Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion -- but how did a company that started so small come to be worth so much? That's a story that began in the early days of the World Wide Web, when people were struggling to keep track of the new world of multimedia it offered them.In those days people viewed the Web through NCSA Mosaic, a browser that helped popularize the Web; they could check the level of coffee in the Trojan Room coffee machine at Cambridge University using the first Web cam on the Internet, and they could read the headlines on the NandO Times, one of the first "new media" operations.Yahoo first appeared on the Internet in 1994 when Jerry Yang and David Filo were still at Stanford University -- something that was immediately obvious from the site's first address: http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/. It wasn't until later in 1994 that the easier-to-type http://www.yahoo.com came along, but even then it redirected to the Stanford server.But back in 1994 people weren't that concerned about clunky addresses. They'd been living with the text-based Internet for years and the Web with all of its richness had people hooked. Yahoo stepped in to solve an early problem: how could users keep track of the fast expanding World Wide Web.What Yang and Filo built was revolutionary for the time: a hierarchical index of the Web divided into subjects like "computers," "government" and "society and culture." (The service lives on today as the Yahoo Directory)Love at first sightFrom the early days it was clear that users loved Yahoo."David Filo and Jerry Yang should be given a Medal of Honor, then locked in a room and never allowed to get lives: they are already doing an excellent job of categorizing the Web with Yahoo's Hostlist," wrote one user in response to a Sept. 1994 Usenet posting asking for a directory of Web sites.Word of the service spread through the Internet, often from enthusiastic users passing on details of the resource, but sometimes with a little promotion by Yang and Filo themselves."We have a pretty comprehensive listing at the Yahoo Database," wrote Yang on Usenet in Sept. 1994. "It's an attempt to be organized by subject (although not very well) -- but we are working on it. Searchable too," he wrote.All the time Yang and Filo continued to live everyday lives, unaware they would become billionaires in less than a decade. A look at old Usenet postings reveals Yang campaigning for fair funding for college students while Filo was trying to trade World Cup tickets online.As 1995 began, Yahoo was serving up 200,000 pages per day from its index of about 25,000 Web sites, and was about to hit the big time. During that year Yang published a book about Yahoo and earned an interview on National Public Radio's Fresh Air. Both cofounders appeared on a PBS Frontline TV documentary about the Internet called "High Stakes in Cyberspace.""What Yahoo does is make your wasting your time easier. It wants you to get where you want to go to waste time faster so you don't have to waste time wasting time," is how Yang explained Yahoo in the documentary, according to a transcript of the show.The publicity came just as thousands of people started piling onto the Web and new sites were popping up faster and faster. As a result by the middle of June 1996 Yahoo had jumped to 9 million pages per day and in the third quarter of that year traffic for the three-month period hit 1 billion page views.Investment in the popular and fast growing site wasn't far behind its rising popularity. In April 1995 Sequoia Capital provided Yahoo with two rounds of venture funding just as Yang and Filo decided to put their studies on hold and start running Yahoo full time."We [hadn't] done anything on our research in the last few months," Filo told CIO magazine in a June 1995 interview. "We had to decide which thing to pursue, and we're not really interested in what our PhDs were in."An initial public offering and international expansion was next on the cards, and by the end of 1996 Yahoo had sites in the U.K., Germany, France, and Japan, and had launched the Yahooligans service for kids.Early competitionYahoo wasn't without competition back in those days. WebCrawler was getting popular and Lycos was also making a name for itself, but none of the search engines at the time fully satisfied people. So it was common to switch allegiances whenever a better service came along. In 1996 many Internet users did just that when sites like Inktomi and Digital Equipment's Altavista launched.But Yahoo managed to endure the competition, possibly because its directory often was a better place to find links that the early search engines.Microsoft was making a late start on the Internet, launching MSN as a dial-up Internet access service in the U.S. in 1995. It wasn't until a few years later that MSN was relaunched as a portal and still more years until Microsoft put its full weight behind developing Internet-based products and services.Like Yahoo, Google also grew out of Stanford University but didn't start to achieve recognition until the end of the decade. Within a few years, however, it had grown to become the leader in online search.Today Yahoo is one of the most powerful online media brands in the world. It has more than 500 million users in numerous countries and its name is recognizable to billions of people.


Palestinian Factional Strife Escalates Into Gunfights Between Fatah and Hamas

The Palestinians seemed to edge toward open civil conflict as Hamas accused Fatah of trying to assassinate the prime minister.


Palestinian militants will cease rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, President Mahmoud Abbas told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a telephone call on Saturday, an Abbas aide said.


Pulling the liquor out of a political morass isn't worth the investment.


KEVIN Keegan believes that Manchester City can end 30 years of Old Trafford derby heartache if his players hold their nerve tomorrow.


Shoppers Mob Malls for Holiday Discounts

Across the country today, millions of Americans swarmed discount stores and filled downtown shopping districts to mark the start of holiday shopping season.


State freezes $17.5 million in voter funds Finance director awaits ...

Sacramento -- The Schwarzenegger administration said Friday it would freeze spending authorization for $17.5 million in federal voter funds until an audit determines if Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has properly spent previously distributed funds.


Kenyan Environmentalist Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai  became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize  Friday for aiding the continent's poor with a campaign to plant  millions of trees to slow down deforestation.


Joint meeting leads to Israeli pullout from Gaza: sources

Palestinian security sources said Sunday Israel wrapped up a three-day operation in northern Gazacame after a joint meeting between Palestinian and Israeli officials on Friday evening.


Itâs on days like this when you need your defense the most. With their offense struggling and getting victimized by costly penalties, the New England Patriots reached down


Sri Lanka's cease-fire deal ended Wednesday in a spasm of violence, as suspected Tamil Tiger rebels bombed a civilian bus, gunned down the fleeing passengers and attacked farmers as they retreated into the bush, killing 31


Branded food and beverage maker Kraft Foods Inc. said Tuesday the Securities and Exchange Commission does not intend to recommend an enforcement action against the company in connection with the government's


Tim Duncan and Tony Parker wasted no time showing how serious the San Antonio Spurs were about getting back into the NBA finals — immediately. Duncan and Parker powered an early 14-0 spurt that featured perhaps the most dominant stretch the Spurs have played all postseason and the Utah Jazz never recovered, letting San Antonio cruise to a 109-84 victory Wednesday night and into the championship round for the third time in five years.


Hollinger International Inc.'s board and the company's auditor, KPMG International, approved much of the $400 million in contested payments to Conrad M. Black and F. David Radler, Radler said.


Parsons Behle & Latimer Celebrating 125th Anniversary

By Anonymous  The Salt Lake City law firm of Parsons Behle & Latimer is celebrating its 125th anniversary.  In 1882, William Howard Dickson, a mining attorney and Territorial District Judge, left Carson City, Nev. to establish a law practice in Salt Lake City.


Accordo su 277 euro di aumento per i 30mila dipendenti


Police question suspect in London financier's murder

Police were interrogating one male suspect and looking for another in connection with the brutal knife murder of a wealthy financier at his home in London's Chelsea district.


Justices End 96-Year-Old Ban on Price Floors

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that it is no longer automatically unlawful for manufacturers and distributors to agree on setting minimum retail prices.


Police arrest former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson after he allegedly jumps on a car.


Confratello, e' stato colpito da uno squilibrato


France races against clock in hostage crisis

France has scrambled to secure the freedom of two French journalists kidnapped by Iraqi militants who gave Paris until Monday evening to drop its controversial ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.


Omicidio Giusy: uccisa perche' voleva troncare relazione

MANFREDONIA (Foggia) - Nessun branco dietro l'omicidio della 15enne Giusy Potenza, il cui presunto assassino e' stato arrestato oggi. Giovanni Potenza, pescatore 27enne, e' ritenuto l'unico responsabile del


International Space Station Crew Begins Preflight Exams

The replacement crew for the International Space Station started two days of preflight exams Monday, part of final preparations to relieve the two-man Russian-American crew finishing a six-month mission.    Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and U.S...


Sales of new homes, plunging to their lowest level in more than 12 years, were weaker than forecast last month - leaving the market glutted with unsold homes and pointing to more trouble ahead for the battered housing market.


A Battle Over Expansion of Childrenâs Insurance

The seemingly uncontroversial goal of insuring more children has become the focus of an ideological conflict between the White House and Congress.


Gramophone Awards tap into fountain of youth

There were a few surprises among the  winners at this year's Classic FM Gramophone Awards, which take  place in early October in London and are arguably the most  prestigious honors in the classical music industry.


Labour has failed on pensions, commission will report

A report on pensions commissioned by the Government will be highly critical of Labour's record on the issue, saying that people are saving far less for retirement than official figures show


U.S. oil prices fell for a second session on Tuesday on worries that high energy costs may crimp economic growth, but crude remained firmly planted above $50 a barrel on persistent fears of a winter supply crunch.


Udine, 19:05 - CALCIO, UDINESE: 4-0 NEL TEST CON IL MONFALCONE

Amichevole infrasettimanale dell'Udinese, che in vista della gara di sabato con il Cagliari, ha affr...


A Mountaineer Who Defined the Notion of Heroic Explorer

There may be something almost nostalgic in our celebration of a âheroic explorer.â


Every NBA team now has at least one loss after Dallas hammered the Heat in Miami 113-93. Dirk Nowitzki hit four 3-pointers and finished with 41 points, two below his career high.


The debate on how quickly Apple's iPhone would sell one million units is over, but the rumors about whether the Mac-maker will buy wireless spectrum are still swirling.


Stanford and Google to Make Library Books Available Online

STANFORD, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Dec. 14, 2004 -- Stanford University today announced an ambitious plan to cooperate with Google Inc.


Nicole Richie will have to decide Wednesday whether to accept a plea deal offered by prosecutors in her driving-under-the-influence case, according to a court spokesman.


Japanese stocks are expected to move  little on Wednesday following lackluster trading in the United  States and as investors take a breather after the Tokyo  market's recent gains.


Incompetence in simple art of shooting dooms Team USA in Athens

When it comes right down to it, basketball is still a shooter's game. Especially international basketball. And on Friday, the US once again simply didn't shoot the ball well enough, succeeding on only 32 of


Which wild child gave the worst video-clip performance this week?


Dark days are coming for analog cellular phones.


Trentamila le denunce arrivate nel 2006 all'Agcom


Poland pays homage to a woman who helped save the lives of 2,500 Jewish children during World War II.


