Japan Airlines unit to start hiring cabin attendants in Philippines

JALways, a low-cost international carrier of the Japan Airlines group, will start recruiting cabin attendants in Manila from Sunday, company sources said Saturday.

About 20 people will be hired to be based in the Philippine capital and in December join the Tokyo-based carrier that has been taking over from JAL an

Deep Impact blasts Japan Cup competition

Tears of joy. Tears of relief. The kind of tears that spring to your eyes when you know you're witnessing historical moments. Those were the kind of tears that sprang to eyes at Tokyo Racecourse Sunday - for Deep Impact.

Making the jump slowly, in characteristic form, Yutaka Take allowed Deep Impact to lope along behind the rest of the 11-strong field, "taking it calmly, not fighting with him."

"I wasn't worried at all about the position, 11 horses, the last position, that was OK," Take said.

With 700 meters to go, Take asked to pick up the pace in a race that was unfolding at a crawl. Deep Impact "responded immediately."

He moved up slowly on the far outside, shifting into high gear as he straightened for home. Frankie Dettori, on European Horse of the Year Ouija Board, moved in, and "I moved in with him," Take said. "That was my sign."

Royals reach agreement with Dotel, sign lefty reliever from Japan

The winter meetings are over, but the Royals show no signs of slowing down.

They reached an agreement Friday morning on a one-year contract with veteran reliever Octavio Dotel and further supplemented their bullpen by signing left-hander John Bale to a two-year deal.

Bale spent the last three years pitching for the Hiroshima Carp in the Japanese Central League after spending parts of four seasons in the big leagues with the Blue Jays, Orioles and Reds.

The Royals might not be done, either. General manager Dayton Moore said the club is continuing to pursue free-agent pitcher Miguel Batista and also exploring trade options.

"We've helped ourselves," he said. "We've done the best we possibly could at this point in time."

The latest deals came one day after the Royals reached agreement with free-agent pitcher Gil Meche on a five-year contract for $55 million and two days after they acquired pitcher Brian Bannister from the New York Mets in a trade for reliever Ambiorix Burgos.

Dotel, 33, chose the Royals over the Red Sox, Indians, Devil Rays and Yankees because of the opportunity to serve as the closer. He saved a career-high 36 games in 2004 while splitting time with the Astros and A's but missed much of the last two seasons while recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery.