Spain

I cooked the "reformed" Mark Bittman pizza the other night. This version, found in his new book Food Matters, was made with whole-wheat flour and rosemary leaves. To it can be added a "light touch" of tomato sauce and meat as an optional topping. In prior years, the pizzas I have made using recipes in the cookbooks written by Bittman, a New York Times columnist, were heavier on the sauce, lighter on the vegetables, loaded with sausage. Bittman says he and his cooking style have changed.

Alanna Jordan, 15, and Laetitia Mayran, 16, have played Monopoly twice since June - once at Alanna's house in Glenwood and once at Laetitia's house in Cergy-Pontoise, France. The two met through Columbia Association's Sister Cities program, which matches Howard County high school students with students of similar ages in either Tres Cantos, Spain, or Cergy-Pontoise. The American students, who have taken at least two years of French or Spanish, spent the first couple of weeks this month living with their match's host family abroad.

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- On an often-gorgeous day rife with often un-gorgeous golf, it took a steady hand to keep his wits and the lead. That would be Sergio Garcia, who, at 27, is playing in his 36th major tournament. He left the premises yesterday with the same two-shot lead he had brought along for his 9 a.m. tee time. His even-par 71 lacked the sparkle of his first-round 65, but with most of the players below him plunging even more precipitously, and with Tiger Woods' deficit swelling from four shots to seven, the 71 began to look shiny.

SEVILLA, Spain -- The new American commander of NATO presented yesterday a new list of military requirements for Afghanistan that included a request for more combat troops for the country's restive southern provinces. U.S. officials said Army Gen. John Craddock, who took over as the alliance's supreme commander in December, drew up the revised requirements last week amid growing concerns that current forces are not sufficient to counter an expected spring offensive by the Taliban. He presented the list at a meeting of alliance defense ministers here.

On June 6, 2007, HERBERT J. "Jerry"; of Catonsville, MD; son of Carolyn and the late Herbert J. Spain, Sr.; brother of Suzanne Ryan, Donna Casady, Thomas and John Spain. Also survived by his nieces Megan and Sarah and nephews Patrick, Kevin and Connor. A memorial visitation will be held on Sunday 3 to 5 P.M. at the Donaldson Funeral Home, P.A., 313 Talbott Avenue, Laurel, MD 20707. A graveside service will be held on Monday 9:30 A.M. at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring. Memorial donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association, PO Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312.

THE LEGAL morass gripping Augusto Pinochet may serve the old dictator right and make human rights advocates feel good. But it augurs ill for the rule of law or an orderly world.A Spanish investigating judge wants to try General Pinochet in Spain for crimes he committed against humanity when he ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. The former president was arrested in Britain.An appeals court ruled that the 83-year-old general could not be extradited because the crimes in question occurred before Britain ratified an international convention outlawing torture in 1988.

A MEMORABLE PLACENot all is sunny in SpainBy Charles SchaefferSPECIAL TO THE SUNSunny Spain beckons. Flamenco. Paella. Excitement mounts. We land in Madrid and check into the Hotel Ingles, on a narrow street near Puerta del Sol. Four traveling companions set out, finding the ancient rooftops of Madrid irresistible photo opportunities.Snapping away, Alan, oblivious of two sinister figures, suddenly cries out: "They got my wallet!" So credit cards are canceled. We vow not to let the setback ruin our reign in Spain.

Gerald Clifford Moylan, who was co-host of a salsa-beat radio program and brought Latino percussion music to the streets of Baltimore, died Friday in a bicycle accident near Santo Domingo de la Calzada in Spain. He was 50 and lived in Mayfield.Family members said he died while making the pilgrimage along the historic St. James Compostela route in northern Spain. His bicycle was struck by a passing vehicle along a mountainous road.A founder of the Baltimore International Rhythm and Drumming Society, Mr. Moylan was co-host of Fiesta Musical, a weekly bilingual Latino music program on Morgan State University's WEAA-FM radio (88.9)

MADRID, Spain -- The Basque separatist group ETA announced yesterday that it would end a 14-month cease-fire. The rebels warned that armed attacks could resume as early as Friday in their long struggle for an independent homeland.The cease-fire has been the longest period of calm in three decades of separatist violence and had initially raised hopes that both sides would use it as an opportunity to work out a lasting peace for a conflict that authorities say has killed about 800 people.The rebels' statement, published yesterday in the Basque newspaper Gara, blamed the failure to reach a lasting peace on the governments of Spain and France and on moderate Basque nationalists.

LONDON -- Chilean Gen. Augusto Pinochet lost another key legal battle yesterday when a British magistrate ruled that he can be extradited to Spain to face charges of torture and conspiracy during his 17-year rule.The ailing, 83-year-old former dictator issued a defiant written protest of innocence, while his opponents outside the packed courtroom, and in Chile and Spain, celebrated a triumph in their improbable bid to bring a former head of state to justice.It could be months before the case leaves Britain.

2008 Terras Gauda Abadia De San Campio From: Rias, Baixas, Spain Price: $20 Serve with: Rockfish, tilapia, shellfish Spain is coming on strong with its white wines, especially those made with the native Alabarino grape, which is beginning to get some play on U.S. restaurant wine lists as an alternative to more neutral varieties. This crisp, bone-dry wine has plenty of character, with nuances of nuts, lemon, minerals and fresh peas. The 2008 is just arriving on the market; some stores may still be selling the 2007.

College basketball O'Neill, former interim coach at Arizona, takes over at USC Kevin O'Neill returned to the college ranks Saturday when he was announced as Southern California's basketball coach, taking over from Tim Floyd. Floyd suddenly resigned June 9 amid allegations that he paid to have O.J. Mayo delivered to the Trojans. O'Neill, 52, a defense-oriented coach, was an assistant this season with Mayo's NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies. O'Neill led the Toronto Raptors to a 33-49 record in 2004 and had stints with the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers.

I cooked the "reformed" Mark Bittman pizza the other night. This version, found in his new book Food Matters, was made with whole-wheat flour and rosemary leaves. To it can be added a "light touch" of tomato sauce and meat as an optional topping. In prior years, the pizzas I have made using recipes in the cookbooks written by Bittman, a New York Times columnist, were heavier on the sauce, lighter on the vegetables, loaded with sausage. Bittman says he and his cooking style have changed.

Minnesotans are a humorous people, and we are attempting to elect a comedian to the U.S. Senate, which is delicate work, as you might guess. You shouldn't sweep a comedian into office on a wave of public adulation any more than you should let him win the heroine in the first reel and fly off to Paris and suddenly start ordering meals in fluent French. You need him to move a piano up a long flight of stairs, and that's what Al Franken is doing now. He is leading the race by 50 votes or so out of 2.9 million cast.

BEIJING - Seem like old times? Of course, for anyone born since 1992, when the Dream Team awed an overmatched world, the sight of a U.S. basketball team flattening everything in its path, as it just did to Spain, another supposed contender, is a novelty, but it used to be like this. No, really. After buttering up undefeated Spain for two days, or convincing themselves the Spaniards were a threat, the U.S. routed them, 119-82, last night in Wukesong Arena. The U.S. is 4-0, leading Pool B. The only other undefeated team is Lithuania, which is 4-0 in Pool A. Of course, the U.S. blew out the Lithuanians by 36 points two weeks ago in Macao, so they might not be that close, either.

The U.S. men's basketball team is proving in Beijing what every coach from pee-wee hoops to the big guys has known all along. Defense will conquer all. The Americans have struggled with their three-point shooting and even their free throws, but their defense has been spectacular. Against Greece, which beat the United States in the world championships two years ago, the Americans helped force 25 turnovers yesterday. The U.S. had 15 steals and seven blocked shots. Greece, meanwhile, had just four steals and one blocked shot.

The best value restaurants from Food & Wine magazine's 2008 lists (in alphabetical order): 1. Kau Kee Restaurant, Hong Kong 2. Kefi, New York City 3. Kiosko Universal, Barcelona, Spain 4. Legendary Noodle, Vancouver, Canada 5. Les Cocottes, Paris 6. Love Supreme, Sydney, Australia 7. Open Colonna, Rome 8. Refuel, London 9. Taberna Laredo, Madrid, Spain 10. Tempura Mikawa, Tokyo

The best new restaurants of the year from Food & Wine magazine's 2008 lists (in alphabetical order): 1. Bubbles Bar at Guy Savoy, Las Vegas 2. Diverxo, Madrid, Spain 3. Gresca, Barcelona, Spain 4. Hibiscus, London 5. Mathias Dahlgren, Stockholm, Sweden 6. O Ya, Boston 7. ONE, Toronto 8. Osteria Mozza, Los Angeles 9. Universal, Sydney, Australia 10. Whampoa Club, Beijing

LEOPOLDO CALVO SOTELO, 82 Former Spanish prime minister Former Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, who presided during Spain's rocky transition from the fascist dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco to liberal democracy, died yesterday in Madrid. He was 82. Mr. Calvo Sotelo, Spain's second post-Franco prime minister, governed from February 1981 to December 1982 after predecessor Adolfo Suarez stepped down. During a vote to approve his premiership, a group of right-wing Civil Guards broke into parliament, fired shots into the ceiling and held lawmakers captive.

MADRID, Spain -- On the eve of national elections, an activist from Spain's ruling Socialist Party was gunned down in the Basque city of Mondragon, throwing a hard-fought political campaign into disarray. There was no claim of responsibility, but the government was quick to blame the militant Basque separatist organization ETA, which has set off a series of small bombs ahead of the vote and killed two Spanish policemen just across the border in France on Dec. 1. The group ended a cease-fire last year.