and the parent company of Household Finance, now part of HSBC North America.That investigation remains open and "there are specific players in the market we are interested in," said Barankin, who declined to detail those specifics.New York Atty Gen. officials said they hadn't seen the politician until his body was found.The U.S. Qanooni questions that.The existence of foreign fighters inside the Taliban was obvious and well known, Qanooni said. Critics say immigration matters should be handled only by federal officers."If the immigration community starts identifying local police with federal immigration authorities, then they will be distrustful of the police and become hesitant to report crimes, whether they are victims or witnesses," said Hector Villagra, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California's Orange County office.Inmates identified as suspected illegal immigrants are transferred to federal authorities for deportation as soon as they complete their sentences in county custody, said Chief Marc L. Their secret, he figures, lies in their ability to retain a barrio identity while tapping into other worlds that normally don't meet, including country music, white Christian groups and die-hard Chicano homeboys."There are very, very few groups in history like Los Lonely Boys coming from the barrio and crossing over to mainstream rock and roll," Galan said the other day. Blending in with the background, either by changing color or sitting very still, helps them survive.These quiet lizards don't leap around, but you might see them moving like they're doing push-ups.Western fence lizards are happy in just about any Southern California environment except the desert. If she actually makes it Monday, it's going into the history books."Nestled in this well-heeled suburb next to a mall featuring Fendi and Neiman-Marcus, Canoe Brook is no stranger to celebrities.

What you lose is, you lose all the potential of what that life would have held... I think I might have taken it harder than my wife, actually. Rasheed Flayih Mohammed, commander of the Interior Ministry's special forces, denied that prisoners in the facility had been mistreated. stock markets.By the flashy standards of the wealthy emirate, it's a subdued beginning."There will be no financial or real fireworks here on Day One," said DIFX Chairman Lynton Jones, a veteran executive of the Nasdaq Stock Market and former chief of the International Petroleum Exchange.The fireworks could begin soon, however. The Pittsburgh Pirates traded left-hander Mark Redman to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Jonah Bayliss and a player to be named... Left-hander Ray King was traded from St. Embassy attache told an African magistrate Monday.The magistrate later denied Alexander bail, calling him a flight risk.Alexander, 54, was arrested Wednesday in Windhoek, Namibia The U.S. NATO has about 20,000 forces in Afghanistan, with almost half -- from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands -- deployed in the south.. Sameer Baghdadi and two of his bodyguards were killed in a barrage of gunfire while driving in the Dora neighborhood.

In the title story of "Last Night," an unfaithful husband, about to honor his ailing wife's wish that he end her life, remembers her in her 20s.The stories are compact, intimate, some born from a single sentence, with Matthiessen joking that knowing Salter means finding your private remarks immortalized in prose. 11 (New York)*--** -- Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.. General Manager Ed Hart, a former concessions consultant for professional sports teams, said his club had hoped to average 2,000 to 3,000 for its inaugural season, but the Flyers were averaging barely 1,000 fans through nine home games."The first week we were competing with high school graduations and the Angels," Hart said. And it all started because Needham couldn't keep track of all the movies he saw."Movies have been a major part of my life all the way through," Needham, 38, says over the phone from his home in Bristol, England.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander seems to alternate between superb and shoddy, usually from start to start, sometimes from inning to inning.He burst onto the big-league scene in June 2002, finishing 9-4 with a 3.66 earned run average that season and winning Game 7 of the World Series, but he has been inconsistent ever since, going 24-29 with a 4.65 ERA over the last two years.In his first start this season, Lackey needed 49 pitches to throw four no-hit innings against Texas on April 7 before collapsing during a four-run, 48-pitch fifth. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with the South's top official dealing with Pyongyang, his first meeting with a leading South Korean official in the northern capital in more than three years.South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong Young has pressed the communist nation to peacefully resolve the standoff over its nuclear program.He is visiting the North to celebrate the fifth anniversary of a landmark summit between the divided Koreas.. Long after anyone alive remembers Shostakovich personally or knows much about the circumstances of his life, his music will remain, and listeners will be grateful.. The dollar rose to 108.50 yen from 107.51.Among the day's highlights:* General Motors rallied $2.70, or 8.5%, to $34.51, for the biggest jump in the Dow average, on reports that the United Auto Workers would negotiate with GM on cost cuts.* Intel declined 72 cents to $26.98. What changed?Not enough, apparently.Voters want a mayor who will do something about the city's failing schools, and they don't care if the mayor has no direct control over the Los Angeles Unified School District. The less-restrictive timeline in the Senate war spending bill garnered 51 votes last week.But Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the majority leader's proposal was part of his long-term strategy to keep pressure on the White House and its GOP allies in Congress."He's become absolutely convinced that this administration has no intention of changing its status quo policy," Manley said.*noam.levey.