NEW YORK (Sports Network) - Outfielder Jason Bay became the  first Pittsburgh Pirate to win the National League Rookie of  the Year, as he was voted the honor on Monday.


Citigroup ousts 3 senior execs over scandal in Japan

NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc has forced three senior executives to leave the company in connection with a scandal involving its private-banking operations in Japan, US media reported Tuesday.


straight to your cell phone, according to security experts. The experts, including Symantec Corp. and SimWorks, which specializes


EU, Coke Strike Deal, End Antitrust Probe

Coca-Cola agreed to a range of concessions on Tuesday that the European Commission said would be enough to wrap up a five-year antitrust case against the world's largest soft drinks maker.


Military analysts question Israeli bombing

Thousands of Israeli bombs have fallen on Lebanese homes, roads, bridges, ports, broadcasting towers and even a lighthouse.


Vikings receiver Randy Moss will miss his first game as a pro on Monday night against the Colts with a recurring hamstring strain that requires rest.


Indonesia puts quake-tsunami death toll up to 40,000

The Indonesian government said Wednesday the death toll from Sunday's earthquake and tidal waves could reach 40,000 in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces as more countries are pledging assistance.


GAZA CITY: Israeli air strikes killed five Palestinians in Gaza yesterday as the Palestinian death toll rose to 100 in a 16-day-old army offensive.


If No Icelanders Admit to Feeling Blue, Are They?

Studies conducted over the last several years have found that Icelanders suffer less from winter-related depression than people in many southern climates.


On April 16, 2004, an urbane lawyer being held hostage in a guerrilla camp deep in the Colombian jungle gave birth to a boy. The child was delivered by Caesarean section performed with a kitchen knife.


Ex-Chess Champ Fischer Hopes to Go to Iceland

Fugitive chess master Bobby Fischer, who  is fighting deportation to the United States, on Friday asked  Japan to allow him to go to Iceland, which has offered him a  home.


ASIA/INDONESIA - Il Vangelo si fa storia nel Borneo indonesiano: celebrati i cento anni della missione nellÂArcidiocesi di Smarinda Giacarta (Agenzia Fides) - Cento anni di missione nel cuore della foresta pluviale del Borneo indonesiano: con una solenne Messa di ringraziamento i 100mila fedeli dellÂArcidiocesi di Samarinda (nella parte orientale dellÂisola del Borneo) hanno fest...


Stocks Sharply Higher on Dip in Oil Prices

NEW YORK - A drop in oil prices and upbeat outlooks from Wal-Mart and Lowe's prompted new bargain-hunting on Wall Street Monday, sending stocks sharply higher. The Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 110 points...


VATICANO - AVE MARIA a cura di don Luciano Alimandi - ÂLÂImmacolata ConcezioneÂ CittÃ  del Vaticano (Agenzia Fides) - La Liturgia della Parola che la Chiesa ci offre nel giorno della SolennitÃ  dellÂImmacolata Concezione di Maria, lÂ8 dicembre, mette dinanzi a noi, tra la prima lettura e il Vangelo, un contrasto stridente: nella p...


Tony Blair has insisted that the wave of gun crime sweeping Britain's cities is "a specific problem within a specific criminal culture". Announcing a major review of firearms laws in the wake of five fatal ...Comment


A Santa Claus will have a Webcam in his grotto to overcome parents' concerns after a number of high-profile pedophile cases in Britain in the past few years.


First-time voters are energized by a tight race and a new conviction that every vote counts.


Le 112 pagine del bilancio di previsione 2007 del SenatoNonostante gli sforzi, la camera alta aumenta del 2,77 per cento                                            Affitti e indennitÃ , calze e corsi di lingua Palazzo Madama costa circa un miliardo                                                                                Tagli fino al 75 per cento alle Commissioni di inchiesta. Ma restano 2 milioni e 800 mila per buvette e ristorantiI questori: "Abbiamo mantenuto la spesa dentro il limite che ci eravamo posti, il 2,8%"di CLAUDIA FUSANI


A report is expected to say a radical new approach is needed if drug laws are to work in the UK.


'Sideways,' a Likely Golden Globe Favorite

The oddball romance "Sideways," the Howard Hughes epic "The Aviator" and the boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby" were among key contenders at Sunday's Golden Globes.


Wade Leads Heat Past the Nuggets 107-100

Dwyane Wade scored 25 points and Shaquille O'Neal 20 to help the Miami Heat win their seventh straight game, 107-100 Friday night over the Denver Nuggets — who lost forward Carmelo Anthony to a sprained left ankle.


Oil prices decline on rise in US crude inventories

NEW YORK, October 27  - Crude oil prices declined sharply today after the US weekly inventory data revealed a higher-than-expected increase in crude oil inventories last week.


Brazil hands out free condoms ahead of Carnival

As millions of revelers across  Brazil prepare for Carnival festivities, the country's health  ministry began on Sunday its yearly safe-sex campaign and the  distribution of free condoms.


GPs 'confused' over breast cancer referrals

Survey shows many doctors are not proactively discussing breast cancer awareness with patients


Bill Mann notes a troubling long-term decline in operating efficiency at Southwest Airlines.


Sofia Mayor Seeks Larger Share in Municipal Bank ... read

Business: 9 January 2005, Sunday. Sofia Municipality, which holds 67% stake in slated for sale Municipal Bank, must retain a bigger stake in a bid to earn the clients' confidence and raise its price, according ...


Tamil Tigers are unlikely to change their stripes (NEWS ANALYSIS) :

India News > New Delhi, Aug 17 : For the first time since Sri Lanka's peace process got under way in February 2002, Tamil Tiger guerrillas have come under flak from the West amid growing signs of a revival of the armed conflict.


EDonkey settles music industry suits for $30 million

The founders of peer-to-peer file-sharing service eDonkey and its parent company, MetaMachine, said theyll pay $30 million to record companies to settle a copyright infringement case.


Kansas town stunned by kidnap-murder case

MELVERN, Kansas People in Melvern, Kansas, are stunned by the gruesome kidnap and murder case that's unfolded in their small town in recent days.


The restrictions on agricultural shows and animal gatherings are lifted after the foot-and-mouth outbreak.


Harry Potter worked his magic last year when âHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,â the fifth in the adventures of the boy wizard, took in $97.95 million to become the top-grossing film at box offices in Britain and Ireland.


Women, blacks beat smokers, Mormons in U.S. race: poll

Being female or black is less of a liability for U.S. presidential candidates than being over 72, Mormon, twice-divorced or a cigarette smoker, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll issued on Tuesday.


ATHENS, Sep 17 (IPS) - The challenge of distributing and managing aid is  inevitably controversial. And with the EU the largest aid donor  in the world, the decisions it takes are hugely significant.


Israel agreed on Sunday to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's emergency government, a measure designed to undercut Hamas Islamists controlling Gaza.


Rock stars more likely to die prematurely

Rock stars -- notorious for their "crash and burn" lifestyles -- really are more likely than other people to die before reaching old age. A study of more than 1,000 mainly British and North American artists, spanning the era from Elvis Presley to rapper Eminem, found they were two to three times more likely to suffer a premature death than the general population.


TORONTO - Tony Clark homered three times for the first time in his career, Ruben Sierra hit a grand slam for his 300th homer, and Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez also connected to lead the New York Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays 18-6 on Saturday.    New York, which overcame a 4-0 deficit for the second time in the series, had nine runs and 10 hits in the ninth inning, both season highs...


Titans' Volek Separates Throwing Shoulder

Tennessee Titans quarterback Billy Volek separated his right shoulder when he was hit after a pass in the fourth quarter of a 24-19 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.


Italy PM calls confidence vote after ally defects

Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi will  put his weakened government to a vote of confidence in both  houses of parliament, he told the lower house on Tuesday.


Milano, 20:40 - CALCIO: PRINCIPALI TRASFERIMENTI DEL MERCATO DI GENNAIO

Ecco i principali trasferimenti del il mercato di gennaio. Tra parentesi la società di proven...


Global media giant Walt Disney attempts to break into the huge children's market in India with two new TV channels.


Repairs to shuttle hole not possible in orbit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. - Astronauts in space will not be able to repair a hole the size of the one that doomed the space shuttle Columbia, NASA officials say.


Credit Suisse Group aims to launch a  share buyback worth up to 6 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion)  after fourth-quarter net profit rose a better-than-expected 22  percent, the bank said on Thursday.


AFRICA/KENYA - ÂDiarrea, tifo e colera, sono solo alcuni dei grandi problemi che affronta quotidianamente la popolazione di KiberaÂ dice il Vescovo Andar Roma (Agenzia Fides) - Nella sua visita a Nairobi, tra le favelas, la miseria e lÂemarginazione di Kibera, il nuovo segretario generale delle Nazioni Unite, Ban Ki-moon, ha dichiarato che nel corso del suo mandato ÂfarÃ  di tutto per migliorare le con...


For dynamic seniors, a place to call home

When Tim and Liz Wallace decided to sell their Hamilton home and move into a retirement community in Peabody, their daughter was so upset she grabbed the next flight from Chicago to talk them out of it. The Wallaces, ages 74 and 69, are youthful, fun, and physically fit. The last place they belong is in a quiet ...


U.S. tries to reassure Russia on eve of G8 summit

U.S President George W. Bush on Tuesday sought to soothe Russia's Vladimir Putin about U.S. missile shield plans on the eve of a big-power summit that could also expose rifts on climate change and aid for Africa.


Per elevare livello della trattativa sul disarmo


UNITED NATIONSâToo little has been done, too late, to end rape and killing in Sudan's Darfur region, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said yesterday and urged a more vigorous international response.


The UK saw unemployment fall in the last three months of 2006 according to the Office for National Statistics.


Peyton Manning Has 4 TD Passes as Colts Beat Bears: NFL Week 11

Peyton Manning threw for 211 yards and four touchdowns to help the Indianapolis Colts win their third straight game, a 41-10 victory over the Chicago Bears.


Taser International Inc. on Tuesday defended its stun gun against calls by Amnesty International to suspend their use until more testing is done to prove that the product is safe.


Bengal Johnson hopes his message is received

Bengals receiver Chad Johnson was in the middle of a conference call with New England media yesterday when he tossed a changeup at those asking the questions.


There is a warning that independent schools are stretching their lead among A-level students.


Real Madrid playmaker Zinedine Zidane will return to the side for the UEFA Champions League Group B clash with Roma on Tuesday night.


The director of Fool N Final, Ahmed Khan talks about the film.


A More Conservative Intel Doesn't Add Many Details On ...

