirmed Thursday.

Manilow, who was born Barry Alan Pincus, donated the money after "he read the headlines in the newspaper about the fire on a street a block from where he lived," said his publicist, Jerry Sharell. "He wanted to help the victims who were left homeless recover."

No civilians were injured in the Saturday night blaze in Williamsburg, which damaged three buildings and a synagogue. Many of the displaced families are Orthodox Jews.

Leslie Gottlieb, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said the money will be used for immediate emergency needs, such as food, medicine, clothing and shelter. As of Thursday, she said, the agency had registered 103 people who needed help. She said that number likely would go up.

"We are grateful," Rabbi David Niederman, executive director of the United Jewish Organizations, told the New York Post. "It's wonderful that people remember their roots."

The 57-year-old entertainer, know for such ballads as "Looks Like We Made It" and "Mandy," now lives in Palm Springs, Calif. His latest release is "A Christmas Gift of Love." He also produced Bette Midler's album of Rosemary Clooney cover tunes.

Call him Sir Roger: James Bond actor Roger Moore receives knighthood

LONDON -- He's Sir Roger Moore now but the actor, who received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, says he doesn't mind if fans still refer to him as 007. Rock star Sting also was honored by the queen.

Moore, 75, was knighted not for his portrayal of the unflappable British secret agent James Bond but for his charity work, including 12 years as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

"Her Majesty said I'd been involved with charities for a long time but she supposed that people will always call me 007," Moore said. "I said that I didn't mind because I was paid money for it!"

Earlier this year, Moore had a pacemaker fitted after collapsing on stage during a performance on Broadway. He is the second James Bond actor to be knighted - Sir Sean Connery was honored three years ago.

"I had the worst attack of stage fright in my life," Moore said of his meeting with the queen at Buckingham Palace.

"When you realize the gravitas of the situation, it's slightly nerve-racking," he said. "It was like a costume drama and I was Sir Ivanhoe - a part I have played, incidentally."

The current Bond, Pierce Brosnan, collected an honorary Order of the British Empire in July. It was honorary because he is an Irish citizen.

Moore made seven Bond movies between 1973 and 1985, the same number as Connery, and previously starred in hit TV shows "The Saint" and "The Persuaders."

Rock star Sting also met the queen Thursday and was made a CBE, or Commander of the British Empire, a lesser honor than a knighthood.

Announced at the palace as "Gordon Sumner, known as Sting," the 51-year-old singer and songwriter took a bow before the queen.

"I've never met the queen before. It's a little bit like a dream," said Sting, formerly a member of the hit rock group The Police.

"I'd be surprised if she knows my music - I know (Prince) Charles listens to it - but there's always hope."

The honors are bestowed by the queen but largely selected by the government. The recipients were announced in June.

Franciscan brother admits fatally shooting Cleveland priest

CLEVELAND -- A Franciscan brother pleaded guilty Thursday to fatally shooting a Roman Catholic priest in his parish office and setting fire to the church rectory with the man's body inside.

Daniel Montgomery, 37, known as Brother Dan, was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison for the December death of the Rev. William Gulas.

Montgomery had previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of arson. But in a deal with prosecutors, Montgomery admitted to one count of each.

Montgomery quietly entered his plea and apologized to Gulas' family before he was sentenced. "I sincerely hope and pray I will be rehabilitated," Montgomery said.

Gulas' second cousin tearfully confronted Montgomery during the hearing.

"I hope as you sit behind bars that you never see the light of day," Richard Bedoya said.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty in the case that shook St. Stanislaus Church, a parish in a working-class community where Masses are celebrated in Polish and English.

Franciscan officials had told Montgomery in November that he was being fired. Prosecutors said Montgomery was upset about the firing and may have shot the priest over his lost job.

Montgomery called 911 to report the fire, police said. Montgomery comforted parishioners who had arrived for that evening's Mass and afterward attended a Christmas party turned impromptu memorial for the beloved pastor.

A January indictment charged that Montgomery acted "purposefully and with prior calculation and design."

Montgomery's mother, Janice Montgomery, suggested in earlier interviews that her son may be suffering a split personality disorder.

"Everybody that has ever known him has seemed to stop and say, what happened? This could not be," Janice Montgomery, of King of Prussia, Pa., told The Associated Press in July.

In Sweden, hikers stumble on odd shoe collection in the mountains

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- As shoe collections go, the one found by a pair of Swedish hikers had no place in any closet.

A Swedish couple hunting on a mountain in Sweden's far north Sunday stumbled on a display of 70 pairs of shoes, all filled with butter. Who put them there remains a mystery.

