NKorean wage demands could jeopardize factories

A joint project between the Koreas to build an industrial park in the North was hailed as a symbol of detente, but it has now become another point of friction between the two countries.

Drawn by cheap North Korean labor, more than 100 South Korean companies have set up factories at Kaesong. The North says the labor is too cheap, a position that some South Korean analysts said Wednesday could threaten the existence of the complex itself.

North Korean workers in the complex just north of the heavily armed border are paid about $70 a month on average _ about half that of Chinese laborers at South Korean factories in China, according to the South Korean …

Illinois Criterium set for tour de force

American Greg LeMond's victory in the Tour de France will havean impact on Sunday's Sun-Times Illinois Criterium Championships,according to director Ken Carl.

The 16-race program in Downers Grove has drawn more than 600riders. When the Crit made its debut fives years ago, there were 172riders. Last year, 550 cyclists competed. Race day registrationwill start at 8 a.m.

"We're expecting a strong increase in participants due to thepopularity of cycling and LeMond's success," Carl said. "There's beena big effect from that."

This year's Illinois Criterium field will not only be bigger,it will be much faster. Professionals will ride for the first timein …

Scientist pleads guilty to attempted espionage

WASHINGTON (AP) — An accomplished former government space scientist admitted in court Wednesday to trying to sell classified information to Israel, but federal agents say they believe they stopped him from actually passing any secrets. Not that they can know for sure.

The investigators say the undercover sting operation that caught Stewart David Nozette might never have been launched if he hadn't been cheating on his taxes. But it has ended with Nozette facing 13 years in prison.

Nozette pleaded guilty to one count of attempted espionage, admitting he tried to provide Israel with top secret information about satellites, early warning systems, ways of retaliating against …

Injured Yao Ming enjoying team owner role in China

Sidelined by a foot injury, Houston Rockets star Yao Ming says he's finding a new kind of satisfaction as owner of his former Chinese team, the Shanghai Sharks.

Yao bought out the financially troubled team's former owners in July for an undisclosed sum in a bid to revive its fortunes.

The club is in fourth in the 17-team Chinese league, two points out of first place.

"I bought the Sharks to give them a boost and do something on behalf of Chinese basketball," Yao said in an interview with the official Xinhua News Agency appearing in newspapers Thursday.

"To be honest, they've played well this season, beyond my …

On the alert for converts // Spirit-filled Christians' goal: billions

INDIANAPOLIS Spirit-filled, tongue-speaking Christians are on aroll.

They now represent one of every five Christians across theglobe, hoping to expand their numbers into the billions by the turnof the century.

While those figures enlivened the hearts of some 30,000Pentecostals and charismatics gathered here last week, the throng wasdead serious about getting on with their task.

The goal: Convert at least half the world's 5.3 billion peopleto Christianity by 2000 and the balance in due time.

Atheists and those of no faith aren't the only objective.Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews also are targets.

The thousands descended on the …

Building Public Trust: The Future of Corporate Reporting

by Samuel A. DiPiazza Jr., CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Robert G. Eccles, president of Advisory Capital Partners Published by John Wiley & Sons Inc. 188 pages $24.95

In the wake of the Enron bankruptcy, public trust in those responsible for reporting corporate performance information has been shaken to its foundation. Investors and other …

Credit crunch enters the dictionary

The terms credit crunch, carbon footprint and wardrobe malfunction have become such staples that they have won entry into the new version of The Chambers Dictionary, the publisher announced Thursday.

The new words reflect "today's preoccupations" with the environment, the faltering economy and _ of course _ celebrity gossip, the dictionary's Edinburgh, Scotland-based publisher said.

Chambers is the second British dictionary to announce inclusion in its pages of credit crunch _ "a sudden and drastic reduction in the availability of credit" _ indicating how deeply Britons are feeling the effects of the economic turmoil on their …