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BEIJING -- It was an extraordinary display of openness and candor for one of the world's most repressive regimes.There was China's President Jiang Zemin debating President Bill Clinton over some of China's most sensitive issues, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre -- not in private, but on live television.During a 70-minute exchange yesterday, the two leaders sparred over free speech, human rights and the future of Tibet as millions of Chinese watched at home, many surprised by what they were seeing and hearing -- all the more so because the live broadcast was not announced in advance.

Nine people were indicted this week on federal charges that they smuggled millions of dollars' worth of counterfeit goods - including fake Nike sneakers, Coach handbags and even Viagra - into the country through the port of Baltimore. A sister investigation in London led to six arrests and the seizure of 50,000 phony items, the largest bust of its kind in England. "This was not a mom-and-pop organization; this was organized crime on a grand scale," John Morton, assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Friday during a news conference to announce the indictment.

BEIJING -- In the free markets of the new China, young men are coming to realize that there is something even more precious than a new car, an electronic pager or a Swiss-made watch.And that rare commodity -- an unmarried woman -- is becoming harder and harder to find.There are not nearly enough of them, a situation that is creating anguish for millions of Chinese men and has at least the potential of revolutionizing the status of women in this traditionally sexist society."What sort of woman do I want?"

Chinese fossil hunters have discovered a new creature that's as potentially significant as it is just plain strange: a four-winged dinosaur that swooped through the sky. "It's weird, no question," said Thomas R. Holtz Jr., a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Maryland, College Park. While scientists don't yet know quite what to make of this bird-like beast, they speculate it could represent a previously unknown stage of avian evolution. The fossil is also adding new wrinkles to one of the most fascinating evolutionary enigmas of all - how did birds first learn to fly?

SHENZHEN, China -- The life of an official in China's closed political system can be anxious and uncertain. Anyone who doubts that should stride up the initial flight of nine steps leading into the courthouse in Shenzhen. The courthouse used to have 11 steps. Two were removed. Workers also broadened the stairway and placed two fierce ceremonial stone lions at another entrance. The reasons for the redesign haven't been made public. But news reports suggest that agitated officials wanted to halt a run of bad luck, including the jailing of three judges for corruption.

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Running Centennial Fun Run The Centennial Fun Run kicked off its 34th season just after an all-day rain ended. Mark Eagles beat Noah Wood for the first win of the summer series.

Painters traditionally have placed human figures within realistic landscapes that seem like psychologically suitable backdrops, but the group exhibit "The Body and Beyond" is notable for how many of its artists have figures and abstracted landscapes melting into each other. That's one of the reasons why you may find yourself lingering before some of the paintings in this exhibit of contemporary Chinese art in Howard Community College's Rouse Company Foundation Gallery. Upon walking into the gallery, you're immediately facing such paintings.

Arjun Rohit Adapa, Zachary Ryan Allentuck, Schuyler Olivia Ames, Kathryn Marie Andersen, Jenelle Flora Anderson, Kurtis LeRoy Anderson, Anthony Hagop Andonian, Austin Benjamin Arnold, Caitlin Brooke Asher Marissa Leah Babazadeh, Danielle Ilana Lynn Bacharach, Rachel Sierra Bade, Soheil Bagheri, Zachary Alan Bailey, Brandon Ashkan Bakhshai, Elizabeth Anne Bamber, Rachel Elizabeth Beck, Jacob Douglas Benedict, Auctavius Devalle' Bennett, Julian James...

BEIJING - More than a year after becoming China's president, Hu Jintao was handed the full reins of power yesterday when his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, gave up the nation's most powerful military post. The move ends an awkward power-sharing arrangement that has seen two rival camps maneuvering for position as China faces a number of major foreign and domestic policy challenges, such as relations with Taiwan, North Korea's nuclear program, government corruption and rapid economic growth.

NEW YORK - A new public high school here has a pioneering cure for "senioritis," the academic "pox Americana" afflicting millions of restless and departing students: eliminate senior year altogether. In fact, Bard High School Early College is scrapping 11th grade as well, jumping students from 10th grade straight to college classes on the same campus, and awarding them associate degrees when others their age are receiving high school diplomas. `A lost opportunity' New York school officials and education reformers are hailing the concept as a breakthrough in the growing effort to rethink the traditional American senior year.