Prince

LONDON -- Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the powerful former ambassador to the United States who has been one of the Bush administration's strongest allies in the Middle East, was publicly linked to a widening corruption scandal yesterday with reports that a British aerospace company secretly paid up to $2 billion into bank accounts at the Saudi embassy in Washington. The new allegations point directly at Bandar, son of the Saudi crown prince and a man who has been a key ally for both the current President Bush and his father.

Editor's note: This retelling of the familiar fairy tale is set in an old-growth forest and features Bigfoot characters.Once upon a time, in the old-growth forest, a band of Bigfoots lived. An enormous snag towered above the other trees close to their camp. Inside its hollow halls of bark lived a dashing Bigfoot prince.He was tall and dark as a Douglas fir -- with feet like cedar stumps. He was oderiferous as his tree-home was coniferous. And so horrendously hairy that Bigfoot women near and far longed to marry him.Now, every year the Bigfoot prince gave a great fun-fest.

Braves: Atlanta is 7-2 on artificial turf this season.Diamondbacks: Jay Bell singled and walked four times, matching the club record.Expos: Montreal was 2-10 during Rondell White's absence from the lineup.Phillies: Catcher Tom Prince is about three weeks away from being ready to play. Prince took batting practice on Monday and has been catching in the bullpen. Prince had wrist surgery in March. Curt Schilling has allowed 17 home runs this season.Pirates: Reliever Rich Loiselle, on the disabled list since May 9 because of a right elbow sprain, was discouraged after throwing batting practice for 10 minutes on Monday.

If the Artist Formerly Known as Prince really wanted to be honest about why he's releasing a "New Master" version of his 1982 hit, "1999," he wouldn't just change the song's backing track. He'd also change the chorus:Two-thousand-zero-zero, party over, oops, out of timeSo this year I'm gonna profit off of "1999."As has been widely reported, the Artist is peeved by the fact that his original recording of "1999" is owned by Warner Bros. Records. That means that every time a fan buys a copy of the oldie, Warner gets the majority of the money.

Here is an excerpt of an editorial from the Daily Mail, London, that was published yesterday.RARELY has a royal intervention in a national debate achieved such a telling effect. Yesterday's article by Prince Charles in the Mail, raising his concerns over genetically modified foods and crops, has not only aroused intense public interest, but also seems to have exposed tensions within the government itself.While Environment Minister Michael Meacher appears almost to welcome the prince's comments, the response elsewhere is less than enthusiastic.

NAGANO, Japan -- His Olympic credential reads, "Albert Grimaldi, Athlete, Monaco." It hangs from his neck, along with his room key from the Olympic Village.You can almost see those wacky snowboarders bowing and shouting, "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!"Prince Albert rules.This is his fourth Olympics, matching the total of "King" Carl Lewis. Once again, he's competing in bobsled, staying in the athletes' village, acting like a regular guy.The prince might not party with Alberto Tomba, but he considers him a friend.

It's the kind of marketing opportunity that sends visions of dollar signs dancing through a Madison Avenue ad exec's head, a "win-win situation" if you're given to such descriptions.Everybody makes money -- the musician, the record company, the advertisers. People everywhere spend the year singing, "So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999."If only life were so easy.The buzz in advertising land says the rights for the song "1999" -- that early '80s combination of synth, rock and funk penned in 1982 by The Artist, formerly known as Prince -- could go as high as $1 million.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- There is a dog on death row here.Prince, a big black mostly Labrador retriever has been officially decreed "vicious," but has been described by his owner as "just a big baby." The debate over his fate has convulsed not only this old seaport city, but much of the conservative, government-hating, dog-loving Granite State."My gosh, we just got swamped with all kinds of letters and calls from people," Mayor Eileen Foley said. "People who don't want him killed, people who want to adopt him. It's been overwhelming."

LONDON -- It's been some month for Diana, Princess of Wales.She took three Mediterranean cruises with her millionaire friend, Dodi Al Fayed, squeezed in a trip to Bosnia to tout her favored cause -- banning land mines -- and then entered the British political fray during a daring interview that appeared yesterday in the French newspaper, Le Monde.And today marks the first anniversary of her divorce from Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.Diana's latest interview landed her in hot water when she was quoted as praising the British Labor government's support for her campaign against land mines.

