Countryman

PHOENIX - Yasiel Puig is ready to play in the major leagues. That was the opinion offered Tuesday by fellow Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, who finished second in American League rookie-of-the-year balloting last season while leading the Oakland Athletics to a division title. "To me and to anyone who's seen what he's done, he's ready," Cespedes said. Puig is batting .500 for the Dodgers in the Cactus League. The 22-year-old outfielder was four for four in the Dodgers' 7-1 victory over the A's, including a two-run home run in the first inning that cleared Cespedes' head in left field.

Chriss Gittens, 86, who performed for 35 years in the British Broadcasting Corp.'s long-running radio serial "The Archers." Gittens played the irascible old countryman Walter Gabriel in the series heard by 7 million listeners every weeknight. "The Archers," concerning the everyday dramas of life in fictional Ambridge in the English Midlands, began in 1951. In London on Sunday.

To go from bitter high school rivals to college roommates doesn't happen very often, but it's taking place at the University of Pennsylvania, where freshmen football players Dylan Muscat (Santa Monica High) and Cameron Countryman (Beverly Hills) have suddenly found themselves sharing a microwave, television and refrigerator in their dorm room. "We're trying to get a bean bag," Muscat said of his new friendship with Countryman. For four years of high school they went head to head on opposite sides of the ball.

[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] ADDRESS BY NELSON MANDELA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, BEFORE A JOINT MEETING OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS Mr. MANDELA. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of Congress, this we understand fully, that it is given to very few, who came from outside the shores of this country, to stand in this lofty Chamber to address you, the law-makers of the United States of America.

TEXAS * Mexico is seeking clemency for one of its citizens that Texas plans to execute Wednesday, contending the Mexican consulate wasn't notified until the man's capital murder trial was over. Similar protests in 1993 and 1997 on behalf of Mexican citizens who were on death row in the state failed. Javier Suarez Medina, 33, was convicted of the Dec. 13, 1988, shooting death of a Dallas narcotics officer.

French tennis fans--whenever they can be persuaded to abandon their leisurely lunches and drag themselves out to Roland Garros Stadium for matches at the French Open--can be as discerning and demanding as any in the world. But first they must be provoked. It doesn't take much. Wednesday's two men's quarterfinals set fans here on edge. In one match, for the first time in four years, they had a French player to cheer.

On Feb. 12, an accident 15 miles off the coast of Rosarito, Mexico, abruptly canceled the livelihood of Adonios Zabetakis, Greek sailor. A little after 9 in the morning, a cable on the deck of the ship he was on snapped and fractured his spine. When he came to, Zabetakis, who spoke no English, found himself in UC San Diego Medical Center, paralyzed from the waist down and more than 7,400 miles from his home near Athens. On Feb. 28, Zabetakis was transferred to the San Diego Rehabilitation Institute for physical and occupational therapy and what promised to be an indefinite stay.

John Adam was a lanky right-handed pitcher from Gardena High when he was drafted in 1972 in the sixth round of the amateur draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Unlike most athletes who have an opportunity to play baseball professionally, Adam eventually made it to the big leagues, but not the way he planned. His professional playing career, all at the Class-A level, lasted only two seasons. He was cut by the Orioles after the 1972 season and was picked up by the Angels in '73.

LONDON — There were two divers from China on the medal podium for the men's three-meter springboard ceremony. Just not in the usual spot at the Aquatics Centre. China's chance at a gold sweep of the diving events at the London Olympics ended when Ilya Zakharov of Russia nailed his final dive, scoring 104.50 points on it to win gold Tuesday night. PHOTOS: London Olympics, Day 11 An emotionally spent Qin Kai of China took the silver and defending Olympic champion He Chong claimed the bronze.

The celebratory homecoming for one Finn could not have gone better or more smoothly. Not only did he score a goal but his team emerged with a one-sided victory in its NHL opener Friday in Helsinki, Finland. It was Ville Leino and the Buffalo Sabres doing the scoring and the winning, not national hero Teemu Selanne and the Ducks. Buffalo, behind three power-play goals, defeated the Ducks, 4-1, at Hartwall Arena. Thomas Vanek led the Sabres with two goals and an assist. This was the arena with a big mural on the outside of Selanne, the favorite son of Finland, who, at age 41, was returning home to play an NHL regular-season game for the first time.

Back in the day, vintage Minis were so narrow they could drive on sidewalks. They were so short, the only view out the driver's side window was often another car's hubcap. Then BMW came along and cashed in on the cute-as-a-button British classic, adding a couple of feet of length, six inches of height and a 21st-century makeover to the compact it resuscitated in 2002 and rechristened as its own Mini brand. Mini, which had its best U.S. sales month ever in April, is offering a new take on its popular two-door.

Family harmony came first and last for Saku Koivu. So much so that he opted for a less lucrative deal with the Ducks, worrying that his presence in Minnesota could overshadow his brother Mikko. Not would. But could. Just the hint of that possibility had the longtime Montreal Canadiens captain signing a one-year contract worth $3.25 million, joining his Finnish countryman and friend, Teemu Selanne. It was a seminal moment for Koivu.

John Millington Synge? Those Americans who've heard of him (and not that many have) tend to think of the early 20th century writer as a spinner of tales about coarse or quaint Irish folk who speak in a barely decipherable tongue. Garry Hynes is out to prove there's much more to Synge than that.

Jean Sibelius -- who became the voice of his country perhaps to a greater degree than any other nationalistic composer ever has -- died of a stroke the last day of summer 1957, in a small artists' village 20 miles north of the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

Fiat's little family of urban runabouts suddenly got a lot bigger at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. The Italian automaker used its Wednesday news conference to unveil three new versions of its 500: the four-door 500L, the all-electric 500e and a cabrio version of the spicy little 500 Abarth we tested in May 2012 . The trio will help broaden Fiat's appeal in a U.S. market that has recently embraced the pint-sized 500 after a cold start in...

PHOENIX - Yasiel Puig is ready to play in the major leagues. That was the opinion offered Tuesday by fellow Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, who finished second in American League rookie-of-the-year balloting last season while leading the Oakland Athletics to a division title. "To me and to anyone who's seen what he's done, he's ready," Cespedes said. Puig is batting .500 for the Dodgers in the Cactus League. The 22-year-old outfielder was four for four in the Dodgers' 7-1 victory over the A's, including a two-run home run in the first inning that cleared Cespedes' head in left field.

NEW YORK -- Rafael Nadal seemed to be crumbling, body part by body part, as Tuesday night turned to this morning at the U.S. Open during a baseline marathon against his Spanish countryman David Ferrer in the fourth round. In fact, Nadal, already dealing with sore knees, needed treatment from the trainer when the ring finger of his left hand cramped early in the fourth set. He would later go down in the corner after another grueling point, exhausted and spent, in the seventh game of the same set.

Confronted with a task more daunting than achieving history, Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night took on Mexico's boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera. By continually beating the aged World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion to the punch in front of 8,127 at Mandalay Bay Events Center, Marquez not only claimed a unanimous decision and the world title, he and his super-bantamweight champion brother Rafael now stand as the first siblings to hold WBC belts simultaneously.