Executive order and proposed bill will boost biobased products and bioenergy

Initiatives from the federal and legislative branches aim to bring technologies utilizing agricultural and plant-based materials out of the laboratory and into the marketplace.

DEVELOPMENTS in the world of biobased products and bioenergy have flourished in recent years, as reported by sources such as The Carbohydrate Economy newsletter, the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, the New Uses Council, and In Business magazine, among others. But while each new use for crop residues or another cellulosic ethanol project brings encouragement to sustainability proponents, the biomass and biofuels arena remains small and fragmented compared to the status quo of virgin materials and …

Russia, West at odds over UN Georgia resolution

Russia and key Western nations remained at odds Thursday over a U.N. resolution aimed at bringing peace to Georgia, with the U.S., France and Britain insisting on immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.

The Western nations also sought a commitment from Russia on Georgia's territorial integrity, according to U.N. diplomats.

Russia, for its part, put its draft resolution into a form that can be put to a vote in the U.N. Security Council. But Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin did not indicate when he would call for a vote.

The Russian resolution basically restates and endorses a six-point peace plan promoted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy …

Local & National scoreboard

AREA SCHEDULE

High schools

The upcoming athletics schedule for area high schools, assubmitted by the schools:

Baseball

Today - Meadow Bridge at Valley (Fayette), 5 p.m.; Lincoln Countyat Charleston Catholic, 6 p.m.; Mountain State Academy at St.Albans, 6:30 p.m.; Cabell Midland at Hurricane, 6:30 p.m.; RoaneCounty at Parkersburg, 7 p.m.

Thursday - Van at Valley (Fayette), 5 p.m.; Capital at SouthCharleston, 6 p.m.; Nitro at Riverside, 6 p.m.; Sissonville atSherman, 6 p.m.; Charleston Catholic at Winfield, 6:30 p.m.; HerbertHoover at St. Albans, 6:30 p.m.; Mountain State Academy at Buffalo,7 p.m.; Man at Scott

Tennis

Today - Winfield …

Elizabeth Hurley, Spouse Arrive in India

MUMBAI, India - Elizabeth Hurley and her husband, Arun Nayar, arrived Monday to kick off the next leg of their nuptial celebrations - six days of traditional Indian festivities that will culminate in a ceremony at a lavish palace.

Photographers snapped shots of Hurley and Nayar arriving at Mumbai's airport from London early Monday.

The couple were married Friday in a private civil ceremony at Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe, 125 miles west of London. They held a blessing and party at the castle Saturday evening, with guests including Elton John, Kate Moss, Elle Macpherson and Hurley's ex, Hugh Grant.

Hurley, 41, and Nayar, 42, have been tightlipped about their plans …

Torres eyes return to form against former club

LONDON (AP) — Fernando Torres couldn't pick a better time to signal a long-awaited return to his blistering form of old when Chelsea hosts his former club Liverpool in the standout match in the English Premier League this weekend.

Since making a club-record 50-million-pound (then $81 million) move to Chelsea in January, the Spain striker has scored just three times in the league and …

Lawsuit filed against Chicago's new gun laws

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the city of Chicago asking the city's new gun control ordinance be declared "null and void."

A group of people, including the Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers, filed the lawsuit Tuesday, saying the new ordinance infringes on their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs want the city prohibited from enforcing the new measure.

Chicago aldermen passed the ordinance Friday, four days after the …

DOE resumes program to accept spent fuel from foreign reactors

AFTER A delay of more than seven years, the Department of Energy (DOE) in September resumed its program to manage and store spent nuclear fuel from foreign research reactors. The first shipments of spent fuel, which contained enough highly enriched uranium (HEU) for two crude weapons, arrived September 22 at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station (NWS) in South Carolina from reactor facilities in Chile, Colombia, France, Sweden and Switzerland. The material was transported to DOE's Savannah River plant in South Carolina where it will remain until it is moved to a final disposal repository.

Since 1978, the United States has been trying to reduce the use of HEU internationally in …