US Treasury report finds no forex manipulation None of the United States #39; major trading partners manipulated their currencies to gain economic advantage in the first half of 2004, the US Treasury Department said in a report released on Friday.


Kildow Continues US Domination in Downhill Skiing Lindsey Kildow of the United States won a women #39;s downhill Friday to celebrate the first World Cup victory of her career. With compatriots Bode Miller and


Flaherty agrees to stay with Yankees Backup catcher John Flaherty decided to stay with the New York Yankees, agreeing Friday to an \$800,000, one-year contract. Flaherty, 37, hit .252 in 127 at-bats but was the key to several New York wins, hitting six homers and driving in 16 runs.


Treasury Report Finds No Manipulation  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - None of the United States' major  trading partners manipulated their currencies to gain economic  advantage in the first half of 2004, the U.S. Treasury  Department said in a report released on Friday.


IBM in talks to sell its PC business IBM is in talks to sell its personal computer manufacturing business which, if successful, would mark the end of an era in the brief history of the PC, a machine the company helped to invent.


Office Depot Aims for Business Customers  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retailer Office Depot Inc. ODP.N is  making over its brand, appealing to small business customers  who still find it hard to distinguish its staples from those of  its biggest rival.


US Study Says Sage Grouse Not Endangered The US Fish and Wildlife Service said on Friday its senior biologists have recommended that the greater sage grouse not be listed as an endangered species, a finding for


Rothschild Buys Stake in Liberation Paper When the leading left-wing tabloid sells a sizable stake to a Rothschild heir, you know things are getting desperate for France #39;s newspaper industry.


Mervyn #39;s Welcomes Back Salvation Army Bell Ringers Mervyns announced Thursday it is lifting its ban on Salvation Army bell ringers and is making an exception to its no solicitation policy for the Armys annual Christmas Kettle Drive.


McDonald #39;s CEOs display pattern of chronic disease Embattled McDonald #39;s has lost its second CEO in the past year after Charlie Bell resigned today to continue his battle with cancer.


Wal-Mart Brightens Dec. Sales Forecast  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT.N, the  world's biggest retailer, on Monday brightened its outlook for  December sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, now  expecting sales to increase 3 percent.


Lycos Europe Appears To Have Canned Its Spam War Earlier this week, the online community/portal company started distributing a screensaver that conducted the attacks by making requests from servers  quot;verified to be spam-advertising sites, quot; Lycos said.


Stocks Set to Start '05 on Upbeat Note  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures gained on Monday as  oil prices slid lower -- pointing to an upbeat start to 2005  when Wall Street opens.


Singulus to support Blu-ray Disc mass production DECEMBER 03, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - TOKYO -- Blu-ray Disc will take an important step forward next year when Singulus Technologies AG begins selling machines for mass producing read-only versions of the discs, the company said this week.


HP laughs off Tru64 promises, welcomes Veritas HP has given up on trying to bring key parts of Compaq/DEC #39;s Tru64 operating system over to HP-UX and decided instead to buy similar technology from Veritas.


Kazaa launches file-swap defence Lawyers for file-swapping software firm Kazaa have begun their defence in a landmark Australian music piracy case. Kazaa said its software, which allows users to exchange copyrighted music over


Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within is Now Available! Ubisoft has announced that Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within is now out for all platforms, including the Nintendo GameCube. Developed by Ubisofts Montreal studio, the same that brought you Prince of


From the sidelines SI.com spoke to Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim, who is in Seville, Spain, covering the Davis Cup final for the magazine.


Reports say Meyer is gone Amid widespread media reports that he has accepted the job as head football coach at the University of Florida, Utah #39;s Urban Meyer was at his home Friday afternoon in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City.


John Flaherty is a career .255 hitter with 78 homers and 384 RBIs. <b>...</b> NEW YORK -- The Yankees made their first player signing of the 2004-05 offseason on Friday, inking backup catcher John Flaherty to a one-year contract.


