The Commercial Appeal (2007-Current)

Bush Helps Alexander to Tune of $600,000 -- Bush Helps Alexander Raise $600,000; Protesters Have Their Say

Air Force One touched down in Memphis at 3:24 p.m. Monday and was in the air again at 5:45 p.m., flying back to Washington through dark skies and a downpour. In those two hours, 21 minutes in the Bluff City, President Bush helped raise at least $600,000 for Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander at the Chickasaw Gardens home of Brad and Dina Martin. Martin is a former state legislator and, until retiring in May, was chairman of the board of Saks Inc.

Officer Killer Pleads Guilty -- G'town Resident Now Faces 20 Years

OXFORD, Miss. - Daniel Reed Cummings of Germantown shuffled into a courtroom here Monday morning dressed in a dark pinstripe suit and looking very much like the Ole Miss student he was for two years. But the 21-year-old Houston High School graduate, who also wore handcuffs and had chains around his waist and ankles, was dressed up for a guilty plea that would send him to prison for the next 20 years.

Winning 'Hearts' - or Helping Foe? -- Defense: Humane Act to Let Iraqis Make Calls

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - A prosecutor said Monday a former U.S. military police commander aided the enemy by letting top detainees make unmonitored cell phone calls at sites including the camp that held Saddam Hussein. But his attorney described the officer as only trying "to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis." The sides faced off at the opening of the court-martial of Army reservist Lt. Col. William H. Steele, who oversaw lockups that included the area where Saddam spent his final days.

In Today's Newspaper - Putin's Trip Put On Hold

Risky in Iran : A visit to Tehran by Russian President Vladimir Putin is delayed after warnings of an assassination plot. Meanwhile, China is pulling out of a strategy session on Iran to protest U.S. honors for the Dalai Lama. A4 Oldest Nobelist: The Nobel Prize in economics goes to three Americans, including Leonid Hurwicz, a 90-year-old professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. A4

Ernest Withers: 1922 - 2007 - Famed Photographer Dies -- Withers Captured Era with Great Heart and 'Burning Desire to Shoot Pictures'

Much of his work has been recognized in museum collections, but for photographer Ernest Withers the real joy was what friend Benjamin Hooks calls a simple "burning desire to shoot pictures." Withers, 85, died about 8:35 p.m. Monday at Memphis Veterans Medical Center. His death followed a Sept. 23 stroke that led to complications, said his son, Joshua 'Billy' Withers of Los Angeles.

Spotlight: Aging - Brain Adapts to Wear -- How to Harness Ability to Keep Up?

WASHINGTON - When aging hampers memory, some people's brains compensate to stay sharp. Now scientists want to know how those brains make do - in hopes of developing treatments to help everyone else keep up. Details

China Protests Honors for Lama -- U.S. Visit Complicates International Meeting

WASHINGTON - China is protesting U.S. honors for the Dalai Lama this week by pulling out of a planned international strategy session on Iran sought by the United States, a State Department official said Monday. China objected to participating in the meeting on the same day that the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader is to receive Congress' civilian honor at a ceremony attended by President Bush, the official said.

Officials Crow at Big Bust

SAN DIEGO - Authorities made what they called the largest cockfighting bust in U.S. history with the seizure of more than 5,000 roosters, hens and chicks from two training grounds, officials said Monday. Agents found 4,400 chickens Saturday at a 7-acre compound in the Otay Mesa industrial area of San Diego. More than 2,500 birds were seized at the same place six years ago in what was believed to be the nation's largest bust, but hundreds more were found this time at a second training ground n...

Wisconsin - the Old College Try -- Obama Rallies Student Supporters

Plot Warning Delays Putin Trip -- Insists He'll Go to Iran Despite Being Informed of Assassination Threat

TEHRAN, Iran - Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Monday to negotiate with Iran on behalf of the international community in their nuclear standoff, although he didn't come to Tehran as scheduled amid warnings of a possible assassination plot. Putin's planned trip, the first here by a Kremlin leader since World War II, raised hopes that personal diplomacy could find a solution to the impasse over the Iranian nuclear program, but he delayed his arrival, which had been set for Monday evening.

Shiite Feuds Flare Up -- Coalition Forces Drawn Into Fight

BAGHDAD - Suspected Shiite militiamen hit military bases with mortar rounds and sprayed machine gun fire at a Polish helicopter Monday, setting off fierce fighting that killed at least four civilians in a volatile area south of Baghdad. It was the latest flare-up of internal Shiite feuds that threaten to destabilize the oil-rich southern region and undermine U.S. progress against al-Qaida in Iraq elsewhere in the country.

Newsmaker - for Auction: Globe, Previous Owner Hitler

SAN FRANCISCO - Days after the surrender of Nazi Germany, a GI entering the wreckage of Adolf Hitler's mountain stronghold found that fierce Allied bombing had left the "Eagle's Nest" in ruins. Hitler was dead, and other soldiers had already looted the inside of his private residence, even stripping the leather from furniture. Nearly everything of value was gone - except for the Fuhrer's globe.

Names in the News

The leader of Britain's Liberal Democrat party resigned Monday, a surprise move by the popular veteran lawmaker, ex-Olympic sprinter and strident critic of the Iraq war. Menzies Campbell steps down after 19 months as head of the third- ranked party, a period during which he has been dogged by claims that at 66, he is too old to challenge his rivals, particularly Britain's main opposition leader, David Cameron, 41.

Record, Relief in Nobel Win -- Prof, 90, Among 3 for Economics

NEW YORK - Three U.S. economists, one of them a 90-year-old professor emeritus from Minnesota, will share this year's Nobel prize in economics for their work on how people's knowledge and self- interest affect their behavior in the market or in social situations such as voting and labor negotiations. Leonid Hurwicz, who lives in south Minneapolis, is the oldest winner ever of the Nobel, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in their announcement on Monday.

Out of the Ordinary - Is Lotus a Delight or a Pest?

GROSSE ILE, Mich. - A rapidly spreading patch of flowering American lotus is causing an ugly battle. Across the Detroit River's Gibraltar Bay on Hickory Island, Sue Liphardt said she doesn't like the sight of the aquatic plants.

They Said It

Film director David Lynch , on a five-day visit to Israel to encourage transcendental meditation, met with Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres. "Real peace is not just the absence of war, but the absence of all suffering, all negativity. Change comes from within. From the first meditation, boom, you're there."

Briefly

Campaigning Giuliani spends $13 million in 3Q

On the Front

Mom tries to stop bomber, fails KABUL, Afghanistan - A mother who tried to stop her son from carrying out a suicide bomb attack triggered an explosion in the family's home in southern Afghanistan that killed the would-be bomber, his mother and three siblings, police said Monday.