Blackout hits much of Venezuela, gov't blames fire

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A blackout hit a large swath of Venezuela on Thursday, darkening street lights, shutting down the Caracas subway and forcing President Hugo Chavez's government to resort to temporary rationing measures.

The power outage affected the capital of Caracas and 12 states stretching across the northern half of the country, Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez said.

The state oil company said some activities were interrupted at its refineries, including units partially halted at the Jose heavy crude upgrading complex in eastern Venezuela. But it said operations were expected to be back to normal by early Friday.

A forest fire apparently caused the outage …

East Coast states brace for yet another scorcher

Heat and humidity draped the Northeast for yet another day Wednesday, pushing power companies to crank up power to cool the sticky masses and keeping the mercury hovering around 100 from Virginia to New Hampshire.

The crux of the deadly heat was situated over the Philadelphia area, where an excessive heat warning was put into effect until 8 p.m. The National Weather Service said high humidity levels could make it feel as hot as Tuesday, when temperatures topped 100.

Standing in line for breakfast at a food truck in downtown Philadelphia, retail store manager Adam Collina, 45, sounded resigned.

"It looks like this is something we're going to have …

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS...

Operating an art museum in Pennsylvania is tough business. The nonprofits run on state funds, charitable gifts and selfinitiated fundraisers. Developing new, innovative ways to compete for income is a constant challenge.

"The toughest part is that it becomes very competitive," said Cindi. Morrison, executive director of the Lancaster Museum of Art. "We're (nonprofits) all hitting the same people each year."

Inflation is another roadblock. With gas prices more than $2.50 per gallon, people are not as willing to drive out of their way to visit the museum in downtown Lancaster, Morrison said.

The Lancaster Museum of Art holds about 10 fundraisers annually. The most …

Clarke leads Australia to 253 in one-dayer against Sri Lanka

Michael Clarke top-scored with an unbeaten 77 as Australia scored 253-6 after winning the toss and choosing to bat in its limited-overs tri-series match against Sri Lanka.

Retiring wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist hit 61 off 81 balls _ his 54th half-century _ including three fours and one six.

Matthew Hayden, returning from a hamstring injury, hit 42 to dominate an opening stand of 65 with Gilchrist before Hayden fell caught at mid-wicket in the 13th over.

Chaminda Vaas dismissed captain Ricky Ponting, who caught at slip for nine, as Australia's scoring rate slowed slightly, leaving the home side on 88-2 from 20 overs in overcast conditions.

…

Brazil toddler has 50 sewing needles inside body

A 2-year-old boy has as many as 50 metal sewing needles inside his body, apparently stuck there one by one, a doctor treating him said Wednesday. Brazilian media said the boy's ex-stepfather was detained.

Dr. Luiz Cesar Soltoski told The Associated Press that surgeons hope to remove most of the needles _ some as long as 2 inches (5 centimeters)_ but those in the lungs will have to wait until the child's breathing improves.

Some needles cannot be removed as they are too close to vital organs or even inside organs, Soltoski said.

The boy's mother, a maid, took him to a hospital in the small northeastern city of Ibotirama last Thursday, saying he …

Daughter up in air about dad's history

Dear Action Time: I've been trying to learn more about myfather's early years.

He was a chief mechanic on one of the first zeppelins. Arethere any archives on the airships or on the firms that made them?Maybe I can find people who knew him then.

RESEARCHER, Rosemont

Dear Researcher: Cheryl Ganz would like to help get this off theground. But she requires more information.

Ganz, editor of a publication called Zeppelin Collector, saidyour father could have worked on several zeppelins, including thefirst one built in this country or the first airship to come to theUnited States in 1924. It would help if you could tell her whetherhe worked for the …

Bank of England majority firm on keeping rate low

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee saw no new votes for a rate hike at its April meeting despite concerns about inflation, according to minutes of the discussions released Wednesday.

Andrew Sentance, Spencer Dale and Martin Weale again voted for a rate increase but picked up no new support from the other six members.

Of the six who voted to keep rates unchanged, Adam Posen remained alone in seeking to restart the Bank's economic stimulus program through another 50 billion pounds ($80 billion) in asset purchases.

The Bank has kept the interest rate at 0.5 percent since March 2009, and the quantitative easing program has been on hold …