Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Credit Fears

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.03 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.4 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.5 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.21 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.31 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 1.48 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 83.56, or 0.63 percent, at 13,181.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 25.89, or 1.77 percent, at 1,433.06. The Nasdaq composite index ended down 50.99, or 1.99 percent, at 2,511.25.

The Russell 2000 index finished the week down 22.41, or 2.88 percent, at 755.42.

The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies ended Friday at 14,432.34, down 278.44 for the week. A year ago, the index was at 12,826.14.


On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Credit Fears3

Countrywide Financial Corp. fell $1.77, or 6.6 percent, to $25. The nation's biggest mortgage lender said late Thursday it has adequate access to cash and isn't facing the liquidity crunch that is hitting dozens of other smaller players.

In economic news, which didn't provide much reason for investors to look past the mortgage and credit concerns, the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose 92,000 last month, less than the 132,000 jobs created in June and below the average forecast of about 135,000. Also, unemployment ticked up to 4.6 percent a six-month high from 4.5 percent in June. Still, overall unemployment remains low, analysts noted.

Also, the Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index, which measures service sector activity, fell in July to 55.8 from 60.7 in June. Wall Street had expected a reading of 59, according to Thomson Financial/IFR.

Investors still uncertain about the effect of rising subprime mortgage defaults on the broader economy have regarded the stable job market and consumer spending as signs the economy might hold up despite a tighter lending climate. That's because people with steady paychecks are more likely to keep spending and pay back their debt. At the same time, some pullback in employment might ease some concerns about wage inflation.

"I think the ISM and the jobs numbers are going to accelerate the general consensus view that maybe the economy is slower than anticipated," said Subodh Kumar, global investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Assoc.

"The market has become very much driven from data point to data point because of uncertainty of a number of issues," he said, citing unease over credit, oil prices, and a weak dollar.

Crude oil futures settled down $1.38 at $75.42 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the employment report suggested the economy could slow and demand for oil could fall. Crude closed at a record $78.21 a barrel on Tuesday, though ended the week 2 percent lower.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.54 billion shares compared with 4.18 billion traded Thursday.

Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Credit Fears2

The Dow fell 281.18 to 13,182.15. As has been typical in recent selloffs, much of the decline came late in the session; the Dow lost more than 100 points in the final 15 minutes Friday. Despite the day's loss, the index was off only 0.63 percent for the week.

Broader stock indicators also fell sharply Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 39.14, or 2.66 percent, to 1,433.06, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 64.73, or 2.51 percent, to 2,511.25. For the week, the S&P fell 1.77 percent, while the Nasdaq fell 1.99 percent.

The concerns have pulled stocks from highs seen only weeks ago. The Dow, which on July 19 closed above 14,000 for the first time, now sits about 819 points below that level. That 5.9 percent decline puts the Dow more than halfway toward the technical threshold of a correction, which is 10 percent.

Small-capitalization stocks were hit hard again Friday, partly because the global economy appears to be growing faster than that of the United States. Investors often contend profits at larger companies are more likely to hold up amid a U.S. slowdown because much of their business is drawn from overseas. The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks fell 28.57, or 3.64 percent, to 755.42.

The session also saw a notable rise in the bond market, as investors fled to the relative safety of fixed-income investments. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.68 percent from 4.77 percent late Thursday. Bond prices move opposite yields.

The unease over the mortgage market and tightening credit Friday again dragged down financial stocks, which have been hard hit in recent weeks.

Bear Stearns fell $7.28, or 6.3 percent, to $108.35. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell $4.67, or 7.7 percent, to $55.78; the stock traded as low as $55.46, below its 52-week low of $58.85. Merrill Lynch & Co. fell $2.50, or 3.5 percent, to $70.05. The stock traded as low as $69.14, below its earlier 52-week low of $70.86.

Investors also fled lenders. American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. confirmed late Thursday it has stopped taking mortgage applications and is laying off most of its 7,000 staffers. American Home dropped 76 cents, or 52 percent, to 69 cents.

Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Credit Fears

Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Credit Fears
Stocks Fall Following Concerns About Credit, Weaker-Than-Expected Economic Readings
Wall Street plunged anew Friday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 280 points after comments from a major investment bank exacerbated the market's fears of a widening credit crunch.

The drop of more than 2 percent in major stock market indexes was a fitting end to two volatile weeks on Wall Street and followed back-to-back, late-day triple digit gains in the Dow. This time, the catalyst for a sharp skid was Bear Stearns Cos. Chief Financial Officer Sam Molinaro, who described turmoil in the credit market as the worst he'd seen in 22 years.
Stocks started the day with a decline after the government said jobs growth was not as strong as expected last month and a trade group reported that the nation's service sector grew at a slower pace than expected in July. Then, credit concerns, which have dogged investors for months and have roiled markets since last week, further weighed on investor sentiment; Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its credit outlook on Bear Stearns to negative from stable because of the investment bank's exposure to the distressed mortgage and corporate buyout markets.

"I think there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty with regard to the credit markets and how the situation will ultimately settle," said Mike Malone, trading analyst at Cowen & Co.

Investors remain worried that problems in subprime mortgages those made to borrowers with poor credit histories will force lenders to make credit less available. When people and companies can't borrow money as easily, the economy tends to slow down.

"There is not going to be one sort of clear signal that suggests everything is OK," Malone said, referring to the subprime and credit worries. "I think it's going to take time and the equity markets are going to experience heightened volatility."

Investors could be in for more tumultuousness in the coming week, which not only includes economic figures on productivity and consumer credit, but also brings a meeting of the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee, which has left short-term interest rates unchanged for the past year. Investors will likely be looking to its statement following its meeting for any word on the mortgage and credit markets.

'Big Brother': Game Over for Nick

'Big Brother': Game Over for Nick
Hunky football player Nick Starcevic shares with EW.com his opinion of Evil Dick and Jen, his feelings for Daniele, and why he's willing to reveal his passion in front of millions of people

NICK STARCEVIC ''My strategy going in was to be a flirt with the ladies, and even maybe with some of the guys, but that changed as soon as I met Daniele''
Robert Voets
All AboutBig Brother

By Josh Wolk Josh Wolk
Josh Wolk is a senior writer at EW and the author of ''Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desparate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor''His passion for Daniele allegedly ran as thick as his Minnesotan accent, but Big Brother love wasn't enough to keep Nick, 25, in the house. EW.com caught up with the Mohawked football player after his eviction.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First things first: They label you a ''professional football player.'' Who did you play for?
NICK STARCEVIC: I played in Europe for Team Finland, part of the European Football League. I played free safety for probably two months, then I got injured last summer. Since then, I've finished up student teaching in Australia, and just got back probably three weeks before Big Brother started.

Okay, be honest: your soulmate status with Daniele, was that just a strategy?
No, not at all. My strategy going in was to be a flirt with the ladies, and even maybe with some of the guys, but that changed as soon as I met Daniele.

Your tender moments with Joe caused quite a flurry on the Internet. Guys, girls...would you have snuggled up with anyone to get ahead?
I wasn't going to do whatever it takes, but I could flirt with Joe and Dustin and have no worries about it. I'm pretty comfortable with my sexuality.

Do you worry that Daniele's boyfriend is waiting for you in front of CBS with a tire iron?
Who knows? That's not really any of my worries. I'm sure her boyfriend is fairly upset — I'm not sure what was shown and what not. But If I had a girlfriend inside this house, even if she didn't do anything, I'd be on edge.

Isn't there a Man Code that says you shouldn't try to steal someone else's girlfriend when she's sequestered on a reality show?
There's always that man code, but I don't hold it against myself.

It seemed like being on this show makes people do things they might not do outside the house. For instance, it seems like people are far meaner to other people's faces than they'd be in real life.
It seemed to me that Evil Dick and Jen's personalities are the same inside the house as they are outside the house. They weren't going to switch it up, and that's good. I like Evil Dick's personality. He might take it too far sometimes. I'm not a big fan of Jen's personality, and I'd rather not see her again.

As annoying as she might have been, Dick was pretty brutal.
Jen just shrugged it off. I don't think she really took his opinion to heart, or a lot of other people's, but there were certain people's opinions in the house that might have hurt in a certain way. There was a feeling in the house that Jen wasn't liked.

People — including you — really trashed her for some of the things she said. And yet Dick was beloved, even though he would be just as rude.
Yeah, but Jen was really pretty fake-y sometimes, and then really self-centered. I think that's the thing that got on people's nerves; she was so self-involved. People couldn't stand it anymore.

How long do you think Evil Dick can stay around? I know his strategy is to get in people's faces, but at a certain point, people are going to get sick of that, right?
Yeah, but it could take him to end, because certain people want to keep others who aren't liked around, like Jen, for instance. If they're around as the second person left in the house, the other person has a better chance at a half mil. I could definitely see him in the final two.

You bailed out of your initial Mrs. Robinson Alliance with Kail, Zach, and Mike pretty early. Did you ever have any intention of sticking with it?
I had all the intention in the world of going through with it, because I was cornered. They came at me the day after Kail got HOH, and I didn't have that good a rapport with Kail, so I figured I'd better get on that bandwagon, or I'm out.

When did you decide to back out?
Two or three days after. I didn't like the way I was cornered. I originally had wanted to take the first couple of weeks to see who I could trust and who I wanted to ally with.

Do you think your squirreling off in corners with Daniele hurt your game?
I think it definitely hindered my game. Going into the house, I had a way I wanted to play the game, and would have done pretty well with it. If I'd stuck with that [Mrs. Robinson] alliance, it would have gone pretty well. But I couldn't go against people I cared about, like Daniele and Amber.

Speaking of Amber, were you ever concerned about her getting dehydrated, what with all her crying?
There was a time I wondered, ''What's going on? Why is she always crying?'' But the fact is, she's a really emotional person. It got annoying to some people, but not to me.

NEXT PAGE: Nick on learning Eric is America's Player, who he thinks could win, and what happens next with Daniele

Bourne an audience favorite as 'Ultimatum' tops charts

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Superspy Jason Bourne delivered more than an ultimatum this weekend as the third in a series of spy thrillers topped box office charts and delivered the biggest August opening of a film ever.


Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon, is a trained super-assassin trying to recover information about his past.

1 of 4 "The Bourne Ultimatum" took in $70.2 million this weekend, far surpassing the openings of both of the earlier Bourne films based on novels by Robert Ludlum.

The opening also pushed last week's top film, "The Simpsons Movie," to second place, with $25.6 million. The big-screen version of the animated TV show has topped $315 million worldwide for distributor Twentieth Century Fox.

"We're really riding high today," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal Pictures, which put out "The Bourne Ultimatum." "The reviews and audiences rated this one the best one yet."

The second in the series, "The Bourne Supremacy," earned $52.5 million in its opening weekend in 2004, while the first film, "The Bourne Identity," had an opening weekend take of $27.1 million when it debuted in 2002. Watch Matt Damon discuss the newest Bourne incarnation »

Universal's research showed that more than 90 percent of the opening weekend audience had seen the previous two Bourne films.

"People just love Matt Damon and (director) Paul Greengrass is a superstar," Rocco said. "Matt Damon is the new James Bond."
The film's opening bodes well for a robust August, which is typically when the sweltering summer movie season begins to cool off a bit.

"The summer movie season is alive and well even as we are moving into the home stretch," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "The Bourne franchise just keeps getting better with age. The consistency of quality has always been there with the Bourne movies. That builds loyalty among viewers."

This weekend's top 12 films earned a whopping 36 percent more than the top 12 did in the same weekend last year.

So far this year, the box office is up 6 percent with revenues of $6.073 billion, while attendance is up 1.42 percent.

"Underdog," Disney's live-action version of the animated crimefighter who speaks in rhyme, debuted in third place with $12 million.

The weekend's other openers didn't bark quite as loud.

"Hot Rod," a comedy from Paramount, earned $5 million.


"Bratz," a live-action comedy from Lionsgate based on the popular line of dolls, took in $4.3 million.

While it finished out of the top 12, "Becoming Jane," from Miramax, the story of author Jane Austen starring Anne Hathaway, took in $1 million on 100 screens for an impressive average of $10,100 per screen in its opening weekend.

'The Bourne Ultimatum' earns $70 million By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer

'The Bourne Ultimatum' earns $70 million By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer
1 hour, 22 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - Superspy Jason Bourne delivered more than an ultimatum this weekend as the third in a series of spy thrillers topped box office charts and delivered the biggest August opening of a film ever.

ADVERTISEMENT


"The Bourne Ultimatum" took in $70.2 million this weekend, far surpassing the openings of both of the earlier Bourne films based on novels by Robert Ludlum.

The opening also pushed last week's top film, "The Simpsons Movie," to second place, with $25.6 million. The big-screen version of the animated TV show has topped $315 million worldwide for distributor Twentieth Century Fox.

"We're really riding high today," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal Pictures, which put out "The Bourne Ultimatum." "The reviews and audiences rated this one the best one yet."

The second in the series, "The Bourne Supremacy," earned $52.5 million in its opening weekend in 2004, while the first film, "The Bourne Identity," had an opening weekend take of $27.1 million when it debuted in 2002.

Universal's research showed that more than 90 percent of the opening weekend audience had seen the previous two Bourne films.

"People just love Matt Damon and (director) Paul Greengrass is a superstar," Rocco said. "Matt Damon is the new James Bond."

The film's opening bodes well for a robust August, which is typically when the sweltering summer movie season begins to cool off a bit.

"The summer movie season is alive and well even as we are moving into the home stretch," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "The Bourne franchise just keeps getting better with age. The consistency of quality has always been there with the Bourne movies. That builds loyalty among viewers."

This weekend's top 12 films earned a whopping 36 percent more than the top 12 did in the same weekend last year.

So far this year, the box office is up 6 percent with revenues of $6.073 billion, while attendance is up 1.42 percent.

"Underdog," Disney's live-action version of the animated crimefighter who speaks in rhyme, debuted in third place with $12 million.

The weekend's other openers didn't bark quite as loud.

"Hot Rod," a comedy from Paramount, earned $5 million.

"Bratz," a live-action comedy from Lionsgate based on the popular line of dolls, took in $4.3 million.

While it finished out of the top 12, "Becoming Jane," from Miramax, the story of author Jane Austen starring Anne Hathaway, took in $1 million on 100 screens for an impressive average of $10,100 per screen in its opening weekend.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Bourne Ultimatum," $70.2 million.

2. "The Simpsons Movie," $25.6 million.

3. "Underdog," $12 million.

4. "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," $10.5 million.

5. "Hairspray," $9.3 million.

6. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," $9.3 million.

7. "No Reservations," $6.6 million.

8. "Transformers," $6 million.

9. "Hot Rod," $5 million.

10. "Bratz," $4.3 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.mediabynumbers.com

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Vivendi Universal; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Technology aids collapse investigation By SHARON COHEN and ADAM GELLER, AP National Writers

Technology aids collapse investigation By SHARON COHEN and ADAM GELLER, AP National Writers
Sun Aug 5, 6:34 PM ET



MINNEAPOLIS - A helicopter with a camera like those used to film Hollywood movies will soon peer into the wreckage of a collapsed bridge. Laser-guided surveying equipment has already helped produce a detailed map of the debris. Software re-creating the disaster on a computer screen may even pinpoint the exact piece of bridge that gave way.

ADVERTISEMENT

Even with the water still filled with debris, investigators are already using this powerful technological arsenal to get answers about why the bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River last week. It is a quantum leap ahead of investigations of previous eras, when crews literally had to put the pieces of fallen bridge back together.

"Computers and modeling techniques are just light years from what was available 40 years ago," said Ted Galambos, a professor emeritus of structural engineering at the University of Minnesota and an expert in the stability of structural steel. "Now we can have an idea and we can test that on a computer in a few hours."

Even the dive recovery teams are turning to technology for help, using underwater video cameras to look under dangerously unstable debris. Local teams have also requested help from FBI and Navy dive teams in the search for the eight people feared dead in addition to the five confirmed victims.

State transportation officials said they would begin removing bridge debris from the Mississippi River later this week. Besides helping with the recovery operation, one goal of clearing the wreckage is to open a channel at least 56 feet wide to accommodate barge and boat traffic. Officials offered no timetable for how long it would take.

Investigators caution that it could take as long as 18 months to complete their exhaustive probe into why Minnesota's busiest bridge collapsed and fell into the river Wednesday.

But they already have begun zeroing in on clues.

On Friday, they were focusing on the south section of the bridge, where they quickly found that the span shifted 81 feet during the collapse.

On Saturday, the north side became the focus. That's where they plan to use a helicopter equipped with a high-resolution camera that can examine the debris in precise detail for any troublesome signs. The camera is kept steady by a gyroscope — which is how Hollywood crews get smooth footage while filming from a vibrating helicopter.

Investigators also plan to watch frame-by-frame enhancements of video of the collapsing bridge. In addition, the FBI used laser-guided surveying equipment to complete a detailed 3-D map of the wreckage, and quickly provided the data to the lead investigation agency, the National Transportation Safety Board.

Nineteen NTSB investigators from around the country are in Minneapolis, working out of trailers, hotels and command posts. They will be working with investigators in Washington who will be putting in long hours in front of computers.

That will include re-creating various bridge collapse scenarios with high-tech software in what is called a "finite element analysis." In this analysis, investigators can simulate removing a key support structure from the bridge and see how the bridge reacts.

"If they remove a piece and it falls down the way they saw it, that's a pretty good indication they found the right piece and there's all sorts of ways of doing that," said W. Gene Corley, senior vice president of CTL Group, an engineering firm.

Corley, who has helped investigate bridge collapses, as well as disasters such as the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City federal building, predicted that the NTSB should have a pretty good idea within a few weeks of the cause.

During his weekend news conferences, NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker repeatedly stressed the value of the computer modeling program. He said a range of data goes into the analysis, including weather, the number of cars, the speed of the vehicles, and the weight of construction equipment that had been on the bridge when it collapsed.

"This is a very accurate and a very complex model. This isn't something that most of us at least deal with on our computers," Rosenker said Sunday.

So far, investigators haven't been able to pinpoint a cause, but they've also managed to rule out a variety of scenarios.

"Every day we make progress in understanding at least where the failures are not. Where they are is where we're going to have to work a lot harder," Rosenker said.

The early clues and advances in technology could make for a far speedier investigation than after past bridge collapses.

The investigation into the 1967 collapse of a bridge linking Gallipolis, Ohio, and Point Pleasant, W.Va., took more than four years. It found that the cause "was a crack no bigger than a fingernail," said Galambos, the engineering professor.

"It was a very long and involved process. It reads like a detective story," he said.

After a portion of a bridge on I-95 in Greenwich, Conn., collapsed in 1983, investigators hauled much of the debris to a nearby state maintenance yard, recreating the scene and trying to decipher the clues, said Jim Loersch, retired as the state's manager of bridge safety and evaluation.

Investigators cut out samples of suspect steel, placing them under electron microscopes to study the grain, he said.

"If you have absolutely no idea (what happened), you'll just have to pull out every piece and reassemble the bridge just like you would in an aircraft disaster," Galambos said.

In the end, NTSB investigators determined that the Connecticut collapse was caused by loosening in the pins and hangers holding the slab of bridge in place. That was due to inadequate inspection and maintenance by the state Department of Transportation, federal investigators said. The state came up with its own findings, and the whole process took several years.

The NTSB says the Minneapolis bridge will not have to be fully reassembled, largely because of all the technology they have.

Investigators can instead focus on the part of the bridge that failed and not the entire 1,900-foot span. They also will inspect the destroyed cars to better understand how people died — or escaped.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Scolforo contributed to this report.

Countdown begins for Endeavour launch By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

Countdown begins for Endeavour launch By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
1 hour, 21 minutes ago



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA began the countdown Sunday night for the launch of Endeavour after completing one final test to make sure the space shuttle's crew cabin was airtight.

ADVERTISEMENT


"The team is ready. Endeavour is ready," said NASA test director Stephen Payne.

