France says 3 hostages released in Africa

PARIS (AP) — Three hostages kidnapped in a Niger mining town last year have been released safe and sound, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said Friday. Four others remain in captivity.

Al-Qaida's North African offshoot claimed responsibility for seizing seven hostages in the middle of the night in September from their guarded villas in the town of Arlit, where they were working with French nuclear company Areva.

Three of the hostages were released Thursday night, Sarkozy's office said. They are Frenchwoman Francoise Larribe, and Jean-Claude Rakotorilalao and Alex Awando, of Madagascar and Togo.

Sarkozy expressed his support for the families of the four French …

Fed boss says US should cut budget deficit

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday called for the United States to eventually whittle down its record-high budget deficits and for countries like China to get their consumers to spend more, moves that would help combat skewed global trade and investment flows that contributed to the financial crisis.

Bernanke's remarks to a Fed conference in Santa Barbara, Calif., comes just days after the federal government on Friday reported a $1.42 trillion deficit for 2009 budget year that ended Sept. 30. The previous year's deficit was $459 billion.

The Fed chief's comments were aimed at reducing global imbalances, and echo pledges made by leaders of the …

Edward Fronczak, office manager

Edward Fronczak, 79, retired office manager for Teamsters Local734, died Saturday at Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge.

Mr. Fronczak, of Niles, worked at the union for 30 years, until1986. A World War II veteran, he was a past commander of Neer-GoudieTeamsters Post 846 of the American Legion and a volunteer at HinesVeterans Hospital.

…

Singer, actress Lina Romay dies at 91

PASADENA, California (AP) — Lina Romay, who sang with the Latin-inflected Xavier Cugat orchestra in the early 1940s before beginning a decade-long career as a film and TV actress, has died. She was 91.

Romay's son, Jay Gould, says his mother died Dec. 17 of natural causes at a hospital in Pasadena.

Romay began her entertainment career by touring as the Cugat orchestra's lead singer.

A …

Pitt's Blair expected to play despite knee scare

Pitt center DeJuan Blair is expected to play Friday night when the No. 4 Panthers face Texas Tech in Newark, N.J.

Blair developed swelling in his right knee before sitting out Pitt's 74-60 victory over Belmont on Tuesday night. An MRI and X-rays showed no damage.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was cautious because the …

GLOBAL TEMPS:

Midnight to Midnight on the previous day.

Hi Lo Otlk

Amsterdam 66 53 cdy

Auckland 62 57 rn

Bangkok 91 80 cdy

Beijing 89 71 clr

Berlin 68 51 cdy

Dhahran 113 95 clr

Hong Kong 89 82 …

REANALYSIS

Looking back at "Shorter Contributions" in the Bulletin of April-May 1937:

METEORS SHOW SUPERSTRATOSPHERE WINDS BLOW AT 200 M.P.H.

At the meeting of the American Philosophical Soc., April, 193S, Dr. C. P. Olivier, of the Flower Observatory, Univ. of Pennsylvania, told of his computations of the velocity of a giant fireball which flared over Texas and Oklahoma …