Augusta getting too easy? Course to get major overhaul

AUGUSTA, Ga. Greg Norman went through the list of clubs he hitsinto the par 4s at Augusta National-never more than a 7-iron, usuallya wedge and rarely from anywhere but plush green grass.

That's about to change.

About a month after the Masters crowns a new champion, AugustaNational will start digging up part of the golf course in a bid tostrengthen the par 4s, one of the most significant overhauls in the68-year history of the club.

"We are going to attempt, as we always have, to keep the golfcourse current with the times," Augusta chairman Hootie Johnson saidtoday.

The changes were first considered four years ago, after TigerWoods won the Masters with a …

Chile miners are heroes, but fame can be fleeting

SAN JOSE MINE, Chile (AP) — A torrent of emotions awaits the 33 miners when they finally rejoin the outside world.

As trying as it has been for them to survive underground for more than two months, their gold and copper mine is familiar territory. Once out of the shaft, they'll face challenges so bewildering, no amount of coaching can fully prepare them.

They'll be celebrated at first, embraced by their families and pursued by more than 750 journalists who have converged on the mine, competing for interviews and images to feed to a world intensely curious to hear their survival story.

They've been invited to visit presidential palaces, take all-expense paid vacations and …

Analysis: Iraq's plight imperils US goals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraq's troubled start to life without U.S. forces calls into question the Obama administration's assertion that it has wound down America's long war responsibly: at least 78 killed in blasts across the country in a single day last week, a protracted political crisis with no end in sight, top political leaders accusing each other of monstrous criminality.

An extension of the costly and unpopular deployment of American troops to Iraq may have only temporarily suppressed some of the tensions, but the heightened violence and political dysfunction illustrate the unfinished business the United States has left behind in Iraq. Nine years after American proponents of …

CALENDAR OF MEETINGS

The Call for Papers and Calendar sections list conferences, symposia, and workshops that are of potential interest to AMS members. Complete information about events listed in the calendar can be found on the meetings page of the AMS Web site, www.ametsoc.org. New additions to the calendar are highlighted.

To list an event in the calendar, please submit the event name, dates, location, and deadlines for abstracts, manuscripts, and preregistration to amsmtgs@ametsoc.org. For a submission to appear in a given issue, it must be submitted at least eight weeks prior to the month of publication (that is, to appear in the March Bulletin, the submission must be received by I …

Dozens Killed in Lebanese Fighting

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese troops tightened a siege of a Palestinian refugee camp Monday where a shadowy group suspected of ties to al-Qaida was holed up, pounding the camp with artillery a day after the worst eruption of violence since the end of the country's 1975-90 civil war.

Lebanese officials said one of the men killed in Sunday's fighting was a suspect in a failed German train bombing - a new sign that the camp had become a refuge for militants planning attacks outside of Lebanon. In the past, others in the camp have said they were aiming to send trained fighters into Iraq.

Saddam El-Hajdib was the fourth-highest ranking official in the Fatah Islam group, an …

Pistons-Mavericks, Box

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DETROIT (101)

Prince 12-26 3-3 28, Maxiell 2-3 1-1 5, McDyess 4-14 2-2 10, Stuckey 5-19 7-7 17, Afflalo 6-12 0-0 16, Brown 1-3 2-2 4, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Herrmann 1-1 0-0 2, Bynum 8-14 3-4 19. Totals 39-92 18-19 101.

DALLAS (103)

Wright 4-6 0-1 9, Nowitzki 12-20 5-8 30, Dampier 5-7 6-8 16, Kidd 1-6 0-0 2, Barea 2-5 0-0 5, Terry 5-11 6-6 18, Singleton 4-5 2-2 11, Bass 5-7 2-2 12, Green 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-67 21-27 103.

Cop says Dowaliby basement showed no sign of break-in

A police officer testified Monday he believed an intruder couldnot have entered the home of Cynthia and David Dowaliby through abroken basement window because of the "even layer of dust" found onthe inside windowsill.

Midlothian Patrol Officer Donald Wodark also said he foundnothing disturbed under the window, although the area 5 feet beneathit was littered with boxes, a metal rack and a stack of papers.

The window - installed in a nearly 8-foot high, life-sizereplica of the Dowalibys' basement wall - towered over the couple asWodark testified at their trial on charges they strangled their7-year-old daughter, Jaclyn.

The child's body was found in a …