Burned by a series of production missteps and canceled products, the company lets AMD get out in front on multicore product announcements.


Mattel 3rd-Qtr Profit, Sales Drop; Hasbro's Net Rises

Mattel Inc. and Hasbro Inc., the world's two largest toymakers, said third-quarter sales fell. Mattel's profit declined 5.2 percent and Hasbro's rose 30 percent after it lowered costs.


In Rebel Region, Ethiopia Turns to Civilian Patrols

Some say the militias that Ethiopia, Americaâs ally, is drafting in the Ogaden region are hardly voluntary.


No More Iraqi Money for Arms Inspectors - UN Envoy

Iraqi oil money should no longer  be used to pay for U.N. weapons inspectors who stopped  searching for banned weapons nearly two years ago, Baghdad's  envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday.


Tony Blair shares a platform with Charles Kennedy to push for a yes vote in the North East assembly referendum.


Greek government pilloried as fires rage

KRESTENA, Greece  - Frantic Greek villagers fled as fire engulfed their homes, farms and forests on Tuesday in an inferno that has killed 63 people and prompted public outrage at the government's handling of the crisis.


If Nintendo's new DS - short for "Dual Screen" - (* * * 1/2 out of four, $150) was designed to bring innovation to the portable video game market, so far only developer Sega has completely caught on.


US Secretary of State Colin Powell has ended his tour of East Asia by urging North Korea to resume nuclear talks. Speaking in Seoul, Mr Powell said Pyongyang's ongoing nuclear programme was preventing the US from helping ordinary North Korean people.


Body that spawned the internet wants to rebuild it

Broke or not, DARPA's fixin' to fix it DARPA*, the US military's occasionally eccentric death-tech hothouse, is often lauded as having created the internet. Under its old name ARPA, the agency oversaw development of the so-called Arpanet, forerunner of today's IP net. Now, however, DARPA reckons the internet needs to be reinvented.â¦


Alitalia's board approved a four-year rescue plan Monday that was needed to unlock a 400 million-euro emergency loan and prevent bankruptcy, after unions agreed to thousands of job cuts.


AP Correspondent Robert H. Reid covers Iraq events from Baghdad for The Associated Press. AP Correspondent Rebecca Santana is embedded with the New Jersey National Guard at Camp Anaconda, Iraq.


Con Fini non c'e' mai stata convergenza su questo


Abortion opponents, hoping to get around voters' objections to a previous measure, announced a bill Monday that would ban the procedure in the state except in limited instances.


Arts & entertainment: Ed Vulliamy on a musical journey that brought father and daughter together.


A UK soldier is killed in Basra, southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence confirms.


The prime minister issues a dire warning on climate change as he sets out policies to tackle it.


FDA says vaccine maker's problems 'resurfaced'

Quality-control problems found in 2003 "resurfaced" this year at the Liverpool, England, plant the USA was relying on for about half its flu vaccine, acting FDA Commissioner Lester


Bernanke says Fed eyeing both housing and inflation

The U.S. Federal Reserve remains worried inflation is too high, but is also watching to see how much a "substantial correction" in housing markets will slow economic growth, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.


Crescita del 19,2%, margine d'interesse salito del 13,1%


By Zane Wilson, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.  Sep. 17--When Interstate 73 has completed its march across the landscape, more will change than just the path of the new road.


UPDATE 2-Real slump to another defeat at classy Bilbao

Trouble-torn Real Madrid slumped to their second defeat in three Primera Liga games when they lost 2-1 to a classy Athletic Bilbao side on Saturday.


I.B.M. said that it was in talks to settle a lawsuit contending that a pension plan adopted by the company discriminated against 140,000 older workers.


Those who don't mind carrying a paperweight already have plenty of options for "smart" phones that do more than just make calls. The rest of us are stuck with a sad compromise between size and function.


As the slugger nears Hank Aaron's record, fans are crying 'Foul Ball.' Here are five ways to make sense of his feat


Nikkei Dips Down, Yen Weighs on Exporters

Japan's Nikkei share average edged down by midsession on Monday after erasing opening gains as investor caution over the yen's rise offset optimism about the post-election outlook for Wall Street.


Ex-general heads for big win in Indonesia

JAKARTA - An urbane former general who promises to fight terror and clean up government headed for an overwhelming victory against incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia's first direct presidential election on Monday.


Growth in U.S. Music Sales Helps Slow Global Slide

A swing to growth in U.S. album sales  and surging consumption of music on DVD helped slow the decline  in first-half global sales of recorded music, the trade body  for the world's largest record companies said on Thursday.


Fassel Becomes Ravens' Offensive Coordinator

The Baltimore Ravens named Jim Fassel as their offensive coordinator and promoted Rex Ryan from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator. The announcements were made during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.


Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says violence in Iraq is bound to increase ahead of the country's January elections -- because the insurgents "fear" the balloting.


Former Sun, BEA executives forge grid venture

Former executives from companies including Sun Microsystems, BEA Systems and Oracle are launching a venture called Cassatt, which looks to automate IT operations, leverage commodity hardware and software and govern network compute cycles in a gridlike manner.


Bill Clinton, still recuperating from heart surgery, staged a new comeback to anoint John Kerry his heir as Democratic Party champion.


BBC Radio Five Live presenter Richard Bacon is to have a throat operation to treat a growth on his vocal chord.


Bush Set for Fence-Mending Trip to Europe

The fence-mending trips, makeup meetings and friendly photo ops spread over the past two years have failed to repair problems between President Bush and European leaders.


They've bought the penthouses, country  homes and yachts and secured their future, and now Russia's  super-rich have found a new outlet for their seemingly  limitless funds -- Russian art.


Former New York City Mayor Rudolph  Giuliani, acclaimed for his leadership after the September 11  attacks, confirmed he is running for U.S. president in 2008,  eliminating any lingering doubt about his candidacy.


Two Top Fannie Mae Execs Forced from Posts

Description: Two top executives at Fannie Mae are forced out of their jobs following questions over accounting irregularities. Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines and Chief Financial Officer Timothy Howard stepped


Company also plans to launch a business-class Net phone service in Roanoke, Va., as cable providers battle to gain market share.


ADV: Health Insurance for the Self-Employed!

Affordable health, dental, and life insurance for you and your family. Ideal for self-employed, small business owners. Fill out our form for a competitive quote.


France Calls for New Start to Relations with U.S.

France called for a new start to  relations with the United States on Wednesday after a long  chill over the Iraq war and said the countries' leaders should  talk more often.


Sanibel Residents Return After Hurricane

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. Aug. 18, 2004  Permanent residents returned to Sanibel Island on Wednesday for the first time since it was evacuated before Hurricane Charley struck last weekend. Roads had been cleared of storm debris but there was no power or ...


Fossil shows parents doted 260 million years ago

Parents have been doting over their offspring for a very, very long time, it seems. A South African fossil suggests pelycosaurs -- intermediates between reptiles and mammals that lived in the Permian Period before the rise of dinosaurs -- may have been caring parents 260 million years ago, scientists said on Wednesday.


Reggio Calabria, 18:17 - CALCIO, REGGINA: LAVORO A PARTE PER ESTEVES

Doppia seduta di allenamento per la Reggina. Gli amaranto hanno sostenuto un lavoro atletico in mat...


The world's richest man, one of its most visible social activists and Britain's leader put a sharp focus on the horrors facing Africa's poor on Thursday, saying the planet's indifference to the suffering has been scandalous.


Asustek complains of Intel laptop processor shortage

Taiwan's Asustek Computer complained on Tuesday of a shortage of Intel central processing units (CPUs) for laptop PCs, but said it didn't expect the problem to affect its sales."The biggest shortage in notebook components is in CPUs, Intel CPUs. Intel isn't meeting demand," said Jerry Shen, president of Asustek, answering questions at an investors conference in Beitou, Taiwan.The statement highlights persistent problems laptop PC makers have faced this year in trying to procure certain parts. Strong demand for mobile computers has caused a shortage of small LCD (liquid crystal display) screens and small hard disc drives (HDD), laptop makers have complained. Therecall of around 10 million laptop batteries containing cells manufactured by Sony has also kept these vital parts in short supply since last year.Intel could not immediately be reached for comment.Back-to-school sales in September, and the run-up to the end-of-year holiday season are hot times for people to buy new laptop PCs, and hype around Microsoft's Windows Vista and Intel's Santa Rosa laptop chips has given an added spurt to demand this year. Laptop PC sales are expected to hit record highs, and some companies believe the market will grow by around 30 percent next year.Supplies of certain laptop parts could become more plentiful once the peak season ends and demand slows down.Meantime, laptop makers have had to keep up with suppliers by maintaining relationships and building inventory when they can."Our relationship with Intel is good so we don't have a big problem, but if it wasn't so good, our troubles might be worse," said Shen, of the CPU issue.Asustek forecasts it will ship between 4.2 million and 4.4 million of its own-brand laptops this year, not including its popular new Eee PC. The company has targeted shipments of up to 400,000 Eee PCs this year.


A strong balance sheet and a pair of promising products underlie optimism for AEterna's future prospects.


Pfizer stock drops after Bextra heart risks reported

Shares of Pfizer Inc. slipped on Wednesday, following reports that a study had likened the companyâs Bextra arthritis drug to Merck's Vioxx in terms of its cardiovascular risks.


U.S. Cigarette Makers Boost Discounts as Ads Drop

U.S. cigarette makers used heavy  discounting to try to prop up sales in 2002, even as they cut  spending on most types of advertising, according to a report  released on Friday by the Federal Trade Commission.


World leaders gathering for their annual meeting this week will find a new buzz: The United Nations is back in the global spotlight after securing a cease-fire in Lebanon, trying to revive the Middle East peace process and pressing Sudan to allow U.N. peacekeepers into conflict-wracked Darfur.


Questa la richiesta dei presidenti dei club riuniti oggi a Milano. Pozzo: "Non esiste un problema Galliani". Zamparini: "Vanno ridiscusse le regole della Lega". MILANO, 12 ottobre 2004 - "Abbiamo suggerito


A former inmate at the US prison camp at GuantÃ¡namo Bay, Cuba, who reportedly returned to Afghanistan to rejoin the Taliban as a key commander was killed in a raid by


Kidney patients often excluded from heart trials

NEW YORK  - Despite being at increased risk   for illness and death, renal disease patients are frequently   excluded from randomized trials looking at treatments for   cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a report released   this week.


SALEM -- When it comes to pins, Ryan Malo of St. John's Prep has mastered the technique.


