■ United Kingdom
Lawmaker slams Liverpool
The leader of Britain's main opposition party on Saturday ordered a legislator to apologize for a magazine article that depicted the people of Liverpool as senti-mental victims who nurse a "tribal grievance" against the rest of society. Conservative leader Michael Howard said he had told lawmaker Boris Johnson, who also edits The Spectator magazine, to go to the northwestern English city and say sorry. An unsigned editorial in the latest issue of the conservative weekly criticized the "extreme reaction" of Liverpudlians to the death of Ken Bigley, a Liverpool man who was abducted in Iraq last month, held hostage for three weeks and beheaded.
■ United States
Hailstorm causes accidents
A fast-moving storm dumped hail and rain along an 18km stretch of Interstate 95, triggering a string of collis-ions on Saturday that involved 92 vehicles. No deaths were reported, but authorities said 50 people were injured, some seriously, in 17 separate accidents on I-95 in suburban Baltimore. The wrecks were apparently triggered by sunlight shining off sleet dumped by the storm. The accidents started happening about 4:30 p.m. after hail and rain fell on the highway. A section of I-95 was closed in both directions, but authorities reopened all lanes late Saturday night.
■ United States
Fantasy game turns 30
Thousands of Dungeons & Dragons players gathered in game stores around the country Saturday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the grandfather of fantasy role-playing games -- a pop culture phenomenon that has influenced a myriad of video games, books and movies. An estimated 25,000 fans in 1,200 stores celebrated the anniversary Saturday, said Charles Ryan, brand manager for role-playing games at Wizards of the Coast, a Renton, Washington, com-pany that owns Dungeons & Dragons. Shaunnon Drake was at Batty's Best Comics & Games in Atlanta, where gamers, ranging in age from their early teens to mid-30s, munched pizza and played D&D through the afternoon.
■ United Kingdom
`Erotic gherkin' wins award
A new skyscraper in London popularly dubbed the "erotic gherkin" for its curvaceous shape has won one of Britain's top architecture prizes, organizers announced on Saturday. The building by British architect Norman Foster, officially called 30 St Mary Axe, its address, beat five other finalists to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize. The 40-story tower has swiftly become one of the most recognizable shapes on the London skyline since it was completed earlier this year. The circular, glass-panelled tower, rising to a pointed tip, acquired the "gherkin" nickname well before it was finished, and has also been dubbed "The Towering Innuendo" for its suggestive shape.
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