"If we knew who had done this, we could make them clean this mess up," said Alf Kjaellstroem, a spokesman for Jaemtland province. "It's not going to be pretty when the butter starts to rot. And we have to wait for the snow so we can get up there with the snowmobile."

He said there were 140 shoes of all kinds -- sneakers, children's shoes, high heels, boots and tap shoes -- each stuffed with about a pound of butter and spread out over the landscape.

The find resembled a display mounted by artist Yu Xiuzhen's in 1996. His exhibit, "Shoes With Butter," was laid out in the Tibetan mountains surrounding Lhasa, China.

Two more arrested in connection with beating

LINDEN, Texas -- Two more white men were arrested Thursday over the beating of a mentally disabled black man that left him comatose for week and prompted the FBI to investigate the alleged attack as a hate crime.

Dallas Chadwick Stone, 18, and Christopher Colt Amox, 20, were each booked on an aggravated assault complaint after they surrendered to police in this small Texas town in eastern Texas.

Two other suspects -- John Wesley Owens, 19, and James Cory Hicks, 24 -- were earlier arrested on aggravated assault complaints. All four suspects were each released on $30,000 bond Thursday.

The defendants' lawyers did not immediately return calls Thursday.

Authorities said Billy Ray Johnson was beaten Sept. 28 after drinking in a pasture with a group of white men, and was then dumped on a roadside a couple of miles away. He was found lying on a fire ant mound in isolated woods.

Johnson, 42, was recovering at a hospital after being comatose for a week. Police Chief Alton McWaters said Johnson suffered brain hemorrhaging and will require about two months of rehabilitation.

Local authorities asked the FBI to investigate whether the alleged assault was a hate crime and if civil rights violations occurred. The FBI's investigation is continuing, but McWaters said he doubted the crime would go beyond aggravated assault.

"I don't think this is a hate crime," he said. "I think these guys knew this boy was mentally slow."

The vicious crime shocked people in close-knit Linden, where there has been one murder in 15 years and where a quarter of the town's 2,256 residents are black.

"I think probably every town's got some prejudice, but pretty much everybody gets along," Darrell Heath, who is black, said Wednesday afternoon.

"I don't think it's racial. I think they just got drunk and stupid," said Cass County Sun Editor Judy Williams, who is white.

Johnson, who lives in a clapboard house on the edge of town with his mother and brother, is a well-liked fixture around town. He's known to wander into town for soda and a sandwich, which he would often eat in the courthouse square.

Linden is about 150 miles east of Dallas, near the Louisiana and Arkansas borders.

Animal experts question theory that mauling tiger was only trying to help illusionist

LAS VEGAS -- Animal experts Thursday disputed a theory that a tiger accidentally mauled Roy Horn of the duo "Siegfried & Roy," saying the 600-pound animal was going for the jugular.

"The cat wasn't trying to protect him," said Jonathan Kraft, who runs the Arizona-based nonprofit group Keepers of the Wild. "That was a typical killing bite."

"I admire the guys, I just think they are sending a wrong message," Kraft said. "The message needs to be: These are wild animals."

Horn's partner, Siegfried Fischbacher, said Wednesday in interviews on CNN and ABC that the animal had been trying to help Horn after the illusionist slipped during Friday's performance.

Fischbacher said he was backstage when the Royal White tiger named Montecore took hold of Horn's neck and dragged him offstage. Show workers set off fire extinguishers to distract the tiger, which then scurried to his cage.

Fischbacher said Horn muttered after the attack: "Don't harm the cat."

Louis Dorfman, a Dallas animal behaviorist, said Fischbacher's account of an accidental mauling was "a beautiful story but it just doesn't wash."

"Stress led to the bite," said Dorfman, who works with the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary in Texas. "It was an outlet for his irritation. Roy got lucky."

"Siegfried & Roy" debuted in 1990 at The Mirage and earned the hotel-casino about $44 million in annual revenue. The show's 267 employees have been told to find new jobs.

Horn, 59, was injured before a sellout performance of 1,500.

He remained in critical condition Thursday and could not speak. Fischbacher confirmed to The Associated Press that Horn suffered a stroke after the attack but is now communicating through hand signals.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman cautioned that the full story probably won't be known until Horn can talk.

Fischbacher hinted at a return to the stage if Horn recovers, saying the duo would "take a different path, I'm sure, but … the show is our life."

The duo's manager, Bernie Yuman, told The Associated Press early Thursday that Siegfried would never continue to perform without his longtime partner. "It is Siegfried and Roy and that's the way it began and that's the way it will always be," he said.

The cat remains quarantined at the casino. The federal Agriculture Department is investigating.