Last week, NASA replaced a leaky valve in Endeavour's cabin with one taken from the shuttle Atlantis. Engineers discovered that air had been escaping from the removed valve because of a small piece of debris on its seal, Payne said. The valve itself turned out to be fine.

Because of the extra work to replace and test the new valve, NASA delayed the flight by one day, to Wednesday.

Meteorologists are predicting a 70 percent chance of good weather for the early evening launch.

Endeavour's trip to the international space station for construction work features NASA's first educator-astronaut, Barbara Morgan. She was the backup for Christa McAuliffe, who died aboard Challenger in 1986.

Morgan will operate a robot arm in space and, if time permits, speak with school children at several locations across the country.

NASA hopes to stretch the mission from 11 days to 14 days, once Endeavour is in orbit, with help from a new system flying aboard the space shuttle. The system will convert and transfer power from the station to the shuttle, allowing the shuttle to remain docked longer than ever before.

___

On the Net:

NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

Experts search UK lab for foot-and-mouth By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer

Experts search UK lab for foot-and-mouth By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 45 minutes ago



PIRBRIGHT, England - Biosafety experts scoured a high-security animal laboratory in rural England Sunday to determine how a strain of the foot-and-mouth virus may have escaped from a facility dedicated to eliminating the devastating animal disease.

ADVERTISEMENT

Officials increasingly suspect that the lab — home to a government research center and a company that makes foot-and-mouth vaccine — was the source of the outbreak on a nearby farm. That has raised hopes that the disease was not spread by other animals and could be contained.

The particular strain of the highly infectious disease was identical to one used at the lab and had not recently been seen in live animals, the agriculture department said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was hopeful that a potentially disastrous livestock epidemic could be averted.

"The first thing, having identified a possible source of the disease, we must now look at the transmission mechanism," Brown said, adding that the government has not ruled out other sources.

Britain has banned exports of livestock, meat and milk and halted the movement of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs nationwide to prevent the spread of the virus. The United States and Japan immediately banned British pigs and pork products.

The case is the first in Britain since 2001, when carcasses of the 7 million culled cattle were burned on huge pyres that dotted the countryside. The farming industry was devastated and rural tourism was badly hit.

The affected farm is about 4 miles away from the lab, which is shared by the government's Institute for Animal Health and a private pharmaceutical company, Merial Animal Health, the British arm of Duluth, Ga.-based Merial Ltd.

The agriculture department ordered a 6-mile protection zone set up around the lab and the farm. It also began an urgent review of biosecurity measures at the lab. Experts from the Health and Safety Executive were inspecting both the Merial and government facilities.

Cattle on the farm outside Wanborough, 30 miles southwest of London, tested positive for the disease, which affects cloven-hoofed animals including cows, sheep, pigs and goats. About 120 cows from the farm were slaughtered Saturday, as well as animals owned by the same farmer at two additional fields nearby, officials said.

Farmer Derrick Pride said he had done all he could since discovering the infection when his cows were grazing in a nearby rented field.

"It is nothing to do with us. It is not our fault. It is something beyond our control," Pride said, speaking from his farm in Elstead, Surrey. He said messages of sympathy offered to his family were "giving a lot of comfort to us."

The disease, which does not affect humans, can be transmitted though contact between animals, or by wind.

The agriculture department said there had been no movements of livestock from the affected farm since July 10, farther raising hopes that the situation could be contained. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or DEFRA, said the strain was present at the government lab and was used in a vaccine batch manufactured last month by Merial Animal Health.

Merial suspended manufacture of the vaccine as a precaution, but insisted Sunday its plants "operated to the highest level of product quality and safety."

Martin Shirley, director of the Institute for Animal Health, said the strain had been in "limited use" within the institute's own laboratory in the past four weeks but an investigation had found no breaches of biosecurity procedures.

"There are other possible sources of the virus, but they are looking pretty remote," microbiologist Hugh Pennington told the British Broadcasting Corp., saying it was possible the virus had spread from the laboratory on the wind.

"It may not be a huge security breach," Pennington said. "It may just be one incident which let a puff of virus out."

Bear Stearns co-president, co-COO quits By JOSEPH ALTMAN, AP Business Writer

Bear Stearns co-president, co-COO quits By JOSEPH ALTMAN, AP Business Writer
Sun Aug 5, 6:21 PM ET



NEW YORK - Bear Stearns Cos. said Sunday that co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer Warren Spector has resigned following the meltdown of two hedge funds that invested in risky mortgage-backed securities.

ADVERTISEMENT


Alan Schwartz, who had been Bear Stearns' other co-president and co-COO, will become the sole president effective immediately, and Samuel Molinaro Jr. will assume the role of chief operating officer in addition to his current duties as chief financial officer, the firm said in a statement Sunday afternoon. Jeffrey Mayer, co-head of the fixed income division, will take Spector's seat on Bear Stearns' executive committee, the firm said.

"In light of the recent events concerning (Bear Stearns Asset Management's) High Grade and Enhanced Leverage funds, we have determined to make changes in our leadership structure," Chairman and Chief Executive James Cayne said. "I have every confidence in this team to continue Bear Stearns' 84-year legacy of success and profitable growth."

Spector, 49, had spent his entire career at Bear Stearns since joining the firm as a trader in 1983 and had been considered a likely successor to Cayne, 73.

But the collapse of the two hedge funds in the asset management unit that Spector oversaw put him and the firm under pressure. The funds filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, two weeks after the company told investors that one with assets of about $638 million was essentially worthless, and another worth about $925 million before taking on losses in March had lost more than 90 percent of its value.

Both funds were squeezed after Bear Stearns made wrong-way bets on the home mortgage market and was caught as loans to risky borrowers began to default. Bonds backed by home loans and other similar investments have lost value amid rising homeowner defaults as the housing market enters its third year of decline.

As reports became public that Cayne had asked for Spector's resignation, Standard & Poors said Friday it was considering cutting Bear Stearns' credit rating because of the firm's exposure to the distressed mortgage and corporate buyout markets.

A lower rating would likely make it more expensive for Bear Stearns to borrow money.

Separately, another ratings agency, Fitch Ratings, downgraded $46.4 million worth of Bear Stearns bonds backed by subprime mortgages, or home loans to people with spotty credit histories.

The news sent the Wall Street brokerage's shares tumbling to their lowest price since November 2005. The shares, which have lost nearly one-third of their value this year, fell $7.28, or 6.3 percent, to close Friday at $108.35.

Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth-largest investment bank, has said the problems with the hedge funds were isolated incidents and "by no means an indication of broader issues at Bear Stearns."

Spector said in the Bear Stearns statement that the firm has weathered countless challenges in its history.

"I am leaving with nothing but the highest respect and regard for Bear Stearns and all the talented professionals with whom I have been privileged to work," Spector said. "I intend to remain a significant shareholder and will follow the firm's future success with great pride."

Wall Street awaits Fed rate decision By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer

Wall Street awaits Fed rate decision By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
59 minutes ago



NEW YORK - With two weeks of volatility behind it, Wall Street faces the prospect of more turbulence — unless the Federal Reserve comes to the rescue.

ADVERTISEMENT

Waxing and waning worries about a shrinking availability of credit have sent stocks gyrating, with the Dow Jones industrials swinging by triple digits four straight days last week.

On Friday, the Dow plunged more than 280 points after Bear Stearns Cos.' chief financial officer described the current turmoil in the credit market as being the worst he'd seen in 22 years. On other days, news of mortgage lenders' problems or disappointing housing data provided the impetus to sell.

The Fed's Open Market Committee's regularly scheduled August meeting on Tuesday might be key in whether the markets can settle down or not. The Fed is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate steady at 5.25 percent, as it has done since last summer, so the focus will as usual be on its economic policy statement.

For months, Fed policy makers have stated they expect the economy to recover, and that curbing costs is their primary concern in light of uncomfortably high inflation. Given the past two weeks on Wall Street, investors are likely to be more interested in whether the central bank addresses credit conditions, and, if it does, what it has to say.

Still, if the Fed gives any hint that it might consider raising rates — an action that would make mortgage and corporate credit more expensive and harder to obtain — the market can expect to see more of the kind of selling that has chopped more than 800 points from the Dow since it closed above 14,000 for the first time on July 19.

That drop, which comes to nearly 6 percent, puts the Dow more than halfway toward the technical threshold of a correction, which is 10 percent. Some analysts argued the stock market was way too high and therefore due for a shaking-out. But the turmoil the market has seen the past few weeks is more than portfolio housecleaning — some investors aren't sure stocks are the place to be if there's less easy money around to fund the buyouts and companies' stock buybacks that had powered the market's rally during the first half of this year.

But even if the market gets a lift from the Fed, there's a good chance it will be short-lived — in its current state of mind, Wall Street is shrugging off good news and choosing to sell off on every mention of words like credit, subprime, mortgage and default. Even in calmer times, the market has been able to hold on to soothing remarks from the Fed for only a short period of time — believing, perhaps, that the central bankers are as fickle as Wall Street itself.

Last week, despite Friday's huge loss, the Dow fell just 0.63 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1.77 percent and the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.99 percent.

A FEW ECONOMIC REPORTS ...

There is little economic data that will help soothe the market this week. On Tuesday, in addition to the Fed statement, Wall Street will watch for the Labor Department's preliminary reading on second-quarter productivity and labor costs, and the Fed's report on June consumer credit.

Productivity is expected to have increased 2.2 percent from the preceding quarter, and costs are expected to have risen 1.9 percent. Consumer credit is expected to have gained $6.7 billion, compared with May's $12.9 billion jump.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department releases data on June wholesale trade, and on Friday it reports on July import prices.

Economists predict that wholesale inventories rose 0.5 percent in June, the same as in May, and that import prices rose 0.7 percent last month, a smaller increase than in June.

EARNINGS SEASON WINDS DOWN ...

The bulk of second-quarter earnings have come in, but this week brings results from some key technology companies.

On Tuesday, Cisco Systems Inc. is expected to report a profit of 35 cents a share for its fourth quarter. The computer-networking company closed Friday at $29.46, at the top of its 52-week range of $17.10 to $30.39.

Sprint Nextel Corp. on Wednesday is expected to report earnings of 22 cents per share. The wireless provider closed Friday at $19.77, at the midpoint of its 52-week range of $15.92 and $23.42.

Vonage Holdings Corp. releases quarterly results Thursday, when it is expected to report a loss of 34 cents a share for the second quarter. The Internet phone carrier's shares closed at $2.04 on Friday, at the low end of their 52-week range of $1.83 and $9.07.

More Bush-Congress court fights likely By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer

More Bush-Congress court fights likely By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - A court decision concluding that federal agents went overboard in searching a congressman's office almost certainly presages more legal showdowns over the Bush administration's fierce battle with Congress for control of information.

ADVERTISEMENT

The administration repeatedly has rebuffed Congress' efforts to look into wiretaps, energy policy, prosecutors' firings and other matters, while claiming its own right to probe alleged congressional misdeeds. The efforts have been extraordinary, even by the standards set by secretive and combative presidents such as Richard Nixon, some legal scholars say.

"Most people feel this has been the most aggressive executive branch, maybe in the history of the country, in terms of asserting its executive authority," said Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia.

The stakes have risen in recent months as the Democratic-controlled Congress began contempt proceedings against some of Bush's top aides and suggested a perjury investigation of his attorney general.

At least some clashes appear headed for court, where judges again will wrestle with a question central to the republic's founding: Where to strike the balance between the executive and legislative branches' powers so that one does not ride roughshod over the other?

"I think you'll find the courts are going to become more involved," Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., a lawyer who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview after the court decision Friday. "This administration has a well-deserved reputation for arrogance. I think they just try to believe that they are not susceptible to checks and balances."

Bush and his aides reject such claims. They say it is essential that a president receive candid advice from advisers not subject to congressional subpoenas. They have tried to restore vital executive branch powers they feel eroded during the Watergate and Vietnam War eras.

Many congressional Republicans support them, saying Democratic-led inquiries too often overreach. "The legislative branch has focused on investigations, subpoenas, condemnations, attacks, calls for impeachment, calls for contempt," said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.

But even Bush loyalists such as Bond say the administration's penchant for secrecy goes too far in some areas.

Bond, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Republican, long has urged the administration to release a CIA inspector general's report on the Sept. 11 attacks. "Just get it out there and get it over with," he said.

Bush drew the greatest bipartisan condemnation, not surprisingly, when he backed investigative tactics that included an FBI night raid in 2006 of Rep. William Jefferson's offices on Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that the Justice Department violated congressional independence in going through a large number of the Louisiana Democrat's files. Jefferson subsequently was charged with bribery.

Top Republicans, including then-Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, denounced the raid and hailed Friday's ruling. "I felt very strongly that the separation of powers were breached when that happened," Hastert said.

Republicans in Congress tend to back Bush more strongly on issues that do not hit so close to home. But many Democrats and outside analysts say the administration is virtually spoiling for legal fights to re-examine where the executive-legislative balance of power lies.

Democrats hooted when Vice President Dick Cheney recently asserted that neither Congress nor the executive branch could probe his actions.

Perhaps the action most likely to trigger a showdown over Bush's repeated claims of executive privilege was last month's House committee vote to launch contempt charges against former White House counsel Harriet Miers. Bush has asserted executive privilege in refusing to let her testify in Congress' probe of the firing of several federal prosecutors.

Legal scholars say executive privilege is an imprecise term asserted by several presidents but never fully settled by the courts. The Miers case, some say, could be a good test of how to balance a president's need for private advice against Congress's need to oversee executive branch actions that might include political abuses.

"There will be more courts," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Friday. "This administration takes a position that no administration has, certainly since Marbury v. Madison, that somehow they are above the law," he said, referring to the 1803 Supreme Court decision establishing judicial reviews.

Bruce Fein, a Washington lawyer who was an associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan administration, fears Congress is not fighting hard enough to parry Bush's claims of executive privilege.

"The Bush administration is close to reducing Congress to wallpaper, when it comes to oversight, if Congress does not respond" more forcefully, he said.

Republicans, he added, may come to regret the precedents that Bush is asserting.

"I tell my Republican friends that Hillary Clinton will be the president some day," Fein said. "They just don't get it."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Charles Babington has covered the White House and Congress for the past six years.

In Connecticut, a perfect storm of crime By SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press Writer

In Connecticut, a perfect storm of crime By SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 34 minutes ago



HARTFORD, Conn. - Joshua Komisarjevsky was known to authorities for his extraordinary planning of burglaries, wearing latex gloves and night-vision goggles and bringing a knife to cut window screens so he could slip into homes while the owners slept.

ADVERTISEMENT


Steven Hayes was considered a clumsy thief, returning to the same area in the same stolen car to bash car windows with a hammer or rock to steal pocketbooks.

The two men, 18 years apart in age, operated alone for years.

But after meeting in a Hartford drug rehabilitation center after prison, and later rooming together at a halfway house this spring, police say they carried out a horrific crime that shattered a well-known family and unnerved people nationwide.

The parolees are accused of breaking into the home in suburban Cheshire of Dr. William Petit Jr. and his family early July 23 and holding them hostage for hours. Police say the men forced 48-year-old Jennifer Hawke-Petit, the doctor's wife, to withdraw money at a local bank, then killed her and the couple's two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela.

The state medical examiner said that Hawke-Petit was strangled and that the girls succumbed to smoke inhalation after being tied up while the house was set ablaze. The lone survivor, Dr. Petit, was badly beaten but managed to escape.

"If you put two people, two certain people, together, they say it's like mixing oil and water," Cheshire police Lt. Jay Markella said shortly after the crime. "Sometimes it jells perfectly together and things escalate. You mix the wrong chemicals, you get an explosion or you get nothing."

Both Komisarjevsky and Hayes have been charged with capital felony, first-degree sexual assault, kidnapping, assault, burglary, robbery, arson, larceny and risk of injury to children.

They are jailed on $15 million bond each. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty. The two are scheduled to appear in court again Tuesday in New Haven.

Komisarjevsky's attorney, Jeremiah Donovan, and Hayes' attorney, Thomas Ullmann, both declined to comment.

Court and prison documents detailing the pair's criminal past have led the legislature and the office of Gov. M. Jodi Rell to investigate whether Komisarjevsky and Hayes should have been paroled.

A transcript of Komisarjevsky's 2002 sentencing for seven months of burglaries in 2000 and 2001 has received significant attention because it wasn't provided to the state parole board when it reviewed his case.

Superior Court Judge James Bentivegna's comments to Komisarjevsky may have provided some foreshadowing.

"You don't seem to be somebody that's ... an addict just trying to get the money for a quick fix," he told Komisarjevsky, then 22. "What you do seem like is somebody who is a predator, a calculated, cold-blooded predator that decided nighttime residential burglaries was your way to make money."

The transcript quotes Komisarjevsky's description of walking through several front yards "to get a feel for the neighborhood and to make sure that no one was around." He also spoke about opening an unlocked sliding door at one home, listening in the doorway for up to 15 minutes. He describes robbing another home while the owner watched television upstairs.

Komisarjevsky's attorney in that case, William Gerace, acknowledged that his client's propensity for burglarizing occupied homes was "bizarre and erratic." He even told the judge that Komisarjevsky would "either be a career criminal or never come back here again. I don't think there's any middle ground," Gerace said.

But Gerace stressed that Komisarjevsky, who has a young daughter, needed psychological and emotional help.

The suspect has had eight concussions, resulting in a progressive personality deterioration, he said. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, but did not receive the antidepressants prescribed because his parents thought he might overdose. Gerace also said Komisarjevsky has learning disabilities and has attempted suicide.

Komisarjevsky grew up as an adopted son in a well-known Connecticut family. He is the grandson of a renowned Russian theater director and a former dancer.

According to parole documents, Komisarjevsky said he was 14 when he started to smoke marijuana, the same age he discovered that he had been adopted. By age 18 or 19, he started using methamphetamine and cocaine and said he would steal from upscale homes to pay for his habit.

Hayes' criminal history dates as far back as 1980, according to court records. He has been in and out of Connecticut prisons, halfway houses and drug rehabilitation programs for much of his adult life.

In between, he fathered two children, was married and worked as a cook at various restaurants.

Andrew Wittstein, supervisory state's attorney, said he has prosecuted Hayes for decades.

"He has virtually no history of violence," Wittstein said. "I was quite astonished to see him involved in this."

Hayes has been arrested more than 25 times for crimes that include larceny and issuing bad checks. He has alternately been denied and granted parole, though he often violated the conditions of his release by using drugs, according to records.

In a 1996 statement to the state police, Hayes wrote about how well things were going at a Hartford community release program less than two months before his scheduled discharge. But on the way to the bank to cash his paycheck, Hayes visited a friend who was a prostitute. She suggested they smoke cocaine.

Hayes ultimately went on the run, stole a car and spent the next 11 days breaking into about a half-dozen vehicles and taking pocketbooks and wallets.

He was caught by police while daydreaming in a stolen Volvo, he said.

"I was thinking," he said, "I wished this whole thing was over and never happened."

___

Associated Press writer John Christoffersen in New Haven contributed to this report.

Montana gov. declares fire emergency By SARAH COOKE, Associated Press Writer

Montana gov. declares fire emergency By SARAH COOKE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 7 minutes ago



HELENA, Mont. - A state of emergency was declared in Montana on Sunday because of wildfires, including one that more than doubled in size and crept to within a mile of some of the 200 nearby homes that were evacuated.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lighter wind and higher humidity were expected at the fire northeast of Missoula on Sunday, and the wind was now largely blowing the blaze back onto itself, said Pat Cross, fire information officer.

However, wind-blown embers were still sparking spot fires up to 2 miles ahead of the main blaze near the popular getaway spots of Seeley and Placid Lakes, authorities said.

"We're focusing on structure protection, establishing some anchor points and trying to get some fire line in on the south and east flanks," Cross said.

The wildfire started Friday and exploded to 8,000 acres, about 12 square miles, by late Saturday. On Sunday, it more than doubled to 18,000 acres — about 28 square miles.

Cross estimated containment at zero percent, "only because there isn't a lower number."

Incident commander Glen McNitt told The Missoulian newspaper late Sunday that he had reports that some homes or other structures had burned in the blaze, but said he had not been able to get crews into those areas to confirm the reports.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer declared the state of emergency on Sunday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized federal money to help fight the blaze. FEMA will pay 75 percent of eligible state firefighting costs for the fire, such as the fire camp, equipment and supplies, agency officials in Denver said. The money does not cover damage to homes or other buildings.

Authorities also closed a 30-mile stretch of Montana 83 for safety reasons, Cross said.

In northwestern Montana, about 50 homes ahead of a fire in the Flathead National Forest remained evacuated, and crews had to move their fire camp because the blaze burned to within 2 miles. Residents of the Good Creek area to the north may also be evacuated if the fire continues to grow, officials said.

In California, crews battling an 88-square-mile wildfire roughly 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles in Santa Barbara County were getting about 50 additional fire engines Sunday, on top of the more than 100 already on the scene, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency. More than 2,300 people were fighting the blaze.

The wildfire continued to grow Sunday, spreading to more than 56,200 acres, but officials were hopeful the blaze would move farther away from homes. It was 70 percent contained Sunday but full containment isn't expected until Sept. 7, officials said.

The month-old wildfire had changed direction Saturday, moving away from hundreds of rural homes and heading into an unpopulated area of dense vegetation, officials said. Evacuation orders remained in effect for about 650 people in the hamlet of Paradise and a camp for delinquent boys.

Elsewhere, Michigan officials said Sunday that a wildfire in a remote area of the Upper Peninsula had pushed past fire lines and grown to about 10,000 acres, or more than 15 square miles, in dry, hot and windy weather.

No injuries were reported, but several structures were threatened and a state highway was closed. No evacuations have been ordered, but at least five families had left their homes, state officials said.

Officials said Sunday that it was about 20 percent contained, down from Saturday's estimate of 30 percent.

In the East, flames had spread through about 4 square miles of pine forest in southern New Jersey's Wharton State Forest, about 25 miles southeast of Philadelphia. It was 70 percent contained by Sunday afternoon, said Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. No buildings had been damaged, she said.

Technology aids collapse investigation By SHARON COHEN and ADAM GELLER, AP National Writers

Technology aids collapse investigation By SHARON COHEN and ADAM GELLER, AP National Writers
22 minutes ago



MINNEAPOLIS - A helicopter with a camera like those used to film Hollywood movies will soon peer into the wreckage of a collapsed bridge. Laser-guided surveying equipment has already helped produce a detailed map of the debris. Software re-creating the disaster on a computer screen may even pinpoint the exact piece of bridge that gave way.

ADVERTISEMENT

Even with the water still filled with debris, investigators are already using this powerful technological arsenal to get answers about why the bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River last week. It is a quantum leap ahead of investigations of previous eras, when crews literally had to put the pieces of fallen bridge back together.

"Computers and modeling techniques are just light years from what was available 40 years ago," said Ted Galambos, a professor emeritus of structural engineering at the University of Minnesota and an expert in the stability of structural steel. "Now we can have an idea and we can test that on a computer in a few hours."

Even the dive recovery teams are turning to technology for help, using underwater video cameras to look under dangerously unstable debris. Local teams have also requested help from FBI and Navy dive teams in the search for the eight people feared dead in addition to the five confirmed victims.

State transportation officials said they would begin removing bridge debris from the Mississippi River later this week. Besides helping with the recovery operation, one goal of clearing the wreckage is to open a channel at least 56 feet wide to accommodate barge and boat traffic. Officials offered no timetable for how long it would take.

Investigators caution that it could take as long as 18 months to complete their exhaustive probe into why Minnesota's busiest bridge collapsed and fell into the river Wednesday.

But they already have begun zeroing in on clues.

On Friday, they were focusing on the south section of the bridge, where they quickly found that the span shifted 81 feet during the collapse.

On Saturday, the north side became the focus. That's where they plan to use a helicopter equipped with a high-resolution camera that can examine the debris in precise detail for any troublesome signs. The camera is kept steady by a gyroscope — which is how Hollywood crews get smooth footage while filming from a vibrating helicopter.

Investigators also plan to watch frame-by-frame enhancements of video of the collapsing bridge. In addition, the FBI used laser-guided surveying equipment to complete a detailed 3-D map of the wreckage, and quickly provided the data to the lead investigation agency, the National Transportation Safety Board.

Nineteen NTSB investigators from around the country are in Minneapolis, working out of trailers, hotels and command posts. They will be working with investigators in Washington who will be putting in long hours in front of computers.

That will include re-creating various bridge collapse scenarios with high-tech software in what is called a "finite element analysis." In this analysis, investigators can simulate removing a key support structure from the bridge and see how the bridge reacts.

"If they remove a piece and it falls down the way they saw it, that's a pretty good indication they found the right piece and there's all sorts of ways of doing that," said W. Gene Corley, senior vice president of CTL Group, an engineering firm.

Corley, who has helped investigate bridge collapses, as well as disasters such as the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City federal building, predicted that the NTSB should have a pretty good idea within a few weeks of the cause.

During his weekend news conferences, NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker repeatedly stressed the value of the computer modeling program. He said a range of data goes into the analysis, including weather, the number of cars, the speed of the vehicles, and the weight of construction equipment that had been on the bridge when it collapsed.

"This is a very accurate and a very complex model. This isn't something that most of us at least deal with on our computers," Rosenker said Sunday.

So far, investigators haven't been able to pinpoint a cause, but they've also managed to rule out a variety of scenarios.

"Every day we make progress in understanding at least where the failures are not. Where they are is where we're going to have to work a lot harder," Rosenker said.

The early clues and advances in technology could make for a far speedier investigation than after past bridge collapses.

The investigation into the 1967 collapse of a bridge linking Gallipolis, Ohio, and Point Pleasant, W.Va., took more than four years. It found that the cause "was a crack no bigger than a fingernail," said Galambos, the engineering professor.

"It was a very long and involved process. It reads like a detective story," he said.

After a portion of a bridge on I-95 in Greenwich, Conn., collapsed in 1983, investigators hauled much of the debris to a nearby state maintenance yard, recreating the scene and trying to decipher the clues, said Jim Loersch, retired as the state's manager of bridge safety and evaluation.

Investigators cut out samples of suspect steel, placing them under electron microscopes to study the grain, he said.

"If you have absolutely no idea (what happened), you'll just have to pull out every piece and reassemble the bridge just like you would in an aircraft disaster," Galambos said.

In the end, NTSB investigators determined that the Connecticut collapse was caused by loosening in the pins and hangers holding the slab of bridge in place. That was due to inadequate inspection and maintenance by the state Department of Transportation, federal investigators said. The state came up with its own findings, and the whole process took several years.

The NTSB says the Minneapolis bridge will not have to be fully reassembled, largely because of all the technology they have.

Investigators can instead focus on the part of the bridge that failed and not the entire 1,900-foot span. They also will inspect the destroyed cars to better understand how people died — or escaped.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Scolforo contributed to this report.

Faithful pray for collapse victims By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writer

Faithful pray for collapse victims By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago



MINNEAPOLIS - Across the Twin Cities, in Spanish, Greek and English, the prayers rose up Sunday. Prayers of peace for grieving families. Prayers of strength for those still searching the Mississippi River. And prayers of gratitude from those who were spared.

ADVERTISEMENT

In a leafy St. Paul neighborhood, about 70 parishioners gathered at St. George Greek Orthodox Church to ask for the recovery of Christine Sacorafas, one of eight people who have been missing since the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed Wednesday.

Her cousin, Michelle Berge, stood quietly and alone in the back row as the Rev. Richard Demetrius Andrews asked God for compassion and comfort.

"And we ask you, Lord, to return Christine to her family and her community," he said.

"We don't know where she is," Andrews said at the conclusion of the service. "There has been no word. As far as I know, they have not even found her car. This is a very agonizing time for the family, not knowing her status. Not knowing if she's alive, not knowing if she's injured or how badly."

Sacorafas, 45, of White Bear Lake, was headed to teach a Greek folk dancing class at St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church, which she attended, when she got caught in a traffic jam. She called a fellow teacher minutes before the collapse and has not been heard from since.

At least five people were killed and about 100 injured when the concrete and steel span abruptly gave way in rush-hour traffic, sending dozens of vehicles and tons of debris into the river.

At Holy Rosary Church in Minneapolis, the faithful thanked God for the "angels" who rescued 50 terrified children from a school bus when the span collapsed Wednesday.

Some of those children sat in the first few rows, then laid bouquets of flowers at a candlelit shrine to the Virgin Mary.

"The thing I always think about is if we were seconds ahead or seconds behind, we could've been under the bridge or in the water. It makes me feel lucky I'm still alive," said Elfego Vences Jr., 16, who was on the bus with his 13-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister.

He couldn't sleep for several nights afterward.

"It was the scariest thing. ... It felt like the end of the world," he said.

The Rev. Jim Barnett said that the church considers the survival of its children a miracle, and that the service was designed in part to help them heal.

"Some of the kids are still hurting. An awful lot are confused," he said.

Holy Rosary held a funeral Saturday for produce salesman Artemio Trinidad-Mena, 29, who was taking the bridge home from work. After widow Abundia Martinez said goodbye to her husband, the church baptized her 2-month-old daughter.

The couple have three other children, ages 2 to 11, in their home state of Guerrero, Mexico.

Ahmed Sahal Iidle, father of Sadiya Sahal, a pregnant nursing student who along with her toddler daughter are among the eight missing, was joined by other Somali Muslims in brief prayers Sunday night at the Brian Coyle Community Center.

They prayed for the protection of the searchers and the speedy recovery of the missing. They also announced the Somali community will hold a public memorial service for all the victims Friday at the community center.

Songs and prayers were planned for a Sunday evening interfaith service at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, where money raised will be distributed to victims' families.

At St. Olaf Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis, parishioners observed a moment of silence for both the victims and the recovery workers, who continued to search the dangerous debris-filled water for bodies.

Before the Mass, the Rev. Mark Pavlik said the bridge has been a daily part of life for many of the several hundred worshippers, a modern convenience barely noticed, let alone considered.

Now, it's a sacred spot — a grave site, a place in need of prayer.

___

Associated Press writers Martiga Lohn and Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.

Experts search UK lab for foot-and-mouth By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer

Experts search UK lab for foot-and-mouth By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 4 minutes ago



PIRBRIGHT, England - Biosafety experts scoured a high-security animal laboratory in rural England Sunday to determine how a strain of the foot-and-mouth virus may have escaped from a facility dedicated to eliminating the devastating animal disease.

ADVERTISEMENT

Officials increasingly suspect that the lab — home to a government research center and a company that makes foot-and-mouth vaccine — was the source of the outbreak on a nearby farm. That has raised hopes that the disease was not spread by other animals and could be contained.

The particular strain of the highly infectious disease was identical to one used at the lab and had not recently been seen in live animals, the agriculture department said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was hopeful that a potentially disastrous livestock epidemic could be averted.

"The first thing, having identified a possible source of the disease, we must now look at the transmission mechanism," Brown said, adding that the government has not ruled out other sources.

Britain has banned exports of livestock, meat and milk and halted the movement of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs nationwide to prevent the spread of the virus. The United States and Japan immediately banned British pigs and pork products.

The case is the first in Britain since 2001, when carcasses of the 7 million culled cattle were burned on huge pyres that dotted the countryside. The farming industry was devastated and rural tourism was badly hit.

The affected farm is about 4 miles away from the lab, which is shared by the government's Institute for Animal Health and a private pharmaceutical company, Merial Animal Health, the British arm of Duluth, Ga.-based Merial Ltd.

The agriculture department ordered a 6-mile protection zone set up around the lab and the farm. It also began an urgent review of biosecurity measures at the lab. Experts from the Health and Safety Executive were inspecting both the Merial and government facilities.

Cattle on the farm outside Wanborough, 30 miles southwest of London, tested positive for the disease, which affects cloven-hoofed animals including cows, sheep, pigs and goats. About 120 cows from the farm were slaughtered Saturday, as well as animals owned by the same farmer at two additional fields nearby, officials said.

Farmer Derrick Pride said he had done all he could since discovering the infection when his cows were grazing in a nearby rented field.

"It is nothing to do with us. It is not our fault. It is something beyond our control," Pride said, speaking from his farm in Elstead, Surrey. He said messages of sympathy offered to his family were "giving a lot of comfort to us."

The disease, which does not affect humans, can be transmitted though contact between animals, or by wind.

The agriculture department said there had been no movements of livestock from the affected farm since July 10, farther raising hopes that the situation could be contained. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or DEFRA, said the strain was present at the government lab and was used in a vaccine batch manufactured last month by Merial Animal Health.

Merial suspended manufacture of the vaccine as a precaution, but insisted Sunday its plants "operated to the highest level of product quality and safety."

Martin Shirley, director of the Institute for Animal Health, said the strain had been in "limited use" within the institute's own laboratory in the past four weeks but an investigation had found no breaches of biosecurity procedures.

"There are other possible sources of the virus, but they are looking pretty remote," microbiologist Hugh Pennington told the British Broadcasting Corp., saying it was possible the virus had spread from the laboratory on the wind.

"It may not be a huge security breach," Pennington said. "It may just be one incident which let a puff of virus out."

Lebanese vote in key election By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer

Lebanese vote in key election By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
46 minutes ago



BIKFAYA, Lebanon - Tens of thousands of Lebanese voted Sunday to replace two assassinated ruling party lawmakers in a tense showdown between the U.S.-backed government and its pro-Syrian opponents that is expected to influence this year's presidential election.

ADVERTISEMENT

The voting was largely peaceful although a few skirmishes between the rival camps were reported.

Voters picked candidates to replace Pierre Gemayel, a Christian who was shot dead in November, and Walid Eido, a Sunni Muslim killed in a Beirut car bomb in June. Both were vocal opponents of neighboring Syria, which controlled Lebanon for 29 years until it was forced out in 2005. Gemayel was also a cabinet minister.

Although the vote was for just two seats, it could affect the political future of this deeply divided nation by influencing who lawmakers elect as president in the next few months.

Lebanon's government and opposition have been locked in a fierce power struggle, and the choice of a new president could tip the balance in favor of either the government or the pro-Syrian opposition led by the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.

In Beirut, the vote for Eido's seat appeared to have been easily won by Mohammed al-Amin Itani, a candidate of parliament majority leader Saad Hariri's Future Movement. Hariri's father, former premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005, an event that sparked a massive protest movement against Syria that eventually forced Damascus to end its domination of Lebanon.

In the Metn region, a Christian stronghold in the mountains northeast of Beirut, the vote for Gemayel's seat was a bitter contest between two candidates. Amin Gemayel, the assassinated politician's father who was president of Lebanon for much of the 1980s, competed for his son's seat on behalf of the ruling coalition.

He faced off against Kamil Khoury, who is supported by Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, a former army commander and interim prime minister allied with the opposition.

Sunday's elections were considered a key popularity test for Aoun and Gemayel. Both are Christians, and the interfaith balancing act enshrined in Lebanon's constitution provides that the president must be a Maronite Christian. The current president must step down before Nov. 23.

Aoun has already said he would run for president.

Security was tight in the two electoral districts.

Late Sunday, both sides claimed victory and accused the other of forgery. Each had supporters celebrating in convoys on the streets in Beirut and Metn.

Witnesses and security officials said loyalists of Aoun and Gemayel faced off in a neighborhood east of Beirut late Sunday, even with scores of Lebanese army troops and riot police deployed to prevent trouble.

Antoine Nasrallah, a spokesman for Aoun, told Al-Jazeera that one supporter was wounded in the hand after being shot by Gemayel supporters near the town of Bikfaya in Metn. Security officials said one person was slightly injured but did not say from which camp.

"We have been informed of our victory," Aoun said through his OTV station. He accused authorities, however, of seeking to cancel one of the ballot boxes in the district of Jdeideh east of Beirut and asked supporters to head there. Partisan clashes were also reported in Jdeideh later Sunday.

Gemayel also claimed a win.

"Congratulations for your victory," he told supporters outside his house, to the backdrop of fireworks. He also called for calm. "We don't want anyone to drag us into a confrontation that we don't need."

Gemayel alleged there was voter fraud in one voting station in the Bourj Hammoud district.

While pro-government politicians accuse the opposition of being agents for Iran and Syria, Hezbollah leaders and Aoun accuse the ruling majority of subservience to the United States.

Gemayel and the government have accused Damascus of being behind the assassination of his son and a number of other anti-Syrian politicians and public figures over the last two years. Syria has denied the allegations.

With Eido's death, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's margin in parliament has been whittled down to only four seats.

The elections could exacerbate the country's deepening political crisis because Saniora's Western-backed government called them without the required approval of President Emile Lahoud, who has blocked attempts to replace the lawmakers. Lahoud, an ally of the opposition, considers Saniora's government to be illegitimate.

Gemayel and his wife, Joyce, began the day by visiting their son's grave before heading to the polling station.

"We visited Pierre to ... promise him that his blood will not be in vain," Gemayel said.

French cardinal Lustiger dies at 80 By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer

French cardinal Lustiger dies at 80 By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 30 minutes ago



PARIS - Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jew who converted to Catholicism and rose through church hierarchy to become one of the most influential Roman Catholic figures in France, died Sunday, the Paris archbishop's office said. He was 80.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lustiger — whose Polish immigrant mother died in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz — was archbishop of Paris for 24 years before stepping down in 2005 at the age of 78. He died in a medical center in Paris, the archbishop's office said.

A cause of death was not immediately provided, but Lustiger had said in April that he was being treated for a "grave illness" at a hospice.

For years, Lustiger was the public face of the church in mainly Roman Catholic France, speaking out on critical issues and serving as a voice of calm in tumultuous times. He appeared to have perfectly synthesized his Jewish heritage with his chosen faith.

"Christianity is the fruit of Judaism," he once said.

"For me, it was never for an instant a question of denying my Jewish identity. On the contrary," he said in "Le Choix de Dieu" (The Choice of God), conversations published in 1987.

A confidante of the late Pope John Paul II, Lustiger represented the pontiff at January 2005 ceremonies for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, where his mother died.

"I don't want to return because it is a place of death and destruction," said Lustiger, who had visited the camp before. "If I am going, it is because the pope asked me."

Lustiger never publicly addressed the tragedy of his mother Gisele. But during France's National Day of Remembrance to commemorate the deportation and death of French Jews during World War II, Lustiger, taking part in the reading of names in 1999, came to his mother's.

"Gisele Lustiger," he intoned, then added, "ma maman" (my mama), before continuing, Catholic World News reported.

"The strength of evil can only be answered with an even greater strength of love," Lustiger said at an August 2005 Mass in Lodz, Poland, in memory of the more than 200,000 Jews deported from there to Nazi death camps.

On May 31, a wheelchair-bound Lustiger made an emotionally charged appearance at the Academie Francaise to say goodbye to his fellow "immortals," as the 40 members of the prestigious academy are known. The author of numerous books, Lustiger was made a member of the Academie Francaise in 1995.

Despite his diminished physical appearance, "we felt his fervor," fellow member Jean-Marie Rouart said later.

Born Aaron Lustiger on Sept. 17, 1926, in Paris to Polish immigrant parents who ran a hosiery shop, he was sent to the town of Orleans, 80 miles south of the capital, to take refuge from the occupying Nazis. There, Lustiger, who was not a practicing Jew, converted to Catholicism in 1940 at the age of 14, taking the name Jean-Marie.

Two years later, his mother was deported to Auschwitz.

