The Jordan River spot where Jesus is believed to have been baptized may reopen to the public after more than 30 years of being off limits. A spokeswoman for the Jordan Valley District Council said they hope to have it open by the year 2000, when Christian pilgrims are expected to come to Israel to see the site with their own eyes. The spot is a closed military zone except for three days a year when it opens for baptismal ceremonies. The Jordan River Valley is one of the key contentions between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Geri Halliwell, known to millions of fans as "Ginger" Spice, officially quit the Spice Girls in London on Sunday morning citing unspecified "differences" with the other four members. The remaining Spice Girls -- Posh, Sporty, Scary and Baby -- said in a statement that they were "upset and saddened," but vowed to soldier on as a quartet. "The Spice Girls are here to stay -- see you in the stadiums, friendship never ends."

Members of the Unionized Association of Flight Attendants in Mexico went on strike at midnight, saying Aeromexico was unwilling to negotiate better working conditions and benefits. The government, saying national security was at stake, seized Aviacion de Mexico, which runs Mexico's largest airline, and appointed an acting general administrator for the duration of the strike. Under Mexico's constitution, the government can temporarily seize companies considered vital to the nation's economy or security so that they can continue to operate during emergencies.

With personal bankruptcies at a record 1.3 million last year, Congress is moving with all the determination of a collection agency toward the most sweeping changes in bankruptcy law in decades. House & Senate committees have approved bills to make it signifcantly harder for individuals with family incomes of more than $50,000 to wipe out their debts by filing for bankruptcy. One Congressman said we have more bankruptcies than college graduates each year. Opponents claim that the bills amount to a $4 billion-a-year gift to credit card companies and banks. That is how much they would recoup in credit card debt that is now wiped out through bankruptcy filings. With the tougher of the two bills, the court would determine for families with incomes of more than $50,000 whether at least $50 a month remains after basic living expenses. If it does, the court would require the debtors to repay 20 percent of their unsecured debt over five years. A spokeswoman from a consumer agency points out a study showing that the average person filing under Chapter 7 in 1996 had after-tax income of $19,000 and credit card debt of $17,544. Their income, assets, and lifestyles are very different from the celebrities who have declared bankruptcy.

Air France pilots began a strike after midnight after failing to reach an agreement with the company to block salary cuts. The strike threatens to disrupt travel plans during soccer's World Cup. The pilots were asking the carrier to abandon a plan to save $83 million a year by cutting into their salaries, currently among the highest in their field in the world. Most of the company's aircraft - many of them decorated with pictures of players representing the 32 World Cup teams - remained grounded today. Air France is the official carrier for the World Cup.

Philadelphia city transit workers walked off the job at noon on Monday, more than two months after their contact expired, leaving thousands of commuters stranded at work. Officials from the local union confirmed that the walkout was under way, saying drivers stopped picking up passengers at noon, then proceeded to the end of the line, dropping off their existing passengers as they went.

Ten Mexican soldiers who had been battling a plague of forest fires died on Monday after their army helicopter plummeted into a mountain range in the country's northeast. The United States has sent help, and the army has been called in to halt the destruction of the virgin rain forest. Monday's deaths bring to more than 60 the number of people killed fighting some 12,600 fires that have scorched 950,000 acres so far this year. Satellite images from a US agency showed devastating blazes in the east of the southern state of Oaxaca, whose Chimalapas forest is one of Mexico's most biologically diverse. Less than 5 percent of the country's original rain forest remains. Smoke from the blazes across the country has blanketed Mexico and the southern United States, promting smog alerts in several Mexican and Texan cities.

Italian archeologists drilling near a recently-unearthed ancient Roman fresco have stumbled on a twin set of fresh treasures - a striking mosaic and another fresco thought to be 2,000 years old. The discoveres mean the site at Trajan Baths in Rome's historic center is an important trove of imperial riches. The newly found fresco, which depicts a grape harvest scene, was probably contemporary with the 2,000-year-old birds-eye view of the cityscape discovered three months ago. While drilling into an arch next to the first fresco, a secret closed chamber was discovered. On the facing wall was the 9 feet by 3 feet harvest picture. Using an endoscopic camera, the archeologists saw were able to pick out a man holding a bunch of grapes standing next to a flutist, while three naked men crush the fruit in a vat. Near that was found a mosaic measuring 6 by 10 feet, where bits of decorated colonnades and toga-clad figures can be glimpsed. The mosaic is difficult to date because the age of the walls is not clear. It was probably created at the end of the second century after Christ or the start of the third. This discovery is even more interesting due to the imperial link. Even though Pompeii has a lot of stuff that survived, it is essentially provincial art, compared to this imperial art.

Fire ants infected with a microorganism from South America were recently released in Hope, AR and Durant, OK to reduce the numbers of the imported ants that now infest 11 states. The pathogen infects ant colonies and chronically weakens them. Workers transmit to the queen through food exchange. The disease slowly reduces her weight, and she lays fewer and fewer eggs, all infected, further weakening the colony. Fire ants now infest an estimated 278 million acres in 11 Southern states and Puerto Rico. They have flourished in the US because they have no natural enemies there. Fire ant mounds in open pastures and gardens can contain up to 200,000 ants feeding on the surrounding vegetation. They are also known to attack humans and pets with their burning sting, and to invade homes.