One Place Where Obama and Elbows Still Meet

Senator Barack Obama is a wily player of pickup basketball, a game with unspoken rules and lots of elbows.


For your next DIY project, pick up an old Pentium computer and a CompactFlash card and build a custom router/firewall.


IBM research projects cover SOA, Web 2.0

(InfoWorld) - IBM showed off research efforts in a number of areas, including SOA, wikis, and mashups, at its IBM Silicon Valley Lab on Wednesday afternoon. Technologies on display leveraged concepts like social networking, collaboration, and Web 2.0. Security and healthcare systems also were on display. The 26 projects viewed were in various stages of development, ranging from incubation to actual availability. In the SOA area, IBM's Request Driven Provisioning technology provides a framework to offer business services in an SOA. It combines automated systems with business processes for the purpose of end-to-end IT service delivery. Services are provisioned based on user requirements, said Willy Chiu, IBM vice president for High Performance On Demand Solutions in the company's Software Group. "What we're doing is allowing a business unit to define its requirements for a complete SOA system that would have taken months to install and now it takes hours," said Chiu. The technology is available as a service offering that leverages IBM's WebSphere, Tivoli, Rational, and other product lines. DB2 provides for data storage. Also in SOA, IBM touted Sonoma, which is a Web-based capacity planning tool. To be offered through a Saas (software as a service) model, it will enable customers to size SOA-based workloads to meet future performance and scalability requirements. Sonoma is the latest version of the company's OPERA (On Demand Performance Advisor) tool for capacity planning. Sonoma serves a subset of RDP for SOA planning only and is configured as a Web service, Chiu said. He stressed that IBM was not in the application space. "Our job is to enable applications," said Chiu. IBM brought customer Jeremy King, eBay's vice president of engineering and application architecture, onstage to tout eBayâs collaboration with IBM. Noting eBay's 212,000,000 registered users and its massive infrastructure, King said that if eBay were a country, it would be the world's fifth largest, behind China, India, the United States, and Indonesia. King cited WebSphere as being of particular usefulness at eBay. "In the end, what really made the difference was IBM's understanding of the service that we would need," King said. After discussions by IBM executives, attendees were free to check out the various research efforts. Projects demonstrated under the umbrella of social networking, collaboration, and Web 2.0 included: Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Information Factory, a portal-based system for organizing feedback from customers. Wikis, blogs, social networking, and tagging tools are used to accelerate collaboration. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Koala, a social engineering effort allowing non-programmers to easily automate processes on the Web in a collaborative environment using wiki-like collaborative authoring and semantic Web annotation. Reusable procedures can be developed and reused by recording keystrokes and clicks as a user completes a task. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Fringe, transforming IBM's internal directory into a corporate social networking site. Activities and relationships can be organized around people and experiments with the application of social networking and tagging principles. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  QEDwiki (quick and easily done wiki), an enterprise mashup tool that makes it easy for non-technical persons to build Web-based applications that blend company data with outside Web services. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Mashups for the Enterprise, which are applications developed to solve a situational business problem by integrating Internet/intranet data and services using lightweight Web 2.0 technologies. IBM Travel Maps is an example of this concept. In the category of Information On-Demand, IBM showed the following technologies: Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Unified WebClient for IBM Content Management, leveraging technologies such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), Dojo and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) to provide a unified, visually appealing client for IBM Content Management offerings. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Omnifind Yahoo! Edition, an enterprise search product intended to help eliminate financial and technology barriers to intranet and Web search. It features Web search services powered by Yahoo. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Business Insights Workbench, identifying trends and patterns from a customer's internal and external content using advanced text analytics on structured and unstructured information. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Intelligent Document Gateway, providing customized business logic in support of document-centric business processes. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ShapeWriter, providing a new way of writing text and sending commands on computing and communications devices. It uses multi-channel pattern recognition and lexical information to interpret a user's hand drawing on a graphical keyboard. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center, which uses autonomic policy-based protocols to manage heterogeneous storage infrastructures from a single point of control. In the security arena, IBM showed: Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Smart Surveillance System, for data analysis of video sequences. Benefits include real-time alarms to anticipate incidents by identifying suspicious behaviors as well as enhanced forensic capabilities and situational awareness of a location. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  IDemix, or IBM Identity Mixer, which masks information on the Web by making transactions anonymous. Digital identities are hidden, and an additional layer of protection is provided against identity theft. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Assured eXecution Environment, preserving the integrity of personal computers by ensuring that only approved programs are executed. Unwanted automated changes to system configurations also are prevented. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Cancelable Bometrics, which uses an algorithm to protect against theft of biometric data such as a fingerprint. The actual fingerprint is concealed by using a distorted version of it. Consumer technologies included: Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Virtual Worlds, enhancing the retail customer experience using virtual 3D technologies. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  FonePal, using cross-device integration to solve voice menu navigation problems. Instant messaging is used to deliver a visual version of a phone menu to a computer screen. A user could then scan choices and make a selection instead of sifting through menus. Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MASTOR, or Multilngual Automatic Speech-to-Speech Translator, providing bidirectional speech-to-speech translation for communication in different languages. Persons not speaking the same language could communicate.


Solberg steals win with a 'flying finish'

Newtownâs Phil Mills tasted further world championship glory yesterday when he co-drove Petter Solberg to victory in the Wales Rally GB.


Sharon's leadership in crisis as Likud rejects settler plan

Ariel Sharon's political obituary was being written yesterday as opponents in Labour and his own Likud party turned their backs on the embattled Prime Minister, putting his plan for a staged withdrawal of settlers from the West ...


IBM's New eServer Supports AMD Dual-Core

IBM (Quote, Chart) is looking to get a leg up on the competition with the October 15 launch of eServer 326, a rack-mounted server that supports AMD's (Quote, Chart) upcoming dual-core 64-bit processor.


Cabinet Minister Jack Straw says he would prefer Muslim women not to wear veils at all.


Apple Rolls Out IPod Photo, Rocks with U2

SAN JOSE, Calif.  - Apple Computer Inc. rolled out  on Tuesday a new iPod that allows users to view and share  photos as it opened nine new iTunes music stores in Europe,   spurring its rivalry with Microsoft Corp. and others.


HOUSTON - Continental Airlines said Tuesday that rising oil costs and $280 million in federal transportation, security and airport fees charged on passenger tickets drove the carrier to post a loss in the third quarter.


Thomson Gale Introduces Nineteenth Century Collections Online

Thomson Gale, a part of The Thomson Corporation, has announced the launch of the Nineteenth Century Collections Online project.


A woman soldier accused of abusing soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is to face a court martial in January, the US army has said.


Esclusa la presenza a bordo di un quinto passeggero


"Innocent" Anna Nicole Smith in documentary

LOS ANGELES  - She may have lived nearly half her life in the spotlight, but there's still some video of the late Anna Nicole Smith that you haven't seen.


L'ora della morte potrebbe slittare anche dopo la mezzanotte"La ragazza ebbe un rapporto, ma forse la sera prima"                                          Perugia, "Meredith non fu violentata" La perizia: vacilla una delle accuse                                                                                di MEO PONTE


Study finds cell phones and hospitals don't mix

Using mobile phones near hospital beds  or important equipment is dangerous and could switch off  ventilators or disrupt pacemakers, Dutch researchers said on  Thursday.


Direttore Confindustria su interventi fisco del governo


Consider reinvesting those dividends in more stock, via your brokerage.


Six militants killed in Israeli raid in Nablus

Israeli army raided at predawn Wednesday the West Bank city of Nablus, killing six Palestinian militants, Palestinian witnesses and medics reported.


Uncover financial insights for your business daily with The New York Times - the authority on market trend news and analysis. Now delivered to your home or business starting at $2.40/wk.


Kurd fighters may add muscle to Baghdad offensive

When U.S. and Iraqi forces step up an offensive against militants in Baghdad, 4,000 Kurdish soldiers will be there on the frontlines, taking part in their first major operation under Iraq's new army.


Art Review | 'Comic Abstraction': Visions That Flaunt Cartoon Pedigrees

The Museum of Modern Art offers a sometimes perky but ultimately dispiriting show of works by 13 artists who borrow from comic strips, cartoons and animation.


Improved safety and lobbying can lead to improved performance.


Report: Yahoo mistakenly blows the lid off new service

An errant e-mail revealed the existence of Yahoo Mash, which may be some type of social network -- addressing a weak area for Yahoo.


The intentional targeting of a school by Chechen hostage-takers and the cruelty and the brutality they employed against defenceless children has horrified the world.


Secondo il pubblico ministero 'non e' neutrale'


Blog: comScore says Google search market share rises to 49.7 percent


The Italian government and opposition parties closed ranks Wednesday in hopes of securing the release of two humanitarian aid workers and two of their Iraqi colleagues kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday.


Four Out of Six Computers in Russian Segment of Iss Operating Again

KOROLYOV, Moscow region. June 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov managed to repair four out of the six computers in the Russian segment of the International Space Station early on Saturday, the Russian space mission control told Interfax.


Hamilton upbeat after Silverstone practice

Lewis Hamilton is feeling confident ahead of the British Grand Prix despite trailing the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in Friday afternoon practice.


Irish trainer Dermot Weld has given the go-ahead for Vinnie Roe to run in the Emirates Melbourne Cup after walking the track at Flemington on the morning of the 'race that stops a nation'.


Broadcaster ITV is hit by a further drop in advertising revenues for the year.


Rebels Launch New Attacks in India's Northeast

GUWAHATI, India  - Suspected separatist rebels set  off a string of fresh bomb blasts in northeastern India on  Sunday, bringing the death toll in a weekend of violence to 56.


Singapore's Growth Slows in Third Quarter

Singapore's economic growth slowed to 7.7 percent in the third quarter after a 12.5 percent rise in the previous three months, as its central bank said it would keep a tight rein on monetary policy to support growth amid rising oil prices.


Red Sox Try to Finish Off Angels in ALDS

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox will try to become the first team to advance to a league championship series Friday when they face the Anaheim Angels in Game 3 of the AL Division Series at Fenway Park. The Red Sox lead the best-of-five series 2-0 and are attempting to sweep a postseason series for the first time since they beat Oakland for the AL pennant in 1975...


Tropical storm Florence prompts Bermuda warning

Bermuda's government issued a  tropical storm warning on Saturday as forecasters predicted  that Tropical Storm Florence could strengthen and become a  hurricane as it approached the British territory.


