News In Brief

UH-OH; TROUBLE COMING

Looking for work as an executive appointments secretary? There may be just such an opening soon ... in Uganda. News reports say President Yoweri Museveni and some Cabinet ministers kept a date to appear at a fund-raiser last weekend that featured a livestock auction. But as they relaxed nearby, a bull broke loose and charged at them. Museveni knocked over two pieces of furniture in his haste to retreat. Except for bruised dignity, he wasn't hurt - although a guard was, in trying to restrain the animal.

FIND SOMEONE ELSE; I'M BUSY

The booming US economy is good for everyone, right? You'd get an argument about that from Derry, N.H. It seems local contractors are so fully booked that only one of them bothered to bid on part of a downtown improvement project. And the bid was for $250,000 more than Town Council OK'd for the job - meaning the work may have to be put off until later.

'Sixth Sense,' No. 1 again, joins the box-office elite

The ghostly thriller "The Sixth Sense" is the first movie in more than a year to rule at the North American box office for four consecutive weekends. It grossed $20.1 million last Friday through Sunday, giving it a cumulative total of $138.9 million. "Saving Private Ryan" was the last to top the box office four times in a row, ending the weekend of Aug. 14-16, 1998, when it earned $13.2 million. "The Sixth Sense" joins 1997's "Titanic" and this year's "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" as the only films to earn more than $20 million four straight weekends. Estimated grosses Aug. 27-29 (in millions):

1. "The Sixth Sense" $20.1

2. "13th Warrior" 10.3

3. "Runaway Bride" 6.8

4. "Bowfinger" 6.6

5. "Mickey Blue Eyes" 5.4

6. "The Thomas Crown Affair" 4.6

7. "In Too Deep" 4.2

(tie) "The Blair Witch Project" 4.2

9. "The Astronaut's Wife" 4.0

10. "The Muse" 3.9

Exhibitor Relations Inc./AP

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society