News In Brief

WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY? The doors to the historic old government building opened and hundreds of soldiers swarmed in. They wandered the corridors. They took over the seats reserved for the elected lawmakers. A military coup? No, the troops were recruited to help test the sound system in the Reichstag, the once and future home of Germany's parliament in Berlin. The grand edifice is scheduled to reopen April 19, and technicians wanted to ensure the adequacy of the microphones, speakers, and acoustics.

WELL, LOOK WHO'S HERE South Africans are chuckling over the case of an accused robber, whose trial is winding down in Johannesburg. The defendant had been outrunning police until he made one mistake. It was dark at the time, and his escape route took him into a zoo, where he leaped over a wall ... into the gorilla pen. The occupant held him there until the cops arrived.

Newseum compiles ranking of century's top news stories

The Newseum, an Arlington, Va., museum devoted to news-gathering, has produced a list of the most important stories of the 20th century. Officials of the museum - a project of the nonpartisan Freedom Forum, which promotes understanding between the media and the public - asked prominent US journalists and scholars to name the 25 most-important news events of the 1900s. Then, using their lists, the Newseum produced a ranking of 100. Its Top 10:

1. Atomic bombing of Japan and subsequent surrender 1945

2. Astronaut Neil Armstrong walks on moon 1969

3. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor; US enters World War II 1941

4. Wright brothers fly first powered airplane 1903

5. US women win vote 1920

6. Kennedy assassinated 1963

7. Holocaust horrors exposed 1945

8. World War I begins 1914

9. Brown v. Board of Education court decision 1954

10. US stock market crash, start of Great Depression 1929

- Associated Press