Sarkozy unveils masterplan to kickstart French economy

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government on Thursday unveiled details of a costly masterplan to "shock" the economy back to life, the first part of his ambitious economic and social reform drive.


Music Review | John Mayer: The Apologetic Pop Star, Still Trying to Claim the Blues

The singerâs attempt to include his blues-rock stylings with his pop songs yielded mixed results at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.


Severn Trent Water sees its half-yearly profits hit, after Ofwat demanded it tackle its leaky pipes.


Books of The Times: Einstein Was Uncertain About Uncertainty. Can You Understand It? Certainly.

David Lindleyâs new book about the development and impact of Werner Heisenbergâs uncertainty principle provides a useful prÃ©cis of the mind-blowing progress of physics in the early 20th century.


UK hands control of Basra to Iraqi forces

BASRA, Iraq  - Britain handed responsibility for security in Basra province to Iraqi forces on Sunday, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of the southern part of Iraq.


While the federal government rarely imposes quarantines — issuing its first in more than four decades last week — cities and states routinely isolate TB patients to prevent them from infecting others.


Microsoft mulls free Web-based business software

Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O said on   Thursday it may offer a free, advertising-supported version of   its basic word processing and spreadsheet software, in an   apparent bid to fend off a nascent challenge from Google Inc.   GOOG.O in the business software market.


Force phonecam voyeurs to flash, says PI

Barking, repressive, unworkable ideas are clearly catching


Rice's nomination comes at critical time

Former Denverite Condoleezza Rice has the right background to be the next US secretary of state, but her hardline views raise questions in some minds.


Kurt Warner will start Friday night, but both Giants quarterbacks will play on the starting offense, which is expected to play until the middle of the third quarter.


ISRAEL has denied as "outrageous" allegations that it planted a spy at the heart of the Pentagon to get information on Iranâs nuclear programme.


A movement is growing on college campuses to boycott Coca-Cola for alleged labor and environmental abuses


EBay partners with Chinese company to ov

EBay Inc. CEO Meg Whitman emphasized her commitment to the Chinese e-commerce market Tuesday, announcing a new Web site and joint venture with a Beijing-based Internet company.


Caymans, Jamaica survey hurricane's devastation

Cars floated in the streets and holes gaped where palm trees once stood in the Cayman Islands and in Jamaica residents surveyed damaged homes, blocked roads and flattened businesses.


Researchers at Kingâs College London claim that the curry-leaf tree, which is used in traditional Indian medicine and is found in many curry dishes, could aid people with diabetes.


The makers of White Noise are presently shooting a song on the movie's lead actress Koel Purie.


TiVo, Netflix to offer new movie download service

NEW YORK, October 1  - TiVo Inc (TIVO.NAS) and Netflix (NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service provider, have agreed to jointly develop a movie-on-demand service through the internet, likely to be launched in 2005.


As election officials met with political leaders, an aide said Benazir Bhutto had planned to give two U.S. lawmakers a report accusing the ruling regime of working to rig the vote.


Could you go a year without purchasing anything but necessities?


U.S. consumers turned more gloomy in  October, beset by soaring energy prices, relentless violence in  Iraq and the increasingly bitter end of the presidential  election campaign.


On Baseball: Making Commercials for Seats and for Love

Dane Cook is the ubiquitous star of the baseball commercials that have flooded television screens the past few months advertising the World Series.


Will Northern Virginia get last baseball laugh?

As Major League Baseball's deadline for funding a Washington stadium nears, the debate has gotten down and dirty. For months, Northern Virginia officials had been good sports about losing the Montreal Expos to the District of Columbia in September.


I Married a Republican: There, I Said It

How many bipartisan couples did I know? Absolutely none.


Oldest Living Man Dies Days Before Turning 114, 111-Year-Old Takes ...

Nov. 20, 2004 - The worldâs oldest living man, Fred Hale, Sr., died in his sleep Friday, while battling pneumonia. He would have celebrated his 114th birthday on Dec. 1. He drew national attention earlier


Britannia rules as baton again lets US down

SINCE the United States started taking part in the Olympic Games 4x100m relay in 1920, they have been disqualified three times and lost only once - to Canada in 1996.


Bristol-Myers CEO Dolan leaves under pressure

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Chief   Executive Peter Dolan stepped down on Tuesday under pressure   from a federal overseer, who called for Dolan's ouster after   looking into a failed deal to delay competition to the   drugmaker's top product.


Blog: Besides the June 29 release date, the iPhone commercials tell us more about the most highly anticipated cell phone of the year.


After Pushing Telework, GSA Tries to Lead Way

For several years, the General Services Administration has urged other federal agencies to set up telecommuting programs. Now, the GSA plans a big push on its home turf.


Q&A: Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer - Part Two

Many experts say Linux and open-source software is your biggest threat. But is your real competitor a desire for an alternative to Microsoft, rather than any particular product?


Sharon offers calm in absence of Palestinian attacks

Israeli PM says his country Israel will 'maintain calm' in absence of Palestinian militantsâ attacks. JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel would "maintain the calm" in the absence of attacks


Dreamworks Studios said on Thursday it had delayed the release of its highly anticipated animated movie 'Shrek 3' by six months as Hollywood frantically reshuffles its cartoon debuts.


DOT bans Vista, Office 2007, IE 7 upgrades, at least for now

The U.S. Department of Transportation has halted any upgrades to Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) "until further notice," according to a memo from  DOT CIO Daniel Mintz.


Scientists are developing an artificial vein for use in patients with circulation problems.


Ex-soap star Sean Kanan charged with DUI

Sean Kanan, who appeared in the daytime soap operas "General Hospital" and "The Bold and the Beautiful," has been charged with driving under the influence.


Yushchenko Supporters to Block Ukraine Govt Meeting

The winner of Ukraine's bitterly fought  presidential election called on supporters to block a cabinet  meeting on Wednesday after his opponent, Prime Minister Viktor  Yanukovich, refused to concede defeat.


InfoWorld - EBay has pulled all of its paid search ads from Google AdWords network in the U.S in an eyebrow-raising move likely to be interpreted in the industry as a sign of deteriorating relations between the two Internet giants.


Evidence unclear on treating veterans' stress

Many U.S. combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder but it is not at all clear which treatments work to help them, an Institute of Medicine panel said on Thursday.


Lenovo to pay US$1.75b to buy IBM's PC operation

Lenovo, China's largest personal computer maker, will pay US$1.75 billion (HK$13.65 billion) in cash, stock and assumed debt for IBM's struggling PC operations in a move that will make it the world's third-biggest PC manufacturer and fulfil its long-held


Steam Erupts from Northwestern US Volcano

Mount Saint Helens in Washington state released thick plumes of steam and gray ash Friday, following warnings from scientists that an eruption could be coming.


A string of government reports yesterday offered a mixed picture of the US economy. Worker productivity grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the


Sekondi, 22:39 - CALCIO, COPPA D'AFRICA: MALI-BENIN 1-0

Il Mali ha battuto il Benin 1-0 in un incontro valido per la prima giornata del Gruppo B della Coppa...


MUNCIE, Ind. -- Officials announced an agreement Friday to build a manufacturing plant in Muncie that will create 420 jobs. Magna Drivetrain of America, Inc.


The mother of a 15-year-old shot dead in Manchester urges anyone who knows who killed him to come forward.


Caroline Williams scored 17 points, and Dee Davis added seven points and 10 assists to help No. 14 Vanderbilt defeat Florida Atlantic 81-49 on Friday.


Myanmar crowds taunt troops as crackdown draws outrage

Crowds taunted soldiers and police who barricaded central Yangon on Friday to prevent more mass protests against Myanmar's 45 years of military rule and deepening economic hardship.


Powell Says Iraqi Insurgency Getting Worse

US Secretary of State Colin Powell says that the insurgency in Iraq is getting worse. With violence continuing in several Iraqi provinces, Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on several television networks


Per rilanciarsi nel futuro malgrado mancanza fondatore


Sainsbury's is to buy family owned supermarket firm Curley's in a multi-million pound deal.


Intel, Asustek announce plans for low-cost laptop

SAN FRANCISCO/TAIPEI  - Intel Corp.  has  detailed plans to team up with Asustek Computer Inc. ,  the world's largest maker of computer motherboards, to make a  notebook PC that would cost as little as $200 and be aimed at  mass markets in developing countries.


NBA stars help rebuilding effort after Katrina disaster

LeBron James and his fellow National Basketball Association stars helped needy families rebuild homes, schools and lives Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's devastation.


Pastor Finds Metaphors in Sermons, Paintings

By Joe Orso, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.  Mar. 3--On Wednesday night, Pastor Steve Meyer painted his sermon.   Standing at the front of a room in the Seven Bridges Bank Building on Hwy. 35, he dipped his brush in green paint.


La rivelazione al festival del cinema di Taormina


HernÃ¡ndez Continues to Pitch Like the Ace of Pinstripes

A home run by Rafael Palmeiro was the only blemish on Orlando HernÃ¡ndez's seven innings. He gave up four other hits, two walks and struck out four.


German union seeks public scolding of author Peters by leadership

The labor union representing some 15,000 German workers employed by the U.S. Army has called for a public denouncement of Ralph Peters by top U.S. military and German leaders.


Governo, incarico a Marini ma è muro contro muro

Il presidente del Senato riceve l'incarico per un governo istituzionale. Casini e Berlusconi: 'C'è solo il voto'. Baccini e Tabacci lasciano l'Udc. La lega minaccia il ritiro dei parlamentari


Top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia  vowed on Sunday to maintain a cushion of spare supplies of up  to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) to meet future demand  growth.