Egypt, Israel Work to Resolve Dispute (AP) AP - In the latest sign of improving ties, Egypt and Israel moved closer to resolving a simmering dispute Friday, a day after President Hosni Mubarak called Israel's prime minister the best chance for Mideast peace.


A sovereign Quebec would help trade between Quebec and northeast: Duceppe (Canadian Press) Canadian Press - (CP) - Trade between Quebec and the northeastern United States is a natural and a sovereign Quebec would help make it easier, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said Friday.


Danforth's moderate leanings tested in politics and at UN (AFP) AFP - John Danforth, who has resigned as US ambassador to the United Nations, is a respected moderate within the Republican establishment and an ordained Episcopal priest sometimes nicknamed "Saint Jack."


Kiev Parties as Court Orders Re-Run of Rigged Poll  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine begins preparing on Saturday for a  new election after its highest court annulled a rigged poll,  breaking a political deadlock and triggering a night of  ecstatic street celebrations in Kiev.


Powell Says U.S. Can't Hunt Iran Nukes in Caves  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said  on Friday that Washington had no way to force Iran to allow  U.N. inspectors unrestricted access to suspected nuclear sites  despite U.S. doubts Tehran would come clean on its own.


Wal-Mart Brightens Dec. Sales Forecast (Reuters) Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the\world's biggest retailer, on Monday brightened its outlook for\December sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, now\expecting sales to increase 3 percent.


Hornets, Mavericks Swap Armstrong, Dickau (AP) AP - The New Orleans Hornets traded veteran guard Darrell Armstrong to the Dallas Mavericks for third-year player Dan Dickau on Friday.


Monaco record first Ligue 1 win in nine games Two first half goals within two minutes gave Monaco a 2-0 win over Stade Rennes on Friday, ending a series of eight Ligue 1 games without a win.


Abbas making progress on a truce TEL AVIV Mahmoud Abbas, the new leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the man expected to be elected president of the Palestinian Authority, has been making progress in persuading radical groups like Hamas to hold their fire against Israeli


DRC FORCES ALERT AS CIVILIANS FLEE The Democratic Republic of Congo has placed it troops on alert and is deploying soldiers to the east of the country, after reports that Rwandan troops have infiltrated the area.


November Job Growth Unexpectedly Weak  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy created only  112,000 new jobs in November, the government said on Friday,  about a third of October's total and weak enough to deepen a  shadow of uncertainty hanging over the holiday sales season.


IBM Reported to Put Its PC Business Up for Sale IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is reportedly in talks to sell its personal computer business in a deal that could be worth up to \$2 billion and would cap a


Oil prices fall 14 per cent in a week NEW YORK - Crude oil futures fell for a fourth day Friday, settling below \$43 a barrel for the first time since August and extending the week #39;s decline in oil prices to 14 per cent.


Salvation Army using cardboard bell-ringers to stoke donations BIRMINGHAM, Ala. That smiling Salvation Army bell-ringer may look a little frozen in place this holiday season, but it #39;s not because of the cold weather.


Fidelity still fighting independent chair rule Fidelity Investments hasn #39;t given up its opposition to a rule that requires the boards of mutual funds to have an independent chair, and the senior US senator from New Hampshire is backing that effort.


Moody #39;s revises FedEx outlook to stable from negative Moody #39;s Investors Service on Friday revised its outlook on FedEx Corp. (FDX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to stable from negative, citing expected improvements in FedEx #39;s profits


Forbes Removes Ad-Sponsored Links on Site (AP) AP - Forbes magazine is removing paid advertising links from stories that appear on its Web site, abandoning an experiment it began in August.


Microsoft Sues over Lewd Spam In seven newly filed lawsuits, Microsoft alleges the purveyors of unsolicited obscene e-mail messages violated federal restrictions.


Napster #39;s Fanning Back in the P2P Game The idea behind Snocap, Napster creator Shawn Fanning #39;s new endeavor, is to give rights holders the level of comfort they need to make their content available on P2P networks.


