Rants —

A Russian space official admitted that the rough and very off-course landing last month of a Russian space capsule was due to a mechanical failure.

A former University of Tennessee physics professor has been accused of providing military secrets to a Chinese graduate student.

Raves —

A lost parrot in Japan told a veterinarian his name and his family’s address; he then sang songs to entertain the vet and his colleagues.

Sausage magnate Jimmy Dean gave $1 million to a small Baptist college in Texas, the largest gift ever given to a college of that size.