29 escape barefoot from flooded Chinese coal mine

BEIJING (AP) — Barefoot and wrapped in white quilts, 29 miners were pulled out of a Chinese coal mine Monday after being trapped by a flood and waiting a day for rescuers to pump out water.

State broadcaster China Central Television showed medics leading out the miners, naked and with their eyes shielded from the light after 24 hours in darkness. Crowds of mine workers, reporters and others cheered as they were taken to ambulances.

Late Monday, all 29 men were in stable condition at a hospital with no serious injuries, Xinhua reported. They may have removed their clothes because wet clothing would have risked hypothermia.

Some 35 miners were initially trapped Sunday …

German industry sees boost from foreign demand

Orders for German machinery were up 48 percent on the year in July, led by strong foreign demand, an industry group said Wednesday _ the latest healthy indicator from Europe's biggest economy.

Still, a separate report on retail sales disappointed expectations, underlining doubts about the strength of domestic demand as the government presses ahead with plans to save billions over the coming years.

The annual rise in machinery orders reported by the VDMA group was the latest in a string of increases that have underscored Germany's export-led rebound.

Orders from abroad were up 54 percent year-on-year in July while orders from inside Germany were up 38 …

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Celebs at Fashion Week: Whooping kudos for a model's broken heel; Gwyneth next to adopt?

Celebs catcalling at Fashion Week? More like giving props to a runway model's smooth recovery.

At Rebecca Taylor show, the runway was decked out in gold sparkles, bordered by the requisite smattering of gliteratti, including actresses Carmen Electra, Amy Smart, and Katrina Bowden _ some of whom whooped and hollered when a model broke a heel and then nonchalantly removed her shoes and continued down the catwalk, the shoes dangling in her hands.

The collection was filled with flouncy sheer floral dresses. Backstage, Stacy London, co-host of the TLC show "What Not To Wear," summed up the look: "They make you wish you didn't have boobs."

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Brazil slashes lending rate to 11.25 percent

Brazil's central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate by 1.5 points to 11.25 percent on Wednesday in an effort to keep recession at bay after Latin America's largest economy registered its sharpest decline in years.

It is the biggest single rate cut since November 2003, when the Selic was lowered from 19 percent to 17.5 percent.

It nevertheless disappointed some industry leaders, who said more aggressive steps are necessary if Brazil is to avoid recession this year as the world economic slowdown lowers demand for its key exports.

The bank announced the cut a day after the government reported that gross domestic product contracted 3.6 percent …

UN offers hope for peace in Mideast . . .

Timely intervention by the UN has given world leaders andSaddam Hussein a chance to avoid ghastly warfare over Iraq's invasionof Kuwait. It has also given us Americans time to think, free ofemotional bombast, about what we hope to achieve with our remarkablemilitary mobilization.

The vast majority of Americans believe that when a presidentdisrupts the lives of thousands of military families, includingreservists, and spends more than $2 billion in a few weeks totransport them, their planes, tanks, guns, gas masks and bottledwater to the deserts of Saudi Arabia, the least we can expect is: That Iraq's invaders will be chased out of Kuwait; That Kuwait's previous rulers …

Prince postpones Dubai polo trip amid Arab turmoil

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Prince Harry has postponed a planned polo visit to Dubai on March 19 amid escalating unrest in the Arab world.

Harry's office at St. James's Palace in London said Friday the prince felt it would be "insensitive for him to participate in a sporting event at a time when there are matters of greater priority to focus on …