The Anne Arundel County Council of PTAs will help high schools pay for after-prom activities this spring in hopes of drawing seniors away from parties serving alcohol and drugs and reducing the number of students who are driving drunk.Parents hope the prospect of grants will get more school groups to provide what they consider a safe place for seniors to enjoy themselves after the formal prom, said Esther Parker, president of the countywide PTA.The PTA umbrella group won a $2,600 grant from the State Highway Administration, which offers federally funded grants through local traffic safety task forces.

Just as Shirley Temple was good medicine for the Great Depression, comic operas by Rossini seem ideal diversions for the Great Recession. A couple of weeks ago, Washington National Opera revived the composer's most famous work, "The Barber of Seville." And, over the weekend, Opera Vivente jumped into its 12th season with another sparkler, "Cinderella." Rossini's version of the familiar fairy tale differs in several details, but the basics are still there - a poor dear with nasty stepsisters; a surprise entrance at a palatial ball; a prince searching for an unknown beauty who left something behind (a bracelet, rather than a glass slipper)

Kudos to Prince George's County and efforts by officials there to lure the D.C. United professional soccer team to suburban Maryland. Several sites are reportedly under consideration, and if the new stadium is made more convenient to a Metro subway station than the parking profit center known as the Washington Redskins' FedEx Field, the project could be a real economic asset for the county and state. But the idea that the Maryland Stadium Authority might borrow money to underwrite a significant portion of this project seems dubious.

In September 2007, with Wall Street confronting a crisis caused by too many souring mortgages, Citigroup executives gathered in a wood-paneled library to assess their own well-being. There, Citigroup's chief executive, Charles O. Prince III, learned for the first time that the bank owned about $43 billion in mortgage-related assets. He asked Thomas G. Maheras, who oversaw trading at the bank, whether everything was OK. Maheras told his boss that no big losses were looming, according to people briefed on the meeting who spoke only on the condition that they not be named.

WASHINGTON - They make an unlikely pair, the world's most notorious captured terrorist and the Navy captain assigned to defend him against war crimes charges that could lead to his execution. But together, the two men quietly are embarking on a legal odyssey that could last years, and ultimately might help define the constitutional parameters of the United States' role in the global war on terrorism. On three occasions over the past few weeks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described orchestrator of the Sept.

NEW YORK -- Citigroup's embattled chairman and chief executive has told senior officials at the bank that he expected to leave after an emergency board meeting this weekend, a banking industry official with ties to Citigroup said last night. Chairman Charles O. Prince III, 57, had indicated that he expected to leave during the meeting, the official said. Directors also are expected to discuss the possibility of another large write-off. "The entire organization is in uproar and people have been looking for leadership," said one Citigroup executive familiar with the situation.

WASHINGTON -- Facing scathing criticism from Democrats questioning the U.S. government's reliance on private security firms in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the chairman of Blackwater USA rejected accusations yesterday that his company employs "cowboys" who do more harm than good. Erik Prince, 38, a former Navy SEAL who started Blackwater about 11 years ago, said during hearings on Capitol Hill that his company has been wrongly painted as a band of mercenaries and has faced "baseless allegations of wrongdoing."

David Prince, Syracuse University Art Galleries' associate director, drew an overflow audience to the kickoff event of the Mitchell Gallery's exhibit The Artist Revealed: Artist Portraits and Self-Portraits, sharing stories that illuminate the 51 works. In 2004, when Prince initially assembled the exhibition in Syracuse, N.Y., he found "the broadest cross-section possible drawn from our permanent collection," which now helps visitors to the gallery on the St. John's College campus discover what defines portraiture.

On July 28, 2007, JOSEPH M. PRICE, SR; beloved husband of Michelle F. Prince (nee Cullen); loving father of Joseph, Jr. Michael Sr., Brian, Tina and Shelly; cherished "Poppy" of Samantha, Mikey, Matthew, Kayla and Sara; dear brother of Raymond, Margaret and Charles. Also survived by many loving family members and friends. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME OF LANSDOWNE, 2719 Hammonds Ferry Road on Wednesday from 3-5 and 7-8:30 P.M., where services will immediately follow at 8:30 P.M. Interment private.

LONDON -- Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the powerful former ambassador to the United States who has been one of the Bush administration's strongest allies in the Middle East, was publicly linked to a widening corruption scandal yesterday with reports that a British aerospace company secretly paid up to $2 billion into bank accounts at the Saudi embassy in Washington. The new allegations point directly at Bandar, son of the Saudi crown prince and a man who has been a key ally for both the current President Bush and his father.

Good morning -- NFL -- Next year, bring back Prince - and let him sing the national anthem.