World's oldest Christian Bible now digitized

LONDON (AP) -- The surviving pages of the world's oldest Christian Bible have been reunited -- digitally.

The early work, known as the Codex Sinaiticus, has been housed in four separate locations across the world for more than 150 years. But starting Monday, it became available for perusal on the Web at www.codexsinaiticus.org so scholars and other readers can get a closer look at what the British Library calls a "unique treasure."

"(The book) offers a window into the development of early Christianity and firsthand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation," said Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library.

As it survives today, Codex Sinaiticus comprises just over 400 large leaves of prepared animal skin, each of which measures 15 inches by 13.5 inches. It is the oldest book that contains a complete New Testament and is only missing parts of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha.

Witness says Disney monorail crash was 'head-on'

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A witness to the monorail accident that killed a train operator at Walt Disney World over the weekend described it as "a head-on collision" between two trains in a 911 call released Monday.

"A monorail was waiting to come into the station ... or it did not leave the station, and the other one cleared through the station, and there was a head-on collision," the male caller said.

The accident occurred as the park resort was closing early Sunday and one train was being transferred off the rail line, said Zoraya Suarez, a Disney spokeswoman. She declined to describe the circumstances of the crash further.

Austin Wuennenberg, 21, died of multiple traumatic injuries in what's being considered an accident, said Sheri Blanton, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office in Orlando.

Mother's request to control Jackson estate denied

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A judge said Monday that Michael Jackson's longtime attorney and a family friend should take over the pop singer's estate for now, rejecting a request from Jackson's mother to be put in charge or share control.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff backed attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, who had been designated in Jackson's 2002 will as the people he wanted to administer his estate. Attorneys for the pop singer's mother repeatedly objected to their appointment at Monday's court hearing.

"It's our desire to do everything we can to carry out Michael Jackson's wishes and to maximize the estate," said Howard Weitzman, who spoke after the hearing on behalf of Branca. Weitzman issued a statement later calling the judge's ruling "the correct decision."

The singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, had applied to oversee her son's estate, but that was before the 2002 will surfaced. Her attorney, Burt Levitch, expressed concerns about McClain and Branca's financial leadership.

US admiral lauds N. Korean ship surveillance effort

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The impending return home of a North Korean ship suspected of possibly carrying illicit cargo shows that efforts are working to enforce U.N. sanctions imposed against the country after its nuclear and missile tests, the chief of U.S. Naval operations said Monday.

The U.N. Security Council punished the North after its May nuclear test with a resolution and tough sanctions to clamp down on alleged trading of banned arms and weapons-related material, including authorizing searches of suspect ships.

The reclusive nation has engaged in a series of provocative acts this year and increased tensions Saturday, firing seven ballistic missiles into the ocean off its east coast in violation of three U.N. resolutions. It was the North's biggest display of missile firepower in three years.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council issued a condemnation of North Korea's recent missile tests after holding a closed meeting Monday in New York. The meeting was requested by Japan.

The cargo vessel Kang Nam 1 was tracked by the U.S. Navy after it left port last month. The ship, which was believed destined for Myanmar, suddenly turned back on June 28. South Korean defense officials said it had entered North Korean waters and should reach port late Monday.

"I think that's an indication of the way the international community came together," Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of Naval operations, said of the ship's reversal.

Speaking to reporters in Seoul, he called the monitoring of the Kang Nam I "a very effective way" of stopping proliferation, and said the Navy will continue to "conduct operations" that support the effort to sanction the North.