News In Brief

IN A HURRY, ARE WE?

Perhaps Ralf Schumacher imagined he still was on the track where he won the April 15 San Marino Grand Prix as he roared along a highway near Salzburg, Austria, at 105 m.p.h. last Sunday. But Formula One tracks don't have police cruisers on them, do they? No. So when Schumacher saw one in his rear-view mirror bearing down on him, he realized he'd been caught in a speed trap. And since he also didn't have his driver's license with him, the fine was $650. Oh, the limit on that stretch of road: 60 m.p.h.

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WE'RE NO LONGER TRENDY

From London comes word that the British Flying Saucer Bureau is closing up shop. It was founded in 1953 by Denis Plunkett and his father, who has since died. At its peak, the group had 1,500 members and received 30-odd reports a week of unidentified-flying-object sightings. Now, alas, there are almost none. Maybe, Plunkett speculates, that's because alien visitors have finished with a survey of Earth.

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Attitudes in US are softening on nuclear power, poll finds

Americans have become slightly more in favor of nuclear power than they were two years ago, results of a new Associated Press poll suggest. About half the respondents support nuclear-generated electricity, compared to 45 percent in 1999. Nuclear plants have become a more appealing power source (Story, page 3.) because of rising natural-gas prices and growing concerns about pollution from fossil-fuel plants. In fact, support for nuclear power was strongest in the energy-starved West. The survey of 1,002 adults was conducted between April 18 and April 23 and has a 3 percent margin of error for most questions. Results, by political affiliation:

Democrats

Support - 39%

Oppose - 39

Republicans

Support - 68

Oppose - 20

Independents

Support - 49

Oppose - 30

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor