Better airport scanners delayed by privacy fears

High-tech security scanners that might have prevented the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a jetliner have been installed in only a small number of airports around the world, in large part because of privacy concerns over the machines' capability to see through clothing.

The body-scanning technology is in at least 19 U.S. airports, while European officials have generally limited it to test runs.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to ignite explosives aboard a Northwest Airlines jet as it was coming in for a landing in Detroit, did not go through such a scan where his flight began, at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

The …

Clemens notches 19th victory

Roger Clemens struck out 11 en route to his major-league-leading19th victory as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays snapped the ClevelandIndians' four-game winning streak with a 10-5 victory Sunday.

Clemens (19-4) moved a triumph away from his fourth 20-victoryseason and first since 1990 as he bids for his fourth Cy Young Award.Only Steve Carlton and Greg Maddux have won the award four times.

It was Clemens' third consecutive double-digit strikeout game,his 11th of the season and the 79th of his career. His ERA rose from1.66 to 1.78, which still leads the American League but ranks secondin the majors to the Montreal Expos' Pedro Martinez (1.70).With all his …

Envoy: Talks' failure threatens Palestinian state

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N.'s top Mideast envoy is warning that the failure to restart Palestinian-Israeli negotiations could threaten the two-state solution endorsed by both sides and the international community.

Robert Serry told the U.N. Security Council Monday that "the lack of mutual trust and tensions on the ground" have made the resumption of direct talks very difficult.

He cited …

Singer Al Jarreau hospitalized in France

Grammy-award winning singer Al Jarreau was in intensive care in a French hospital Friday after encountering breathing problems in the Alps that forced him to cancel four concerts.

However, a note on his official Web site said the 70-year-old Jarreau was in "good spirits" and "looking forward to getting back out on the road." The note said he would perform in Nuremburg, Germany, next Thursday as scheduled.

Jarreau fell ill before a concert Thursday at a jazz festival in the French mountain town of Barcelonnette, in the southern Alps, and "decided to take precautionary measures and admit himself into the hospital after his body did not …

State honors eight schools for excellence

The West Virginia Department of Education is honoring eightschools for providing rigorous curriculums, innovative programs andother efforts. Each school was named a School of Excellence for the2008-2008 academic year. Receiving the …

FICTION 101

Each year, we call for submissions of exactly 101 words of fiction. This year, we received over 150 microstories in wildly divergent styles--including not one but two expressing anxiety over premature organ harvesting. Huh.

The judges battled fiercely over the winners. The format forces each word to really count, and many promising stories were tossed because of a single jarring sentence. After culling our favorites, we were frustrated when some were disqualified because of improper word counts. A few foxy folks even tried to cheat by hyphenating unhyphenatable words. (Don't bother sending letters weighing in on the Great Hyphen Debate--it's been settled.).

Oh yeah, and a …

Dollar mixed, gold down in Europe

The U.S. dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading Wednesday. Gold fell.

The euro traded at $1.3162, down from $1.3177 late Tuesday in New York.

Other dollar rates:

_88.83 Japanese yen, down from …