Bruce Haddad

The equipment is decrepit and outdated, the workers are threatening to strike and the public is screaming for his scalp. So is Bruce Haddad sorry he took the helm of Venezuela's national phone company? Hardly. "This is a rare, rare career opportunity to really be able to use all the skills you've developed over a lifetime . . .

The equipment is decrepit and outdated, the workers are threatening to strike and the public is screaming for his scalp. So is Bruce Haddad sorry he took the helm of Venezuela's national phone company? Hardly. "This is a rare, rare career opportunity to really be able to use all the skills you've developed over a lifetime . . .

Cinda Gurney reached the final of the NCAA women's tennis championships with a 7-6 (14-12), 6-2 semifinal victory over Andrea Farley of Florida on Wednesday in Gainesville, Fla. Gurney, a North Carolina senior from Palos Verdes, had four set points against her before taking the tiebreaker. "(Farley) seemed pretty dejected after that first set," Gurney said. "Once I had it under my belt I felt like the pressure was off, and I was able to just hit out on every point."

A natural gas pipeline exploded beneath a busy highway during rush hour Tuesday, engulfing a passenger bus and cars in flames and killing at least 36 people. The pipeline apparently was ruptured by a state telephone company crew laying fiber-optic cables, officials said. "It was like a stream of fire that leaped to the sky," said Alberto Jose Galeno, a passenger in a truck on the other side of the highway. He spoke from his hospital bed.

Jose Luis Noriega of the University of San Diego is one of only eight seeded players remaining in the NCAA men's singles tennis championships in Athens, Ga. Noriega, a junior and ranked eighth in the nation, defeated Nick Barone of Mississippi, 7-5, 6-2, Thursday in the second round. Noriega improved his singles record to 34-5 as he advanced to the round of 16. The three-time All-American from Lima, Peru, will meet fourth-ranked and sixth-seeded David DiLucia of Notre Dame today.