MS Rolls Out Second Interim Beta of SQL Server 2005 Microsoft Corp. on Friday released its second Community Technology Preview of SQL Server 2005 and rolled out a new, free tool to manage SQL Server 2000 and MSDE (Microsoft Desktop Engine) 2000.


PlayStation 3 chip goes easy on developers com December 3, 2004, 3:26 PM PT. SAN FRANCISCO--The  quot;Cell quot; processor that will power the next version of the PlayStation game console will also be adaptable for advanced scientific


Sun submits mystery license to open source group A Sun engineer chartered with directing the engineering effort to open source Solaris has published a new software license that could be used for the open-source release of Sun #39;s Unix operating system.


Lycos Europe Ends Spam-Fighting Campaign (AP) AP - The Web portal Lycos Europe on Friday terminated a spam-fighting campaign that had been criticized as a breach of Internet civility.


Jones to sue Conte over doping claims US sprint queen Marion Jones says she will sue accused steroid peddler Victor Conte over his allegations that she received banned drugs before winning five medals at the Sydney Olympics.


Holtz Introduced As East Carolina Coach GREENVILLE, NC Dec 3, 2004 - East Carolina introduced former South Carolina assistant Skip Holtz as its head football coach on Friday, welcoming him as the man to lead the program  quot;into a new era.


EBay Adds 'Want It Now' Feature (Reuters) Reuters - EBay Inc.  has added a\new "Want it Now" feature for people to request exactly what\they want on the online marketplace, a spokesman said on\Friday.


IBM Reported to Put Its PC Business Up for Sale (Reuters) Reuters - IBM  is reportedly in\talks to sell its personal computer business in a deal that\could be worth up to  #36;2 billion and would cap a gradual\withdrawal from the business it helped to pioneer in 1981.


Kabila sends 10,000 troops to border KINSHASA, Friday - The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursday began deploying troops to the east of the country amid reports that Rwandan forces were operating in the area and thousands of civilians were fleeing clashes.


Rescuers scramble to help survivors of Philippines floods; more than 650 killed (Canadian Press) Canadian Press - REAL, Philippines (AP) - Helicopters delivered food to famished survivors and picked up casualties as flash floods began to recede, revealing the magnitude of a disaster triggered by back-to-back storms that left more than 650 people dead and nearly 400 missing in the northern Philippines.


Report: IBM To Spin Off PC Unit (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - IBM (NYSE: IBM) is selling its PC business, marking the end of an era for the\personal computing pioneer, according to a story published today in the


Air India trial ends after 19 months, judge to decide verdict March 16, 2005 (Canadian Press) Canadian Press - VANCOUVER (CP) - The Air India bombing trial concluded Friday, leaving only a judge to decide the verdict of two men accused of plotting Canada's worst mass murder and one of the world's worst acts of terrorism.


Apple Shares Fall on Needham Downgrade (AP) AP - Apple Computer Inc. shares fell Friday after Needham  amp; Co. downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy."


How Global Warming Can Lead to a Big Chill (Reuters) Reuters - Global warming could lead to a big\chill in the North Atlantic, at least if history is anything to\go by, researchers reported on Friday.


Owners Approve Move Baseball's owners vote to approve the relocation of the Expos to Washington for the 2005 season despite a lone objection from Orioles owner Peter Angelos.


Lycos Fights Spam With DDOS Lycos Europe has recently joined the fight against spam by releasing a screensaver as part of its "Make Love Not Spam" campaign, which uses its participants machines to bombard websites that advertise through spam e-mails with data, effectively launching a distributed denial of service attack against them, with the intent being to push up bandwidth bills of the spammers who operate these websites.    Is this an effective new front in the battle against spam?


