Thames River

The U.S. submarine Kentucky was christened Saturday with a bottle of bourbon instead of the traditional champagne as peace activists denounced the missile-firing vessel as "a floating anachronism." About 70 people protested outside the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics, where Navy officials and dignitaries from Kentucky gathered for the christening of the Trident submarine.

BRITAIN * London's Millennium Dome will be given to a business consortium including Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group for development as a 20,000-seat sports and entertainment complex under a deal in which the government gets a share of future profits. Meridian Delta Ltd., which consists of AEG--manager of Staples Center in Los Angeles--and two partner companies, is to take over the dome and a surrounding, 190-acre site on the Thames River, a British government official said.

American actor-director Sam Wanamaker today won a 17-year struggle to rebuild William Shakespeare's Globe theater at its original London site along the Thames River. Following five days of arguments in the High Court, Wanamaker and the London borough of Southwark reached an out-of-court settlement under which the borough will provide the land for the theater, attorneys announced. The one-acre site on the south bank of the Thames opposite St. Paul's Cathedral is now a street-sweepers depot.

Developers today announced they would build an office building on stilts to preserve the remains of the 16th-Century Rose Theater, where William Shakespeare is believed to have debuted as an actor. But protesters who have waged a campaign to save the partly excavated theater condemned the plan as "worse than expected." The 10-story office building would stand 22 feet above the Elizabethan theater's remains and be supported by steel girders, the developers said. The theater's remains would be on view from entrances on three sides of the office building, they said.

The remains of William Shakespeare's Globe Theater have been designated an ancient monument by the government, guaranteeing them state protection. The discovery of three chalk and brick foundation walls, part of the back of the historic Globe, was announced Oct. 12 by the British conglomerate, Hanson PLC, which owns the site, and the Museum of London.

Anthony Pelissier, 75, who began his career as a stage actor but won fame as a director of plays and films. He directed and wrote the screenplays of two widely shown films, "The History of Mr. Polly," based on a novel by H.G. Wells, and "The Rocking Horse Winner," based on a short story by D.H. Lawrence. Pelissier, who also directed and produced plays, was the son of Fay Compton, a leading actress, and of theater producer H.G. Pelissier.

A giant statue of the ancient Egyptian god of the dead floated down the Thames River on Monday, turning heads as it crossed under London's Tower Bridge. The 25-foot fiberglass representation of the jackal-headed god was taken down the river on the back of a cargo ship to Trafalgar Square, where it will stand for three days before moving to various locations around the capital.