Congo journalists face danger ahead of election

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A dozen men scaled the wall of the private Congolese television station that is supporting the country's leading opposition presidential candidate. Investigators say the attackers doused the offices in gasoline and set them ablaze.

Two employees escaped the inferno only by climbing an air conditioning shaft onto the roof.

Journalists in Congo are being shot at, beaten up by police officers and illegally detained. Life for reporters has become ever more dangerous as tensions rise ahead of presidential and legislative elections scheduled in November.

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed on paper, in the constitution, but the reality we observe on the …

Iverson makes no apologies for All-Star start

Allen Iverson makes no apologies for being voted to start in the All-Star game and doesn't care about critics who say he doesn't deserve to be there.

Iverson was voted an Eastern Conference starter even though he's played only 20 games. The Philadelphia 76ers guard briefly retired after an ill-fated stint with Memphis, and his 14.4 scoring …

Warsaw star Edwin ineligible for season

The Illinois High School Association has ruled that Jason Edwin, awidely recruited basketball star at Warsaw (Ill.) High School, willremain ineligible for the 1999-2000 season for violating recruitingand residency standards.

Edwin, a 6-6 senior who moved to Warsaw from the U.S. VirginIslands as a sophomore, was ruled ineligible before the Class Atournament last March because of questions regarding his status as anemancipated and self-supporting student. After a lengthyinvestigation, IHSA executive director Dave Fry upheld Edwin'sineligibility for the current school year "because he couldn't provehe was fully emancipated and …

Lille clings to 1st place ahead of Marseille match

PARIS (AP) — Lille has seen its five-point lead in the French league wiped out over the last two matches, just as defending champion Marseille's title bid is gathering momentum.

Lille tops the league only on goal difference from Rennes, Marseille is only one point behind in third place and Paris Saint-Germain is just two points adrift in fourth spot.

Lille travels to Marseille on Sunday and Lille midfielder Florent Balmont thinks his team will need plenty of grit and determination to get a result at Stade Velodrome.

"We'll need to be very strong because we're going to suffer a lot over there," Balmont said. "If we get a point there we'll be happy with that because we'll …

Americans Dalhauser, Rogers in beach v'ball last 4

Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser of the United States are in the beach volleyball final four after beating Germany 21-13, 25-23 Monday.

The reigning world champions and gold medal favorites beat Eric Koreng …

Longtime newspaper circulation director dies

John S. Kuhn, longtime circulation director for CharlestonNewspapers, died at his Belle home on Saturday after a shortillness.

He was 88.

Kuhn, who worked for Charleston Newspapers from 1947 to 1983, wasknown for the knowledge he had about his work as well as hisstorytelling abilities and kind ways.

"He was circulation director when I started here in 1978," saidLisa Estep, state circulation manager. "He was always full ofinformation. I learned most of the history of Charleston Newspapersand circulation from him.

"He was very outgoing," she said. "He always had a story to tell.He was a good person. He cared about his employees."

Craig Selby, …

Falling chip prices send shoppers down memory lane

"It's crazy," said Jim Winkey of the precipitous price drop for computer components, a drop which has been going on for at least six months and which shows no signs of reversing direction. The price drop is good news for everyone who wants more speed and power, but who doesn't want to purchase a new computer. According to many computer professionals, the time is ideal for upgrading personal computers.

Winkey is the owner of J&M Computer Services in Lancaster. He sells, builds, upgrades and repairs computers, and in recent months he's seen price drops such as an 8MB (megabyte) upgrade falling from $240 to between $90 and $120, and a Pentium 75 CPU plummeting from $400 to $190. …