HP must open source Tru64 goodies - users Letters DEC/Compaq hands in pain


IBM Reported to Put Its PC Business Up for Sale  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - IBM IBM.N is reportedly in  talks to sell its personal computer business in a deal that  could be worth up to \$2 billion and would cap a gradual  withdrawal from the business it helped to pioneer in 1981.


EBay Adds 'Want It Now' Feature  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc. EBAY.O has added a  new "Want it Now" feature for people to request exactly what  they want on the online marketplace, a spokesman said on  Friday.


BellSouth Prepares Network Upgrade for Video  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BellSouth Corp. BLS.N, the No. 3  U.S. local telephone company, plans to upgrade its network to  offer video services and speedier Internet access to about 80  percent its customers by 2009, industry sources said.


Supreme Court to Decide Cable Internet Case  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on  Friday it would decide what regulations should apply to  high-speed broadband Internet service offered by cable  companies like Time Warner Inc., a key case that could decide  whether such lines must be opened to competitors.


Court Says Interior Dept. Web Site Can Stay Online The U.S. Interior Department can keep its computers connected to the Internet despite the fact that hackers could manipulate royalty payments owed to American Indians for use of their land, an appeals court ruled Friday.


IBM Putting PC Business Up for Sale International Business Machines Corp.'s possible exit from the personal computer business would be the latest move in what amounts to a long goodbye from a field it pioneered and revolutionized.


High Court To Decide if Rivals May Use Cable for Web Access The US Supreme Court said today it will hear argument on whether online cable access must allow rivals to use its equipment. The case could ultimately decide whether cable operators must allow use of their


White House: China Abides by Currency Law WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said Friday that neither China nor any other major trading partner of the United States is violating a US law against currency manipulation to gain unfair trade advantages.


Walgreen Quarterly Profit Rises (Reuters) Reuters - Walgreen Co. , one of the\largest U.S. drugstore chain operators, on Monday posted a 30.5\percent jump in quarterly profit, boosted by increased sales of\prescription drugs.


Former cybersecurity czar: Code-checking tools needed DECEMBER 03, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - WASHINGTON - Software vendors need automated tools that look for bugs in their code, but it may be a decade before many of those tools are mature and widely used, said the former director of cybersecurity for the US


McLeish #39;s confidence tempered by Boumsong interest SIMILAR to the actors role, the art of supreme defending is all about timing. The maxim will not be lost on Jean-Alain Boumsong, who is already guaranteed to secure the vote of player of the year from virtually every Rangers supporter.


Reports: Meyer accepts Florida job It looks like Florida is going to get its first choice this time. Turned down by Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan three years ago before


History says UT could pull upset Auburn will enter Saturdays SEC championship game as a heavy favorite over Tennessee, and for good reason. While Auburn dominated opponents on its way to the SEC West title, Tennessee looked more vulnerable


Eta explodes ceasefire hopes with five bombs in the Spanish <b>...</b> ETA, the Basque separatist organisation, detonated five small bombs in Madrid last night, signalling that, despite recent setbacks, it was not yet ready to renounce violence.


Q A: ISS exec on security threat prevention Tom Noonan, the CEO of Internet Security Systems, talked with Computerworld about why companies need to stop simply reacting to security threats and focus on preventing them as well.


Lack of tests could block virtualization Attendees at Gartner's annual data center conference said their packaged applications have to be tested on servers equipped with virtualization software before they can adopt the technology. But some vendors may not have the wherewithal to do the testing.


Intel to exceed previous Q4 expectations Intel officials said yesterday that the company's fourth-quarter revenue will total between \$9.3 billion and \$9.5 billion, pushed up by demand for its desktop, notebook and server processors.


HP drops plans to put Compaq technology into HP-UX Hewlett-Packard has dropped plans to add a number of technologies acquired in its purchase of Compaq Computer to its flagship HP-UX operating system, and will instead partner with Veritas Software on new file system and clustering capabilities.


