Dear Abby: ; Mom irritated that son shares secrets with wife

DEAR ABBY: My son "Clay" has been married seven years. There aretimes I like to discuss things of a personal nature with him havingto do with our family, and I have asked him not to mention our talkswith his wife. These discussions have nothing to do with her.

The problem is whatever he tells her, she repeats to her wholefamily. I do not want our personal problems and other matters to beknown by everyone.

My other son has no trouble keeping our talks just between us,but Clay says he and his wife have "no secrets" from each other.Abby, is it OK to ask a married son or daughter not to divulgethings to a spouse that have nothing to do with her or …

Vet's Heroism Recognized 64 Years Later

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand Maori trooper was posthumously honored Saturday for courage in battle during WWII - 64 years after he was denied a top gallantry award despite a commendation signed by four commanding generals.

Britain's Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and second son of Queen Elizabeth II, attended functions in New Zealand's North Island city of Rotorua commemorating the bravery of Lance Sgt. Haane Manahi, who died in 1987.

Representing his mother, who is also New Zealand's Queen, the Duke handed Manahi's son, Geoffrey, a ceremonial sword, altar cloth and a citation from the Queen.

Manahi, an indigenous Maori, had earlier been awarded a …

Switzerland breaks with tradition on tax evasion

Switzerland's days as a safe haven for the world's tax evaders are numbered.

Under pressure from the United States and other troubled economies, the Swiss government announced Friday that it will cooperate in international tax investigations, breaking with a long-standing tradition of protecting wealthy foreigners accused of hiding billions of dollars. Austria and Luxembourg also said they would help.

"Against the background of the financial crisis, international cooperation has grown stronger particularly against tax crimes," Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz said.

But he insisted that the secrecy of Swiss banks would remain intact …

Eastern execs, airline enter innocent pleas

NEW YORK Eastern Airlines, the first U.S. air carrier ever toface a criminal indictment, and eight top managers pleaded not guiltyMonday to charges of falsifying records to avoid expensive flightdelays and cancellations.

U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser released all eight withoutbail and scheduled the next hearing for Sept. 12.

The government contends that between July, 1985, and October,1989, Eastern officials kept phony records at Kennedy Internationaland La Guardia airports in New York, Hartsfield …

Resource advocates available to help churches

Winnipeg

Mennonite Church Canada's Resource Centre just got a little bigger and more personal.

Four volunteers-Lisa Carr-Pries (Eastern Canada), Jeff Thiessen (Man.), Marion Bueckert (Sask.), and Tracy Brown Ewert (Alta.)-are in place and eager to serve as extensions of the MC Canada Resource Centre in Winnipeg. They will help congregations identify and locate faith formation and spiritual nurture resources that can be hard to find. Only one more position, in B.C., needs to be filled.

Resource Centre manager Arlyn Friesen Epp observes that congregations often work alone, trying to do outreach, faith formation and leadership training by themselves. Resource …

Oil drops below US$89 a barrel as concern over US outlook drives down stock markets

Oil prices fell sharply Monday as fears over the U.S. economy drove down stock markets in Asia and Europe.

Further pressure came from concerns OPEC won't raise crude production levels.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell US$1.63 to US$88.94 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by the afternoon in Europe. The contract rose 44 cents to settle at US$90.57 a barrel on Friday.

In London, Brent crude futures fell US$ 1.33 to US$87.90 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Oil prices have now retreated more than US$10 from a record above US$100 a barrel early this year on worries a flagging U.S. economy …

wastrel spirits

'Arthur" is a fairly close remake of the great 1981 Dudley Moore movie, with pleasures of its own. It shares some of the same strengths and virtues, and if it lacks Dudley Moore as Arthur and John Gielgud playing his butler Hobson, well, it has Russell Brand and Helen Mirren playing his nanny Hobson. That's not a tradeoff, but it's a good try.

The thing about Moore, who people persisted in calling "Cuddly Dudley" although he hated it, is that he was just plain lovable. The thing about Russell Brand is that he isn't, not much, and he should get credit here for at least being a good deal more likable than he usually chooses to seem. He plays the alcoholic zillionaire Arthur Bach as …