| WORLD NEWS: QUICK TAKE
Pyongyang offered a rare note of thanks to the US for helping its sailors fend off an attack by pirates off the coast of Somalia. "We feel grateful to the United States for its assistance given to our crewmen," the North's official KCNA news agency said in a report late on Thursday. "This case serves as a symbol of the DPRK [North Korea]-US cooperation in the struggle against terrorism," it said. Late last month, the US dispatched a destroyer to help a North Korean cargo ship, which had sent out a distress signal after it was raided by pirates. �� AUSTRALIA Stumping can be dangerous Prime Minister John Howard may have been hoping to bowl over voters during a campaign stop yesterday, but not literally. A woman was knocked to the ground by a horde of security and media personnel following Howard during a lunchtime campaign tour through a shopping mall in western Sydney.
Adams shines in 'Enchanted'
The concept of a Disney movie that makes fun of Disney movies but still ends like a Disney movie is dripping with irony.
But that is what makes "Enchanted," a mixed animated/live action film straight out of the old-school Disney tradition, so much fun. If you have seen "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," "Beauty and the Beast" and other Disney classics, you will not be able to control your laughter during the first half of the film.
During the second half, you won't be able to control your eyes from rolling, but that in itself is what makes "Enchanted" one of the most enjoyable movies of the year.
The story begins in the animated world of Andalasia, where chipmunks talk and princes sing in the wilderness. The as-cliché-as-possible Giselle is a poor girl living in a cottage in the woods.
Latinos' worries hurting business
The economic slowdown is hurting businesses Valleywide, but those that cater to Latinos are seeing an even steeper drop in sales as immigrants curtail their spending out of fear of layoffs and continuing law- enforcement crackdowns. Businesses with large Latino clienteles say many of their customers are anxious about losing their jobs in the slowing economy and are worried about a new state law, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, that punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. Phoenix used-car dealer Manuel Siguenza is selling two or three cars a week, down from 30 a week a year ago. .
Broadway ticket availability
Keith Anderson will play Doc to S. Epatha Merkerson's Lola in the Manhattan Theatre club revival of William Inge's "Come Back, Little Sheba," opening Jan. 24 at the Biltmore Theatre. In "Sheba," Lola, a blowzy, lonely Midwest housewife, is trapped in an unhappy marriage to Doc, a recovering alcoholic teetering on a relapse. When a pretty young woman, played by Zoe Kazan, rents a room in their home, the relationship between wife and husband is dramatically affected. Also in the cast are Lyle Kanouse, Brian J. Smith, Brenda Wehle and Matthew J. Williamson. Merkerson is best known for her many seasons on TV's "Law & Order." Anderson, an ensemble member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, has appeared on Broadway in the 1989 revival of "Orphesus Descending," the 1999 revival of "Death of a Salesman" and the musical "Brooklyn." For tickets to "Come Back, Little Sheba," call Telecharge, 212-239-6200, or go online at http://www.telecharge.com.
Stolen insulin could be dangerous if used
Indiana State Police are warning people to be on the lookout for trailers containing insulin and health and beauty supplies that were stolen from a Plainfield trucking company between 11:45 p.m. Nov. 21 and 10:45 a.m. Nov. 22. According to troopers, the estimated worth of the stolen contents is over $1 million. According to authorities, if the insulin that was in the truck is not properly kept refrigerated, it can pose serious health risks if injected into a person's body. "If this insulin is not maintained at a proper temperature, it can go bad, and if someone does take this insulin it can cause very bad sickness and even death," said Sgt. Rich Myers of the Indiana State Police.
Design turns over a greener leaf
At Design Tide and 100% Design, the big shows at last week's Tokyo Designer's Week, this shift was evident. Eminent British designer Jasper Morrison, writing in U.K. design magazine Icon in August, hit a nerve with the following words: "Design, which used to be almost unknown as a profession, has become a major source of pollution. Encouraged by glossy lifestyle magazines and marketing departments, it's become a competition to make things as noticeable as possible by means of color, shape and surprise. Its historic and idealistic purpose, to serve industry and the happy consuming masses at the same time, of conceiving things easier to make and better to live with, seems to have been side-tracked." The same journal has even publicly called for a "design recession" to trim the fat and to refocus design talent and ideals toward responding to genuine needs.
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