Cincinnati Zoo preparing huge get-well card for injured entertainer Roy Horn

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Zoo is asking visitors to sign a huge get-well card for entertainer Roy Horn, who was mauled by one of his tigers during a performance.

The zoo has been exchanging animals with the Las Vegas "Siegfried & Roy" show for 20 years.

Horn is fighting for survival after Friday's attack. The 59-year-old lost a large amount of blood and later had a stroke. Doctors said he's responding to treatment but remained in critical condition Wednesday.

The 5-by-7-foot card sits outside an exhibit housing a family of white lions, which was established when a female donated by the show gave birth to four cubs in April 2001. The zoo plans to send the card this weekend to Horn.

Zoo officials said they were saddened to learn Horn had been attacked.

"The animal community is a rather small and very close group of people who share the same passion and appreciation for animals," said Gregg Hudson, president and chief executive officer of the Cincinnati Zoo. "Certainly, Roy is no exception. He is not only an excellent animal trainer, but Roy's commitment to animal wildlife is truly remarkable."

The zoo's relationship with Siegfried & Roy began in 1983 when the zoo provided three white tigers to the show. In 1998, Siegfried & Roy presented two male white lion cubs, Sunshine and Future, to the zoo on long-term loan.

Six months later, they provided the zoo with the female white lion, Prosperity, to encourage births of the species.

Teenage driver pinned under vehicle while off-roading in Utah uses jack to free himself

SALT LAKE CITY -- An 18-year-old former wrestler whose leg became pinned under his overturned Jeep managed to reach a car jack, ratchet up the vehicle and free himself.

As college freshman Clancy Wright lay trapped last week, he said he thought of the climber whose arm had been pinned by a boulder last spring.

"I didn't want to cut my leg off like the guy who cut off his arm," Wright said.

Wright was driving alone Oct. 2 at a popular off-road area near Minersville, about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City, when his Jeep rolled, pinning his left leg under a corner of the windshield and part of a roll bar.

He was able to reach a jack in the vehicle.

He said he tried three times to find the right placement for it under the roll bar. Wright, who wrestled as a heavyweight last year in high school and took fifth place in his division, eventually was able to lift the Jeep.

"As the pressure released, I could feel the blood rush out of the leg," he told The Salt Lake Tribune in Thursday's editions.

The skin, muscle and tissue in his left calf, from the knee to the ankle, was torn from his leg bones, which were completely exposed but not broken, he said.

Wright said he wrapped the leg with his T-shirt, and a passing rider found him shortly afterward and summoned an ambulance. He underwent surgery and was sent home the next day.

"They told me to go home, lay on the couch, put your foot up and pray," Wright said.

Wright said he has feeling in his leg and can wiggle his toes.

"Maybe this will slow him down a little," his father, Chris Wright, said.

Climber Aron Ralston of Aspen, Colo., was hiking alone in southeastern Utah on April 26 when his right arm became pinned beneath an 800-pound boulder. He freed himself on the fifth day by snapping his bones and using a knife to cut through his arm.

Van driver legally drunk at time of crash, DA says

VALE, Ore. -- The driver of a van in which eight Oregon firefighters died in a collision Aug. 24 had a blood alcohol content of about 0.13 percent, papers filed in Malheur County Circuit Court said Thursday.

That is well above Oregon's legal driving limit of 0.08 percent.

The filing by Malheur County District Attorney Daniel Norris listed one count of drunken driving, one count of reckless driving and 18 counts of recklessly endangering another person against the First Strike Environmental Co., of Roseburg, a contract forest fire fighting firm that employed the van occupants.

The eight dead included the van driver, Mark Ransdell, 23, of Myrtle Creek.

"He was intoxicated at the time" of the accident, Norris said.

Company officials, who were provided preliminary blood alcohol results, have questioned the accuracy of the tests, contending that the fire that resulted from the collision may have skewed the results.

Nine of the reckless endangering charges named Ransdell, whom the charges said was acting as an agent for First Strike. The nine others listed unidentified crew bosses the filing said were acting "within the scope of employment" on behalf of First Strike.

The papers filed Thursday listed only the blood alcohol content of the van driver, although authorities have said at least two van occupants had no alcohol or very little, in their systems.

Investigators have determined some in the van had been drinking beer for hours on their return trip from Idaho to Oregon.

The van crossed a double yellow line and struck a semitrailer headon on U.S. 20 about 16 miles west of Vale. The two truck occupants survived but all eight van occupants died.

Norris had earlier revealed that crew members purchased beer at a convenience store in Vale minutes before the crash.

But toxicology reports suggested some van occupants were drinking long before that stop, Norris said.

