July 2008 Archives

"We've been investing in companies globally, but we need to get even more feet on the ground in China and India," said Rick Simonson, Nokia's chief financial officer.

Menlo Park, Calif.-based Nokia Growth Partners was set up in 2004 to directly manage $100 million of Nokia's money. Its investments have included Bitboys, a Finnish developer of graphics chips that was bought by ATI in 2006 for $44.5 million, and Global Locate, a U.S. maker of GPS chips that was bought by Broadcom Corp . for at least $146 million last year. "We've had very good success with this model early on," Simonson said. "The financial performance is working as well or better than we expected." Apart from seeking a financial return, the fund hunts for startups with technologies that are useful to Nokia. Some areas of focus have included mobile payments and camera technology.

Full Story: Nokia to beef up venture fund, expand in China (AP)

The very detailed image shows the face of a woman and may give art historians a better understanding of the way Van Gogh developed as a painter.

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"It is estimated that one third of Vincent van Gogh 's early paintings have been painted on top of existing ones. Van Gogh literally recycled his own canvasses," scientist Joris Dik of the Delft University of Technology said. Conventional X-ray techniques give a colorless, partial view of the hidden painting and only show vague contours of a person behind 'Patch of Grass', the university said.

Full Story: Hidden Van Gogh revealed in color by scientists (Reuters)

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(AP) — An attorney for Britney Spears said Wednesday that he will not seek an extension for a restraining order against Osama "Sam" Lutfi, but that doesn't mean the pop star wants her former sidekick back in her life.

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"Britney has made clear to everyone that she does not want to be further harassed or contacted in any way by Osama 'Sam' Lutfi, now or at anytime in the future," Spears' attorney Samuel D. Ingham III said in a statement to The Associated Press. He called the AP late Wednesday and released the following statement: "Mr. Lutfi and Mr. Spears have mutually agreed in private that no hearing or order is necessary at this time." He declined further comment.

Full Story: Lawyer: Britney wants no contact with Sam Lutfi (AP)

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's low-cost laptop initiative got a boost Wednesday from Portugal's government, which is pledging to provide elementary school students with 500,000 computers based on the chipmaker's Classmate PC design.

The announcement brings Intel's rivalry with the One Laptop Per Child organization into the spotlight once again. In May, the nonprofit OLPC group said its green-and-white XO laptop computers would work with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows in addition to a homegrown Linux -based operating system.

Full Story: Portugal to sell 500,000 of Intel's Classmate PCs (AP)

A previously unknown portrait of a woman by Vincent van Gogh has been revealed in a high-tech look beneath another of his paintings, it was announced today.

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Behind the painting, done mostly in greens and blues, is a portrait of a woman rendered in browns and reds. . The new method measures chemicals in the pigments . Specifically, mercury and the element antimony were useful in revealing the woman's face.

Full Story: Portrait of Woman Revealed Beneath Van Gogh Painting (LiveScience.com)

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If the media loves a celebrity lightning rod, then Heigl certainly delivers the goods. The Emmy-winning actress has taken heat for her blunt public comments and doesn't seem to give two winks.

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At times, Heigl comes off like a reality show contestant who says, "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to win." That attitude, as any avid viewer of shows from "Survivor" to " The Bachelor " would agree, wins few allies on the island (or in the mansion), but it sure makes for good TV. But in a world of bland, media-trained celebs, is it such a bad thing to speak your mind? After all, celebrities have spouted off for years, bashing everything and everyone from presidents to fellow actors to directors. But Hollywood is like high school — only meaner — and hammering the popular kids might have consequences that take years to undo.

Full Story: Is it such a bad thing to speak your mind? (AP)

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NEW YORK - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. posted a smaller net loss for its fiscal first quarter Tuesday and more than doubled its revenue thanks to soaring sales of games such as " Rock Band " — even as it spent more on marketing and development.

Both the earnings and revenue figures fell short of analysts' estimates, however, and EA shares slipped in extended trading. EA said Tuesday its loss for the quarter ended June 30 totaled $95 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with a loss of $132 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier.

Full Story: Electronic Arts posts smaller loss, misses targets (AP)

Fort Bragg soldier was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday in the death of a pregnant colleague whose partially decomposed body was found in a motel bathtub in Fayetteville more than a month ago, police said.

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Edgar Patino, 27, of nearby Hope Mills, was arrested at his home without incident just after 8 p.m. in the death of Army Spc. Megan L. Touma, said Fayetteville police watch commander Lt. Lars Paul. Paul said Patino was stationed at Fort Bragg but couldn't provide his rank or unit. Patino was being held in the Cumberland County Jail without bond and was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. No further details were immediately available, but police have scheduled a 11 a.m.

Full Story: Arrest made in slaying of pregnant N.C. soldier (AP)

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that was found in the 82-year-old entertainer's carryon bag as he prepared to fly to Detroit from Las Vegas .

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Las Vegas policeman Bill Cassell said Tuesday that the actor was cited Friday for carrying an unloaded concealed weapon at the Las Vegas airport. Lewis' manager, Claudia Marghilano, says the handgun is a hollowed-out prop gun that Lewis sometimes twirls during his show. She tells The Associated Press that the gun couldn't fire.

Full Story: Vegas police: Jerry Lewis cited for gun in luggage (AP)

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SAN JOSE, Calif. - The bad guys on the Internet are narrowing the time frame they need to unleash computer attacks that take advantage of publicly disclosed security holes, new research shows.

The report, scheduled to be released Tuesday, looked at the first six months of 2008 and reflects two growing trends in Internet-based threats. The first is that online criminals have latched on in a big way to programs that help them automatically generate attacks based on publicly available information about vulnerabilities. In the past they apparently spent more time finding such holes themselves, but no longer find that as necessary.

Full Story: Online threats materializing faster, study shows (AP)

LAKE CITY, Ga. - More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.

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Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis. After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.

Full Story: 'Extreme Makeover' house faces foreclosure (AP)

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was released from a London hospital Tuesday after an overnight stay to treat what her spokesman said was an adverse reaction to medication.

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The 24-year-old singer-songwriter was discharged from London's University College after spending the night in observation, said spokesman Chris Goodman. Winehouse was rushed to the hospital's emergency room by ambulance from her north London home Monday night. Goodman said the medication had been taken at her home, but did not provide further details.

Full Story: Amy Winehouse released from London hospital (AP)

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's products and customers. The allegations emerged in the latest documents filed in a fraud case that Oracle brought against SAP last year in San Francisco federal court. Oracle fired its volley the day before Germany-based SAP is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings.

The 16-month-old lawsuit focuses on TomorrowNow, a software maintenance specialist that SAP bought in 2005 to counter Oracle's $11.1 billion acquisition of PeopleSoft Corp. TomorrowNow offered to support PeopleSoft products at lower prices than Oracle did, an advantage that SAP hoped to use to lure customers away from its biggest rival in business applications software. Those products automate a wide range of administrative tasks.

Full Story: Oracle expands theft allegations against rival SAP (AP)

and beat out the University of Mississippi and Penn State University, in the Princeton Review survey of 120,000 students released Monday.

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The university has made the top 20 party school list for the past 15 years, but has never been No. 1. Freshman Allison Belanger, a journalism and political science major, said she's only been on campus for a few weeks but already has had no problem finding a party.

Full Story: Where's the party at? Univ. of Florida, study says (AP)

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Winehouse was taken by ambulance from her north London home to University College Hospital, spokesman Chris Goodman says. He did not know what might be wrong with the singer.

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Winehouse's musical success has been overshadowed by her tumultuous private life and public struggles with drugs and alcohol. Her father has said she developed early stage emphysema from smoking cigarettes and crack cocaine. AP Photo: In this file photo dated July 4, 2008, singer Amy Winehouse from England performs during...

Full Story: Winehouse taken to London emergency room (AP)

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SAN FRANCISCO - Anna Patterson's last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google Inc . bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system.

She believes her latest invention is even more valuable — only this time it's not for sale. Patterson instead intends to upstage Google , which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet.

Full Story: Ex-Google engineers debut 'Cuil' way to search (AP)

WASHINGTON - Funeral duty is not something that Barack Obama 's vice president need worry much about, the presumptive Democratic nominee says.

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Obama refused again and again during an interview that aired Sunday to give hints on whom he might pick for a running mate, but he did describe the qualities he's looking for. Shyness and blind loyalty are not among them. "I'm going to want somebody with independence, who's willing to tell me where he thinks or she thinks I'm wrong," Obama said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." The remark came in the twilight of the Bush White House , an administration famous — and much-criticized — for the value it has placed on loyalty within its ranks.

Full Story: Obama looks for VP who says more than 'Yes, sir' (AP)

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, Ann Curry , Lester Holt, Richard Engels, Kevin Tibbles and the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore among them.

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The rapid change occuring in China means there's likely to be more news beyond sports in Beijing than most Olympics. Television news organizations face many challenges, including the decision of how much money and personnel they should devote to an event where NBC has the insider's edge. "It makes our lives difficult," said Paul Friedman, senior vice president of CBS News. "But what we'll do is what everyone in this situation does. You go and look for the stories around the Olympics that you can get access to and this time around they may be as interesting as the Olympics themselves." First, they must get to the stories. News organizations have complained for months about the difficulty in dealing with Chinese authorities unused to the concept of a free press. Several weeks ago a reporter from a German television station that had rights to the games had police stop a live interview on the Great Wall of China.

Full Story: Network news presence at Beijing is NBC, the rest (AP)

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, the nation's largest cable company, was accused of violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the Internet.

Three commissioners have voted in favor of an order reaching agreement with the finding, enough for a majority on the five-member commission. But the decision will not be final until all five members have cast their votes. The commission is scheduled to take up the issue at its Aug. 1 meeting. The three votes in favor were Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein and Republican chairman Kevin Martin , who recommended the company be found in violation, according to the official, who asked not to be named because the vote was not yet final.

Full Story: FCC poised to punish Comcast over Web blocking (AP)

SPACE.com - Friday, August 1 is a red-letter day for eclipse enthusiasts. On that date, the sun will be partially eclipsed over an immense area that includes western and central Asia, parts of northern and central Europe, all of Greenland and even a small slice of northeastern North America.

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Full Story: Viewer's Guide: Aug. 1 Solar Eclipse (SPACE.com)

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They weren't trying to see the latest world-saving superhero or never-before-seen footage. They were waiting to see Carmen Electra and Kim Kardashian .

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The two beauties made their Comic-Con debut Saturday, signing autographs to promote their new film, "Disaster Movie." Both wore formfitting, cleavage-bearing dresses as they posed for fans' photos. "It's Carmen Electra," he explained. "What's not to like about a woman like that?" David Benker, 46, was embarrassed to reveal exactly how excited he was to meet the two women.

Full Story: Carmen Electra & Kim Kardashian dazzle comics fans (AP)

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LOS ANGELES - Aerospace engineers have been holed up in a Mojave Desert hangar for four years, fashioning a commercial spaceship to loft rich tourists some 62 miles above Earth. Now the wraps come partially off the top-secret project.

British billionaire Sir Richard Branson and American aerospace designer Burt Rutan are due Monday to show off their mothership, which is designed to air launch a passenger-toting spaceship out of the atmosphere. The rollout — a year after a deadly accident at Rutan's test site — marks the start of a rigorous flight test program that space tourism advocates hope will climax with the first suborbital joy rides by the end of the decade. More than 250 wannabe astronauts have paid $200,000 or put down deposits for a chance to float weightless for a mere five minutes.

Full Story: New space race heats up with unveiling of aircraft (AP)

reported on Saturday. "While his health problems amounted to a good deal more than 'a common bug,' they weren't life-threatening and he doesn't have a recurrence of cancer," journalist Joe Nocera wrote in a column.

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"Because the conversation was off the record, I cannot disclose what Mr. Jobs told me," Nocera said. In 2004, Jobs, 53, announced he had undergone successful surgery to remove a rare type of pancreatic cancer .

Full Story: Apple CEO Jobs' life not in danger: report (Reuters)

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — "Terminator Salvation" won't hit theaters until next summer, but thousands of fans got an early look at a portion of the film Saturday.

