World digest 9/4/01

Untrademarked domain names are unprotected

GENEVA -- Celebrities like Madonna and companies like Microsoft have already proved they have a commercial interest in protecting their names from cybersquatters who set up Web sites using their the famous monikers.

But what about untrademarked people and places, like President Bush, or Champagne, France?

A new U.N. study says little can be done to protect such people, places or brand names, because they don't have the advantage of trademark law.

For the past 21 months, the issue of Internet names has been governed by a system set up by the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization. The system has allowed celebrities and trademarked companies to gain the rights to their Web name from people or companies who registered them first in the hope of reselling them for a fortune.

Battle of the Bulge vets honored at ceremony

LONDONDERRY, N.H. -- Fifty-seven years after helping stop Hitler's fierce attempt to push the Allies out of Europe, front-line troops who faced the brunt of the Nazi counterattack at the Battle of the Bulge were honored Monday for their bravery.

"I am happy to see it, but I wished more of the other fellows would be here," said a tearful Clarence Hibbs, 75, of Mt. Pleasant Mills, Pa. He held a packet containing faded photos of young men, including him, in combat gear. "It's a little late for them. Most are gone now."

Nurse critical of abortion policy fired by hospital

OAK LAWN, Ill. -- A nurse whose complaints about a labor-induced abortion procedure at the suburban Chicago hospital where she worked made headlines and grabbed the attention of state legislators has been fired.

While Jill Stanek suggested her firing from Christ Hospital and Medical Center was related to a recent newspaper profile about her, officials at the hospital denied it. They say she wasn't fired because of her criticism of the hospital or the publicity it generated.

Stanek said that when she returned to work from vacation on Friday she was informed she was fired and escorted from the hospital. "It couldn't be coincidence this happened right after the article," she said.

South Asia reaction to quake prediction muted

NEW DELHI, India -- Seismologists are dismissing it as alarmist, governments are ignoring it and people on the street seem indifferent to a U.S. study that warns South Asia is overdue for a massive earthquake.

The researchers recently said tremendous underground stress built up in the 1,250-mile Himalayan fault could force a rupture soon -- in geological terms -- and produce a great quake of 8.1 to 8.3 magnitude.

Such a quake could affect some 50 million people in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, they said, and kill at least 200,000.

Although images of the devastating earthquake that struck the western Indian state of Gujarat in January are still fresh in their minds, people in New Delhi expressed little worry about the prediction.

University president invites students to home

NEWPORT, R.I. -- The president of Salve Regina University has come up with an unusual solution to the school's housing crunch -- she's invited four freshmen to bunk with her.

The four women, who begin classes on Wednesday, will be living in chambers of the president's house normally reserved for distinguished alumni and special guests.

Housing officials at this 1,800-student Roman Catholic school said they were left more than 20 beds shy of what they need for the school year, thanks to a record freshman class and more returning students than expected. They converted doubles into triples and remade student lounges into dorm rooms, but they still faced a shortage.

--From wire reports