"The alcohol consumption had to have been going on for quite some time before they got to Vale in order to reach the level that some of the passengers and the driver had in their blood," Norris said.

He said officials have evidence the crew bought beer at a Cascade, Idaho, gas station a few miles from the South Fork Fire the crew had been fighting.

Employees remembered seeing the crew buy gas and beer at a convenience store, Norris said. He said he believes the firefighters stopped at the Texaco station and store in Cascade sometime between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Norris contended the two supervisors in another First Strike van saw the crew buy alcohol and didn't intervene.

David Terry, a Roseburg attorney who represents First Strike, characterized the charges against the company as "ludicrous."

He said it was a stretch to say that because a crew supervisor knew other crew members purchased beer along with chips and pop that the company should bear legal responsibility.

"The way he's prosecuting this case is to say First Strike management knew, counseled or recommended for those boys to (drink alcohol and drive drunk), which is the farthest thing from the truth," Terry said.

The Oregon Department of Forestry has suspended all firefighting crews linked to the company while the investigation continues.

Smithsonian opening exhibit to commemorate Wright brothers plane

WASHINGTON -- The Wright Flyer, the world's first successful engine-powered airplane, has come down to earth.

After years on display hanging from the ceiling of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum the plane moves to eye level Saturday for the first time as the centerpiece of a new exhibit commemorating the centennial of that first flight.

"We're letting people get up close to this awe-inspiring artifact," said Peter Jakab, chairman of the museum's aeronautics division.

Noting that both the Wright's first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., and the moon landing 66 years later were accomplished by Americans, museum director J. R. Jack Dailey said, "It's a proud heritage of this country."

The flyer dominates the new exhibit, built at a cost of $1.6 million. The Wrights spent an estimated $1,000 developing their airplane.

The exhibit opens Saturday and is expected to remain for at least two years. Actors playing the Wright Brothers will be on hand to explain the Wrights' work and answer questions.

The museum, in downtown Washington, also plans to open a new building at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Dec. 15, to help commemorate the first Wright flight on Dec. 17, 1903.

The new downtown exhibit is a tribute to Orville and Wilbur Wright and includes a replica of part of their Dayton, Ohio home. On display next to the airplane is an original Wright Brothers bicycle - they made a living with a bicycle shop before going into aviation.

Some 260 period photos have been culled from archives for the exhibit, which tells about the Wright's themselves, the development of aviation and its affect on society.

Evoking the enthusiastic times in which the Wrights lived, the show includes a replica of a French parlor, decorated with aviation posters and background music of the era when the brothers toured Europe promoting their invention. Music includes such hits as "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine (Up She Goes)" and "Come Take a Trip in My Airship."

The Wright Flyer's fabric covering was replaced in 1984, but pieces of the original muslin are included in the display along with such artifacts as the stopwatch the brothers used in the first flight tests, an original propeller (now broken), a letter the brothers wrote the Smithsonian in 1899 asking for information on flying and a 1910 Alfred Steiglitz photo of their plane in flight.

A major financial contributor to the new exhibit was Alcoa which, under the name Pittsburgh Reduction Company, provided aluminum used in the original Wright Flyer engine.

Letter sent to jury by reporter causes concern in Peterson trial

DURHAM, N.C. -- Jurors in the trial of a novelist accused of murdering his wife were advised Thursday to ignore a letter from a television reporter seeking interviews about the case.

The letter, signed by Sonya Pfeiffer of WTVD-TV in Durham, invites the group to dinner on Oct. 18, "after you've decided your verdict."

"It's been like reading tea leaves trying to sort out your thoughts," the letter states. "I'm hoping you might be willing to share some of those thoughts with me now that the evidence is behind us."

The letter was dated Monday, the same day deliberations began in the case of Michael Peterson, 59, who could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of killing his wife, Kathleen.

The letter was received at the home of at least one juror, who turned over a copy to the court. Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson sent a note to the jury, advising them to ignore the reporter's letter.

"Please disregard the letter, do not respond and do not let the letter influence your decision in any way," Hudson wrote.

He said that the reporter "informed the court that the letters were to have been sent after the jury was discharged from the trial, and were mistakenly sent while deliberations were still under way."

Rob Elmore, news director at WTVD, apologized for the letter in a statement released on the station's noon newscast. "We apologize to the Court, the parties and the jurors for any inconvenience this incident may have caused," he said.

Kathleen Peterson's body was found in December 2001 at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's home.

Prosecutors suggested her husband used a fireplace poker to beat her over the head after she found out he had tried to arrange a meeting with a male prostitute. The defense argued that she died in an accidental fall after a night of drinking.