$74 million Los Angeles building may be structurally unsound

LOS ANGELES -- A 19-year-old building slated to become the school district's new headquarters may be structurally unsound, needing repairs costing up to $60 million, a report found.

The Los Angeles Unified School District's inspector general warned Tuesday that the 29-story downtown building has some uneven floors that are too weak to support even file cabinets. Repairs could cost about $2 million per floor, on top of the $74.5 million price tag, he said.

"Do we want to purchase a building where every time we want to add a cabinet, bookcase, private office or a desk, we have to consult with an engineer to see if the floor can handle the load?" inspector Don Mullinax wrote in the report, obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

District officials responded that the problems were minor and could be fixed without major costs.

"We knew the building had uneven floors when the school board voted for it," said board President Caprice Young. "We knew from the beginning that this was a cheap, ugly building. But I'm satisfied the district got a good deal."

Century-old chocolate bar sells big at auction

LONDON -- A 100-year-old chocolate bar from one of the first major exploration expeditions into Antarctica has sold for $686 at a special "polar" auction.

The four-inch chocolate bar was part of a 3,500-pound load of cocoa and chocolate that British explorer Capt. Robert F. Scott took on his 1901-1904 expedition to the frozen continent. The trip was one of the first major attempts to explore the interior of Antarctica.

Scott died in 1912 returning from the South Pole. Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first to reach the South Pole five weeks earlier, on Dec. 11, 1911.

The name of the buyer of the chocolate bar was not made public.

Vatican supports animal organ transplant study

VATICAN CITY -- Concerned about the shortage of human organs for transplants, the Vatican is encouraging research into the use of animal organs to save people's lives.

The Vatican released a position paper on Wednesday that urged researchers to use caution as they strive to see if animal-to-human transplants will become a reliable method of treatment.

The paper was issued after consultations with surgeons, transplant experts, immunologists, geneticists and veterinarians, as well as experts on anthropology, morality and ethics.

The Vatican said it prepared the document in response to all those "who have expressed doubts about the ethics of animal-to-human transplants" because of the uncertainty of success and the high cost of research, which could be spent on other prospects for treatment.

China cracks down on Mao worship

SHANGHAI, China -- Authorities in Mao Tse-tung's hometown are cracking down on the worship of China's communist founder as a religious figure, a local official said.

Several temples where villagers were praying to Mao have been closed in Shaoshan, in the central province of Hunan, said the official, who asked not to be identified further. Altars in the temples held photos of Mao or statues, one more than 3 feet high, the official said.

Thousands of items have been seized from stores and roadside souvenir stands that depict Mao as a halo-crowned Buddhist saint or a Chinese folk god.

-- From wire reports