Wall Street Beat: Vendor creativity rewarded

(InfoWorld) - Global IT expansion this year is expected to be modest, but vendors that demonstrate nimbleness and creativity are being rewarded. Market indices have declined as traders brace for a slowdown after corporate share prices rose steadily over the past seven months. But IT investors are still jumping on the bandwagon for companies that are seen making wise investments and restructuring decisions. Traders applauded EMC's decision, announced Wednesday,Â to offer 10 percent of its VMware virtualization software subsidiary in an IPO. Despite a general market downturn Thursday due to concerns over the U.S. housing market, EMC shares were trading at $14.58 Thursday afternoon, up by $0.99. The spin-off lets the public inject cash into a part of the company offering trendy virtualization technology while allowing users and investors to more easily analyze the core traditional storage business, which many analysts feel is undervalued. Hewlett-Packard shares also remained high this week in the wake of its Monday announcement thatÂ it will buy business transactions monitoring software supplier Bristol TechnologyÂ for an undisclosed amount. HP said Bristol will help strengthen its business technology optimization product offerings. Cisco Systems shares jumped Wednesday,Â after it issued its earnings report Tuesday, and stayed high. Cisco is doing well in several key areas. Beating analyst forecasts for sales last quarter, Cisco reported that revenue increased more than 27 percent to $8.4 billion and profit grew 39.7 percent to $1.9 billion, compared to the year-earlier quarter. Key to company growth were storage products and developing markets -- precisely what market observers are looking for. Brokerage Robert W. Baird & Co. upgraded Cisco to "outperform" from "neutral." User demand for security, storage, wireless devices, and server optimization technology remains high, analysts say. Small businesses and developing economies are forecast to be the main drivers of growth. "The opportunity to provide SMBs with advanced technology will continue to grow significantly throughout the world in 2007," according to the report, from Ray Boggs, vice president for Small/Medium Business and Home Office research at IDC. Companies positioning to capitalize on trends are even, sometimes, forgiven losses. Even though ISP EarthLink Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $24.8 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $29.2 million, it got kudos for making efforts to target growth opportunities. "The industry is shifting, and it is focusing on new opportunities like broadband, wireless Internet and Internet telephony in a variety of marketplaces around the USA, " said telecom analyst Jeff Kagan. EarthLink's loss was mainly attributed to its investment in Helio, the company's wireless joint venture with South Korea's SK Telecom. Despite the loss, Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto upgraded the stock to "neutral" from "sell." "We believe the flexibility of the company to cut these investments or restructure via a leveraged buyout, management buyout or recapitalization limits the downside," Noto wrote in a research note. Â


Taliban says it shot down U.S. civilian chopper

The Taliban said on Sunday it had shot down a U.S. civilian helicopter chartered by NATO that crashed in bad weather in southern Afghanistan.


EnterpriseWizard releases customizable CRM

EnterpriseWizard this week is releasing the 2.0 version of its CRM application, a product built on top of its SaaSWizard Web application development platform and designed to be easily customizable.EnterpriseWizard 2.0 employs templates and drag-and-drop style customization of tables and fields through a browser-based interface. Users can also define business rules, sketch out workflows, and generate reports. Other new features include an improved search engine and the ability to automatically transmit information from a client computer when a trouble ticket is sent out.The SaaSWizard platform represents "man-centuries of development," rather than the man-hours usually used as a measure, according to CEO Colin Earl. But EnterpriseWizard is not alone in offering end users the ability to change its application. SAP's recently unveiled CRM 2007 product features an Web 2.0-style interface that users can manipulate to their liking.A difference lies in EnterpriseWizard's underlying business model. Earl said his company is looking to partner with systems integrators and value-added resellers. The company hopes they will use the core SaaSWizard platform to create and sell customized applications -- both CRM (customer relationship management) and other types -- to customers in vertical industries."Our vision is not to build these products ourselves," he said.Many on-demand software companies have the wrong idea, he argued. "What I see happening in the market is the SaaS vendors have a direct sales model, and they are effectively trying to take the whole pie for themselves. I think this is a strategic mistake," he said.While the J2EE-based product is available on-demand, it is also possible to deploy it on an internal server, a fact that drew a nod from one close observer of the CRM scene."Generally, the fact they offer both on-premise and SaaS is great -- we feel customers like the choice of being able to move seamlessly between the two environments, assuming the two products are functionally the same," China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group, said via e-mail."It's impressive they've retained high-end customers over years such as Chevron and have a bit under 400 customers in total," she added. "If they do want to garner more attention amid the plethora of their competition, we'd expect them to seek some VC funding, also advice from VCs as to how to best grow their business."The company has about 40 employees and financially is "very healthy" these days, according to Earl, though he acknowledges that the years spent developing SaaSWizard were "pretty lean."EnterpriseWizard costs $65 per staff user per month for the hosted product, and $950 per staff user if it is purchased outright on Linux, with unlimited end-user access, according to a spokesman. The company also offers the software for purchase on Windows or Solaris for about $1,150 per staff user.End users have limited capabilities, including the ability to submit and update their own records, whereas staff users -- such as sales representatives -- have a more sophisticated interface and can gain the ability to change records from other users, the spokesman said.


Palermo, 17:02 - CALCIO, PALERMO; FOSCHI: LUCARELLI NON ARRIVERA'

Il ds del Palermo Foschi già pianifica la prossima stagione. In particolare conferma la parte...


No. 6 West Virginia 31, No. 25 Rutgers 3: West Virginia Outrushes, Outpasses and Outplays Rutgers

West Virginia quarterback Pat White ran for 156 yards, and he threw for 144 to single-handedly generate almost as much offense as the entire Rutgers team on Saturday.


Conservatives will form next government: poll

The main opposition Conservative Party has opened an 11-point lead over the governing Labour Party, enough for a 100-seat majority in parliament, an opinion poll has suggested Tuesday.


Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care.


As explorers investigated the world in centuries past they began pondering a puzzle called the "latitudinal diversity gradient." That's science talk for: The farther you go from the tropics, the fewer different kinds of plants and animals there are.


Alou prepared to move on after 4 seasons

Felipe Alou all but confirmed Saturday he will not return to manage the San Francisco Giants for a fifth season in 2007.


FDA warns against naproxen on increased cardiovascular risks

NEW YORK, December 21  - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned today against the long-term usage of another arthritis drug, naproxen, after studies revealed increased risks of cardiovascular events.


Forwards Pau Gasol and Stromile Swift have signed new contracts with the Memphis Grizzlies, the team announced Friday. Gasol, an all-star who got a multiyear deal, has averaged


Reuters Makes Bangalore Biggest Info Hub

Financial news and information provider Reuters Group Plc said on Thursday it plans to make Bangalore its biggest information-gathering hub, employing up to 1,500 people, or 10 percent of its total workforce.


Microsoft on Monday released its promised desktop search application, focusing on adding local e-mail and file search into MSN's browser toolbar, Outlook and the Windows operating system.


By BRIAN BERGSTEIN  Hewlett-Packard Co. may be the world's largest technology company, but the superlative that better suits it these days is Provider of the World's Strangest Corporate Drama.


Confident Chelsea promise better football to come

Chelsea's ambitious manager Jose Mourinho and his multi-million dollar side are promising better to come after setting one foot in the second round of the Champions League with two successive wins.


NEW YORK - Oil prices made an about face Friday, falling below $48 a barrel, as tensions between U.S. forces and rebel fighters in Iraq eased, raising hopes that attacks against the country's oil infrastructure would subside...


George Bush pointedly declined to support the United Nations secretary general yesterday after the head of a Senate committee investigating multibillion-dollar abuse of a


Nearly Pain-Free Surgery Becoming More Common

Doctors say patients timid about having surgeries for fear of pain shouldn't put it off: A new focus on patient comfort and advances in pain management are making many procedures nearly pain-free.


Spice Girls singer Melanie Brown was upset when a judge on US reality show called her a 'truck driver'.


The Battle for Wesnoth is a free, turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme. Fight a desperate battle to reclaim the throne of Wesnoth, or take hand in any number of other adventures.  www.wesnoth.org read more


Worries of violent showdown over Gaza pullout intensify

Jerusalem - As Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pressed ahead this week with his Gaza Strip evacuation plan, he grappled with a new obstacle to implementing the withdrawal: the specter of violent clashes mushrooming into a civil war.


The murder created a South African icon. On Sept. 12, 1998, a crowd of young men fatally beat Gugu Dlamini, 36, in her village in rural KwaZulu-Natal province after she revealed that she carried HIV.


Rare copy of proclamation ending slavery shown

A museum on Thursday unveiled a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, a document signed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln declaring the end of slavery in the United States.


EUROPA/ITALIA - LIEVITO a cura di Flaminia Morandi - I Papaboys tra riflessione e preghiera per portare nel mondo il Vangelo, lÂamore per il Papa e per la Chiesa Roma (Agenzia Fides) - In attesa della prossima uscita del nuovo sito web, i Papaboys vivono una pausa di riflessione e in preghiera. Spento il vecchio portale con la sua web tv e web radio, sospese le pubblicazioni del ÂquasiÂ mensile Mag@zine (10 n...


Recovered Mourning looking for buyout from Nets

Alonzo Mourning is back with the New Jersey Nets, but he would rather not stick around. The veteran center, who came out of retirement after a kidney transplant gave him a second chance on life, has asked


COMPTON, California  - Economic worries dominated the U.S. presidential campaign on Thursday, with White House hopefuls on both coasts touting plans to ease the pain of a recession while President George W. Bush prepared to announce his own fiscal package.


RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder adopted a resolution today saying the hostage seizure at a Russian school marked a new dimension of the threat posed to all humankind by ...


Dispose of Old Electronics on Recycling Day

By Valerie Rowell  Those looking to clear out some old electronics before spring hits are in luck.  Columbia County will offer another Electronics Recycling Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Evans Government Complex on Ronald Reagan Drive.


'Psychosocial Factors' double heart attack risk

A study conducted by 'Interheart' and published in The Lancet, has confirmed that stress increases the heart attack risk among people.


The PSNI appeals after being told to pay Â£45,000 to a photographer who suffered discrimination for marrying a Catholic.


Firenze, 17:55 - CALCIO, FIORENTINA; DAINELLI: MUTU MI RICORDA BAGGIO

Grazie Mutu. La Fiorentina si coccola il bomber romeno, decisivo sia in Coppa Uefa sia in campionato...


Arab League chief hopeful of progress in Lebanon

Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Thursday he was hopeful he could clinch a deal between rival Lebanese leaders to end a political crisis which has left the country with no president since November.


Briton among three foreigners snatched from Nigeria oil rig

Heavyily armed rebels seized a Briton, a Croat, a Russian and four Nigerians from an oil rig run after a three-hour gunbattle Sunday off southern Nigeria, industry and security sources said.


The state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control is renewing its investigation into whether restaurant workers knew Josh Hancock was drunk but continued to serve alcohol to the Cardinals pitcher before his fatal crash.


What do people power and alternative power have in common?


Boston's technology takes corporate, not consumer, tilt

If you want to know what it feels like to be a salmon struggling upstream, or a migratory bird flapping south in the face of a stiff headwind, just try starting a consumer technology business in Boston.


Crab Boat Sinks in Bering Sea; Six Aboard

A 92-foot crab boat with six crew members sank in the Bering Sea on Saturday, and the Coast Guard was searching for survivors. Three crewmen have been recovered, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said, but she would not say whether they survived.


