U.N. chief to appear on 'Sesame Street'

U.N. chief to appearon 'Sesame Street'
NEW YORK -- If only all conflicts could be resolved so easily.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan taped an appearance for the children's television show "Sesame Street" on Thursday, stepping in when Elmo and his friends argued over who would get to sing the alphabet song.
"Is there a problem I can help you with?" he asked.
"That depends," the fuzzy red puppet replied. "Who are you?"
Annan introduced himself, then suggested the puppet monsters sing the song together.
Annan said he agreed to appear on the show because "it is wonderful to be able to reach the young to try to give them the spirit of the United Nations." His taping came a few days before he was to accept the 100th Nobel Peace Prize, which will be Monday.
The show is to air after Feb. 4, but no date has been set.
Sniper's bullets comeclose to hitting Rivera
Geraldo Rivera's dream of being a war correspondent nearly became a nightmare Thursday. The Fox News Channel correspondent had a close call in Afghanistan, ducking to avoid sniper fire that came so close the sound of the bullets was picked up by his crew's microphones.
"Geraldo said it was close to parting his hair," Fox News Channel spokesman Robert Zimmerman said.
No one was hurt in the shooting, which took place when Rivera was taping a report on a ridge near Jalalabad, Zimmerman said. Rivera believed Al-Qaida fighters nearby were in retreat, but someone obviously was close enough to fire a few shots, the spokesman said.
Today's Birthdays
Actor-director Maximilian Schell is 71. Actor David Carradine is 65. Actor James MacArthur is 64. Flutist James Galway is 62. Rock singer-musician Gregg Allman is 54. Actress Kim Basinger is 48. Actress Teri Hatcher is 37. Rapper Singer Sinead O'Connor is 35.