U.S. to reopen Statue of Liberty crown on July 4

NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The crown of the Statue of Liberty, which has remain closed to the public after the September 11 terror attacks, will reopen on July 4, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced here Friday.

FilephototakenonApril12,2009showstheStatueof
LibertyinNewYork.InteriorSecretaryKenSalazarsaid
onMay8thecrownoftheStatueofLibertywillreopen
July4.ThestatuewasclosedtothepublicaftertheSept.
11,2001,terrorattacksbecauseofsecurityconcerns.
(Xinhua/ShenHong)

"On July 4, we are giving America a special gift," Salazar told a news conference on nearby Ellis Island. July 4 is the Independence Day of the United States.

The decision to reopen the crown was based on an analysis of the structure by the National Park Service, Salazar said.

Only 30 visitors an hour, chosen by lottery, will be allowed to visit the crown. They will be brought to the crown in groups of 10and guided by a park ranger.

Resurgent Ebdon captures Snooker China Open crown

To snooker, Peter Ebdon has won the eighth ranking tournament of his career with a 10-8 defeat of John Higgins in an exciting final at the China Open in Beijing.

PeterEbdonhaswontheeighthranking
tournamentofhiscareerwitha10-8defeatof
JohnHigginsinanexcitingfinalatthe
ChinaOpeninBeijing.

It was a gripping match with a succession of frames going down to the last few balls. In the end, Ebdon was calmness personified as he compiled a superb break of 71 to win the last frame in one visit. It was a remarkable turnaround for the 2002 World Champion.

He had come into this tournament having won just two matches in the season's six previous ranking events. Higgins may have felt destined for the title from the moment he turned a 4-0 first round deficit against Anthony Hamilton into a 5-4 victory.

But he suffered some bad luck over the match and could comfort himself with the thought that the score would have been reversed if he had nicked two more of the tight frames. Ebdon showed his powers of resiliance as he dominated the 17th, then knocked in a long red early in the next. This time only one opportunity was required as he built a run of 71 which proved enough to take the match.