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Director McG presented never-before-seen footage during a Comic-Con panel and offered a few hints about what to expect from the highly anticipated fourth installment in the "Terminator" franchise. "The T-800 model indeed is part of the mythology of Terminator," McG said coyly, referring to the machine model California's governor played in the first three films.

Full Story: 'Terminator Salvation' clip unveiled at Comic-Con (AP)

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PHILADELPHIA - With the old gas-guzzler in the garage, you've got your bicycle ready and your sneakers laced up. Now all you need is a map of the quickest, safest routes for riding around town. Well, not so fast.

As more commuters consider ditching their cars to save money on gas, Internet mapping services, cities and community groups are being pushed to lay out the best routes for biking and walking — just like drivers have found online for years. Technical and practical roadblocks stand between such a network becoming ubiquitous, but there are signs of progress in this world of $4-a-gallon gas.

Full Story: Bikers, pedestrians seeking better Web maps (AP)

whose "last lecture" about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday. He was 47.

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Pausch died at his home in Chesapeake, Va ., said Jeffrey Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer who co-wrote Pausch's book. Pausch and his family had moved there last fall to be closer to his wife's relatives. Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet.

Full Story: Prof whose 'last lecture' became a sensation dies (AP)

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, the world's top-earning music act last year, have signed a long-term, exclusive worldwide contract with Vivendi SA's Universal Music, dealing a major blow to the group's former recording company, EMI Group PLC.

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The Stones' departure from EMI, where they'd been for more than 20 years, is a low point in a bumpy ride for Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., the private equity firm that bought the London -based recording company last year. New EMI boss Guy Hands failed to re-sign British band Radiohead. Other major artists, including Coldplay and Robbie Williams , have expressed unhappiness with some changes at the company since the buyout.

Full Story: Rolling Stones switch recording deal to Universal (AP)

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Hasbro Inc ., the company that owns the word game's North American rights, sued the creators of the Scrabulous program on Thursday, less than two weeks after the release of an authorized version of Scrabble for Facebook.

Hasbro said in its lawsuit that Scrabulous violates its copyright and trademarks. Separately, Hasbro asked Facebook to block the game. In the year since Facebook began letting outside developers write Web programs that Facebook members can plug into their personal profile pages, Scrabulous has attracted some half-million daily users, despite efforts by Scrabble's owners to end it.

Full Story: Creators of Scrabble knockoff on Facebook sued (AP)

WASHINGTON - Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday.

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The probe found that the missile launch codes were outdated and remained secure at all times. But the July 12 incident comes on the heels of a series of missteps by the Air Force that had already put the service under intense scrutiny. "This was just a procedural violation that we investigated," said Air Force Col. Dewey Ford, a spokesman at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. "We determined that there was no compromise." The lapse, which involved a crew based at Minot Air Force Base, was serious enough, however, to prompt an investigation by the 91st Missile Wing, in conjunction with codes experts at the 20th Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command and the National Security Agency.

Full Story: Air Force missile launch crew fell asleep (AP)

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on Thursday. Hundreds of teens camped overnight outside the San Diego Convention Center for a chance to see early footage of the film and get a glimpse at the cast of heartthrobs set to bring the teen-vampire tale to life.

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"You don't understand it until you've read it," said 17-year-old Syena Sarrafpour. "The cast of amazing people — they're hot — obviously adds to the excitement." She and her friends wore homemade T-shirts touting their love for Edward, the vampire hero who falls in love with a human girl. "It's a really good love story that has fantasy," said Emma Quan, 18. "It's like 'Harry Potter' plus romance plus good-looking people." Thousands of fans — many in homemade shirts proclaiming their preference for Edward or his love-rival, Jacob — filled the convention's largest exhibition hall, drowning out the cast introductions with enthusiastic, high-pitched screams.

Full Story: 'Twilight' fans camp out for a peek (and a scream) (AP)

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SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook Inc. is introducing more tools to help the software applications fueling the online hangout's popularity and is promising to intensify its efforts to weed out programs that violate its rules for protecting users' privacy.

. A crowd of about 1,500 programmers turned out to hear Zuckerberg discuss how he hopes to make it easier for people to share information and entertainment wherever they go on the Web. Zuckerberg, 24, is counting on programmers who aren't employed by Facebook to play a vital role in realizing his vision.

Full Story: Facebook to help some programmers, punish others (AP)

DEAR FREAK: What this kid is in touch with is emotional disturbance. To think that the youngster is "not hiding his curiosity" suggests to me that Jocasta, I mean the mother, has oatmeal cookies for brains. Nothing you describe is in the realm of normal child development. You somehow have to get your wife to a session with a child specialist who can convince her that the kid is off the rails -- and it's possible she is feeding his neurosis. Believe me, there is nothing customary about an 8-year-old boy who's in the habit of touching his mother's breasts and behind and taking every chance he gets to see her naked. Displaying himself and attempting what sounds like masturbation is a red flag for psychiatric intervention. That your wife thinks all this is normal means there are two people in your house who need help.

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DEAR MARGO: I have been married to my husband for three years. We have two baby girls, as well as my daughter from a previous marriage whom he loves as his own. We have a pretty happy marriage, but there is one issue that never seems to be resolved. My husband is still friends with his ex-fiancee. It's not like they are just on good terms; they talk to each other two to three times a week. She is married with her own children, so I'm not sure why it bothers me, but it does. A big part of it is that my husband rarely talks to her in front of me. I have met her a few times, but then I feel like the third wheel. When he does talk to her in front of me, he is a completely different person -- happy, fun, etc. He had pictures of her in our closet up until recently. I told him I am not comfortable with their level of closeness. To answer an obvious question, yes, I did know that he was friends with her before we were married, but I was told that he talked to her "once in a while." It wasn't until after we were married that I found out how close they really are. Is a friendship like this appropriate for a married man? Am I being irrational? How can I bring this up to him again without it coming down to an ultimatum? I used to think he would choose me over her, but now I'm not so sure.

Full Story: Big Trouble with an 8-Year-Old (Dear Margo)

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"It's a deeply personal matter," Bale told a press conference at a luxury hotel in this northern Spanish city. "I would ask you to respect my privacy in the matter." The 34-year-old actor spent four hours talking to British police Tuesday following allegations he assaulted his mother and one of his three sisters in his suite at London's Dorchester Hotel two days earlier. He was released on bail, but not charged.

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British media reported that Bale's mother and sister told police he assaulted them at the hotel a day before attending the European premiere of "The Dark Knight." The Sun newspaper said the complaint was filed by sister Sharon Bale and mother Jenny Bale. The drama unfolded even as the movie broke records and was met with critical acclaim. It set a box-office record with $158.4 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. last week, and is expected to do well in Europe.

Full Story: Bale asks for privacy in assault allegations (AP)

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Inc. showed that it wasn't being hurt by economic weakness and high fuel prices, reporting Wednesday that its second-quarter profits more than doubled and surpassed analyst expectations. The Internet retailer also raised full-year revenue projections.

For the quarter that ended June 30, Amazon earned $158 million, or 37 cents per share. Amazon earned $78 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. The company's revenue climbed 41 percent to $4.06 billion, including a 35 percent leap in North American sales.

Full Story: Amazon profit doubles, beats estimates (AP)

also play a role, leaving us more prone to injury during certain hours than others. If you're guessing that the danger zone comes at the end of a stressful workday, guess again. Here to explain is Roberto Manfredini, professor of internal medicine at the University of Ferrara in Italy.

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myocardial infarction , or heart attack, between 6 a.m. and noon is about 40%. But if you calculate only the first three hours after waking, this relative risk is threefold. and diem, meaning "about one day"). Now, a heart attack depends on the imbalance between increased myocardial oxygen demand (i.e., a greater need for oxygen in your heart) and decreased myocardial oxygen supply - or both. And unfortunately, some functions in the first hours of the day require more myocardial oxygen support: waking and commencing physical activities, the peak of the adrenal hormone cortisol [which boosts blood-pressure and blood-sugar levels] and a further increase in blood pressure and heart rate due to catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline), which show a peak when you wake up. All those factors lead to an increase of oxygen consumption but at the same time contribute to the constriction of vessels. So you have reduced vessel size and reduced blood flow to the coronary vessels.

Full Story: When Are You Most Likely to Have a Heart Attack? (Time.com)

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is staying mum on allegations of assault at a premiere in Barcelona. The star of " The Dark Knight " appeared calm as a 15-car motorcade swept Bale and his co-stars to the glittering, red-carpet event.

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Bale is accused of assaulting his mother and one of his three sisters at London hotel over the weekend. He did not speak to reporters and made no comment about the incident. The 34-year-old star was greeted by hundreds of fans thronging the red carpet outside the Mediterranean city's Coliseum Theater. He spent a half hour signing autographs before entering the theater, where hundreds more waited to see the film.

Full Story: Bale mum at 'Dark Knight' premiere in Spain (AP)

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, Jerry Yang has a message for his exasperated shareholders: Things aren't as bleak as they look.

Microsoft Corp . and dissident shareholder Carl Icahn while also trying to cope with a weakening U.S. economy that's make it tougher to sell online advertising — the company's lifeblood. "It was a 'rice-cracker' quarter," said Canaccord Adams analyst Colin Gillis. "It didn't taste great, but it wasn't totally horrible either." Investors found enough to like to nudge Yahoo shares up 59 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $21.99 in Tuesday's extended trading after finishing at $21.40, down 27 cents, in the regular session.

Full Story: Yahoo CEO remains upbeat despite lackluster 2Q (AP)

LONDON (AFP) - The birth of Louise Brown , the world's first IVF baby, hit headlines around the globe three decades ago -- but the married mother-of-one wants to keep her 30th birthday Friday low-key by contrast.

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Brown -- who lives in Bristol, south-west England, with husband Wesley Mullinder and 18-month-old son Cameron, working as a shipping company administrator -- remains reluctantly in the public eye despite her modest lifestyle. Although her birth opened the door for millions of infertile couples worldwide to give birth to IVF (in vitro fertilisation) or test tube babies, Brown has no big plans to celebrate the landmark date.

Full Story: World's first IVF baby marks 30th birthday (AFP)

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Bale said the allegations were false Tuesday, hours after the Wales-born actor was arrested, questioned by London police and released on bail. The 34-year-old actor spent four hours talking with authorities but was not charged.

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British media reported that Bale's mother and sister told police he assaulted them at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Sunday night, a day before attending the European premiere of "The Dark Knight." The Sun newspaper said the complaint was filed by sister Sharon Bale and mother Jenny Bale. "Christian Bale attended a London police station today on a voluntary basis," read a statement from Bale's lawyer, Simon Smith, of the London-based firm Schillings. "Bale, who denies the allegation, cooperated throughout, gave his account in full of the events in question, and has left the station without any charge being made against him by the police." A woman thought to be Bale's sister Sharon told reporters "it's a family matter" from her home in Corfe Mullen, 110 miles southwest of London. A man who answered the door at the home of Jenny Bale in nearby Bournemouth said she did not want to comment.

Full Story: Christian Bale arrested, released; denies assault (AP)

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AP - Shares of Apple Inc. fell sharply as investors focused more on the company's cautious guidance for the current quarter than on the blockbuster Macintosh and iPod sales during the previous three-month period.

Full Story: Apple stock drops despite jump in Q3 profit (AP)

McClatchy Newspapers - BEIJING— London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge and now Beijing has an iconic structure that's likely to identify the city forever.

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Full Story: Thanks to Olympics, Beijing gets its Eiffel Tower, of sorts (McClatchy Newspapers)

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AP - Batman star Christian Bale was arrested Tuesday over allegations of assaulting his mother and sister, police and British media said.

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Full Story: 'Batman' star Christian Bale accused of assaulting mom, sister (AP)

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's fiscal third-quarter earnings 31 percent, beating Wall Street's expectations Monday, but investors pummeled the stock after Apple issued soft guidance for the current quarter.

"He has no plan to leave Apple," Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer responded. "Steve's health is a private matter." Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple earned $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per share, 11 cents ahead of Wall Street's expectations, according to a Thomson Financial survey of analysts. Revenue jumped 38 percent to $7.46 billion, ahead of analysts' average view for $7.37 billion in sales.

