Hiroshima Aims To Heal Wounds With Mayor's War Apology

HIROSHIMA, Japan In a surprise comment during his keynote speechat the ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the dropping of the firstatomic bomb, Mayor Takashi Hiraoka today broke with tradition anddelivered a forthright formal apology for Japan's actions duringWorld War II.

"The suffering of all the war's victims indelibly etched in ourhearts, we want to apologize for the unbearable suffering thatJapanese colonial domination and war inflicted on so many people," hesaid.

City officials said the symbolism of the 50th anniversary,coupled with heightened awareness of atomic weapons after France'sdecision to …

Canada's Fortis to buy CH Energy for almost $1B

POUGHKEEPSIE, New York (AP) — Fortis Inc. said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy CH Energy Group Inc. in a cash deal worth just under $1 billion, marking the Canadian utility's entry into the regulated U.S. electric and gas distribution market.

CH Energy is the parent company of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., a regulated transmission and distribution utility that serves about 300,000 electric and 75,000 natural gas customers in New York's Mid-Hudson River Valley.

Under the terms of the agreement, Fortis will pay CH Energy Group shareholders $65 per share, representing an 11 percent premium over the utility company's closing share price Friday.

The news sent CH …

France: 2 abducted journalists held in Afghanistan

France's foreign minister says two French journalists who were kidnaped in eastern Afghanistan are still being held in the country.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says the journalists from France-3 TV station have not been transferred to rear Taliban bases in neighboring Pakistan and are probably …

Dear Abby

DEAR ABBY: I am writing about the letter from "Concerned Driver inOklahoma." "Concerned" said that drivers must stop for school busesthat are stopped with their red lights flashing "even when going inthe opposite direction on a divided four-lane highway." That's nottrue in Virginia. These laws vary by state, Abby.

Alice Tew

Fairfax, Va.

DEAR ALICE: Thanks for pointing that out. So far, I have heardfrom readers in Illinois, Washington, Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania andCalifornia telling me that the law does not apply in their state,either. It seems the bus driver misinterpreted the law in Oklahoma,too. Read on:

DEAR ABBY: This is in response to the letter …

Care for God's good creation

As the days begin to turn away from darkness towards light, it seems a good time to revisit the story of the first ever such light. Here a part of how black American poet James Weldon Johnson saw it happen:

And God stepped out on space,

And he looked around and said:

I'm lonely-

I'll make me a world.

And far as the eye of God could see

Darkness covered everything,

Blacker than a hundred midnights

Down in a cypress swamp.

Then God smiled,

And the light broke,

And the darkness rolled up on one side,

And the light stood shining on the other,

And God said: That's good!

Then God …

Diplomats: Uranium found from suspect Syrian site

Diplomats say uranium has been found in environmental samples from a Syrian site bombed by Israel on suspicion it was a covert nuclear reactor.

The diplomats say that the uranium _ combined with other elements found in the samples _ merits further investigation by the International Atomic …

Leona's LA bash for Hopefield [...] ; Briefing [Edition 3]

Leona's LA bash for Hopefield The X Factor star and …