Tunnel Sous La Manche? Last week the dream of a 3,000-mile sub-Atlantic railway seemed to grow ever so slightly less mad, as Britons and Frenchmen got down again to dealing seriously with their half-century-old project of driving a double-track tunnel under the English Channel, 21 miles across. In London the French Ambassador, popular M. Aimé Joseph de Fleuriau, officially declared at a dinner tendered him in the House of Commons, "When the British Government and the British Nation are ready ...

The mass this Sunday at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach will be offered on behalf of five people. Only one of them is a recently deceased head of a global terrorist network. Parishioner Henry Borga requested the mass intention, on behalf of one Osama bin Laden, which is a long-standing tradition in the Catholic Church in which masses are offered for souls in purgatory or to remember someone who has died or in ...

In October 2000, I found myself drinking champagne in an east London bar with Molly Ringwald. I'd had the usual schoolboy interest in the coltish American actress ever since The Breakfast Club; she was visiting town and a mutual friend suggested we meet. Molly wore fishnet stockings and her hair was short and brown. We talked about a sitcom she was developing, and about the U.S. presidential race. When the bottle was empty she went off to have dinner ...

I was a 37-year-old senior vice president in charge of the consumer-products-and-publishing division at Nickelodeon, the children's cable channel, in my office celebrating with a few colleagues the announcement of a huge, groundbreaking deal with Sony to create and market home videos of our hit shows, such as Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy. The phone rang. My assistant shouted, "Oh, man — it's Sumner! On Line 1!" Sumner Redstone, that is, then as now the chairman and majority owner ...

Turkey's foreign minister denied any government link to a controversial historical drama being broadcast on Turkey's state television network. The denial comes after the Israeli government accused the program of being state-sponsored "incitement." "As far as I understand, the series is produced by a private company. TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corp.) is an independent organization after all," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a brief appearance before journalists at Ankara airport. "This is a matter to be evaluated entirely ...

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled plans Monday to sell off state assets worth an estimated 16 billion ($25 billion) as part of moves to reduce the UK's national debt. The portfolio of "non-financial assets" set to be sold within the next two years include the Channel Tunnel rail link, student loan debt and the government's share in a uranium-processing company, Urenco. Brown's government has pumped billions of pounds into the UK economy as part of its economic stimulus program, ...

England soccer fans will only be able to watch Saturday's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on the Internet after negotiations to broadcast it on television collapsed. Failed sports channel Setanta had been due to televise the game, but following its demise other channels such as Sky, the BBC and ITV, do not want to pay the rights fee, particularly as England have already sealed their place in the finals in South Africa. International sports rights agency Kentaro, who hold ...

Mackenzie Phillips hid in her home, made compulsive purchases and struggled with personal issues, she tells Oprah Winfrey. The 49-year-old former child star, best known as Julie on the sitcom "One Day at a Time," also reportedly tells Winfrey about a family secret she's kept hidden for 31 years. The interview is scheduled to air Wednesday. Phillips' book, "High on Arrival," comes out the same day. Staffers at Winfrey's show wouldn't comment on the details of Phillips' interview. ...

A southern California assemblyman resigned Wednesday after a recording of him whispering about sexual exploits to a colleague was made public. Former Republican Assemblyman Mike Duvall was at an appropriations committee meeting in July when a microphone picked up his licentious conversation. "I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state," Duvall said in a statement on his ...

At least five schoolgirls died in a stampede Thursday at a government school in New Delhi, police said. Former Republican Assemblyman Mike Duvall was at an appropriations committee meeting in July when a microphone picked up his licentious conversation. "I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state," Duvall said in a statement on his Web site that ...