US posts warning for Nordic, Baltic states

The US government has warned its citizens in Nordic and Baltic states of the threat of imminent terrorist attacks, the BBC said Monday.


King Abdullah of Jordan says it will be impossible to hold elections in Iraq in the current state of chaos there.


Lisbona, 11:33 - CALCIO, SCOLARI: NON HO COLPITO DRAGUTINOVIC, TUTTA COLPA MERK

Finale movimentato a Lisbona dopo Portogallo-Serbia, match delle qualificazioni a Euro 2008 finito 1...


A spokesman for Iraq's election commission yesterday rejected a suggestion from the Bush administration that it adjust the results of next month's vote


ConnettivitÃ  BlackBerry per il Nokia 9500 Communicator

Nokia ha espresso l'intenzione di dotare i propri prossimi smartphone basati sulla piattaforma operativa Symbian Serie 80, quali ad esempio 9500 Communicator el'ancora da annunciare ufficialmente 9300 Communicator, della soluzione BlackBerry Connect


A New Orleans jury handed Merck &  Co.  a victory Wednesday in the latest federal Vioxx  product liability trial, finding that the drugmaker adequately  warned of the heart risks associated with the medicine.


Arsenal return to the top of the Premier League after an easy win against dismal Newcastle.


Democratic spirit v. Bush family values: the Latino dilemma in US polls

Like most US Latinos, members of the extended Rodriguez family say they will cast their votes for Democrat John Kerry in next month's presidential polls.


Lebanon demands prisoner swap for Israeli soldiers

Lebanon said on Wednesday two Israeli   soldiers captured by Hizbollah would not be released unless   Israel was prepared to discuss a prisoner swap.


Family of Indian suspect in British bomb plot says he is innocent

The family of an Indian doctor arrested in connection with a British car bomb plot insisted he was innocent, saying he was flying home to see his infant daughter when he was held, the Times of India reported on Wednesday.


Abu Ghraib Abuse Ringleader Blames Superiors

FORT HOOD, Texas  - The U.S. military prison guard  convicted of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib said on  Saturday he complained repeatedly to superiors about the rough  treatment he was forced to mete out to prisoners.


A gas line exploded Monday in rural Kentucky, burning four houses and injuring nine people, including an off-duty state trooper who helped rescue a woman and child, officials said.


Australia is investigating reports that two of its citizens have been taken hostage by militants in Iraq.


Ora situazione piu' rilassata nella societa'


A greek demonstrator puts fire on a banner reading in Greek "Powell out", 27 August 2004 in front of the parliament, central of Athens.


Marsh & McLennan CEO Jeff Greenberg may soon be on his way out the door as head of the world's biggest - and most troubled - insurance broker.


South Korea Says Six Nations Can't Agree on Next Nuclear Talks

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon said the six nations involved in talks to reach an accord on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program cannot agree on when the next round of talks should take place.


Notre Dame Holds Off Rutgers to Match Its Best Big East Start

Tory Jackson had 17 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds as No. 20 Notre Dame held off host Rutgers, 71-68, on Sunday, handing the Scarlet Knights their sixth straight loss.


Afghan warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum escapes an apparent assassination attempt, say reports.


After four months in captivity in Gaza, BBC journalist Alan Johnston is back home in Scotland, thus ending what he calls "this strange, dark period" of his life.


German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called on the Paris Club of creditor nations Wednesday to suspend debt repayments from countries ravaged by this week's earthquake and tsunamis


UK MoD: O2 won't help employees serve in Iraq

O2: Of course we will, glad to The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has mounted a media campaign this week to shame major employers into signing its statement of support for military-reservist employees.â¦


ETA Seals Off Madrid with 5 Bombs, 2 Police Hurt

The Basque separatist group ETA set off  five bombs at petrol stations around Madrid on Friday in its  most serious attack in months, putting a stranglehold on the  capital at the start of a long holiday weekend.


Defending champion Arsenal moved five points clear in the English Premier League title race with a 3-1 beating of Aston Villa yesterday as Chelsea tumbled 1-0 at Manchester City.


Nine US Marines were killed and nine wounded west of Baghdad yesterday, the deadliest day for American forces in nearly six months.


Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim promises to invest more in Nicaragua after meeting left-wing President Daniel Ortega.


Palestinians Say Can't Arrest Americans' Killers

Palestinian security forces know who was  behind the killing of three Americans in Gaza nearly a year ago  but cannot act against the factions while fighting with Israel  continues, a top Palestinian security official said.


Smaller Protests Hit Streets of New York

A day after massive street demonstrations, smaller groups of protesters turned Monday to health care, civil rights and economics — areas where they say President Bush and the Republicans convening in Madison Square Garden have failed the country.


Philips warns that sales of its chips are stalling

AMSTERDAM Philips Electronics, Europe's third-largest maker of semiconductors, on Friday reduced its third-quarter chip sales forecast, saying demand is waning.


Patty Berg, the golf pioneer who won an LPGA Tour-record 15 major titles and was one of the 13 founding members of the tour in 1950, died Sunday. She was 88.


General Motors Corp said on Friday it is recalling 275,936 Cadillacs, Pontiacs and Saturms sold in the United States because of a fluid leak that could lead to loss of control of the vehicle.


Acer aces out Lenovo as world's third-largest PC maker

Blog: For the first quarter of 2007, Taiwan-based Acer has grabbed a larger market share than Lenovo, according to data collected by iSuppli.


Best Mate does enough to remain the punters' friend

Green was the colour as always here yesterday, as a thousand Barbour jackets mixed with a thousand more country tweeds, but for one afternoon at least claret and blue ran it a close second.


Shuttle Returns to Launchpad to Wait Out Ernesto

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug. 29 -- Five hours after the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis left its seaside launchpad to ride out expected high winds and rain from tropical storm Ernesto, NASA officials announced they were taking the shuttle back to the pad as the storm no longer posed a sufficient threat...


Police, Protection and Justice Key for N.Irish Talks

In 1973, Catholic guerrilla Gerry Kelly was part of a Northern Irish republican bombing team who attacked London's Old Bailey courthouse.


UAW says auto strike "remains a possibility"

The head of the United Auto Workers union on Monday said that a strike against the struggling U.S. auto industry remains a possibility should workers be unable to agree on terms with the three Detroit-based automakers in contract talks starting this week.


It's "Happening" for Deschanel in Shyamalan movie

Zooey Deschanel has  signed on to star opposite Mark Wahlberg in M. Night  Shyamalan's natural-disaster actioner "The Happening."


Students at one university are being assessed by their tutor using the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia.


N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell said he was willing to meet with Senator Arlen Specter to explain the destruction of tapes from the league's investigation of the New England Patriots.


Modena, 18:34 - CALCIO, MODENA: ALLA RIPRESA ASSENTE LAZZARI

Ripresa degli allenamenti per il Modena, con il tecnico Zoratto che ha fatto svolgere un lavoro atle...


Best Mate, winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup for the last three years, suffered a rare defeat when he was beaten by leading Irish chaser Beef Or Salmon at Leopardstown.


A Swedish quartet on Friday kicked off the 28th edition of Copenhagen's Jazz Festival which will fill the capital city's streets and squares, pubs and concert halls with swing, bebop, Brazilian and African rhythms and avant-garde tunes.


Pronti contro termine, tasso marginale al 3,55%


Comparing the Administration's war rationale to the facts on the ground


Fears growing for big drops in house prices

Further evidence that the housing market has run out of steam emerged yesterday as the Nationwide reported the first fall in prices for three years.


Workers at Ireland's state-owned airline, Aer Lingus, offered to bail out of their jobs Friday in exchange for a generous payoff.


Davenport Is Too Strong for Venus Williams

All the emotion Venus Williams crammed into staving off elimination against Lindsay Davenport at the U.S. Open saved the 25th edition of their rivalry from being a dud.


Military strike on Iran would be a 'mistake': EU's Solana

A shock military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would be a "mistake", the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a British television interview.


A Greek bus hostage siege ended in the early hours of this morning when all 23 passengers were safely freed and two Albanian gunmen who had demanded a $1 million ransom surrendered, a police spokesman said.


Correspondent Michael Weisskopf had his right hand blown off in Iraq. This is the story of how he rebuilt his life -- and what he learned from the soldiers who lost even more


Jill Cody used to feel guilty whenever she drove her car or flew on an airplane. She worried about pumping heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.


A group calling itself al-Qaida in Palestine posted a Web video Wednesday denouncing those who "work in the service of the Jews."


Electric stun guns are to be issued to police firearms officers across England and Wales following a successful trial, it was announced yesterday.


Robert Blake and his lawyer were not present, but the former "Baretta" star was on everyone's mind as prospective jurors were screened for a panel that will decide whether the actor murdered his wife.


Brazilian forwards Edu Schmidt and Ricardo Oliveira scored as Real Betis ended Barcelona's unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win Sunday.


French author Julien Gracq, one of the last links with the pre-World War II Surrealist movement, has died at the age of 97, his family said Sunday.


Explosives found in both crashed Russian jets

Explosives have been found in the second of two Russian jets which crashed simultaneously this week killing 90 people, investigators say, having already announced the same discovery in the first aircraft.


Zeffirelli to Become First Italian Knight

Franco Zeffirelli, the legendary filmmaker  who has directed greats like Elizabeth Taylor and Placido  Domingo, will be the first Italian to receive an honorary  knighthood from Britain Wednesday.


Brokaw Steps Down After 21 Years as NBC Anchor

Telling his audience "we've been  through a lot together," Tom Brokaw bid farewell as anchor of  the "NBC Nightly News" on Wednesday, becoming the first of the  big three stars of U.S. network news for the last 20 years to  retire.


Studios accuse Google of benefiting from piracy: WSJ

A group of major media companies has accused Google Inc. of benefiting from the sale of pirated movies and providing business support to two Web sites suspected of offering access to illegal film downloads, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday.


Sudanese children abducted for fighting and sex: U.N.

Children in Sudan, especially in the Darfur region, continue to be abducted for use in battle, forced labor or sexual exploitation, a U.N. human rights body said on Friday.


Dozens of women posed naked on their bicycles on a bridge over one of Amsterdam's historic canals Sunday — a unique sight even in a city famed for its relaxed attitude toward nudity and sex.


15th Anniversary: Gawker's Nick Denton on the State of Blogdom

Wired.com's Dylan Tweeney interviews prolific blogger Nick Denton -- now the proud owner of 14 weblogs -- for the 15th anniversary of Wired Magazine.