Full Story: Apple 3Q profit jumps 31 percent but stock drops (AP)

NEW YORK - A Broadway mogul whose wife trashed him in a widely viewed Internet video was granted a divorce from her Monday.

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A Manhattan judge gave Philip Smith a divorce from Tricia Walsh-Smith on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. Walsh-Smith lashes out against Smith in the tearful and furious YouTube video, which has attracted more than 3 million hits. She makes embarrassing claims about their intimate life and then calls his office to repeat those claims to a stunned assistant.

Full Story: Man wins divorce from angry wife in YouTube video (AP)

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will take over the "Tonight" show next June — and what happens to deposed host Jay Leno after that is anybody's guess.

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Leno's last show will be Friday, May 29, and O'Brien will start the following Monday, June 1, NBC executives told a Television Critics Association meeting Monday. NBC is angling to keep Leno with NBC Universal but the late-night king has indicated he's ready to jump ship. Eager NBC competitors, including other networks and syndicators, are prepared to help him make the leap.

Full Story: Leno's last 'Tonight' is May 29; O'Brien in June 1 (AP)

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is sporting a new look to reflect changes in how its members communicate with each other and how they share photos and updates about their lives.

. vie to become the central hub of online communications. Both sites are reorganizing their layouts this summer to reduce clutter and make information easier to find. Facebook, trying to avoid the type of privacy backlash that has accompanied major changes in the past, said it has been alerting users of the changes in recent weeks. The site first outlined the facelift in May and plans to let users start testing it this week. A complete switch won't occur for at least another week or two.

Full Story: Facebook gets a facelift to help users share (AP)

At least two people were recovered from the waters, but their condition was not immediately available, the Coast Guard said.

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Rescue crews from the Navy, Coast Guard and local fire department launched a massive aerial and ocean search for the others in and around a vast area of floating debris and a sheen of oil. The crashed occurred at 9:45 a.m. Monday about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor, the Air Force said.

Full Story: B-52 bomber carrying 6 crashes off Guam (AP)

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Spider-Man 3 " in May 2007 and pacing Hollywood to its biggest weekend ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.

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"We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight." The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said. Hollywood set an overall revenue record of $253 million for a three-day weekend, beating the $218.4 million haul over the weekend of July 7, 2006, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Full Story: `Dark Knight' sets weekend record with $155.34M (AP)

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LOS ANGELES - One word sums up the announcements made by the Big Three gaming companies at the E3 this week: more.

Nintendo and Sony all announced plans for more games, more sequels, more exclusives, more connectivity and more ways for gamers to use their systems for stuff other than gaming. PlayStation 3 consoles, as well as their handheld counterparts. However, the upgrades may leave the systems feeling less distinct than ever before. Similar features and comparative accessories could confuse financially strapped consumers looking to power up this holiday season.

Full Story: Big 3 mimic each other at E3: more, more and more (AP)

The longtime civil rights leader already came under fire this month for crude off-air comments he made against Obama in what he thought was a private conversation during a taping of a "Fox & Friends" news show.

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In additional comments from that same conversation, first reported by TVNewser, Jackson is reported to have said Obama was "talking down to black people," and referred to blacks with the N-word when he said Obama was telling them "how to behave." Though a Fox spokesman confirmed the TVNewer's account to The Associated Press, the network declined to release the full transcript of the July 6 show and did not air the comments. Jackson — who is traveling in Spain — apologized in a statement Wednesday for "hurtful words" but didn't offer specifics.

Full Story: Fox: Jackson used N-word in crude off-air remarks (AP)

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named her baby daughter Honor was that she felt her own was pretty bland. "I was always irritated that my name was Jessica," the 27-year-old actress tells OK! magazine.

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Jamie Lynn Spears , doesn't comment on its pacts with celebrities, though Alba reportedly sold the first shots of Honor to OK! for $1.5 million. "It's still amazing that she was living inside of Jessica," said Warren, who met Alba on the set of the 2005 film "The Fantastic Four ," which co-starred Alba as the Invisible Woman and employed Warren as a director's assistant.

Full Story: Jessica Alba poses with baby on cover of OK! magazine (AP)

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Purdue University scientists have taken a page from air conditioner technology in their quest for a new way to cool down ever-more powerful computer chips. Their experimental system, which flushes a refrigerant through tiny channels cut into chips, is intended for the high-power electronics found in radar and advanced weapons systems such as lasers, said Issam Mudawar, a mechanical engineering professor at Purdue.

Mudawar, who's leading the research, said the new cooling system should be able to cool chips that produce more than 1,000 watts of heat for about every half-inch square of circuitry. He said that would be a fivefold increase over the heat-removing abilities of existing systems that typically rely on air-cooling to waft heat away from microprocessors.

Full Story: Researchers look to air-condition computer chips (AP)

handed over two black coffins with the bodies of Israel soldiers, a dramatic prisoner swap that closes a painful chapter from the 2006 war in Lebanon.

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The five — including Samir Kantar, who had been serving multiple life terms in Israel for a grisly 1979 attack — were brought home in International Committee for the Red Cross vehicles and received a red-carpet welcome at this coastal border town. In Israel, family and friends outside the homes of the two captured Israeli soldiers burst into tears when TV images showed Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas taking the coffins out of a black van.

Full Story: Lebanese militant released in Israel prisoner swap (AP)

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is leaving "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," a move that might have fans of his brainy crimebuster Gil Grissom screaming bloody murder.

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Petersen has agreed to return for occasional guest appearances and will remain a "CSI" executive producer but his run as an original cast member will end this coming season, executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar said Tuesday. The air date for his final episode, the season's 10th, has yet to be determined but probably will be at the beginning of 2009, the producers said. The series debuted in fall 2000.

Full Story: William Petersen's `CSI' life of crime to end (AP)

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's second-quarter profit jumped 25 percent as blossoming sales of laptop chips helped the company cruise past Wall Street 's estimates Tuesday.

Investors viewed the chip maker's favorable results as a sign that global PC demand is healthy despite a sputtering U.S. economy that has depressed some domestic spending. Intel CEO Paul Otellini said demand for Intel's chips remains strong "in all segments and all parts of the globe." Three-quarters of Intel's business is outside the U.S. Intel shares rose 23 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $20.94 in after-hours trading. They had risen 24 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $20.71 in the regular session before the Santa Clara-based company reported its results.

Full Story: Intel 2Q profit jumps 25 percent, beats estimates (AP)

NEW YORK - Oil prices fell harder than they have in 17 years Tuesday, as fears that record fuel prices are spreading broad economic pain exacerbated the third big sell-off in just over a week.

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Light, sweet crude plunged $6.44, or 4.4 percent, to settle at $138.74 a barrel in an extremely volatile session. Prices at one point plummeted more than $10 from the day's high. Mounting concerns about the risks inflation poses to the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, helped spark the declines. Analysts also attributed the sell-off to Thursday's expiration of options contracts, which tend to increase volatility, and to computers programed to automatically sell once prices reach certain thresholds.

Full Story: Oil prices plummet more than $6 amid economic fear (AP)

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decadent chocolate ice cream , peanut butter cookie dough, butter brickle and white chocolate chunks," is a take-off on his 1970s album and song "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." It will be available from July 18 to July 25 in the company's Vermont scoop shops, with proceeds going to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, officials said Tuesday.

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It'll also be doled out in cups, cones and dishes at John's sold-out Champlain Valley Expo show Monday. The Burlington-based ice cream maker — whose rock 'n' roll-themed products have honored late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia ("Cherry Garcia") and Vermont-bred jam rockers Phish ("PhishFood") — wanted to toast John because he was finally getting around to playing the Green Mountain State.

Full Story: Ben & Jerry's makes `Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road' (AP)

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" IPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement.

In stores, employees who couldn't get the new iPhones working sent shoppers home to try again on their own later. At the same time, owners of the older phones were left with unusable units. Reports of activation snags subsided over the weekend, as Apple's systems apparently recovered, and buyers were able to activate their phones through their home computers. As of Monday, the issues appeared to have been resolved, said analyst Charles Golvin of Forrester Research .

Full Story: Apple sells 1 million iPhones in first 3 days (AP)

Prices at one point dropped more than $10 a barrel from the day's high. By early afternoon, light, sweet crude was down $7.33 to $137.85 in an extremely volatile session.

The turnaround may not signal a lasting shift in sentiment — prices have swung violently in recent days as they flirted with record highs. But it does underscore investor uncertainty about the sustainability of sky-high prices and potentially long-lasting effects on the broader economy. "They're slamming this pretty good. But remember, these (big) moves are becoming a little more commonplace," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

Full Story: Oil prices plummet $8 on spreading economic fears (AP)

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LOS ANGELES - Jessica King is out and Comfort Fedoke is getting another shot on "So You Think You can Dance," Fox TV said Monday.

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An injury forced King to leave the dance show, the network said. The nature of the ailment was not disclosed, but Fox said the top 10 contestant was quitting on her doctor's advice. "Her full recovery is paramount and will only come with rest," series executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe said, adding that King had given her blessing to semifinalist Fedoke's return.

Full Story: Jessica King out, Comfort Fedoke in on 'Dance' (AP)

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's Xbox 360 video game console will be able to stream thousands of movies over the Internet, thanks to a deal announced Monday with Netflix Inc . that highlights the way gaming devices are expanding into all-purpose home-entertainment hubs.

subscribers stream 10,000 movies and TV shows to Xbox consoles for viewing on television sets, beginning this fall. "This generation of consoles will change the face of home entertainment more than any other generation before," said John Schappert, corporate vice president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment division.

Full Story: XBox 360 to stream Netflix movies (AP)

At the same time, Bernanke, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, sounded another warning that rising prices for energy and food are elevating inflation risks.

The situation, he said, poses "significant challenges" for Fed policymakers as they try to chart the best course for keeping the economy growing, while making sure inflation doesn't dangerously flare up. All the economy's problems, including slumping home values, which threaten to make people feel less wealthy and less inclined to spend in the months ahead, represent "significant downside risks" to economic growth. Over the rest of this year, the economy will grow "appreciably below its trend rate" mostly because of continued weakness in housing markets, high energy prices and tight credit conditions.

Full Story: Bernanke: economy faces 'numerous difficulties' (AP)

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BOSTON - Farm Aid, the long-running benefit concert, will be held this year in New England for the first time.

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Boston on Tuesday to announce that the show will be held September 20th at the Comcast Center in Mansfield. The Boston Globe reports that Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Dave Matthews will headline the concert, and more performers will be announced.

Full Story: John Mellencamp to announce Farm Aid concert (AP)

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Viacom and other copyright holders have agreed to let YouTube mask user IDs and Internet addresses when Google Inc.

's online video site hands over viewership records in a $1 billion lawsuit accusing YouTube of enabling copyright infringement. A federal judge ordered the database produced in a July 1 ruling widely criticized by privacy activists. "We remain committed to protecting your privacy and we'll continue to fight for your right to share and broadcast your work on YouTube," the company said in a blog posting late Monday disclosing the agreement.

Full Story: YouTube, Viacom agree to mask viewer data (AP)

NEW YORK - Oil prices tumbled Tuesday as U.S. stocks sold off amid worries about the nation's economic health.

Prices dropped more than $10 a barrel from their highest point of the day. At midday, light, sweet crude fell $6.27 to $138.91 in an extremely volatile session. The turnaround may not signal a lasting shift in sentiment — prices have swung violently in recent days as they flirted with record highs. But it does underscore investor uncertainty about the sustainability of sky-high prices and their effect on the broader economy.

Full Story: Oil prices plunge more than $10 a barrel (AP)

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Pete Townshend was writing songs for a fresh album from the two surviving members of The Who . Or maybe Townshend is writing for another band. Or he isn't writing at all.

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"Just let him get on with it. It's a cracked old record, isn't it?" Daltrey exclaims, leaning over to hit his forehead twice with an open palm. "Oh, it's all on, it's all off. Oh it's all on. It's been 35 years, I'm tired of it. What is the point? What is the point? Give me a break!" Which isn't to say Daltrey, 64, has given up on the possibility of following their last studio album, the actually not-so-long-ago "Endless Wire," released in late 2006. Pearl Jam , The Flaming Lips and The Who themselves, it will air as a two-hour Rock Honors show Thursday night on VH1.

Full Story: The Who: Nostalgic but not slowing (AP)

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sharpened his focus on replacing the Internet company's board Monday after his attempt to negotiate a deal with Microsoft Corp . was angrily rejected.

's current nine directors in a showdown scheduled for an Aug. 1 shareholder vote. In separate letter to Yahoo shareholders, Icahn accused the incumbent board of being more interested in protecting its jobs than evaluating the merits of Microsoft 's latest offer for Yahoo's online search operations. Icahn, who owns a 5 percent stake in Yahoo, also accused the board of misleading shareholders about some aspects of the proposal, which was rebuffed late Saturday.

Full Story: Outraged Icahn refocuses on ousting Yahoo board (AP)

TORONTO - A 16-year-old captured in Afghanistan and held at Guantanamo Bay sobs during his questioning, holding up his wounded arms and begging for help in a video released Tuesday that provided the first glimpse of interrogations at the U.S. military prison.

The 10 minutes of video — selected by Omar Khadr's Canadian lawyers from more than seven hours of footage recorded by a camera hidden in a vent — shows Khadr weeping, his face buried in his hands, as he is questioned by Canadian intelligence agents over four days in 2003. The video, created by U.S. government agents at the prison in Cuba and originally marked as secret, provides insight into the effects of prolonged interrogation and detention on the Guantanamo prisoner.

Full Story: Gitmo video offers glimpse of interrogations (AP)

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Voight says he's "so excited" that daughter Angelina Jolie has given birth to twins in southern France.

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AP Photo: In this April 30, 2008 file photo, Jon Voight arrives for the premiere of 'Iron... Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Full Story: Jolie's dad happy about new twin grandchildren (AP)

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on Friday, dealers and buyers were anticipating the popular device in Asia's thriving underground marketplace in as little as a few days.

-authorized ones. Now, electronics markets are preparing for an influx of iPhones capable of 3G, or third-generation, cell phone technology. In the Chinese territory, ads pitching unlocked iPhones and services to unlock them were everywhere in a shopping mall with three floors of cell-phone stores.

Full Story: Asia underground market awaits iPhone (AP)

asked the Packers to release him so he can return to the NFL with another team after apparently being told his latest retirement reversal wasn't welcome news in Green Bay.

The team said it would do "what's right" in response to Favre's request, which was first reported by ESPN. "We wanted him to return and welcomed him back on more than one occasion. Brett's press conference and subsequent conversations in the following weeks illustrated his commitment to retirement. The finality of his decision to retire was accepted by the organization. At that point, the Green Bay Packers made the commitment to move forward with our football team." The 38-year-old Favre retired March 6 after a 17-year career, but almost immediately began dropping hints that he was having second thoughts.

Full Story: Favre wants release from Packers (AP)

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The character's 1981 fairy-tale wedding to Luke (played by Anthony Geary ) was watched by 30 million viewers and landed the couple on the cover of Newsweek magazine . Francis began playing Laura in 1976. "This is a short visit," Francis told The Associated Press on Friday. "It's a mother-daughter story. Years ago when I started playing the character as a 14-year-old girl, it was a mother-daughter story, only I was the daughter. So it's kinda cool this is full circle. It's nice to come back for visits. `General Hospital' is my home." Laura was last seen slipping in and out of a catatonic state in 2007. The upcoming appearance will feature Laura in a story line with daughter Lulu. Francis, who now runs a home-furnishing shop in Belfast, Maine, said she was told that Laura wouldn't be killed off during her latest guest stint. "I would stay on, but `General Hospital' honestly doesn't seem to want that relationship with this character at the moment," said Francis. "They want little short doses during sweeps periods. It's not entirely up to me. I'm thrilled and delighted my audience stands behind me. If they didn't, you can be sure I wouldn't get to come back for these visits." Francis won a supporting actress Daytime Emmy in 2007 for previously reprising the role.

Full Story: Laura to return to 'General Hospital' (AP)

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's much-anticipated new iPhone turned into an information-technology meltdown on Friday, as customers were unable to get their phones working.

In stores, people waited at counters to get the phones activated, as lines built behind them. Many of the customers had already camped out for several hours in line to become among the first with the new phone, which updates the one launched a year ago by speeding up Internet access and adding a navigation chip. A spokesman for AT&T , the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., said there was a global problem with Apple's iTunes servers that prevented the phones from being fully activated in-store, as had been planned.

Full Story: Software problems bug Apple's launch of new iPhone (AP)

Iraq . Then military officials delivered the grim news that the bodies of Fouty and another soldier captured in an ambush south of Baghdad had been found.

"Every day that he's been missing has been a day of `what could have been' ... but after hearing the news ... I'm still in shock," Dibler said Thursday after military officials came to his Oxford home. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, and Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., were kidnapped May 12, 2007, in the volatile area south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death." Jimenez's father, Ramon "Andy" Jimenez, said he also received a visit Thursday from military officials, who told him that his son's body had been found.

Full Story: Bodies of 2 missing US soldiers are found in Iraq (AP)

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Heath Ledger to an accidental prescription-drug overdose in January has amplified the buzz around the film — and his crazed performance as the Joker — to extraordinary levels. Christopher Nolan's film is indeed an epic that will leave you staggering from the theater, stunned by its scope and complexity. It's also, thankfully, a vast improvement over his self-serious origin story, 2005's "Batman Begins." As director and co-writer with his brother, Jonathan (David S. Goyer shares a story credit), Nolan has found a way to mix in some fun with his philosophizing. Ambitious, explosive set pieces share screen time with meaty debates about good vs. evil and the nature of — and need for — a hero. And so "The Dark Knight" presents an existential crisis — what comic-book hero doesn't suffer these? — but does so in a totally different way from its predecessor. Whereas " Batman Begins " felt too solemn and introspective, this installment might actually be too fast. Like the Caped Crusader himself, speeding through the streets of Gotham City on his tricked-out Bat-Pod motorcycle, Nolan moves breathlessly from one scene to the next.

Full Story: Review: `Dark Knight' nearly lives up to the hype (AP)

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amid swirling smoke after a 30-second countdown chanted by hundreds of people lined up, some for days, snaking around the block.

The celebration at Japanese carrier Softbank Corp.'s store, which included a digital clock display ticking away over the entrance, was part of a global rollout in 22 nations of Apple Inc. 's much-hyped 3G, or third-generation, wireless connecting cell phone. The latest iPhone is an upgrade of the model that went on sale last year in the United States and several other nations.

Full Story: Apple iPhone goes on sale in Japan (AP)

DEAR MAY: I suggest you invite your fiance to contemplate their third occasion for intimacy because you are calling the whole thing off. Any man who does not choose his fiancee over an old friend with a miserable temper is unacceptable in my book. The fact that they laugh about your insecurity is indefensible. I wouldn't even bother to give this man an ultimatum; I would simply tell him he doesn't measure up. This woman's dislike for you clearly suggests she has a thing for him -- so maybe they deserve each other. Don't look back, hon, and consider yourself lucky.

DEAR MARGO: I am 23 and last year found out that my best friend of 13 years has been in love with me throughout our whole friendship. At first I was shocked, but once I accepted him as a lover I realized how happy he makes me and how much I love him. He has a 5-year-old son from a previous relationship with whom I've always been close. The problem is, when we took our friendship to a romantic level, his son's mom found out and has been trying to sabotage things by telling her son horrible things about me. (This lady has some serious issues and takes a lot of drugs.) My boyfriend's parents have custody of the child and we're trying to get custody. Now the little boy barely speaks to me, and when he does it's never good. We finally asked why he was being mean to me, and he said his mother told him he's not allowed to love me. I'm at the point where I don't want to see the kid, which of course is causing problems between us. I'm really fed up and worried this will end our relationship. If there's one thing I want more than anything in the world, it's to have my own child. But I'm afraid his son will either try to hurt me while I'm pregnant or hurt our child after it's born. My boyfriend says I'm crazy for thinking this, but I think he's just blind to the situation. --- SAD IN NEVADA DEAR SAD: So you were 10 when this friend decided he loved you? Twelve years is a long time to secretly nourish a crush and parade around as a best friend, but onward. As for the little boy harming a potential fetus, or you, that fear is unrealistic. I have heard of sibling rivalry, but never a 5- or 6-year-old trying to off the father's significant other. In order to preserve your relationship, I would suggest a child specialist guide the grownups -- and the child -- through the swamp the natural mother has created.

Full Story: Wake Up and Smell the Malevolence (Dear Margo)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Screen Actors Guild rejected the latest contract offer from Hollywood studios on Thursday but claimed it was willing to negotiate and presented a counterproposal. Producers, however, didn't appear as willing to consider any revisions to what they called their final offer. "We made it clear our final is our final and that we're not interested in further counterproposals," said Jesse Hiestand, a spokesman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers .

Full Story: Hollywood producers say SAG rejects contract offer (AP)

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. is banking on the creativity of other Web developers to help preserve its independence and regain ground in the lucrative Internet search advertising market.

will try to unleash the pent-up innovation Thursday with a new service called "Build Your Own Search," or BOSS, that will share the Sunnyvale-based company's technology with third parties. That means any Web site will be able to assemble a search engine using Yahoo's system for indexing information and images on the Internet. Yahoo figures plenty of Web developers will be interested because it's providing access to a set of tools that would cost more than $300 million to build from scratch.

Full Story: Yahoo opens search toolkit in quest for more ads (AP)

DEAR MARGO: Each night I lay awake wondering what I'm going to do down the road when my daughter starts questioning her parentage. While she's still young, not even 2 years old yet, I know this is going to come up eventually. She has a wonderful, caring, loving father figure who is planning to adopt her once we get married. My unease is that she will eventually figure out that he isn't her biological father. There is no father named on her birth certificate. I became pregnant by rape, though I never went so far as to press charges. I don't want to lie to my daughter about something as important as this. But on the other hand, I don't know how to explain the truth without her losing some part of herself in knowing that the man who helped create her did something that terrible. She is by far the most wonderful creature to ever come into my life. There is not a single regret in my mind. But I was young once, too, and I know that my rationale that it was all worth the pain may not go over with her. Is there a third option I'm not looking at? A suggestion? My fiance is open to support whatever decision I make.

--- ANXIOUS DEAR ANX: I thought about this long and hard. While, generally, the truth is preferable, I would obfuscate it in this case for the simple reason that the absolute truth is too traumatic and ugly to pass on to a child of any age. I think it enough to say that the father was a man you hardly knew, with whom you did not plan to become intimate, and who was soon out of your life -- and never in hers. It is great that she has her wonderful surrogate father and will grow up thinking of him as "Dad." There is a chance she may never inquire about her biological history. Try to move this "what if" scenario out of your mental file of things to worry about. --- UNREASONABLY JEALOUS DEAR UN: I would not invite them to get divorced unless you are prepared to hear "no." They married for a reason, and that reason is most likely still in play. Sometimes "arrangements" satisfy neurotic needs. Your options are rather clear-cut: learn to manage your jealousy, internalizing that the wife is camouflage, or find a lover who is not in a sham marriage with a woman.

Full Story: When Rape Produces a Child (Dear Margo)

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LOS ANGELES - On a tree-lined corner of Studio City filled with modest homes, flower gardens and neighbors who chat across back fences, two wiry celebrities are engaged in a green grudge match. The good-natured competition between actor Ed Begley Jr . and Bill Nye, the host of the educational series "Bill Nye, the Science Guy" began when Nye moved into the neighborhood two years ago. Since then the two moderately famous and slightly geeky environmentalists have matched wits over whose home can leave a smaller carbon footprint. Neighbor Frema Rood, 83, who lives between the two houses, said the competition started the day after Bill moved into the neighborhood.