IDC: IT spending to grow 6 in 2005 In its annual predictions for the upcoming year, IDC predicted that worldwide IT spending would grow 6.1 in 2005, a year that will be marked by "enormous turbulence" as well as significant consolidation and realignment in several key sectors.


Lycos pulls antispam screen saver from site Lycos Europe NV drew criticism from some members of the security community who said the company is engaging in vigilantism and crossing the line by launching what are essentially distributed DOS attacks on spammers' sites.


Q A: IBM security chief puts focus on compliance, cyberattacks Stuart McIrvine, IBM's new director of corporate security strategy, said he's working to better align the company's various IT security offerings to help users cope with regulatory compliance requirements, cyberattacks and other issues.


PLM vendors eye SMBs with alliances, tools A growing interest in product life-cycle management capabilities by small and midsize manufacturing companies is fueling vendor attempts to make PLM technologies easier to deploy and use.


Update: IBM's PC business reportedly for sale IBM is discussing selling its PC business to Lenovo Group Ltd., China's largest maker of personal computers, and at least one other potential buyer, according to The New York Times.


Apple releases December Security Update Apple yesterday released a 12.7MB security update that consists of several revised components including Apache, AppKit, HIToolbox, Kerberos, Postfix, PSNormalizer, Safari and Terminal.


Update: AOL to adapt WebEx services for AIM consumers America Online and WebEx Communications are evaluating ways to adapt some of the online meeting services they currently offer to business users of AOL's AIM instant messaging network to make these services appealing to AIM consumers.


Update: TheGlobe.com subsidiary guns for IM interoperability Voiceglo, a subsidiary of TheGlobe.com, has released a test version of an application designed to create interoperability among four major consumer instant message (IM) networks.


U.S. Supreme Court to review cable Internet case The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review an appeals court ruling that opens up cable networks to competing Internet service providers (ISPs).
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Sun submits mystery license to open source group A Sun Microsystems engineer chartered with directing the engineering effort to open source Solaris has published a new software license that could be used for the open-source release of Sun's Unix operating system. Though Sun is vague on details about the license, called the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL), it is incompatible with Linux's software license.


Bush signs Internet tax moratorium WASHINGTON - U.S. President George Bush on Friday signed into law a three-year moratorium on Internet access taxes.


Supreme Court To Hear Cable Modem Case It is unfair that DSL products deemed telecom services have been regulated much more tightly than the primary competition -- cable modems -- telcos have complained.


Dickau sent to New Orleans The Dallas Mavericks, seeking depth at point guard, will acquire veteran Darrell Armstrong from New Orleans in a trade for the inexperienced Dan Dickau, the Mavs announced Friday.


Selling Advertising on Your Website Selling Advertising on Your Website\\The number of sites on the Web today is almost infinite, with new ones popping up every day. There are multiple types of sites: portals, "brochureware," content sites, directories, search engines, and ecommerce sites, to name a few. Those that do not sell product or services ...


Getting Listed in Netscapes Open Directory Project Getting Listed in Netscape's Open Directory Project\\When you are deciding on the major search engine directories that you want your website to be listed in, you should not overlook one of the most important ones: the DMOZ (short form for Directory Mozilla). DMOZ is just another name for the Open ...


Napster Creator Unleashes New File Sharing Service Napster Creator Unleashes New File Sharing Service\


Blog Declared Word of the Year Blog Declared Word of the Year\\US Dictionary Merriam-Webster rsquo;s has announced that the word  #8220;blog #8221; is their word of the year in their annual pronouncement of the Top 10 words of 2004, which also bizarrely included the words cicada and defenestration. Webster rsquo;s defines a blog as  #8220;a Web site that contains ...


MSN Spaces Blog Service Review MSN Spaces Blog Service Review\\This review started nearly 10 hours ago when MSN Spaces first went live, and its taken this long to complete due to the continual downtime of the site. It was originally going to be longer and in more depth, but I rsquo;d didn rsquo;t have all day and ...


