French skydiver Michel Fournier failed on his second attempt to set a new free-fall record after his $500,000 balloon left without him on Tuesday. Fournier's initial plan was to be inside a small capsule attached to the balloon and then jump 24. 85 miles (40 kilometers) to earth. To prepare for his ascent, Fournier was breathing compressed oxygen and wore a space suit. The ascent would have taken 120 minutes and the descent only a quarter of an hour.

French skydiver Michel Fournier failed on his second attempt to set a new free-fall record after his $500,000 balloon left without him on Tuesday. Fournier's initial plan was to be inside a small capsule attached to the balloon and then jump 24. 85 miles (40 kilometers) to earth. To prepare for his ascent, Fournier was breathing compressed oxygen and wore a space suit. The ascent would have taken 120 minutes and the descent only a quarter of an hour.

The home and auto industries are two of the hardest hit sectors in the U. S. Rising foreclosures mark the housing sector, while closing car manufacturing plants are common in the auto plant. Given the parallel routes these two industries pass through, it is not surprising to hear American couples throwing in a used car as a freebie, just to unload on the market a debt-ridden home.

Thousands of American homeowners are losing this houses to foreclosure proceedings because they have been late by several months on their mortgages. But Sonya Capri Ramos, a resident of Salt Lake City, lost her home because of an unpaid $68 dentist fee. Ramos' three-bedroom home was sold by the sheriff in 1996 to Jarmacc Properties for $1,550, court documents said. The amount represented the unpaid bill, penalties and interest.

A lost pet parrot was returned to its home safely after reciting his name and full address to a veterinarian. The Associated Press reported that Yosuke, an African grey parrot, was found on a neighbor's roof and turned over to the police who kept the bird for a day before turning it over to a veterinarian.