English Colombia

Two British trekkers kidnapped in March in Colombia while hunting for wild orchids in a drug- and weapons-trafficking area have been released unharmed and may be reunited with their families by Christmas, officials said. Paul Winder, 29, and Tom Hart Dyke, 24, were flown to Bogota, the capital, on Tuesday. "We were never told who was holding us or why," the men said in a statement.

Two British trekkers kidnapped in March in Colombia while hunting for wild orchids in a drug- and weapons-trafficking area have been released unharmed and may be reunited with their families by Christmas, officials said. Paul Winder, 29, and Tom Hart Dyke, 24, were flown to Bogota, the capital, on Tuesday. "We were never told who was holding us or why," the men said in a statement.

James E. Holman makes his living in the world of alternative newspapers. For 33 years, his irreverent and wildly successful weekly, the San Diego Reader, has needled the city's captains of commerce, government and society. But Holman has also pursued a passion unusual among his brethren in the left-leaning alternative press: a quiet crusade against abortion.

Although the Reader is often characterized as San Diego's "progressive" or "liberal" weekly paper, editor and publisher Jim Holman insists it represents no one viewpoint. "Some use the word offbeat" to describe the paper, he said. "It's not a word I would use, but I would agree with it." The free tabloid's common use of strong language and off-the-wall writing styles, and its willingness to regularly tackle subjects rarely covered by the local dailies clearly place it far from the mainstream.