News In Brief

YOU'RE PUTTING ME TO SLEEP

Ever wonder whether heads of state really listen when their national anthems are played at public ceremonies? Sam Nujoma, for one, does. Last week, at a parade for youth-service corps recruits, the president of Namibia ordered the Army band to try again after its rendition of "The Land of the Brave" was too slow for his liking. When the second version wasn't satisfactory either, Nujoma told the musicians to practice more - and to get themselves more instruments.

WE'LL GET RID OF IT FOR YOU

The NATO peacekeepers knocking at Zoran Bjelonjic's farmhouse door in Prnjavor, Bosnia, had just one request: the big T-55 Army tank parked in his garden. According to reports, Serb soldiers pulled up in the Russian-built vehicle in 1994 at about the midpoint of the republic's civil war, saying they'd like to leave the thing there but would be back in a few days to retrieve it. But they never returned, and it has been sitting among beets and cabbages ever since.

Bush wins close vote as kids choose 'person of the year'

Time magazine's editors chose President-elect George W. Bush as their 2000 Person of the Year. And, while there were no children on the panel, it seems the choice reflected the thinking of the younger generation, too. Visitors to the Web site timefor kids.com also selected Bush, one of 12 celebrities nominated by the Web site's editors. But he only narrowly edged the British author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, for the honor. The top 10 and the percentage of the vote for each:

1. George W. Bush 26.2%

2. J.K. Rowling 26.1%

3. Al Gore 15.5%

4. Elian Gonzalez, Cuban cause celebre 9.8%

5. Tiger Woods, pro golfer 7.3%

6. Marion Jones, Olympic sprinter 4.4%

7. Kim Dae-jung, South Korean president and Nobel Peace Prize winner 2.1%

8. Venus and Serena Williams, tennis stars 1.9%

9. Hillary Clinton 1.4%

10. Bill Clinton 1.3%

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society