Full Story: Celebrity neighbors Begley, Nye carry eco-grudge (AP)

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LOS ANGELES - Tabloid magazines like to reassure us that celebrities are just like us — they go grocery shopping, take their dogs for a stroll around the neighborhood, even pump their own gas. These days, that can also hold true when it comes to the plummeting real estate market. Several celebrities have dealt with foreclosure issues on their luxurious estates and many more have had to drop their asking prices, putting some high-profile faces on a growing problem: the real-estate meltdown is now hitting every socio-economic class. Britney Spears lives — is now on the market for $6.5 million, down from an original price of $7.6 million.

Full Story: Celebrity foreclosures show extent of housing woes (AP)

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SAN FRANCISCO - In the latest expansion beyond its main mission of organizing the world's information, Internet search leader Google Inc . hopes to orchestrate more fantasizing on the Web.

's answer to a 5-year-old site, Second Life, where people deploy animated alter egos known as avatars to navigate through virtual reality. Google thinks Lively will encourage even more people to dive into alternate realities because it isn't tethered to one Web site like Second Life, and it doesn't cost anything to use. After installing a small packet of software, a user can enter Lively from other Web sites, like social networking sites and blogs.

Full Story: Google ventures into virtual reality with 'Lively' (AP)

The 1960s brought us baby names such as April and Sunshine, and naming new Americans has never been the same.

still hew to traditional names, U.S. babies now are tagged with an ever-increasing diversity of names for which the inspirations range from the calendar to languages from afar. The name Mary had a long go, staying at No. 1 baby girl name from the 1880s through the 1950s, while John was one of the top five boy names during that same period. Parental preference for Michael took off in the 1950s, holding strong to this day.  The diversity in U.S.

Full Story: Most Popular Baby Names Change Dramatically (LiveScience.com)

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NEW YORK - You wouldn't necessarily know it from last week, but Nielsen Media Research says TV viewership is on the rise. The company said Tuesday that the average American watched 127 1/4 hours of television in May, or the equivalent of more than five full days. That's up from 121 hours and 48 minutes in May 2007. The typical person also spent 26 1/2 hours using the Internet in May, up from 24 hours, 16 minutes the year before, Nielsen said.

Full Story: Nielsen: TV viewing up overall, but not last week (AP)

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Jayant Agarwalla, co-creator of the unauthorized Scrabulous , suggested that Electronic Arts Inc . would have a tough time attracting "the attention and patronage of a large and dedicated user base," as Scrabulous has with nearly a half-million daily users.

"We strongly believe that people should have the option of playing what they like, rather than be forced by developers into using something they offer only for monetary gains," Agarwalla said in a statement. As Facebook has blossomed into a hot Internet hangout, its users have passed countless hours playing Scrabulous, which Scrabble's owners have tried to shut down.

Full Story: Facebook could see a standoff over Scrabble (AP)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Keeping a food diary -- a detailed account of what you eat and drink and the calories it packs -- is a powerful tool in helping people lose weight, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

The study involving 1,685 middle-aged men and women over six months found those who kept such a diary just about every day lost about twice as much weight as those who did not. The findings buttressed earlier research that endorsed the value of food diaries in helping people lose weight. Companies including Weight Watchers International Inc use food diaries in their weight-loss programs.

Full Story: Study shows value of food diary in losing weight (Reuters)

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's longtime model girlfriend, Camila Alves , has given birth to the couple's first child, a 7-pound, 4-ounce boy, according to OK! magazine.

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The 38-year-old actor announced that Alves was pregnant in a posting on his Web site in January. AP Photo: In this Dec. 2007 file photo, Actor Matthew McConaughey and girlfriend Camilla Alves attend a...

Full Story: McConaughey, girlfriend welcome baby boy (AP)

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NEW YORK - NBC Universal and two partners said Sunday they have reached a deal to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications Inc., ending a drawn-out process that had attracted interest from several major media companies.

General Electric Co ., became the sole bidder for The Weather Channel last month after Time Warner Inc . dropped out. NBC already operates a digital weather and news service called NBC Weather Plus that was launched in 2004 and would make a logical fit with The Weather Channel. NBC Weather Plus is owned by NBC and its affiliated TV stations and can be seen on digital cable services and digital subchannels operated by NBC stations.

Full Story: NBC Universal to buy The Weather Channel for $3.5B (AP)

sport utility vehicle growled more like a dragster than a 2001 Honda Passport when he turned the key.

"The second I turned it over, and it sounded like a tank and a Harley, I knew exactly what had occurred," said Boyer, 33, . A half-dozen office colleagues had told him about that roar after their own catalytic converters were stolen, a crime that has been rising rapidly across the country from riverside parking lots in Cincinnati to highways along the California coast.

Full Story: Theft of car anti-pollution device up across US (AP)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith's box-office superpowers remain intact. Smith's "Hancock" — the story of a boozing, foul-mouthed superhero who dresses like a street bum — led the Fourth of July weekend with a $66 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That raised the total for Sony's "Hancock" to $107.3 million since it opened Tuesday night to get a jump on the holiday. Overall business slipped for the first time in a month. The top 12 movies pulled in $158.7 million, down 4 percent from the Fourth of July weekend last year, when "Transformers" opened at No. 1 with $70.5 million, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Full Story: 'Hancock' grabs heroic $107.3M over long weekend (AP)

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. The Swedish pop/disco quartet—Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog—didn't perform, but throngs of fans went wild at the sight of all four together again in Stockholm.

They were joined on the red carpet and theater balcony by the stars of the soon-to-be released film. Mamma Mia ! is a big-screen adaptation of the highly successful musical featuring ABBA's biggest hits, including "Dancing Queen," "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me." The foursome shot to fame in the mid-'70s and performed together publicly for the last time in 1986. In 2000, they turned down $1 billion to reunite for a concert tour.

Full Story: Mamma Mia! ABBA Reunites for Film Premiere (E! Online)

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - One coffee drinker's bad news is another coffee drinker's good news, it seems.

Financial woes at Starbucks Corp ., which is planning to close 600 underperforming U.S. stores, is evoking glee and little sympathy from aficionados who say they resent the coffee shop giant and favor small independent cafes. "Amen," chimed in Keith DiLauro, a local caterer. "They went too big, too fast." Seattle-based Starbucks burst onto the national scene in the 1990s and grew to more than 6,000 locations around the world. But with cups of coffee that can cost several dollars, it faces a slowing economy and slowed consumer spending.

Full Story: Some coffee fans get grim delight in Starbucks woes (Reuters)

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Janet Guttsman is bureau chief for Reuters in Canada, and has worked for the company in Germany, Russia and the United States. When she's not running the Canadian news file, she enjoys long bicycling trips in Canada and beyond. In the following story, she writes of the support she received online after a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer.

TORONTO (Reuters) - "Forgive me a freakout moment here," I wrote to a woman's-only Internet bicycling forum I've been posting on for years. "I have to see a specialist for something that they suspect is very early breast cancer." It was my real friends who accompanied me to the medical appointments after that initial shock, and held my hand when I emerged from general anesthetic and surgery. But in a world of instant Internet communications, a group of women I have never met provided a second level of support as I faced up to the diagnosis you never want to get.

Full Story: WITNESS: Virtual friends in a cancer world (Reuters)

Bush spoke at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda , who announced that he also plans to attend the ceremonies. Other world leaders have decided not to go as a rebuke to China's violent crackdown on anti-government protests in Tibet.

India , fast-growing economies and among the world's biggest polluters, to the same emission-reduction standards as older, developed economies. Bush said that he hopes to get China and India to agree to a long-term goal to cut emissions. But he scaled back expectation about what the summit could achieve or what could result from meetings on the sidelines with leaders of large gas-emitting nations.

Full Story: Bush: `Affront' to Chinese to skip Olympics start (AP)

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LOS ANGELES - Eric Lieber, whose television production credits include the long-running dating show "Love Connection," has died. He was 71.

Lieber created "Love Connection" in 1983 after decades producing other game shows, as well as the talk shows of Dick Cavett, Sammy Davis Jr. and Mike Douglas. "Love Connection," hosted by Chuck Woolery, aired until 1995. Lieber also was executive producer of the 1998-1999 reprise of the series, hosted by Pat Bullard.

Full Story: 'Love Connection' producer Eric Lieber dies at 71 (AP)

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MEXICO CITY - Internet company Terra says it has been awarded Internet and mobile rights to transmit the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Latin America.

Terra says users will have access to streaming and live coverage, as well as photo galleries and the latest Olympic news. It will also give access to cell phone users by SMS. Terra, owned by Spain's Telefonica, is Latin America's largest Internet company with presence in 17 Latin American countries and the United States.

Full Story: Terra gets Olympic Internet rights (AP)

presidential candidate trails Democrat Barack Obama in polls, organization and money while trying to succeed a deeply unpopular fellow Republican in a year that favors Democrats.

McCain also doesn't seem to have a coherent message let alone much of a strategy despite securing the nomination three months earlier than Obama. "This is a tough race. We are behind. We are the underdog. That's what I like to be," the GOP nominee-in-waiting frequently tells donors these days, keenly aware not only of his woes but also his proven comeback ability: He won his party's nomination despite the implosion of his campaign last summer.

Full Story: Analysis: McCain struggles to regain footing (AP)

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" is a bachelor no more. Andrew Firestone, star of the ABC-TV reality show, married Serbian model and actress Ivana Bozilovic Saturday, Firestone's publicist Alisha Mahon told The Associated Press.
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Firestone's 2003 proposal to Jen Schefft on the third season of "The Bachelor" was watched by millions and led to months of tabloid chatter afterward until the couple's breakup.

Full Story: TV's 'The Bachelor' weds in California (AP)

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The line for the Apple iPhone 3G began to form Friday--an entire week before the device goes on sale.

Frankly, one shouldn't encourage such behavior by actually covering it. But if I were in Manhattan--instead of Austin, Texas --I, too, would have interviewed them in person by now. The queue outside of Apple's Fifth Avenue store, covered first by GearDiary and then Engadget, apparently hasn't been formed by iPhone co-dependents , though.

Full Story: iPhone 3G queue forms in Manhattan (CNET)

portrayed the hamlet as a run-down, backwoods dump were pelted with rocks by an angry group of young residents, authorities said.

The two 17-year-olds from Mahopac , about 30 miles south of Oniontown, suffered head and face injuries. Troopers arrested a 17-year-old from Oniontown on Thursday and charged him with criminal mischief . Additional arrests were expected, police said.

Full Story: 2 teens attacked in town mocked in YouTube videos (AP)

green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch took off Saturday in a third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.

Couch kissed his wife and kids goodbye, and patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, before his ground crew gave him a push so he could clear surrounding light poles and a coffee cart. Then, clutching a big mug of coffee, Couch rose out of the parking lot of his gas station into the bright blue morning sky, cheered by a crowd of spectators.

Full Story: Man flying lawn chair lifted by helium balloons (AP)

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Just minutes after the museum opened, the 41-year-old German man pushed aside two security men guarding the figure before ripping off the head in protest at the exhibit, a police spokesman said. The police were alerted and arrested the man.

The waxwork figure of a glum-looking Adolf Hitler in a mock bunker during the last days of his life was criticized as being in bad taste . A media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussauds Thursday was overshadowed by a row over the exhibit. Critics said it was inappropriate to display the Nazi dictator, who started World War Two and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews, in a museum alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes.

Full Story: Man rips head from Hitler wax figure (Reuters)

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's former governor has dropped a lawsuit claiming "Girls Gone Wild " founder Joe Francis exploited her image and name on the Internet.

Ashley Dupre voluntarily dismissed the $10 million federal lawsuit, according to court documents filed Thursday. She said she was only 17 when she signed a binding contract giving permission to appear in the "Girls Gone Wild" video. spring break in Miami Beach in 2003 when she was approached by "Girls Gone Wild" producers, given alcoholic drinks and then signed a release agreeing to appear. The series depicts women in provocative poses or topless, often in such party locations as Mardi Gras or spring break beach towns.

