Wales

Wale, the DMV's most recognizable rapper, officially aligned himself with Rick Ross' Maybach Music last month, and the move had his core-fanbase wondering how it would impact his music. Wale and Rick Ross isn't a natural combination: Ross constructed a (likely) false persona on cocaine sales and mansions; Wale balances backpack, Okayplayer rhymes (read: "conscious") with exclusive-sneaker name-dropping. Or so I thought. Once Wale jumped on Waka Flocka Flame's mega-hit "No Hands" — with talks of "sweating out weaves" — he proved he could sound at home on swagged-out strip-club hits.

Though freshly divorced Tiger Woods generated the big headlines when he arrived in Wales without a wife or girlfriend, he isn't the only U.S. Ryder Cup player going solo. Steve Stricker , favored to be Woods' partner in the two-man segments, had to travel without wife Nicki after her grandmother broke a hip. Nicki's mother had agreed to watch their kids but now has to attend to an ailing parent. Stricker received the news Saturday night, when Nicki called him in tears.

The city will not pursue legal action against Wale, the Washington, D.C.-based hip-hop artist who reportedly used profanity and a racial slur while performing at Artscape, the director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts said Monday. Organizers were shocked when Wale used offensive language during his performance, said Bill Gilmore, BOPA 's executive director. "He is not known to do that kind of performance," said Gilmore. "We were pretty much caught off-guard."

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, recently celebrated his 60th birthday, and crossed a certain historical meridian. He is now firmly in second place playing the waiting game for the throne that has been occupied by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, since 1952, which currently makes her the third-longest-reigning monarch in English history. The record for waiting is still held by King William IV, who was 64 when he succeeded his elder brother, George IV, in 1830, who in turn was succeeded upon his death by his 18-year-old niece, Alexandrina Victoria - Queen Victoria - in 1837.

Waleed Hazbun, an assistant professor of political science at the Johns Hopkins University, recently moved to Beirut, Lebanon, to teach at the American University there. Hazbun was supposed to go in September, but his trip was delayed by the Israeli incursion after Hezbollah fighters launched rockets into Israel. He sent this letter to friends shortly after his arrival in a city rocked by turmoil. One of the main protagonists is the so-called March 14 movement, taking its name from the day of a large demonstration against Syrian control of Lebanon a month after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

Australia sewed up the top-seeded spot in the tough side of the bracket as pool play concluded yesterday in the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations' World Cup at the Naval Academy's Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. With an 18-3 win over Wales, the Aussies finished 3-0-1. After Sunday's 7-7 draw with the United States, the two teams finished with identical records, but Australia earned the top spot based on a goal differential formula. Australia defeated the other teams in Pool A - Canada, England and Wales - by an average of 13.7 goals per game, while the United States beat them by an average of 7.7. As crossover play begins today, Australia will meet first-time Cup contender New Zealand, which did not win a game in Pool B. The United States draws the Czech Republic, whose only win came over New Zealand, 21-6.

The United States and Australia have a history of playing close games in World Cup women's lacrosse competition, but yesterday's was the closest yet - the two teams drew to a 7-7 deadlock at the Naval Academy's Glenn Warner Soccer Facility. The win seemed well in hand for the four-time defending champion United States when Crista Samaras increased the lead to 7-5 with 6:24 to go and the Americans worked away four minutes after winning the next draw. But Australia goalie Suzanne McSolvin interrupted the stall by intercepting a weak pass over the top of the goal - the 16th turnover for the United States.

Laura Warren had been all set to return from her home in Wales to complete her senior season as a key defender for the Maryland women's lacrosse team until paperwork got in the way. Additional paperwork required to obtain a student visa in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks could not be completed in time to bring Warren back to College Park in time for the season, said Maryland coach Cindy Timchal. "We're waiting for final word from the university, but it doesn't appear it's going to happen," Timchal said.

Never let it be said that Welsh men don't know how to express emotion. Just listen to them sing out loud and strong, harmonies oozing together, sending sinners to hell and putting the righteous on the path to heaven. Then their voices get soft and sweet, and you fall in love with them. Choral music has long been a major component of church and school in this small country next door to England. But no other nation I know has fostered male choral music like Wales, where the tradition has grown out of industrialization, harsh economics, nonconformist religion, rugby and a bittersweet love of country.

The former students of Baltimore's renowned resident painter Grace Hartigan are surely one of the most diverse groups of artists anywhere, each having taken something of their mentor's approach to painting while turning it to their own distinctive purposes. Maura Maguire, whose paintings are on view at Galerie Francoise, is a former Hartigan student whose densely layered images pick up on her teacher's fascination with mythological subjects but treat them in an altogether more figurative style than Hartigan's abstractions.