News In Brief

HERE'S WHAT WE THINK OF YOU

Out of admiration for Iraqi defiance of the US, a survey during the Gulf War showed large numbers of parents in the Arab world were naming their newborn sons "Scud," after the most famous missile in Iraq's arsenal. Now, a similar study in Pakistan indicates the name of choice for newborn boys is ... Osama. That's in tribute to Osama bin Laden, the suspected terrorism-financier sought in connection with the 1998 bombings of two US embassies. He's said to be in hiding in neighboring Afghanistan.

BUT IT WAS A GREAT IDEA

The oomph quickly went out of a noontime anti-seafood rally last week outside a popular eatery in Atlantic City, N.J., by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Too late, the group discovered that Dock's Oyster House serves no lunch.

None of the world's really large stadiums is in the US

The US women's soccer team pulled a lot of fans into the Rose Bowl Saturday for the Wold Cup championship game against China. But the crowd of 90,185 was small by the standards of some of the globe's biggest stadiums - and less than half the 240,000 capacity of the largest, in Prague, Czech Republic. The world's biggest stadiums:

1. Strahov Stadium, Prague,

Czech Republic 240,000

2. Maracaa Municipa Stadium,

Rio de Janeiro 205,000

3. Rungrado Stadium,

Pyong-yang, North Korea 150,000

4. Estadio Maghalaes Pinto,

Belo Horizonte, Brazil 125,000

5. Estadio Morumbi,

So Paulo, Brazil 120,000

(tie) Estadio da Luz,

Lisbon 120,000

(tie) Senayan Main Stadium,

Jakarta, Indonesia 120,000

(tie) Yuba Bharati Krirangan,

near Calcutta, India 120,000

9. Estadio Castelo,

Fortaleza, Brazil 119,000

10. Estadio Arrudo,

Recife, Brazil 115,000

(tie) Estadio Azteca,

Mexico City 115,000

(tie) Nou Camp,

Barcelona, Spain 115,000

- "The Top 10 of Everything 1999"