Swedish auto industry supplier goes bankrupt

Swedish auto industry supplier Plastal Holding AB said Thursday it has been forced to file for bankruptcy due to the sharp decline in demand in the carmaking industry.

The company said it has been hurt by reductions in its customers' production volumes, as well as by problems in the credit market, which has made it impossible to finance customer debt.

Plastal spokesman Tunde Oyedeji declined to give further details about the cause of the bankruptcy or whether outstanding payments from carmakers were part of the problem.

The company _ owned by Swedish private equity firm Nordic capital _ supplies engineered plastics to the automotive industry and …

Voting record is staunchly conservative

WASHINGTON Vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle has one of themost conservative voting records in the Senate and brings to theRepublican ticket negative ratings from a host of special interestgroups, including those representing civil rights, senior citizens,labor, environmental and veterans organizations.

Quayle was a member of the House from 1977-81 and has served inthe Senate since then.

Here are his votes on key issues in five areas: Civil rights (including women's rights). He voted this year againstlegislation to counteract the Supreme Court's Grove City decisionthat limited the impact of anti-discrimination laws on schoolsreceiving federal funds.

…

Iraqi-born Islamist cleric in Norway terror trial

OSLO, Norway (AP) — An Iraqi-born cleric pleaded not guilty in a Norwegian court Wednesday to charges of making death threats against politicians and encouraging suicide bombings.

Prosecutors said Mullah Krekar, a 55-year-old Islamist who came to Norway as a refugee in 1991, faces several years in prison if found guilty.

Since his arrival, Krekar has made frequent trips to Iraq where he founded the Kurdish Ansar al-Islam, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and other nations. It is suspected of organizing suicide bombings against coalition forces in Iraq.

In 2005, a Norwegian court declared him a national security threat and ordered him deported, but …

UN: Once-secret Iran nuclear site to start in 2011

Iranian technicians have moved highly sophisticated technical equipment into a previously secret uranium enrichment site in preparation for starting it up in 2011, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a new report Monday.

The report offered no estimate of the new plant's capabilities but a senior international official familiar with the watchdog agency's work in Iran said that it appeared designed to produce about a ton of enriched uranium a year. That would be enough for a nuclear warhead but too little to fuel the nearly finished plant at the southern port of Bushehr and other civilian reactors Iran is planning to bring on line in the coming years.

…

Movie premiere

Former Charleston resident Jennifer Garner and her co-star EllenPage arrive at the premiere of "Juno" at the Village Theater in …

Melanoma: Improving the odds

INFO

Several new biotech therapies in development could bring hope to the thousands of people who suffer and die from melanoma every year. Although much less common than basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, advanced melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer because of its propensity to metastasize. There are no established standards of care, and cancer rates are growing fast in the developed world. The American Cancer St (www.cancer.org) estimates that nearly 54,000 melanoma cases were diagnosed in 2002, with more than 7,000 deaths. Every year in the UK, around 5,500 people are diagnosed with malignant melanoma, and more than 1,600 people die from it. But those numbers may be …

Petr Cech leads Czechs to victory over Switzerland at Euro 2008

When it comes to saving his country, it was business as usual for Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech on Saturday.

The Czechs had a lucky 1-0 win over co-host Switzerland in the European Championship's opening game, and Cech was one of the few to emerge with credit from the underperforming visiting team.

The Swiss outplayed the more experienced and favored Czechs for large parts of the Group A match, putting them under pressure and forcing Cech to show why he is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Czech made his first world-class save in the 21st minute.

A long kick from Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio was collected in …