Stamping Your Mark

Saltford: The Bristol and Bath Festival of Stamps and Postcardswill take place from 10am to 4pm on Saturday at Saltford Hall.

Admission is 80p …

Music education: learning is forever

Do you dream of accompanying Sarah McLachlan on a worldwide tour? Or perhaps you fancy yourself a future president of a successful independent record label. Or better yet, maybe you simply wish to lend your superior recording skills to Elton John's latest work-in-progress. A&R coordinator, record producer, disc jockey, sound technician, piano tuner, opera singer -- there are literally hundreds of avenues to pursue in the exciting field of music. But regardless of the career path you dream of paving, one thing is for certain: a music education is the key to your success.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, not exactly, In today's burgeoning world of music, there are just about as …

NYSE Euronext 2Q profit rises 21 percent

NYSE Euronext Inc., the trans-Atlantic stock exchange operator, posted a 21 percent increase in second-quarter profits as transaction volume rose.

The earnings results missed Wall Street expectations, however, and its shares fell almost 13 percent in morning trading.

The New York-based parent of the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext said earnings rose to $195 million, or 73 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30 from $161 million, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding merger costs and other items, earnings rose 17 percent to $200 million, or 75 cents a share.

On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a …

Civic Center to get metal detectors, security wands

The Charleston Civic Center is getting another layer of securityaimed at protecting audiences and performers.

Officials at the Civic Center asked the city to buy five walk-through metal detectors and five handheld security wands that couldbe used when necessary to screen crowds for weapons.

The metal detectors and wands will cost $16,579.

City council voted Monday night to buy the equipment, but thecity will be reimbursed for the cost through a grant from theDepartment of Homeland Security.

The security devices are portable and will be moved throughoutthe facility as they are needed, said John Robertson, generalmanager at the Civic Center. The arena …

1998 BEARS SCHEDULE & PREDICTIONS

The 1998 Bears schedule with predictions from Bears writer MarkPotash, NFL writer Mike Mulligan and columnist Jay Mariotti:Date Opponent Chicago time TV MP MM JMSun., Sept. 6 Jacksonville Noon Ch. 2 L L LSun., Sept. 13 at Pittsburgh Noon Fox-32 L L LSun., Sept. 20 at Tampa Bay 3:05 p.m. Fox-32 L LLSun., Sept. 27 Minnesota 3:15 p.m. Fox-32 W WLSun., Oct. 4 Detroit Noon Fox-32 L LLSun., Oct. 11 at Arizona 3:05 p.m. Fox-32 W WLSun., Oct. 18 Dallas 3:15 p.m. Fox-32 W L LSun., Oct. 25 at Tennessee 3:05 …

Spokesman says Lily Allen loses baby

LONDON (AP) — Lily Allen's spokesman says the singer has suffered a miscarriage six months into her pregnancy.

Publicist Murray Chalmers said Monday that "it is with great sadness that we have to confirm that Lily Allen and Sam Cooper have lost their baby."

He says Allen and Cooper are asking for …

Mobs burn villages, slaughter Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz mobs burned Uzbek villages and slaughtered their residents Sunday as ethnic rioting engulfed new areas in southern Kyrgyzstan. The government ordered troops to shoot rioters dead but even that failed to stop the spiraling violence.

More than 100 people have been killed and over 1,000 wounded in the impoverished Central Asian nation since the violence began Thursday night. Doctors and rights activists say that toll is far too low because wounded Uzbeks are too afraid of being attacked again to go to hospitals.

Thousands of Uzbeks have fled in panic to the border with Uzbekistan after their homes were torched by roving mobs of Kyrgyz men. Some Uzbek women …