Groups unite in plan to oust Bush from office in 2004
Labor, environmental and women's organizations, with strong backing from international financier George Soros, have joined forces behind a new political group that plans to spend an unprecedented $75 million to mobilize voters to defeat President Bush in 2004.
( BY THOMAS B. EDSALL, Washington Post Service, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Promising results reported against Lou Gehrig's disease
(AP) -- A new type of gene therapy has doubled the life of mice with a laboratory form of Lou Gehrig's disease, and researchers say they are planning to test the technique on human patients.
( 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Bush throws barbecue for fundraisers; monitors criticize privacy
President Bush brought in his most prolific fundraisers for a private barbecue down the road from his ranch Saturday as he turned his attention from rebuilding Iraq to reelection politics.
( BY WILL LESTER, Associated Press, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Bandits and bilkers threaten Iraqi money
Basil, a 39-year-old Palestinian American known as ''the Palace Money Man,'' has one of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq. He totes an AK-47 rifle and an MP5 machine gun as he maneuvers between two worlds that are connected by money.
( BY HANNAH ALLAM, Knight Ridder News Service, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Teamsters union endorses Gephardt for president
(AP) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt accepted the Teamsters union's formal endorsement Saturday in the union stronghold of Michigan before moving on to rally Teamsters in Iowa and New Hampshire.
( 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Honolulu mayor gets skull in mail
(AP) -- A package with a cryptic message sent to Mayor Jeremy Harris has opened an ancient mystery. Vicki Borges, Harris' executive assistant, was shocked last week to find a human skull wrapped in newspaper inside the package addressed to her boss.
( 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Pilot in lockup for saying `bomb'
(AP) -- An Air France co-pilot was in police custody Saturday after allegedly telling an airport security screener that he had a bomb in his shoe.
( 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Beachgoers puzzled over Atlantic chill
David Quillin, a surfer from Maryland's Eastern Shore, knows what cold seawater feels like. It makes exposed flesh feel like it's burning, sets hands and feet to tingling, numbs the body and, after repeated dunkings, produces a painful ''ice cream'' headache.
( BY JOHN F. KELLY, Washington Post Service, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Man tries to stiff cabbie of $900
(AP) -- A man who took a cab more than 200 miles from New York City to western New York didn't get very far after he tried to stiff the driver for $916.50 fare.
( 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

In ritzy Hamptons, secession fight pits rich vs. very rich
It's a battle between the ''haves'' and ``have-a-lots.'' Some wealthy beachfront homeowners want to secede from their town government and create their own enclave in the glamorous Hamptons on Long Island's eastern end.
( BY FRANK ELTMAN, Associated Press, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Same-sex couples call gay marriage a civil rights issue
On Aug. 20, Peter Freiberg and Joe Tom Easley of Miami Beach will stand in front of a city clerk in Toronto and pledge to love and honor each other for the rest of their lives. Their pledge will be somewhat anticlimactic, since they have been loving and honoring each other for more than 20 years.
( BY TERESA MEARS, tmears@herald.com, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Tech marks the spot for satellite-aided outdoor adventure
Walking through soggy grass amid a late afternoon drizzle, Nicole DiFede consulted the readings on her handheld GPS device. She walked north, going up a hill in Vista View Park in Davie, then veered slightly west.
( BY BEATRICE E. GARCIA, bgarcia@herald.com, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Red Planet will be as near to Earth's orbit as it has been in at least 5,000 years
On Aug. 27, Mars will be 'only' 34,646,418 miles away. Talk about once-in-a-lifetime visits: During the next few weeks, our planetary neighbor -- Mars -- glides ever closer, ultimately making its nearest approach to Earth in all of recorded history.
( BY MARTIN MERZER, mmerzer@herald.com, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Pooch survives 25 minutes in gas chamber
ST. LOUIS -- (AP) -- Cast into a city gas chamber to be euthanized with other unwanted or unclaimed dogs, it appeared the roughly year-old Basenji mix had simply run out of luck -- and time. But this canine had other ideas.
( 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Alonzo Pettie, black cowboy, Levi's model
Most people knew him as ''Cowboy'' Pettie, Colorado's oldest living black cowboy and professional bull rider, and a one-time model for a European Levi's ad campaign.
( The Denver Post, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Issue of gay marriage heats up
Same-sex couples say it's a matter of civil rights
On Aug. 20, Peter Freiberg and Joe Tom Easley of Miami Beach will stand in front of a city clerk in Toronto and pledge to love and honor each other for the rest of their lives. Their pledge will be somewhat anticlimactic, since they have been loving and honoring each other for more than 20 years.
( BY TERESA MEARS, tmears@herald.com, 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Some of the issues gay couples confront because they cannot get married:
Hospital visitation and decision-making. If a hospital restricts visitors to immediate family, a gay partner may not be allowed to visit, especially if he doesn't get along with parents or siblings. Hospitals may also not allow the gay partner to make the decisions a spouse would make for a critically ill person, even if the gay couple has a legal document granting each other the right to make such decisions.
( 08/10/2003 03:01 AM EDT)