Lincoln, Nebraska is the venue for what may be the first lawsuit of its kind in the nation, in which the parents of a 16-year-old girl who got pregnant by her high school sweetheart are suing the boy's mother. They allege that she knew that the teenagers were having sex, and did nothing to stop it. Both teens are 16, and after finding herself pregnant, the girl got an abortion. Her parents are suing for $11,371 in medical expenses, including the cost of the abortion, costs associated with their daughter's depression, plus other unspecified damages. The attorney for the boy's mother says the suit borders on frivilous. The boy's mom asked the couple if they were having sex and they denied it. The attorney said, "She cannot be there 24 hours a day. I don't know why it should fall on her shoulders. Obviously the girl's parents were in on this thing, too. I think my client did as much as she could do."

According to the principal investigator for the Stanford Lockheed Institute for Scientific Research in Palo Alto, California, an exploding solar flare may be a preview of a series of intense sun storms that could disrupt worldwide communications and make high-altitude flight dangerous. The Sun's current 11-year cycle of numerous storms and sunspots, expected to peak in 2001, could produce flares so strong that they could knock out pagers and kill satellite power as they invade Earth's magnetic fields. All radio-wave communication will be affected, and there will be some major events and some not so major. However, this is something we can't control. There is nothing we can do to stop a solar flare.

A research scientist for the Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, California, told reporters that a Leonid meteroid shower due on November 17 will "sandblast" the 500-600 satellites orbiting earth. This storm occurs every November but enters a severe cycle every 33 years. The last time this shower appeared, we had few than 70 satellites orbiting the earth. Because of the Earth's position at the time, the showers of 200-5000 meteors an hour will not be visible from the United States, but will be brightest from the vicinity of Japan, Korea, Okinawa, and Northern Australia. It is expected to last 5-6 days.

Israeli troops surprised two Palestinians who were planting bombs near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza strip. The soldiers ordered the men to halt. One man was shot dead and the other escaped. The soldiers found two explosive charges with electronic detonators, which they believe was probably intended for use against an army patrol that was due to pass the site. The Palestinian police commander said a joint Palestinian-Israeli investigation was underway.

Wednesday dozens of US protestors clashed with police near the Silwa settlements. Witnesses said five of the protestors were arrested after they broke away from the group and staged a sit-in on the lawn of one of the houses. About 60 activists from the U.S. were joined by left-wing Israelis and Palestinians in what the police called an illegal demonstration.

Last Thursday a 13-year-old girl sat in her seat of her family's minivan when a large solid steel rod flew through the windshield and pierced through her chest, pinning her to the seat. It happened late Thursday night as her mother drove down I-95 near Sunrise Boulevard in South Florida. Paramedics rushed the girl to the hospital in the minivan, with the metal rod still pinning her to the seat. Once there, the pipe was sawed off to remove her from the seat and she was taken out of the van and into the E.R. where the rod was removed. Apparently, the rod came through the windshield, impaled her through the breast, her back and through the seat. This accident has forced hospital and law enforcement officials to examine the issue of road debris. That is, how to prevent items from ever touching concrete and quickly clearing debris that does find its way to the road. Doctors say their patient should be on her way home in about ten days.