Full Story: Spitzer call girl drops 'Girls Gone Wild' lawsuit (AP)

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CLEVELAND (AP) — The Emmy-winning daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin is getting her own doll.

hiking boots , and comes with binoculars, a camera and other outback gear, as well as a cockatoo, wombat and python. A talking version of the Bindi doll uses such phrases as, "Crikey! Let's go help wildlife," and "You can make the world a better place." The rubber dolls will cost $15 to $20, with a portion going to help fund efforts to breed endangered species and rescue animals. They are expected to be in stores in September.

Full Story: Crikey! 'Crocodile Hunter' daughter gets own doll (AP)

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Google's plans to launch a mapping tool in the UK could be referred to the Information Commissioner.

Street View matches photos of locations to maps, including passers-by who were captured as the photograph was taken. "In our view they need a person's consent if they make use of a person's face for commercial ends," said Simon Davis of the group.

Full Story: Google 'faces Street View block'

KV Pharmaceuticals , a specialty pharmaceutical firm in St. Louis, wanted to virtualize desktops and turned to "containers" rather than the virtual machine approach.

own operating system ; you need as many copies of the operating system as the number of virtual machines that you plan to create. Sun Microsystems used the container approach in Solaris 10 before it launched its xVM Xen-based hypervisor. IBM also uses the equivalent of containers on the mainframe with its logical partitions, or LPARS.

Full Story: 'Containers' Out Perform Virtualization For KV Pharmaceuticals (TechWeb)

Betancourt from the moment she descended from the plane at the Villacoublay air base southwest of Paris. A dual French-Colombian citizen, Betancourt was campaigning for Colombia's presidency when she was kidnapped in 2002.

Betancourt won a hug from Sarkozy — who called her "radiant" — and a kiss from first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Talking excitedly and smiling broadly, they were joined by Betancourt's children, other family members and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner .

"It's a very, very moving moment for me: Breathing the air of France, being with you," Betancourt told supporters and reporters gathered on the windswept tarmac. "France is my home and you are my family." "I have cried a lot during this time from pain and indignation. Today, I am crying from joy," she said, her voice choked and eyes moist.



Full Story: Freed hostage gets hero's welcome in France (AP)

Sen. Jesse Helms , who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July . He was 86.

at Wingate University . Helms died at 1:15 a.m, the center said. He died in Raleigh of natural causes, said former chief of staff Jimmy Broughton.

Senator Jesse Helms was a leading voice and courageous champion for the many causes he believed in," McConnell said in a statement.



Full Story: Former Republican N.C. Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86 (AP)

Openmoko has taken the wraps off its Neo FreeRunner, a Linux-based smartphone based on the company's open mobile-computing platform. Before you yawn about reading yet another product-introduction story -- especially about a handset that lacks 3G capability -- what sets the Neo FreeRunner apart is that it really is open, literally and figuratively.

The company's black, oval-shaped smartphones are built for users to actually open. For example, buyers will be able to take the unit's casing apart to get at the electronic circuitry. And the handset's flexible development platform will allow designers to create Linux-based mobile applications for specialized markets, Taiwan-based Openmoko said. The goal is to empower developers and consumers alike to personalize their devices, much like a PC.

Full Story: Openmoko's Neo FreeRunner Smartphone Really Is Open (NewsFactor)

Later this year, Asustek will offer a version of its Eee PC mini-laptops with built-in 3G (third generation mobile telecommunications) to compete with rivals that are doing the same, a company representative said.

Downlink/Uplink Packet Access). Current mini-laptop owners can go to service providers and get 3G cards, along with a wireless plan, to use the networks any time. The Eee PCs and other mini-notebooks with 3G built-in will likely be bundled with 3G contracts from a service provider , which could lower their initial hardware cost.

Full Story: Asustek to Offer Eee PC With Built-in 3G Wireless (PC World)

. Bush's addition of 28,000 U.S. troops last year in Iraq helped foster a measure of stability in what is now the sixth summer of the war.

"Those of you taking the oath of citizenship at this ceremony hail from 30 different nations," Bush noted. " ... You all have one thing in common — and that is a shared love of freedom ... and this is the love that makes us all Americans." Said Bush: "This is a fitting place to celebrate our nation's independence.

Declaration of Independence died on July 4, 1826, the same day as the death of Jefferson's predecessor, John Adams .



Full Story: Bush welcomes new US citizens on 4th of July (AP)

The next time you're offered a choice between Earl Grey and green tea, you might want to go green.

. Led by Dr. Nikolaos Alexopoulos of Athens Medical School in Greece, the researchers found that among 14 subjects, those who drank green tea showed greater dilation of their heart arteries on ultrasound 30 min. later than those drinking either diluted caffeine or hot water. That's because, the scientists speculate, green tea works on the lining of blood vessels , helping cells there to secrete the substances needed to relax the vessels and allow blood to flow more freely. It's the flavonoids in the tea, which work as antioxidants and help prevent inflammation in body tissue, that keep the vessels pliable. These substances may also protect against the formation of clots, which are the primary cause of heart attacks . "We found very promptly [that] after drinking green tea, there was a protective effect on the endothelium," says Dr. Charalambos Vlachopoulos, a cardiologist and one of the authors of the study.

All it took, says Vlachopoulos, was 6 g of green tea, which amounts to 3 to 4 cups. To make sure the dilation effect was not due to the small amounts of caffeine found in green tea, the group compared the arterial sizes in the green-tea drinkers with those consuming a diluted caffeine beverage and found no change in arterial size in the caffeine drinkers. Even more intriguing, the beneficial effect seems to be long-lasting and cumulative. When the doctors measured the green-tea drinkers' arteries two weeks after daily consumption of the beverage, they found that their vessels were more dilated than they had been at the beginning of the study. "It's something that needs to be investigated, but we think that if someone takes green tea for one or two months, the beneficial effect will be even greater," says Vlachopoulos.



Full Story: Does Green Tea Help the Heart? (Time.com)

, Williams' own rewrite of Summer and Smoke, was presented to acclaim by TACT/ The Actors Company Theatre. Fans can now catch the source material and debate the qualities of the two works.

"This startlingly modern love story will transport audiences to the poetic and sensual world of Williams' Gothic South," according to Big Sky.

The Summer and Smoke cast includes Mary Sheridan, Michael Frederic, Samuel Adams, Jessica Angleskhan, Mia Bankston, Kevin Crouch, Prudence Wright Holmes, Hana Kalinski, Clyde Kelley, Jorge Montenegro, Stu Richel and Melodie Wolford.



Full Story: 'Summer and Smoke' to Billow Off-Broadway (Playbill)

has focused on the basics with its Address Book and iCal programs, which are included with Mac OS X . These are fine light-duty programs, but they lack power for anything more than simple contact and calendar management. Chronos's SOHO Organizer 7.0.2 suite provides a feature-rich alternative that will appeal to business and power users for whom Apple's offerings are insufficiently powerful or versatile.

The $100, Leopard-only SOHO Organizer suite includes three programs. The core program is the contact, calendar, and task manager, also (and a bit confusingly) named SOHO Organizer. SOHO Notes is a virtual shoebox that allows you to capture and organize all kinds of snippets and documents. Finally, SOHO Print Essentials handles chores such as printing mailing labels , envelopes, media labels, and much more. All three programs share a central database that can be kept private, or, in a crucial difference from Apple's programs, collaboratively shared with other users on a network. Setting up multi-user databases requires you to create user accounts and access privileges for each user, and open ports in each computer's firewall.

Full Story: Review: SOHO Organizer 7.0.2 (Macworld.com)

A vulnerability in a Web server contributed to attacks on some 300 Web sites in Lithuania earlier this week, a computer security expert said on Friday.

. The attacks, which started on Sunday and subsided by Monday, saw many Web sites defaced with pro-Soviet slogans and symbols in an apparent retaliation from hackers. The server was hosted by a company called Hostex, formerly known as MicroLink Lithuania, said Marius Urkis, head of the Academic and Research Network (LITNET) CERT, a different but related computer security organization.

Full Story: Lithuania: Attacks Focused on Hosting Company (PC World)

It’s an axiom in presidential politics to ignore the early polls. Perhaps that’s one piece of conventional wisdom that’s better ignored.

In the post-war era, the Gallup polls taken closest to the Independence Day holiday have been correct in picking the popular vote winner two-thirds of the time, in 10 of 15 presidential contests, a Politico analysis found.

With the latest Gallup tracking poll (concluded July 2) showing Barack Obama ahead of John McCain 47 percent to 43 percent, count it as one more historical obstacle McCain need overcome.



Full Story: Previous July 4 polls promising for Obama (Politico)

PARIS - Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt arrived in France to a hero's welcome Friday after six years being held by leftist rebels in the Colombian jungle.

and first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy greeted the French-Colombian politician with hugs, kisses and broad smiles at the Villacoublay air base southwest of Paris. The welcome was shown live on French television.

Betancourt's children and other family members also descended from the French government plane and joined their mother and the presidential couple on the tarmac.



Full Story: French hero's welcome for Betancourt (AP)

Wayne County probate court judge in Detroit has asked Ettinger's auction house, Guernsey's, to find a buyer — preferably a museum, university or other institution — for thousands of Parks' personal items.

Among them are her presidential and congressional medals, a post card from Martin Luther King Jr . and the hat Parks is believed to have been wearing on Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, cementing her spot in civil rights history .

Ettinger, whose New York-based company has auctioned off items ranging from the possessions of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt to Jerry Garcia's guitars, estimates the Parks collection could be worth $10 million.



Full Story: Auction house seeks to sell Rosa Parks collection (AP)

Only the presence of paparazzi outside the seaside hospital where Angelina Jolie is waiting to give birth to twins gives any indication that the star is in the seaside resort in Southern France.

Elton John , Bono and Brigitte Bardot are among the stars with houses in the region. But Nice likes to think of itself as more down-to-earth than its celebrity-crazed neighbors.

"Of course it is less glamorous. It's more for active people, people who love art, sport and gastronomy," said tourism bureau spokeswoman Isabelle Billey Quere. "It's a real town," she said, with a university, France's largest airport and largest art collection outside of Paris, 7.5 miles of shoreline — and a population that has grown accustomed to the arrival of foreigners and celebrities from at least the mid-19th century.



Full Story: French and tourists seem indifferent to Brangelina (AP)

to expose to Viacom the video-viewing habits of everyone who has ever used YouTube in a decision condemned by the Internet giant and privacy advocates.

US District Court Judge Louis Stanton backed Viacom's request for data on which YouTube users watch which videos on the website in order to support its case in a billion-dollar copyright lawsuit against Google. Viacom charges Google, which bought YouTube in 2006, acts as a willing accomplice to Internet users who put clips of Viacom's copyrighted television programs on the popular video-sharing website.

Full Story: Google ordered to give YouTube user data to Viacom (AFP)

Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder's preferred candidate.

"Good luck!" Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. "You're (sic) country depends on You!" Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.

According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota secretary of state's office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders.



Full Story: Minn. teen charged with offering his vote on eBay (AP)

testified at her divorce trial Thursday that she was devastated by her husband's affair with a teenager and his attempts to find other paramours through pornographic Web sites.

"My world was completely shattered," the former Sports Illustrated model said. "My life as I knew it had vanished." Brinkley took the stand in state Supreme Court a day after the trial opened with testimony from her architect-husband, Peter Cook, and his former mistress, Diana Bianchi, who was 18 when she began seeing him. Brinkley and Cook are mainly arguing over custody of their children, ages 10 and 13.

Brinkley said she learned about the betrayal when Bianchi's stepfather tapped her on the shoulder after she spoke at a Southampton High School graduation in June 2006.



Full Story: Brinkley: Husband's affair 'shattered' my life (AP)

CNET - A day before the United States celebrates its independence, we continue to question our individual freedoms online. In Thursday's Daily Debrief, CNET News.com Editor in Chief Dan Farber and I discuss a federal judge's recent ruling in the ongoing Google-Viacom lawsuit that orders Google to turn over YouTube user activity. This will include videos watched, IP addresses, and usernames as part of an ongoing copyright infringement case.



Full Story: Daily Debrief: Celebrating America's independence, questioning our own online (CNET)

TAMPA, Fla. - Police in the 1970s urged citizens to "drop a dime" in a pay phone to report crimes anonymously. Now in an increasing number of cities, tipsters are being invited to use their thumbs — to identify criminals using text messages.

