Philippines says plane baby may be up for adoption

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The baby boy born on a flight from the Middle East to the Philippines and abandoned in an airplane trash bag will be put up for adoption if the mother is not found or declared unfit, a government official said Tuesday.

The baby, named George Francis after Gulf Air's flight code GF, was doing fine, watched closely by nurses and social workers while authorities searched for his mother.

Officials have identified a person who occupied a bloodstained seat on the plane but are still verifying if she is the boy's mother, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman told The Associated Press.

"He is well. He takes a lot of milk, but he is being observed …

Storari completes medical with Juventus

Marco Storari is set to become a Juventus player after completing his medical with the club.

The goalkeeper will sign a three-year contract with Juventus on Wednesday.

Storari was at AC Milan last season, but joined Sampdoria on loan from January until the end of the campaign.

The 32-year-old Storari has been signed as …

Saying yes to yard trimmings

Representing 30 communities north of Dallas and Fort Worth, the Upper Trinity Regional Water District recently approved a plan to compost yard trimmings and land apply biosolids. Both of these materials currently are going into landfills. The board now needs written contracts with the municipalities and the private processor, Agronomics Management Group of Arlington, Texas. The cities have all participated in the process to date, says Tom Taylor of the regional water district.

Many of the cities are currently …

UK retail sales declined 0.4 pc in December compared to November

Retail sales volume in the United Kingdom fell 0.4 percent in December compared to November, the government said, giving yet another sign of a slowdown in the economy.

A number of retailers have reported disappointing sales during the weeks before Christmas, and that has added pressure on the Bank of England to cut its base interest rate.

The Office for National Statistics cautioned that single-month figures on retail …

White House: Tuesday's GOP wins not about Obama

The White House says that Republican wins in two governors' races were not referendums on the president.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday that voters went to the polls in Virginia and New Jersey to work through "very local issues that didn't involve the president." The presidential spokesman said voters were concerned about the economy.

"I don't think the president needed an election or an exit poll to come to that conclusion," Gibbs said.

By contrast, Gibbs acknowledged that the 2010 midterm congressional elections will be more about the Obama agenda.

Republicans turned aside …

Roman B. Wolny

Roman B. Wolny, 80, a music teacher and composer of Polishreligious songs, died Tuesday in Mercy Hospital.

Mr. Wolny, of the Bridgeport neighborhood, was an organist andmusic teacher at three Chicago churchs, St. Salomea, Holy Trinity andSt. Mary of Perpetual Help.

From 1932 to 1939, he was a composer and music teacher at theCathedral of Krakow in his native …

Police Charge 4 in Sex Assault Case

MILWAUKEE - Four more people were charged Thursday in connection with the case of an 11-year-old girl who authorities say had sex with as many as 20 people as a 16-year-old girl coached her.

Ten people have been charged so far in the case.

Kelvin L. Bonds Jr., 18; Eric Ezell, 20; and Darnell J. Gurley, 17, were charged Thursday with first-degree sexual assault of a child. Altonio L. Chaney, 22, was charged with being party to a crime of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

The criminal complaint filed Thursday also charged Chaney with having sexual intercourse with a child 16 or older in a separate incident.

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