British Court Upholds Large Divorce Pact

LONDON - Britain's Court of Appeal upheld a $95 million award to the ex-wife of an insurance tycoon on Thursday, the largest judgment ever in a contested divorce in England and Wales.

The court rejected businessman John Charman's argument that a lower court's award of just under 37 percent of his assets for his wife of 29 years, Beverley Charman, was "grotesque and unfair."

John Charman, 54, who built up his fortune during his marriage, is president and chief executive of Bermuda-based Axis Capital Holdings Ltd., and former senior deputy chairman of the Lloyd's insurance market.

The couple divorced last year and have two adult children.

In the lower …

Syria willing to talk peace with new Israel govt

Syria says it's willing to resume indirect peace talks with Israel's new government as long as the talks focus on an Israeli withdrawal from the entire Golan Heights to lines that preceded the June 1967 Mideast war.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem made the statements Wednesday during a news conference with Italy's foreign minister. Indirect talks through …

Moss-covered accessories certainly do grow on you

It was inevitable. The Rolling Stones generation is growing oldand beginning to gather moss. Literally.

Moss-covered lampshades, boxes, picture frames, topiary trees,bookends and fire screens are the latest thing at Branca Inc., adecorative accessories shop at 65 W. Illinois.

"People really love them," says owner Alessandra Branca. "Theylove the whimsy of them, which is what really pleases me."

It also must please her that customers are willing to payanywhere from $25 for a small, rosebud-covered box to $450 for alarge, moss-covered topiary tree.

The moss-covered accessories can be …

Youths in Poland play football against racism

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Warsaw, which is to stage the opening match in Euro 2012, staged an anti-racism event, involving teenagers from across the world as it aims to host a trouble-free football tournament next year.

The "Poland for Everyone" event was organized on Friday by the Foreign Ministry …

Ohio man repays borrowed gasoline after 34 years

An Ohio couple has been repaid for a liquid asset they loaned out 34 years ago.

Violet and Harold Goff of Southington say a man showed up at their home recently and explained that he'd appeared at their door in 1974 when he was 17 and had run out of gas.

Back then, Harold Goff got a five-gallon can of gasoline for Jeffrey Hardin. Goff …

Acting out 'Crimes' of passion 'Cherish' is the word Morgan Freeman uses to describe his feelings about his career

He was born in Chicago, but no city is Morgan Freeman's kind oftown. Between films, he can be found chilling out on his Mississippifarm. "I could accommodate a hundred people, and we would only runinto each other sporadically," says the owner of 125 acres of landdown South.

"At home if the phone rings, I let it keep ringing," he says."Hollywood has my number, but they can call back. I don't even have acell phone. When I'm on my boat, nobody can reach me. I love it."

Occasionally, he even stops by Hollywood to make a film. Witness"High Crimes," starring Freeman as Charlie Grimes, a down-on-his-luck military defense attorney and recovering alcoholic who isfighting to …

Letters

Y2K: caveat emptor

DERYCK WILLIAMS ARTICLE IN THE AUGUST issue,"The big fix" (p. 18), was interesting. In the section reviewing the year 2000 issues of a private members' club in Toronto, he wrote that MS Office 97 is Y2K-compliant. Though it might not be an issue for that club (for which I'm happy that most critical step of doing a year-2000 compliance review was undertaken), readers might not be aware that not all versions of MS Office 97 are year-2000 compliant.

Today in general, many companies' claims of Y2K-compliance are being made only about product versions being distributed now. These products often are not the same as those originally marketed under the product …