Determined to challenge President Bush, Senate Democrats are drafting legislation to limit the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq, effectively revoking the broad authority Congress granted in 2002, officials said Thursday.


The Houston Rockets didn't need Tracy McGrady Â or Yao Ming for that matter Â to handle the Minnesota Timberwolves. Luis Scola had 22 points and nine rebounds and rookie Carl Landry had 15 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs, as the Rockets beat Minnesota 113-82 on Friday night to win for the seventh time in the nine games McGrady has missed with a left knee injury.


Reports say talks with Irish duo have collapsed

LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Manchester United, the most well-known soccer club in the world, is expected Friday to make a statement on the status of its takeover approach, the BBC reported, as speculation grows that Malcolm Glazer's talks with its largest


HP LoadRunner Software - Tips and Tricks for Configuration, Scripting, and Execution

(Source: HP)  This white paper provides tips and tricks for HP LoadRunner software configuration, scripting, and execution. This guide is intended to help testers just learning to use LoadRunner, as well as to provide new best practices for those who have used LoadRunner for many years.


Wisconsin's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Are Rising at a Rate Far Faster Than the Rest of the Nation's

By THOMAS CONTENT and LEE BERGQUIST Wisconsin generates greenhouse gases linked to global warming at a rate that is about one-third faster than the national average, a Journal Sentinel analysis found.


Union wants personal attention from Dems

A top union leader says it's time for Democratic presidential candidates to get up close and personal with union members. In 2004, Democratic presidential hopefuls seeking the endorsement of the nation's fastest growing labor union faced the "hang test" — before delivering their stump speeches, they had to hang out with 25 union members for an hour to show how well they could connect with real people.


An Iraqi boy stands near a huge crater in Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City, 07 September 2004. Iraq was steeped in blood as a fledgling truce in a Baghdad rebel bastion of Sadr City was shattered by fresh


Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's party told President Boris Tadic on Sunday to keep out of foreign policy, as a split in their coalition deepened over whether Serbia's future lies with the West or with Moscow.


Giants hold off Bills to clinch playoffs

The New York Giants clinched a playoff berth Sunday, overcoming a Bills team inspired by Kevin Everett's return to the field where he was injured.


Here's another good reason to finish your holiday shopping early: The US dollar reached a new all-time low against the euro Friday for the fourth straight day, raising the strong possibility that US consumers will pay much more for imported goods as the


New Orleans Hornets Dan Dickau (2) drives past Golden State Warriors Speedy Claxton (10) in the second half in New Orleans Wednesday night, Dec. 15, 2004.


As in most TV seasons, the networks' 2004 fall feast was served and largely rejected by viewers. Now the networks are hastily laying out the next course. What's on the menu?


Survivors risk water-borne diseases in the aftermath of the sea surges that struck across south and east Asia, aid groups say.


World Business Briefing: China: Lenovo Profit Surges

The Lenovo Group, the personal computer maker, said its profit rose more than 600 percent in its latest fiscal year as it increased sales and restructured after its acquisition of I.B.M.âs PC unit. Profits were $161 million for the year, up from $22 million in the prior year. The Americas operations returned to profitability in the fourth quarter, meaning that all the global regions were profitable for the first time, the chief executive, William J. Amelio, said. Sales for the year, which ended March 31, rose 9.9 percent, to $14.6 billion, helped by strong sales of laptop and desktop computers in its home China market, Lenovo said. The company said its worldwide market share rose 0.2 percentage points, to 7.4 percent.


Indonesia's former president Suharto dead: police

Indonesia's former president Suharto, who ruled with an iron fist for 32 years, died on Sunday, a senior police official told reporters at the hospital where he was being treated.


Rebels in Sri Lanka warn they may return to war if the government fails to resume peace talks on their terms.


`Ugly Betty' actress loves looking dowdy

Actresses often relish roles that allow them to look glamorous. America Ferrera, who plays dowdy assistant Betty Suarez in ABC's "Ugly Betty," isn't one of them.


American Champion Tim Mack Wins Pole Vault Gold

American champion Tim Mack won the  Olympic pole vault title on Friday with a Games record 5.95  meters after an engrossing duel with teammate Toby Stevenson.


KELLERMAN: October's a busy sports month

There's baseball's postseason, basketball's preseason, boxing's never-ending season, and the NFL in full swing. Every fourth year, there's a presidential race coming down the homestretch too.


Man Utd's Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira of Arsenal face a battle to be fit for Sunday.


Mitt Romney's economic record questioned

JACKSONVILLE, Florida  - Republican Mitt Romney is touting his revival of the Massachusetts' economy in a pitch to voters in Florida, a state that could make or break his White House bid, but some experts dispute that record.


EDITORIAL: Farm Bill Big Business for Washington State

By Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.  Feb. 18--A proposed federal farm bill could see some local farmers losing their subsidies and others gaining much needed dollars for research, development and marketing.


Four men are questioned over the armed robbery of two elderly brothers at their County Down home.


Palestinians under Arab pressure to meet demands

Jordan's King Abdullah said in an interview broadcast on Saturday there was broad Arab agreement that a Palestinian unity government must adhere to the demands of the Quartet of Middle East mediators.


With "The Sopranos" over, Edie Falco is going for laughs on NBC's "30 Rock."


Washington Post Profit Up on Education,TV

Washington Post Co. WPO.N said on  Friday that quarterly profit jumped, beating analysts'  forecasts, boosted by results at its Kaplan education unit and  television broadcasting operations.


Kyiv City State Administration Officially Claims It Does Not Raise 'Terrorists' to Disrupt Election

According to the statement of the KCSA press-service, obtained by UNIAN, L.Kyrychenko, a member of the pro-Yanukovych faction of 'Regions of Ukraine', claimed yesterday in the parliament that Kyiv guard firms ...


Qantas said Thursday that British Airways has sold its 18.25 percent stake in the Australian carrier at 3.28 Australian dollars (US$2.


Spain's prime minister condemned an initiative by Basque lawmakers to make their region virtually independent, deriding it Monday as secessionist, unconstitutional and anomalous in a Europe seeking to become more united.


The stylish iPod helps Apple continue its rule-breaking ways.


Hospitals must join fight against domestic violence

Fifteen years ago, our nation was shocked by Marc Lepine's rage against women. Today, the anniversary of the day he shot and killed 14 female engineering students in Montreal, Canadians pause to reflect on the tragedy of violence against women.


Virginia tries three different quarterbacks and all of them fail to get going as the Cavaliers suffer an upset 17-10 loss at the hands of Western Michigan.


LOS ANGELES  - Eliza Dushku has signed a development deal with Fox Broadcasting Co., which aired her short-lived supernatural drama "Tru Calling."


[New York | Reuters News Service, 4 November 2004] - Time Warner yesterday posted an 8% drop in quarterly net profit as it set up a $500 million legal reserve related to accounting probes at its America Online division and said it will restate results


Milano, 12:27 - CALCIO, COBOLLI GIGLI: FUTURO BUFFON ALLA JUVE

Nessuna apertura al Milan. Il futuro di Buffon sarà ancora in maglia Juve. Almeno a sentire l...


HAMAS has won significant victories in local elections in the West Bank, the first to have been contested by the Islamic militant movement that is sworn to see Israelâs destruction.


British forces face 'extraordinarily intense' fighting in Afghanistan

British forces in Afghanistan are attacked up to a dozen times a day and are involved in "extraordinarily intense" fighting in the country, the senior British commander there said.


U.S. army officer in Iraq accused of aiding al Qaeda

A senior U.S. army officer in Iraq faced court martial accusations on Friday of aiding al Qaeda and illegally possessing secret documents that could have been used "to the injury of the United States".


A judge has denied a motion for a delay in the child abuse case against Michael Jackson, clearing the way for the trialâs January 31 start.


Rangers about to see best of Cousin, says manager

Rangers manager Walter Smith believes Ibrox fans are about to see the best of Daniel Cousin after the striker scored in the 3-1 win over Motherwell on Wednesday.


New polls show presidential race tightening

WASHINGTON : Fresh polls showed the bitter and volatile presidential race between George W. Bush and John Kerry back to a dead heat as the two candidates stepped up their war of words over Iraq.


Il gruppo di amici tornavano da una serata trascorsa in pizzeriaRimasto miracolosamente illeso il quarto passeggero a bordo della Audi A4                                            Bari, auto contro palo Muoiono tre giovani


It's high season for toymakers, and the scramble is on to make sure the 'Made in China' label doesn't send parents running


Georgia School Melds a World of Differences

At an unusual school outside Atlanta, more than half the 380 students are refugees from some 40 countries.


A luglio -6mila dipendenti, salgono le retribuzioni +5,8%


Swiss MPs are to debate whether to end the practice of making soldiers keep their guns and ammunition at home.


Earlier blooms. Less snow to shovel. Unseasonable warm spells. Signs that winters in the Northeast are losing their bite have been abundant in recent years and now researchers have nailed down numbers to show just how big the changes have been.


Saudi Arabia to raise production capacity

Saudi Arabia is raising its oil production capacity in an effort to cool the red-hot crude futures market. The world's largest oil exporter says it will raise capacity from 9.5 million barrels a day to 11 million barrels.


LEXINGTON, Ky. Nov 22, 2004 - Kentucky offensive coordinator Ron Hudson resigned Monday after directing one of the worst offenses in college football this season.


Study: Smuggling of Tiger Skins Rife and Growing

The illicit trade in tiger and leopard skins has reached alarming proportions, posing a serious threat to the survival of the big cats, a conservation group said Wednesday.


Phil Jackson is fined $25,000 by the NBA Wednesday for criticizing referees Friday night after the Lakers' 114-108 loss to the Jazz.


Deteriorating Arafat near death in hospital

Ramallah, West Bank -- Apprehension settled over the Middle East Thursday night as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat lay near death in a Paris hospital, and Israelis and Palestinians braced themselves for a new era in the region's long and turbulent history


First time buyers will be offered new help to afford a plan under plans being unveiled by John Prescott.


Total domination of a race by one driver - inevitably Michael Schumacher - does not mean that it was a bad race. Far from it. Races happen all the way through the field and keep those of us who visit the circuits amused.


People need to be encouraged to offset carbon emissions despite recent criticism of some schemes, say MPs.


Building Organs Even the Prudish Can Handle

Dr. Carla Pugh builds anatomical models to help medical students learn to perform exams that might make them uncomfortable.