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Of Human Interest: News-lite

By PENNY NELSON BARTHOLOMEW, United Press International
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OSAMA AND A BIG HARRY DEAL

Osama Bin Laden is still No.1 in the minds of Web surfers who use the Lycos search engine to troll the Internet.

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But Christmas is not far behind, and 'Net users are wild about Harry, according to The Lycos 50 most popular user searches for the week ending Nov. 24.

In the battle of the beards, Santa Claus (No.44) and Christmas (No.3) have yet to topple No.1-ranked Osama bin Laden. Thanksgiving (No.4) wasn't even able to make it to the summit this year, although many Thanksgiving-related searches, including turkey recipes (No.6), were very popular. Digital cameras (No.43), last year's hot gift, are back on this year's list, with toys close behind, just shy of making The Lycos 50 at No.52.

While "Harry Potter" came in fifth, the movie's most popular cast member isn't Harry himself, Daniel Radcliff, it's actor Sean Biggerstaff who portrays Harry's Quidditch rival, Oliver Wood. Shy of making The Lycos 50, Biggerstaff got 76 percent more searches than Radcliff and this week he received more searches than many other teen celebrities, including the boy band O-Town and actress Sarah Michelle Gellar.

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The Lycos 50)Top 10 Search Terms for the Week Ending Nov. 24, 2001:

1. Osama bin Laden 6. Turkey Recipes

2. Dragonball 7. Britney Spears

3. Christmas 8. Morpheus

4. Thanksgiving 9. Leonid Meteors

5. Harry Potter 10. Xbox

(Web site: terralycos.com)


WHAT A MAROON!

A 20-year-old Southern California man was arrested Tuesday on charges he mailed a trio of letters that were labeled as anthrax but actually contained either antibiotics or body powder from Victoria's Secret.

Antonio M. Flores, 20, of San Bernardino was picked up on a federal complaint charging him with three counts of mailing a threatening communication and three additional counts of threatening to use a biological agent as a weapon. The charges carry a potential life prison sentence.

Flores allegedly sent the letters to recipients in Northern California. Prosecutors say they apparently were the result of a jailhouse plot. An FBI affidavit said Flores had been arrested for possessing property allegedly stolen from two of the recipients. The third letter was apparently sent on behalf of another inmate.

Authorities said the defendant admitted to them that the powder in the letters was either "Victoria's Secret body talk powder" or powder he removed from tetracycline tablets.

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WHAT A MAROON! Part 2

AirTran Airways is suing a Georgia man who allegedly caused a security breach that shut down Hartsfield International Airport earlier this month and caused hundreds of flights to be canceled or delayed.

The lawsuit by the airline -- the No. 2 carrier at Atlanta's Hartsfield, the world's busiest airport -- was filed Monday in federal court in Atlanta. It seeks at least $100,000 in damages from Michael Lasseter, a Gainesville, Ga., bank employee.

Lasseter, 32, was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct for bypassing a security checkpoint on Nov. 16 when he allegedly ran past two guards and went down an ascending escalator used by arriving passengers.

Lasseter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week he did not intend to break the law. He said he had returned to the main airport terminal to recover a camera bag he had forgotten, but then realized he was about to miss his flight to Memphis. The camera bag has not been found.

AirTran's lawsuit claims Lasseter acted "maliciously and in bad faith" and was negligent because he did not turn himself in to authorities after the security breach, which forced a massive evacuation of the airport. Flights were halted for four hours.

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Lasseter's attorney, Richard Lipman, called AirTran's lawsuit "exploitative, irresponsible and senseless."

The bank employee says he has gotten threatening messages on his answering machine since the incident.


REASONS TO CELEBRATE TODAY:

WEDNESDAY: Albania celebrates its Independence Day today. So does Mauritania, which achieved independence from France in 1960, and Panama.

(Thanks to Chase's 2001 Calendar of Events)


BY THE WAY...

At the time it achieved independence from Spain in 1821, Panama was part of what other country?

Columbia.

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