Police hope the idea helps recruit teens and 20-somethings who wouldn't normally dial a Crime Stoppers hot line to share information with authorities. "If somebody hears Johnny is going to bring a gun to school, hopefully they'll text that in," said Sgt. Brian Bernardi of the Louisville, Ky., Metro Police Department , which rolled out its text-message tip line in June.

Full Story: Police wnt u to fight crime w/txt msgs (AP)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archeologists are opening a cave sealed for more than 30 years deep beneath a Mexican pyramid to look for clues about the mysterious collapse of one of ancient civilization's largest cities.

Mexico . But little is known about the civilization that built the immense city, with its ceremonial architecture and geometric temples, and then torched and abandoned it around 700 AD.

Archeologists are now revisiting a cave system that is buried 20 feet beneath the towering Pyramid of the Sun and extends into a tunnel stretching for some 295 feet (90 meters) with a height of 8 feet.



Full Story: Researchers open secret cave under Mexican pyramid (Reuters)

DEAR PRESS: You are in no way a bad parent for having made this choice. I think to have or attend a funeral should be a personal decision. As to whether or not there even is a funeral, that should be decided by the person who would be, let us say, the guest of honor.

For some reason, public figures either want big, blowout circuses -- or nothing at all. For example, my mother chose to have no funeral, as did Cary Grant and countless other well-known people. Conversely, many individuals plan the service they would like. Whatever people want is fine with me. As for "closure," that is a word I could live without. It is a concept I find meaningless; more of a wish than a possibility. In fact, what people call "closure" I find to be the end result of time and emotional progression, something that cannot be achieved by a burial -- or an electrocution, for that matter.

DEAR MARGO : As long as I can remember, my mother and I have never gotten along. Growing up, she blamed me for everything -- from why she was angry to the phone not working. I would overhear her praise my sister and oldest brother to everyone, but she would only speak of my other brother and me in a negative light. I was hit and emotionally abused by her. She never laid a hand on my older brother and sister . I can remember being as young as 5 and her telling me to eat poop and leave her house. Now that I am a mom, I thought our relationship might improve, but it hasn't. She still says horrible things behind my back and blames me for everything that has gone wrong in her life, though she tells people how successful the older two kids are and makes a big deal over them. I recently spent some time back in my hometown with family, and my 8-year-old overheard her telling my sister-in-law that I was using my husband for his money. Now my son is upset with her. I want to cut off all ties but don't want to lose my sister and my brother, who have always sided with her. I don't know what to do, but I am tired of feeling the way she has always made me feel.



Full Story: From Here to Eternity (Dear Margo)

's TV cooking show has filed a $1 million lawsuit saying he was forced out of his job because he has an eating disorder .

Aaron Ferguson says in papers filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court that he has suffered from anorexia for about six years. He says his supervisor repeatedly exhibited "hostile behavior" and made "vile," discriminatory and hurtful comments.

The comments included, "Anorexics are sick in the head," and, "Anorexics should not be able to work," his court papers say.



Full Story: Rachael Ray employee claims anorexia bias (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Larry Harmon wasn't the original Bozo the Clown, but he was the real one.

Harmon, who portrayed the wing-haired clown for more than half a century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure, said his publicist, Jerry Digney. He was 83.

As an entrepreneur, Harmon licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.



Full Story: Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83 (AP)

NEW YORK - This doesn't sound good: The nonprofit agency in charge of the Internet's addresses recently lost track of its own.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, said it happened when an Internet registration company it oversees got fooled into transferring the domain names to someone else. The attack was quickly noticed, and ICANN's domain names were restored within 20 minutes. However, because many Internet directories retain information for a day or two, visitors could have been redirected to an unauthorized site for longer.

Full Story: Internet addressing agency loses its own addresses (AP)

U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton authorized full access to the YouTube logs after Viacom Inc . and other copyright holders argued that they needed the data to show whether their copyright-protected videos are more heavily watched than amateur clips.

The data would not be publicly released but disclosed only to the plaintiffs, and it would include less specific identifiers than a user's real name or e-mail address. Lawyers for Google Inc ., which owns YouTube, said producing 12 terabytes of data — equivalent to the text of roughly 12 million books — would be expensive, time-consuming and a threat to users' privacy.

Full Story: Court orders YouTube to give Viacom video logs (AP)

California 's scenic coastal highway Thursday as a ferocious wildfire descended on the storied tourist town of Big Sur, destroying vacation homes and sending forest creatures running toward the sea for cover.

that animals have been forced out of their habitat and onto the roads. Buzzards flew overhead to snatch up dead rodents and squirrels, and residents reported seeing bear, deer and other big animals migrating toward the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, crews near the Pacific Coast Highway fought back flames from homes and historic landmarks, including the upscale Ventana Inn , which was surrounded by crackling, burning brush.



Full Story: As fire nears Big Sur, residents and beasts flee (AP)

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A Vermont man whose 12-year-old niece was found dead near his home carefully orchestrated events and e-mails to make it appear she had gone to see someone she met online, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged him with kidnapping.

Michael Jacques, 42, could face the death penalty under federal law if convicted in the disappearance of Brooke Bennett. An autopsy has not confirmed whether the girl was killed.

Citing statements from another girl, prosecutors claim in an affidavit that Jacques tricked Brooke into thinking she was going to a party and instead took her to his Randolph home to initiate her into a child sex ring on June 25, the day she disappeared.



Full Story: Prosecutors: Deception ran deep in Vt. kidnapping (AP)

to the Paris home of rocker Lenny Kravitz , who denied anything improper had happened with the slugger's wife.

Rodriguez remained mum. He signed a couple of autographs before Thursday night's game at Yankee Stadium against Boston , but didn't take questions from a pack of reporters.

The whole story began last week amid tabloid stories that Madonna, who is married to the British filmmaker Guy Ritchie , had consulted a high-profile London divorce attorney. On Tuesday her publicist issued a statement saying Madonna's marriage was not in jeopardy. Then Us Weekly magazine reported that Rodriguez, 32, has been making late-night visits to the Manhattan apartment of Madonna, 49.



Full Story: Just how close 'friends' are Madonna and A-Rod? (AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83.

Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.

"You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA," Harmon told the AP in a 1996 interview.



Full Story: Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dies at 83 (AP)

for just a euro — $1.59 — as a joke is back at home, a prosecutor said Thursday.

The parents maintained that the posting was just a joke gone awry. Investigators agreed, dropping their probe into possible child trafficking . "Offering my nearly new baby for sale, as it has gotten too loud. It is a male baby, nearly 28 inches long and can be used either in a baby carrier or a stroller," read the original ad that ran on May 24.

Full Story: Case dropped against parents who put baby on eBay (AP)

The European Commission , the EU's executive arm, is close to finishing an antitrust investigation into how royalties are collected. The outcome might help large music retailers like Apple Inc.'s iTunes sell from one store across Europe, rather than different stores with different products in each of the 27 EU nations.

Gibb and three other composer-songwriters, representing the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, or ECSA , warned that drastic changes to Europe's current online music market could reduce the royalties that musicians, particularly lesser-known ones with fewer sales, depend on to keep writing songs. ECSA said that if major online services can negotiate lower, region-wide fees, artists could get less for their songs despite seeing them distributed more widely.

Full Story: EU musicians oppose Europe-wide online licensing (AP)

BOGOTA, Colombia - Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt embraced her children for the first time in six years Thursday, saying the thought of them helped her stay alive until a daring rescue plucked her and 14 other hostages from the jungle.

On her first morning of freedom, Betancourt also visited the church that holds the remains of her father, who died while she was in captivity. Reporters and camera crews swarmed around her while adoring Colombians applauded as she left the church.

Betancourt raced to the stairway of the French government plane that flew her children to Bogota, throwing her arms around Lorenzo, 19, and Melanie, 22.



Full Story: Freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt embraces children (AP)

DEAR MARGO : I have been married for 25 years and have two children, one adult and one teenager. I have never been happy in my marriage. I decided a long time ago that my commitment was to maintaining a secure family life for my children, mostly because I did not have that when I grew up. My husband is distant, insensitive, uncomfortable with emotions, and spends more time alone than he does with us or anyone else. He stated that he once cheated in the past but it was "too much trouble." I have sex with him out of a sense of duty and occasionally my own physical need. I have not kissed or hugged my husband in many years. I must admit I have a friend I stay in touch with and see once or twice a year. I can kiss him, hug him, enjoy sex with him and say I love you. I have no intention of giving up this relationship. I have plans about how I will leave my husband the minute my youngest child is packed for college. The thought of living together without the children is unbearable. I am not even certain I can take it very much longer. I am a therapist and spend hours with clients who have codependency issues. I counsel them to take care of themselves, yet I do not have the courage to do that for myself. I am very concerned about my children because they have grown up having witnessed no display of emotion or love between their parents. My oldest child is 25 and has never had a serious relationship. I know in my heart that I am hurting my children more than helping them.

--- STUCK DEAR STUCK: I agree that the chill between you and your husband has not been good for your children. Father Theodore Hesburgh once said that the greatest gift one can give a child is two parents who love each other. Of course, it's too late for that, but not too late for you to do what you know you must: Doctor, heal thyself and get out of there. You are living a fake life that surely has deadened your soul. I am guessing that having a 25-year marriage and a professional career would make for a comfortable landing, financially. I urge you not to put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

DEAR MARGO : I have this friend and his wife who have been our friends for years. Usually we meet at one of our houses for drinks or dinner. Invariably after drinks my friend's wife gives me the looks and manages to have our hands touch many times. She calls me often to clarify doubts she has about this or that, or when she needs some information. Whenever I have called her to learn more about why she does this, she cuts the conversation short. Her husband often works late, so I am confused as to whether she is trying to fill up some time or trying to get something physical going with me.



Full Story: What a Guy! (Dear Margo)

ASBURY PARK, N.J. - Bruce Springsteen is paying tribute to a boardwalk fortuneteller he made famous in a song.

Madam Marie Castello, who told fortunes on the Asbury Park Boardwalk in New Jersey, died recently. She was 93.

Springsteen wrote about her in his 1973 song "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)." In a posting on his Web site, Springsteen remembers Castello as a boardwalk fixture at the Temple of Knowledge.



Full Story: Springsteen remembers NJ boardwalk fortuneteller (AP)

have split less than three months after the birth of the couple's second daughter, according to a report in the New York Daily News .

The story on the newspaper's Web site comes amid reports linking Rodriguez to Madonna. Rodriguez refused to address the topic on three occasions Tuesday, once saying "no" when asked if he had any comment.

The Daily News reported Wednesday night, citing an anonymous source, that Rodriguez and wife Cynthia had separated after having "problems" for about three months.



Full Story: Report: Alex Rodriguez has split from wife (AP)

The latest twist in Microsoft 's convoluted courtship caused Yahoo's shares to rise more than 3 percent in Wednesday's sinking stock market, even though the chances of a deal getting done still seemed remote.

. Recognizing Yahoo's vulnerability, Microsoft is trying to recruit News Corp., Time Warner's AOL or other media partners to put together a joint bid that would slice Yahoo into pieces, according to the Journal. The story cited undisclosed people familiar with the discussions. Under the reported breakup plan, Microsoft would emerge with Yahoo's online search operations — the main object of the software maker's desire since it began stalking Yahoo as long as ago as 2006.

Full Story: Report: Microsoft seeks help for another Yahoo bid (AP)

NEW YORK - A new study suggests that attitude rather than availability may be the key reason why more Americans don't have high-speed Internet access .

The findings from the Pew Internet and American Life Project challenge the argument that broadband providers need to more aggressively roll out supply to meet demand. Only 14 percent of dial-up users say they're stuck with the older, slower connection technology because they can't get broadband in their neighborhoods, Pew reported Wednesday.

Full Story: Study says many dial-up users don't want broadband (AP)

Baronova died peacefully in her sleep on June 28, the Australian Ballet said in a statement viewed on its Web site Thursday.

She had lived in the coastal resort town of Byron Bay north of Sydney since retiring from dancing in 1946.