Lustiger was ordained a priest in April 17, 1954, in Paris, after earning degrees in philosophy and theology from the Catholic Institute's Carmes Seminary. For 15 years, he served as chaplain to students at the Sorbonne University, reportedly zipping on a motorbike through the winding streets of the Latin Quarter, the Left Bank student neighborhood.

Lustiger was appointed pastor of the Sainte Jeanne de Chantal parish, holding the post for 10 years until 1979, the year he began his swift climb up the hierarchy.

Named bishop of Orleans in 1979, Lustiger was named archbishop of Paris in 1981. Two years later, in 1983, Pope John-Paul II made him a cardinal.

Despite his role as a "prince of the Church," Lustiger remained an eminently grassroots figure, creating a Christian radio station, Radio Notre Dame, in 1981 and expounding on issues ranging from the August 2003 heat wave that killed thousands of people in France to the building of a united Europe.

Lustiger kept his personal journey of conversion a mostly private matter. However, he called for a "true dialogue" between Christians and Jews in a 2002 book, "La Promesse" (The Promise) that delved into Judeo-Christian relations and "the mystery of Israel." He specified that "Israel" in the book was the biblical reference to the Hebrews, not the Jewish state.

The book is a collection of oral meditations made in 1979 to a community of monks as well as more recent addresses at several Jewish conferences.

In an October 2003 interview in the French daily Le Figaro, Lustiger said that the "center of living gravity of the Church" was moving to Africa, the Americas and elsewhere, and predicted that, in the third millennium, Asia would become the new land of evangelization.

A funeral Mass for Lustiger was to be held Friday at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Paris archbishop's office said.

U.S. blames Shiite militia for attacks By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

U.S. blames Shiite militia for attacks By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 24 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - Rogue Shiite militiamen with Iranian weapons and training launched three-quarters of the attacks that killed or wounded American forces last month in Baghdad, stepping into the void left as Sunni insurgents have been dislodged, a top U.S commander said Sunday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Attacks against U.S. forces were down sharply last month nationwide, and military officials have expressed cautious optimism that a security crackdown is working. At the same time, the number of attacks launched by breakaway factions of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia has increased, said Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. second-in-command.

He did not provide a total number of militia attacks. But he said 73 percent of the attacks that wounded or killed U.S. troops last month in Baghdad were launched by Shiite militiamen, nearly double the figure six months earlier.

Odierno said Iran has sharply increased its support for the fighters ahead of a September report to Congress on progress in Iraq, leading to the surge in rogue militia action.

Tehran has denied U.S. allegations that it is fueling the violence in Iraq and the military claims come as the Americans and the Iranians have agreed to set up a committee to deal with Iraqi security issues.

Odierno's comments hinted at the difficulty Iraqi and U.S. security forces face in keeping the peace once U.S. troops have successfully ousted mostly Sunni al-Qaida-linked fighters from any particular spot.

"We knew this was coming, but there's been a shift," Odierno told The Associated Press in an interview after touring a mainly Shiite area of southeastern Baghdad. "Because of the effect we've had on al-Qaida in Iraq and the success against them and the Sunni insurgency, it's now shifted."

Thousands of American and Iraqi troops have flooded the streets of the capital as part of a nearly six-month-old security crackdown, mostly focused against fighters linked to al-Qaida in Iraq.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to pull his Mahdi Army fighters off the streets as the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown began on Feb. 12 in Baghdad and surrounding regions.

But disaffected members of the Mahdi Army broke away from al-Sadr control. Dissident members of the militia told the AP that they went to Iran for training and armaments and returned to Iraq to join the fight against U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Despite progress against al-Qaida in Iraq, Odierno reiterated the U.S. concern that insurgents linked to the group would try to stage an attention-grabbing attack ahead of the September report.

"I think they want to try to influence that," he said. "We have to stop them from trying to conduct some large attack here over the next 30-45 days."

In one sign of U.S. progress against al-Qaida-linked fighters, the U.S. military announced Sunday it had killed the al-Qaida in Iraq mastermind of a bombing that destroyed the famed golden dome of a sacred Shiite shrine in Samarra last year — an attack that set in motion vicious sectarian violence.

Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri, the group's Salahuddin province emir, was killed in a U.S. operation east of Samarra on Thursday, the military said.

He also was responsible for the June 13 bombing that toppled the Askariya shrine's twin minarets, the military said.

Rear Adm. Mark Fox, a U.S. military spokesman, said al-Badri's body was identified by his family and close associates.

Another 80 suspected insurgents were detained in U.S. and Iraqi raids in the Samarra area north of Baghdad over the past week, the U.S. military said. The large-scale operation involved more than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and police backed by U.S. paratroopers.

Meanwhile, Iraqi political progress remained deadlocked. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday rejected the resignations of six Cabinet ministers from the country's largest Sunni Arab bloc, asking them to rejoin his government.

But the Sunni group's leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the ministers would not reconsider until their demands were met.

Last week's pullout by the ministers left only two Sunnis in the 40-member body, undermining the prime minister's efforts to unite the country's rival factions. The defections also cast new doubt on efforts to pass laws that the United States considers crucial to unifying the country.

Odierno said the Iraqi government needed to make more political progress.

"From a security standpoint, we're doing OK. We're making progress. The issue becomes now we have to get the governmental entities to begin doing what they need to do," Odierno said.

The Sunni group, the Iraqi Accordance Front, has said it wants the release of security detainees not charged with specific crimes, the disbanding of militias and greater participation by all parties on security issues.

The prime minister, a Shiite, said it was not possible to meet all the group's demands. But he, along with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, have "agreed to exert effort to bring the brothers of the Accordance Front back to their roles," he said.

"The government is going through big challenges," al-Maliki said. "We are in need of the spirit of cooperation and integration."

The United States is pushing al-Maliki's government to pass key laws — among them, measures to share national oil revenues and incorporate ousted Baathists from Saddam Hussein's regime into mainstream politics.

Iraq's air force commander, Lt. Gen. Kamal Barzanji, called on former Iraqi pilots who have left the country to return home to help rebuild Iraq's air force.

Shiites and Sunnis have squabbled bitterly over the issue of de-Baathification, the policy of keeping former Saddam loyalists from government or military posts. Former military pilots would almost certainly have been privileged figures under Saddam's regime.

"We hope that all Iraqi pilots who love their home and love their county, we hope they come back," Barzanji said.

The U.S. military announced the deaths of four U.S. soldiers: two during fighting Sunday in Baghdad and two others in separate attacks Saturday in western Baghdad and another area near the capital.

In other violence, at least 37 people were killed or found dead nationwide, including 21 bullet-riddled bodies of people who apparently were victims of so-called sectarian death squads usually run by the Shiite militias.

Thirteen other people were killed and 14 wounded in a mortar attack in a Shiite-dominated area in southeastern Baghdad.

____

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

NASCAR suspends Gordon from race By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer

NASCAR suspends Gordon from race By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer
41 minutes ago



LONG POND, Pa. - Robby Gordon was suspended by NASCAR for the Nextel Cup race at Pocono on Sunday because of his misconduct on the race track at the Busch Series race in Canada.

ADVERTISEMENT

Gordon refused to forfeit his position on the track when ordered to by NASCAR late in Saturday's race. Officials said Gordon intentionally knocked Marcos Ambrose out of the race, and then refused to pull off the track as ordered.

"It certainly is way over the line when it comes to conduct on the track and doing what is expected of the driver to keep the event orderly," said NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp. "He cannot be in the garage area."

P.J. Jones will drive the No. 7 Ford for the Pennsylvania 500 and will start at the rear of the field.

Tharp said NASCAR will determine Gordon's status for the race at Watkins Glen this week.

Gordon also celebrated as if he had won the event, doing victory burnouts and pumping his fist at the crowd at the same time as winner Kevin Harvick.

Gordon did cross the finish line first, though the results showed he finished 18th based on the amount of laps he completed when he was disqualified. Gordon also refused to acknowledge the black flag that NASCAR waved at him every time he crossed the line over the final few laps.

"I did the most laps, I was the first car to complete them, I won the race," Gordon said. "We came here to win the race, and that's what we did."

Gordon was summoned to meet with NASCAR officials after he climbed out of his car.

NASCAR suspended Kevin Harvick from a Cup race in 2002 because of an altercation during a truck series race.

A-Rod hits 500th HR as Yanks beat Royals By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer

A-Rod hits 500th HR as Yanks beat Royals By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer
32 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Alex Rodriguez leaned to his right and watched the ball as it sailed toward the foul pole in left. When it stayed true, he raised his hands in the air — the long wait for No. 500 was finally over.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rodriguez became the youngest player in major league history to hit 500 home runs, connecting on the first pitch he saw Saturday to end a 10-day wait.

"I acted like a goofball running around the bases, but you only hit 500 once," he said after the New York Yankees beat Kansas City 16-8.

The 32-year-old Rodriguez stood at home plate for a second after his first-inning drive off Kyle Davies, waiting to see where it would land.

"I haven't hit one in so long I didn't know if it was going to be foul," he said. "Where that ball started, last week that ball would've hooked foul probably about 20 feet."

After more than a week of watching his teammates hit a lot of home runs, it was A-Rod's turn. He started trotting around the bases with a wide grin on his face as the sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium cheered wildly. He finished with three hits, along with a hug from Derek Jeter.

"I've conceded the fact that you can't will yourself to hit a home run. I tried hard for about five days," Rodriguez said.

A-Rod spoke with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and commissioner Bud Selig after the game. Selig was in San Diego and watched Barry Bonds tie Hank Aaron's career home run record with a second-inning shot off Padres starter Clay Hensley.

Rodriguez homered eight days after his birthday and surpassed Jimmie Foxx (32 years, 338 days) as the youngest player to reach 500. A-Rod is the 22nd player to reach the mark, the second this season behind Frank Thomas — Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome might get there this year, too.

It may not take very long for Rodriguez to rise to the top of the list, either. Bonds was two away from breaking Aaron's record of 755 heading into San Francisco's game Saturday night.

Rodriguez leads the majors with 36 home runs this season, one more than he hit last year.

"His prime years are ahead of him, basically," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "This is a stop-off for him. It's not a destination."

Rodriguez hugged Jeter and Bobby Abreu, who both scored on the landmark home run, and blew a kiss toward the stands after completing his trip around the bases. His teammates were already on the field and he embraced several of them on his way back to the bench.

"It was awesome and then you kind of get that high school reception when you hit a home run and all of the guys are out of the dugout," Rodriguez said. "It was awesome. Pretty cool."

The crowd buzzed and roared again when A-Rod stuck his head out of the dugout for the long-awaited curtain call, which came 10 days after he hit No. 499.

"He deserves it," teammate Johnny Damon said. "He has been a tremendous asset to this game."

After he took his seat next to Jeter, the Yankees captain reached out and playfully rubbed A-Rod's head as the two superstars laughed. They were close when they were younger but Rodriguez admitted in spring training that their relationship had cooled over the years.

The All-Star third baseman became the third player to hit 500 as a Yankee and the second to do it in the Bronx. Babe Ruth did it at Cleveland on Aug. 11, 1929, and Mickey Mantle reached the mark at home against Baltimore on May 14, 1967.

"Nobody wants to give up a homer, be a part of history that way," Davies said. "I was trying to throw a sinker down and in and I didn't get it down and in far enough."

Rodriguez went into a tailspin after hitting No. 499 on July 25 at Kansas City. He was hitless in a career-worst 22 straight at-bats before ending the slump Thursday.

His 500th came in his 1,855th game. Only two players took fewer games to reach 500: Mark McGwire (1,639) and Ruth (1,740).

"This was a fantastic, monumental achievement," Steinbrenner said in a statement released by spokesman Howard Rubenstein.

A Rutgers student ended up with the ball, and the Yankees said he didn't want to be identified. Team spokesman Jason Zillo was negotiating with the man about the ball.

"I really want it back," Rodriguez said. "But if not, I congratulate him for catching it. Nice catch."

In the meantime, his batting helmet was headed for the Hall of Fame.

A-Rod and Yankees fans have had an up-and-down relationship since he joined the team in 2004.

"It takes awhile in New York," Rodriguez said. "For some people, it takes six months to a year. I think it truly took me three to four years to understand New York."

Robinson Cano tied a career high with four hits and Bobby Abreu scored four runs for New York, which has won five of its last six to improve to a season-best 10 games over .500. Mike Myers (3-0) got the last out of the fifth to earn the win.

Davies lasted just three innings in his first start for Kansas City, which acquired him from the Braves on Tuesday for reliever Octavio Dotel. John Bale (0-1) got the loss.

Rodriguez was the overall No. 1 pick in the 1993 draft by Seattle. One year later, he became the third 18-year-old shortstop in the majors since 1900. At that point, he gave little indication that he would develop into a two-time AL MVP and one of the game's greatest home run hitters.

A-Rod's first home run came on June 12, 1995, against Tom Gordon and Kansas City.

Notes:@ Rodriguez scored three times and became the first player in major league history with 10 straight seasons of at least 35 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored.

Bonds hits 755th homer to tie Aaron By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer

Bonds hits 755th homer to tie Aaron By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer
46 minutes ago



SAN DIEGO - With a short swing, a half stare and an emphatic clap of his hands, Barry Bonds rounded the bases. After so many days and so many tries, he had finally caught Hammerin' Hank.

ADVERTISEMENT

"The hard part is over right now," Bonds said.

High above the field in a private box, baseball commissioner Bud Selig was a reluctant witness to history. Choosing to overlook the steroid allegations that have dogged the San Francisco slugger, Selig watched Bonds tie Hank Aaron's home run record — his mouth agape, hands stuffed in pockets and nary a cheer on his lips.

No. 755 was a strong shot for all the doubters, an opposite-field drive of 382 feet to left-center, moving Bonds within one swing of having baseball's pinnacle of power all to himself. It came on a 2-1, 91 mph fastball Saturday night.

"This is the hardest thing I've had to do in my entire career," he said. "I had rashes on my head, I felt like I was getting sick at times."

And it was a long time coming.

It had been eight days and 28 plate appearances since Bonds hit his 754th home run, and he came out for early batting practice Saturday, hoping to break his slump. He did it quickly, leading off the second inning.

"No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable," Selig said in a statement.

Selig said either he or a representative would attend the Giants' next few games "out of respect for the tradition of the game, the magnitude of the record and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty."

Bonds said he hadn't spoken to Selig, but welcomed him anytime.

Aaron was not in attendance. The Hall of Famer had previously said he would not follow the chase in person.

"It's a little bit different than any other milestone I've ever gone through," Bonds said. "It's Hank Aaron. I can't explain the feeling of it, it's just Hank Aaron."

Bonds drew a mixed reaction from the crowd at Petco Park after he homered off Clay Hensley. Several fans held up asterisk signs and the San Francisco slugger was booed as he headed to left field at the end of the inning.

Bonds walked his next three times up and left the game in the eighth for a pinch-runner. He raised his helmet with his left hand, then his right, and drew a standing ovation from many fans who chanted his name.

"I want to thank the fans. They have been outstanding," Bonds said. "It's been a fun ride. I really appreciate the way San Diego handled it and the way their fans handled it."

The Padres won 3-2 in 12 innings.

Bonds said he would not start Sunday, which would give him a chance to break the record at home beginning Monday night.

Bonds hit the tying homer off a former Giants draft pick who was suspended in 2005 for violating baseball's minor league steroids policy.

"I don't think we're here to discuss those matters," Bonds said.

Earlier in the day, Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th home run and spoke with Selig, who reportedly has not spoken with Bonds in several years.

Bonds had been closely monitoring A-Rod's quest in the past week — like Bonds, Rodriguez took advantage of his first opportunity of the game, connecting at Yankee Stadium.

Both Bonds and Rodriguez gave their batting helmets to the Hall of Fame. Bonds said his helmet from 756 also would go to Cooperstown, and that his uniform from the record-breaker would probably wind up there someday.

Bonds' milestone shot clunked off an advertising sign on the facade and fell into the navy blue bleachers below — right under the main scoreboard featuring a giant photo of the smiling slugger.

A fan sitting in that area threw back a ball onto the field, but that was not the historic one. Instead, the souvenir wound up in the hands of 33-year-old plumber Adam Hughes of La Jolla, and he was whisked to a secure area so the specially marked ball could be authenticated.

Hughes said he hadn't decided what to do with the prize.

"I don't know what direction I am going," he said.

Bonds walked a half-dozen steps after connecting, clapped his hands and rounded the bases with no hint of a smile.

After Bonds crossed the plate, he lifted his batboy son, Nikolai, and carried him several steps in an embrace.

The 43-year-old star got a hug from teammate Ryan Klesko, and Bonds slowly walked through a greeting line of other Giants. Moments later, he walked over to the field-level seats and kissed 8-year-old daughter Aisha and wife, Liz, through the screen.

Bonds then lifted his cap before going to the far end of the dugout and hugging Sue Burns, the wife of late Giants ownership partner Harmon Burns.

The home run came at 7:29 p.m. PDT as much of the country was getting ready to head to bed. By the time Bonds did postgame interviews, most fans surely were asleep.

Only two other major league games were being played when Bonds connected. The news was met with scattered boos at Dodger Stadium and Seattle.

"It's nice to see Barry get it over with. Now, let's see how many more he hits," Boston star David Ortiz said.

Mariners hitting instructor Jeff Pentland coached Bonds at Arizona State.

"I think he is probably the best hitter since Babe Ruth, but that's my opinion. I think the things he's done, the records he's broken. He's stood out amongst the players of today and been way above them, head and shoulders above them for his career," he said.

The godson of Willie Mays and the son of an All-Star outfielder, Bonds seemed destined for greatness from the start. Funny thing, his speed drew a lot more attention than his strength when he broke into the majors as a lanky leadoff hitter.

Even when Bonds became a threat to Aaron's record, many fans thought age would slow him down. Instead, his power numbers surged — as did speculation about steroid use.

Bonds steadfastly denied that he knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs and let the allegations bounce off him, the same way fastballs deflected off his bulky body armor.

Choking up an inch or so on his favorite maple bats, No. 25 became the No. 1 target for boobirds outside the Bay Area. He has remained beloved back home through all of the off-field issues, refusals to sign autographs and his own surly behavior.

Bonds was constantly shadowed by doubts rather than showered in affection the way Mark McGwire was nearly a decade ago.

The whole baseball world — the whole country, really — joined the celebration when McGwire broke Roger Maris' season home run record in 1998. After Big Mac launched No. 62, he pointed to heaven, hoisted his son and hugged Sammy Sosa.

Yet that story did not have a happy ending. Disgraced by a poor performance in front of a congressional panel looking into steroids, McGwire basically became a recluse and didn't come close in his first bid to make the Hall of Fame.

Bonds broke McGwire's mark of 70, hitting 73 homers in 2001. Ever since, he's been on a path toward Aaron, a journey that hasn't been full of joy. Bonds has been hobbled by bad knees and bickered with Giants management, and his chase was hardly backed by Selig.

The commissioner is a close friend of Aaron's, who began and ended his career in Selig's native Milwaukee.

A lot of fans, in fact, are already rooting for the day when Bonds' record falls. While Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas are next up among active players, Rodriguez is considered the most likely successor. The Yankees star just turned 32 and is well ahead of Bonds' pace at the same age.

That said, Bonds' quest was the main reason Giants owner Peter Magowan brought Bonds back for a 15th season in San Francisco, signing the slugger to a $15.8 million, one-year contract right before spring training.

Even with Bonds at 755, there is bound to be a split among many fans over who is the real home run champ.

There will be some who always consider Babe Ruth as the best — those old films of him wearing a crown will last forever. Others will give that honor to Aaron, as much for his slugging as his quiet dignity in breaking Ruth's record in 1974.

While steroids tinged Bonds' chase, race was the predominant issue when Aaron took aim at Ruth's mark of 714.

Aaron dealt with hate mail and death threats from racist fans who thought a black man was not worthy of breaking the record set by a white hero, the beloved Babe. Bonds, too, has said he deals with racial issues and that threats have been made on his life at times.