USA
Just two weeks after forming a committee to raise money and gauge support for his candidacy, US Sen. Evan Bayh (D) of Indiana announced Saturday that he would not run for president after all. "The odds were always going to be very long for a relatively unknown candidate like myself," he said. Meanwhile, Democratic Party sources said former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who was John Kerry's running mate in 2004, will announce his candidacy for president after Christmas in New Orleans, a city that symbolizes an economic gap he wants to address.
Representatives of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and its 15,000 striking workers are scheduled to return to the bargaining table Monday in Pittsburgh for the first time since meetings broke off Nov. 17. Union members picketed outside about 150 Goodyear retailers in the US and Canada Saturday to protest plant closings and planned cuts in employee benefits.
Mariela Conesa, who arrived in Florida from Cuba eight years ago on a raft, was reunited with her 14-year-old son and husband on Saturday, a day after they and 13 other Cuban refugees landed in the Florida Keys. The father and son made the same trip in January, but were sent back because the derelict bridge where they landed wasn't considered US soil. Pressured by Conesa, the authorities revised the ruling so that when her family returned Friday, they could stay.
Two Discovery shuttle astronauts are expected to take the fourth spacewalk of their mission Monday, one more than originally planned, to fix a stuck solar array on the International Space Station. NASA will delay the shuttle's homecoming one day until Friday as it addresses the problem.
Firefighters warned people in the Pacific Northwest not to use carbon monoxide-producing equipment to heat their homes as utilities scrambled over the weekend to restore power across the region. About 1.5 million households lost power last Friday during a windstorm.
National Basketball Association referees ejected all 10 players on the court at the time of a melee during Saturday night's game between the visiting Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. The brawl was the league's worst since Indiana Pacers players fought with Detroit Pistons fans in 2004. A hard foul near the end of Denver's 123-100 victory triggered the fisticuffs.
Time magazine has selected anyone and everyone who uses or creates content on the World Wide Web as its 2006 "Person of the Year." The issue featuring the selection hits newsstands Monday. The cover shows a mirror above a computer keyboard so readers can see their reflections.
