German businesses expect improvement, survey shows

Business confidence in Germany, Europe's largest economy, dropped to a new all-time low in June but expectations for the future continued to improve, a closely watched survey showed Monday.

The Munich-based Ifo institute's business climate index _ an average of its current situation and future expectations numbers _ improved overall to 85.9 points from 84.3 the month before, the third consecutive increase since March when the indicator hit a 26-year low of 82.2 points.

"The survey results confirm that the German economy is gradually stabilizing," Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn said in a statement.

The survey, based on around 7,000 …

How Teens Can Defray Costs

While parents often are the primary source for prom financing,teens can share the load.

"I know some students who are working to save money for theirprom," said Henoc Erku, a senior student at Lane Tech High School."They are working part-time at McDonald's, at hardware stores andretail shops, during the week or on weekends."

The high turnover rate at grocery stores, pizzerias, hot dogstands and ice cream parlors makes jobs easier to obtain.

And there's babysitting. With more mothers working, there ismore need for after-school and evening babysitters. Pay may behigher if teens provide additional services, such as tutoring orhousekeeping.

This …

Gagne lifts Lightning over Maple Leafs 4-3 in OT

TORONTO (AP) — Simon Gagne made an impressive return to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup, scoring 1:15 into overtime Tuesday night for a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The star forward also provided a screen when Martin St. Louis tied the game with just 8.7 seconds left in regulation.

It was quite a night for Gagne, who had missed 18 games with a neck injury. The overtime winner came on a 2-on-1 rush with Brett Clark and was his first goal as a member of the Lightning.

St. Louis had two goals and Ryan Malone also scored for Tampa Bay.

Nikolai Kulemin scored twice and Kris Versteeg had the other goal for Toronto.

It was the beginning of an important …

Most adoptions from China now special-needs cases

Not long ago, the choices facing Robert and Julie Garrett would have been simpler. Once they set their hearts on adopting a child from China, the odds were high they could soon bring home a healthy infant girl.

It's different now.

Faced with a long wait _ and a smaller pool of healthy orphans available to foreigners _ the Garretts have decided after much soul-searching to adopt one of the special-needs children who now abound in China's orphanages.

"It's really hard, and we want to make the right choice," said Julie Garrett, of Gainesville, Ga.

The children's conditions range widely. Some are correctible, some not: cleft lips and …

Ex-coach convicted of sex abuse

A former suburban swim coach was convicted Wednesday of felonysexual abuse for fondling two 13-year-old Lisle girls in 1997 whilegiving them massages.

A DuPage County judge convicted Stephen Schafer, 33, saying theaccounts of the abuse given by the girls were persuasive.

"I found their testimony to be extremely believable, credible andcompelling," Judge Ann Jorgensen said as she found Schafer guilty ofaggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The two girls testified that …

Hablando con la Verdad

Los cr�menes m�s inveros�miles que se pueden escuchar en dram�ticas narraciones surgen de Cuba y de su presidio pol�tico. Lo que de verdad est� sucediendo a s�lo noventa millas de las costas de los Estados Unidos y ha venido sucediendo por d�cadas con conocimiento del gobierno de este pa�s y de los gobiernos de Am�rica Latina, la OEA, la ONU, y otras far�ndulas de organizaciones que est�n supuestas a velar por los derechos humanos por doquiera que se produzcan violaciones. Todos estos amigos saben que Castro descuartiza al pueblo cubano sin ning�n asomo de humanidad. Pero nadie se mueve para darle protecci�n a un pueblo que tambi�n tiene derecho a que le de un trato sencillamente …

Tuesday's Sports Scoreboard

All Times Eastern

American League

Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 2 (1st game) F

Tampa Bay 7, Baltimore 5 (2nd game) F

Boston 5, Cleveland 4 F

Kansas City 5, Detroit 0 F

N.Y. Yankees 3, Toronto 1 F

Texas 6, Oakland 4 F

Minnesota 9, Chicago White Sox 3 …