In Brief

DEAD – Gerald Levert, the fiery singer of passionate R&B love songs and the son of O’Jays singer Eddie Levert, has died.

He was 40. His label, Atlantic Records, confirmed that Levert died on Friday at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.”All of us at Atlantic are shocked and deeply saddened by his untimely death.He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer,” the statement read.* GONE – An Israeli general in charge of troops along the Lebanese border resigned yesterday after being accused of failing to prevent the capture of two soldiers that triggered a month-long war with Hezbollah guerrillas.Brigadier-General Gal Hirsch is the second Israeli general to quit amid widespread public criticism of military failures during the 34-day war that ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire in mid-August.* FROM BAD TO WORSE – The government believes Fidel Castro’s health is deteriorating and that the Cuban dictator is unlikely to live through 2007.That dire view was reinforced last week when Cuba’s foreign minister backed away from his prediction the ailing Castro would return to power by early December.”It’s a subject on which I don’t want to speculate,” Felipe Perez Roque told The Associated Press in Havana.* TRIBUTE – Television news show ’60 Minutes’ gave its late correspondent Ed Bradley a send-off yesterday with an hour-long tribute that featured interviews with close friends and a solo by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.Bradley, a 26-year veteran of the CBS newsmagazine, died of leukemia on Thursday.* STORM – Weathermen lowered all storm signals yesterday as Typhoon Chebi roared toward Vietnam, leaving one dead and toppling trees and triggering floods and landslides in the northeastern Philippines.The Manila weather bureau said the typhoon was located about 370 kilometres west of Manila over the South China Sea by midmorning yesterday, packing maximum winds of 120 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph and moving at 19 kph westward.They expect it to gain strength as it heads towards central Vietnam.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-APHis label, Atlantic Records, confirmed that Levert died on Friday at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.”All of us at Atlantic are shocked and deeply saddened by his untimely death.He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer,” the statement read.* GONE – An Israeli general in charge of troops along the Lebanese border resigned yesterday after being accused of failing to prevent the capture of two soldiers that triggered a month-long war with Hezbollah guerrillas.Brigadier-General Gal Hirsch is the second Israeli general to quit amid widespread public criticism of military failures during the 34-day war that ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire in mid-August.* FROM BAD TO WORSE – The government believes Fidel Castro’s health is deteriorating and that the Cuban dictator is unlikely to live through 2007.That dire view was reinforced last week when Cuba’s foreign minister backed away from his prediction the ailing Castro would return to power by early December.”It’s a subject on which I don’t want to speculate,” Felipe Perez Roque told The Associated Press in Havana.* TRIBUTE – Television news show ’60 Minutes’ gave its late correspondent Ed Bradley a send-off yesterday with an hour-long tribute that featured interviews with close friends and a solo by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.Bradley, a 26-year veteran of the CBS newsmagazine, died of leukemia on Thursday.* STORM – Weathermen lowered all storm signals yesterday as Typhoon Chebi roared toward Vietnam, leaving one dead and toppling trees and triggering floods and landslides in the northeastern Philippines.The Manila weather bureau said the typhoon was located about 370 kilometres west of Manila over the South China Sea by midmorning yesterday, packing maximum winds of 120 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph and moving at 19 kph westward.They expect it to gain strength as it heads towards central Vietnam.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-AP