"It is a very sad day for the ballet world," said David McAllister, artistic director of the Australia Ballet. "Irina inspired generations of dancers to aspire to the beauty she created on stage and then in later years she shared so generously her experience." Baronova came to fame as a 13-year-old after being spotted in Paris by legendary choreographer George Balanchine , who teamed her with two other young Russian-born dancers, Tamara Toumanova and Tatiana Riabouchinska, in 1932.



Full Story: Last of the `Baby Ballerinas' dies (AP)

BOGOTA, Colombia - When the drug-surveillance plane carrying Pentagon contractors Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell went down in rebel-held Colombian jungle in February 2003, it seemed like any public efforts to rescue them disappeared as well.

While France exhorted the world to care about the plight of French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt, and even sent a humanitarian mission in a failed rescue attempt this year, the U.S. government remained nearly silent about any efforts to free the men, employees of a Northrop Grumman Corp . subsidiary that has supported Colombia's fight against drugs and rebels.

Long before their rescue Wednesday, the three Americans — who were being flown to Texas to reunite with their families and undergo tests and treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio — had become the longest-held American hostages in the world.



Full Story: Contractors: Longest-held US hostages (AP)

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A $300,000 payoff to a teenage mistress. Thousands of dollars worth of online porn.

Sensational testimony about Christie Brinkley 's estranged husband opened their divorce trial Wednesday, giving the public a salacious peek into the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model's fourth marriage.

The husband, architect Peter Cook, testified that he and Brinkley used pornography "to get the mood going." Alexa Ray Joel, Brinkley's daughter with "Piano Man" Billy Joel, said Cook once shoved her head into a bucket of water.



Full Story: Salacious details launch Brinkley divorce trial (AP)

have split less than three months after the birth of the couple's second daughter, according to a report in the New York Daily News .

The story on the newspaper's Web site comes amid reports linking Rodriguez to Madonna. Rodriguez refused to address the topic on three occasions Tuesday, once saying "no" when asked if he had any comment.

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner also criticized the team's lack of hitting before an 18-7 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, suggesting "a little less outside distractions and a little more concentrating" might help the team at the plate.



Full Story: Report: Baseball star Alex Rodriguez, wife split (AP)

News Corp ., Time Warner Inc . and others about a way to complete the proposed deal, which the software maker has been exploring since withdrawing a $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo in its entirety in May.

Microsoft had previously proposed buying Yahoo's search operations for $1 billion and investing an additional $8 billion for a 16 percent stake in Yahoo's remaining business. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo rejected that offer, too, and instead forged an advertising partnership with Google Inc ., whose rapid growth prompted Microsoft's bid for Yahoo in the first place.

Full Story: Microsoft and Yahoo rise on deal talks report (AP)

and terrorism. Eighteen months of closed-door talks between European and American officials have already led to agreement on key principles for data-sharing, according to Jonathan Faull, director of the European Commission's justice and interior affairs department.

Faull told reporters Wednesday that formal talks could begin later this year with a final binding deal reached in 2009. The agreement aims to end criticism from privacy advocates and EU officials who have called for more guarantees that European privacy rights are respected by U.S. authorities as they seek access to more data from Europeans for security purposes.

Full Story: EU, US near deal on pact on protecting privacy (AP)

western North Dakota and ranched there for nearly seven decades. He never gave much thought to what lay below the grass that fattened his cattle.

When oilmen wanted to drill there last year, Stohler, 83, doubted oil would be found two miles underground on his property. He even joked about it.

"I told them if they hit oil, I was going to buy a Cadillac convertible and put those big horns on the front and wear a 10-gallon hat," Stohler recalled.



Full Story: Oil is making millionaires in North Dakota (AP)

LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers using a medical scanner have worked out why a Stradivarius violin sounds so good -- it is because of the remarkably even density of the wood.

For the past 300 years, musicians and scientists have puzzled over the unparalleled quality of classical Cremonese violins made by Italian masters like Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu.

Now a Dutch doctor and a violin maker from Arkansas think they have cracked the mystery after comparing five classical and eight modern violins in a computed tomography (CT) scanner normally used to examine patients.



Full Story: Wood density holds key to Stradivarius sweet sound (Reuters)

Troyer's ex-girlfriend, Ranae Shrider, signed a declaration filed in federal court in Los Angeles stating the tape was created with her video camera. Her statement prompted a judge to allow TMZ to reinstate a post featuring snippets of the tape.

The judge had temporarily barred TMZ from showing or broadcasting any portion of the tape on its Web site or TV show. The post was restored by Tuesday evening.

The judge has still barred a porn distributor named in a $20 million lawsuit filed by Troyer from distributing or taking orders for the 50-minute tape.



Full Story: TMZ allowed to repost portion of actor's sex tape (AP)

Dr. Michael Sussmann says the 33-year-old actress, who is in a hospital on the French Riviera, is doing fine.

Asked when Jolie is expected to have her twins, Sussmann replied, "I can't give you a date. Let's say the birth will happen in the weeks to come." Sussmann says Jolie checked into the hospital for observation, not because of any medical emergency .

"Her hospitalization at this stage in her pregnancy is totally normal for a patient who had a Caesarean during her first pregnancy," Sussmann told a news conference Wednesday. "She is very well and she is OK." Sussmann wouldn't reveal the sex of the babies.



Full Story: Doctor: Brangelina twins could be weeks away (AP)

Now, just as papers are reeling from a massive drainage of ad dollars online, Taylor thinks he's found another one of their strongholds that's ripe for online competition: Obituaries.

Funerals have historically been local affairs, which meshed well with newspapers' strong ties to their communities. But Taylor believes that may be changing as more people live far from the places they were born and grew up. Taylor hopes his new site, Tributes.com , will fill that broader need. Legacy, like competitors such as Memory-Of.com , offers a variety of ways for bereaved family members and friends to remember loved ones including virtual guest books, which can be archived online for a fee.

Full Story: Monster founder sets sights on online obituaries (AP)

LOS ANGELES - Millions of California motorists have had to put down their cell phones or risk a ticket as a new law takes effect requiring hands-free devices for those behind the wheel.

Oceanside were giving motorists a one-month grace period before beginning to issue citations, but the California Highway Patrol and other agencies were ready to write tickets Tuesday. "No grace period. The law was passed a year-and-a-half ago," said CHP Officer Heather Hoglund, a spokeswoman in suburban Glendale. "There should be no reason why somebody didn't know that today was the day that they needed to be hands-free." Electronic information signs along freeways had been warning drivers for weeks.

Full Story: Calif's hands-free cell law for drivers in effect (AP)

MADRID, Spain - As crude soared to a new record, the head of the International Energy Agency declared that the world was in the grip of an "oil shock," and the president of OPEC acknowledged he could not say whether prices would flatten out or continue to soar.

An IEA report released at the conference confirmed what most consumers fear: that supplies of oil will remain tight, whether for cooking fires in the poorest countries or powering cars and cooling or heating homes in the richest. And that's despite record prices and reduced demand as costly crude dampens the world's oil hunger.

Reflecting the world's oil price doldrums, light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 97 cents to settle at a new high of $140.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange . Prices at one point rose as high as $143.33, just 34 cents shy of Monday's trading record.



Full Story: Energy experts puzzled over oil prices (AP)

GRANITE CITY, Ill. - An exhaustive, two-state manhunt for an ex-convict suspected in eight grisly slayings has ended with the man quietly arrested outside a bar known as a police hangout.

Nicholas T. Sheley's capture was only a matter of time because of the intense publicity surrounding the case, said Tim Lewis, police chief in the St. Louis suburb of Festus, Mo . Police knew from a number of witness reports that Sheley was in the area, he said.

He ordered a glass of water and went to the bathroom before an employee and customer recognized him, bartender Katie Ronk said. The customer, Gary Range, said he left the bar and notified a police officer parked in the lot outside.



Full Story: Ex-con suspected in deaths of 8 captured in Ill. (AP)

likes to believe his portrayal as the first African-American U.S. president on Fox's "24" may have helped pave the way for Barack Obama .

"If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer , I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people," said the actor, who has contributed $2,300 to the Illinois Democrat's presidential campaign.

"And I mean the American people from across the board — from the poorest to the richest, every color and creed, every religious base — to prove the possibility there could be an African-American president, a female president, any type of president that puts the people first," he said Tuesday.



Full Story: Haysbert: Prez role on `24' may have helped Obama (AP)

JACKSON, Miss. - A rape charge against Rikki Rockett has been dropped after authorities determined that the Poison drummer was not in the state at the time of the alleged crime.

Authorities say they are now looking for a man with a history of passing himself off as a rock musician to pick up women.

Rockett was accused of raping a woman at a central Mississippi casino in September 2007 and arrested in March. The Neshoba County district attorney's office confirmed Tuesday that the charges were dropped.



Full Story: Rape charge dropped against Poison drummer (AP)

BERLIN - Germany's annual Bayreuth opera festival is going digital, streaming video and audio of its opening performance of "Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg" live via the Internet. The catch is the price — $77.

Organizers hope the online screening will draw new fans to an annual event devoted entirely to the 10 mature stage works by Richard Wagner , where fans often wait seven years or more for the opportunity to buy tickets. "Those are complicated hoops, and it can be crazy to jump through them all," said Katharina Wagner, a great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, who is staging the production. "But for those who only know Bayreuth by name, maybe they will say, 'OK, I'll check it out if I can watch it at home on my laptop.'" While New York's Metropolitan Opera and Milan's Teatro alla Scala have offered high definition theatercasts in recent years, the price usually has been closer to $24. And many arts organizations have free audio streams of performances on their Web sites.

Full Story: Bayreuth's Wagner festival will offer opera online (AP)

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Hackers broke into Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores and stole customers' PIN codes, according to recent court filings that revealed a disturbing security hole in the most sensitive part of a banking record.

The scam netted the alleged identity thieves millions of dollars. But more importantly for consumers, it indicates criminals were able to access PINs — the numeric passwords that theoretically are among the most closely guarded elements of banking transactions — by attacking the back-end computers responsible for approving the cash withdrawals. The case against three people in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York highlights a significant problem.

Full Story: Citibank ATM breach reveals PIN security problems (AP)

Despite the anxieties of these times, happiness has been on the rise around the world in recent years, a new survey finds.

, led by Inglehart, was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Swedish and Netherlands Foreign Ministries, and other institutions.

Free is good How to give and get perfectly good stuff for free, reducing waste.



Full Story: Study: World Gets Happier (LiveScience.com)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) said on Tuesday it plans to close 600 underperforming stores and eliminate as many as 12,000 full- and part-time positions, lifting shares nearly 6 percent.

The company, which has been grappling with the slowing U.S. economy and consumer spending at the same time that major competitors like McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) have begun attacking its core business, now plans to close a total of 600 underperforming stores by the end of March 2009.

Howard Schultz , the coffee chain's founder and chief executive, retook the helm in January and quickly announced plans to shutter 100 underperforming outlets.



Full Story: Starbucks to cut up to 12,000 jobs, close 600 stores (Reuters)

's 1986 horror flick, " The Fly ," has undergone a bizarre metamorphosis. It's now an opera.

The Lord of the Rings "), isn't as gory as the movie. Audiences will be spared close-ups of the title character's fingernails falling off as he makes the transition from mild-mannered scientist to giant insect.

Still, for an opera, it's pretty scary — even if there are touches of dark humor. Giggles broke out among those invited to Monday's dress rehearsal when a mezzo-soprano belted out the film's catchphrase: "Be afraid. Be very afraid." Cronenberg, who is directing the opera, wasn't sure what effect it would have.



Full Story: `The Fly' opera is buzz of Paris season (AP)

Santa Maria maternity clinic to be kept under doctors' surveillance and get some rest before she gives birth.

giving birth , not at all," she said. "It's not for right away." The 33-year-old actress will almost certainly remain in the hospital until she gives birth, Bauer said. She said Jolie was admitted recently but would not say exactly when.

Jolie has said the babies are due in August, but twins are often born early. She and her partner, Brad Pitt , have four children: Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3; and Shiloh, 2.



Full Story: Angelina Jolie admitted to French hospital for birth of twins (AP)