World of Warcraft Immerse yourself in the World of Warcraft, released simultaneously by Blizzard for both Mac and PC and get ready to play one of the years most anticipated games, released simultaneously for Mac and PC. Dec 03


.Mac Affiliate Program Partner with .Mac  #151; Apple #146;s suite of Internet essentials  #151; as a .Mac affiliate. More than half-a-million people use .Mac to make the Internet the ultimate experience. Learn how your customers can, too. Dec 03


Chancellor reveals pension rises Poorer pensioners will get an extra 4 a week from April - or 6.10 more for couples - according to figures in the Pre-Budget report.


Lycos Europe Pulls Spam-Fighting Screensaver Analysts say a new twist on the war against spammers in Europe isn #39;t likely to spill across Unites States borders, but is rather an opening salvo more likely to fizzle than to explode.


Universal on Board with Napster Founder #39;s New Venture Shawn Fanning #39;s latest peer-to-peer (P2P) venture, Snocap, may have a long way to go to prove its success in the current online music landscape.


Blog Declared Word of the Year US Dictionary Merriam-Websters has announced that the word blog is their word of the year in their annual pronouncement of the Top 10 words of 2004, which also bizarrely included the words cicada and defenestration.


Bonds Could Have Unknowingly Taken Steroids Barry Bonds took creams and oils that could have contained steroids, but did so unknowingly out of blind faith in his trainer and best friend, the baseball player #39;s lawyer said on Friday.


Villeneuve the fastest in test session LONDON: Canadian Jacques Villeneuve set the pace for Sauber while Germanys Nick Heidfeld did his best to impress Williams in a wet and windy Formula One test session at Jerez on Thursday.


Olazabal in hunt for US invitation Jose Maria Olazabal has revealed that his participation on next year #39;s regular US Tour now hinges on receiving sponsors invitations.


No Kidd-ing, Jason Back? com. Two Eastern Conference Championship banners hung by the rafters with care in hopes that Jason Kidd soon would be there. Nets fans have been singing this twist on the old holiday


Series of small explosions shake Madrid The explosions hit five gas stations simultaneously, after a telephone warning from the armed Basque separatist group ETA. Two police officers were slightly wounded by one of the bombs.


Scramble to Reach Philippine Survivors MANILA, 4 December 2004 - With floods receding, rescuers raced to deliver food to famished survivors in northeastern Philippine villages isolated by back-to-back storms that left more than 650 people dead and almost 400 missing.


Reporter finds poor security at Heathrow Sky News reports its undercover look at security shortcomings at London #39;s Heathrow Airport has sparked a government investigation.


Oil prices continue pullback New York - Oil prices continued to plummet on Thursday, falling almost five per cent to hit a 12-week low. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the January contract for light sweet crude was down \$2.24 US


Employers Add 112,000 New Jobs in Nov. Employers slowed their hiring as they headed into the holiday shopping season, adding just 112,000 new jobs in November for the weakest gain in five months.


Forecast for next year: fewer nasty hurricanes Storm weary residents of Florida and the rest of the Southeast can take a little consolation from the first forecast of tropical weather for next year.


Microsoft rolls out blogging service Microsoft #39;s entry into the blogging realm with MSN Spaces will cause an exponential growth in popularity for the Web-based communications technology.


International track body meets to choose 2009 World Championships <b>...</b> The International Association of Athletics Federations will select the venue of the 2009 world track and field championships from three bidding European cities during its two-day meeting this weekend.


Hornets trade Armstrong for Dallas #39; Dickau Hornets general manager Allen Bristow said the move would allow the Hornets, off to a 1-13 start, to give more playing time to new, younger guards Junior Harrington and Alex Garcia.


American Lindsey Kildow wins first downhill, Turgeon top Canadian <b>...</b> LAKE LOUISE, Alta. (CP) - Lindsey Kildow of Vail, Colo., won her first World Cup downhill race Friday, continuing the American domination of the early part of the ski season.


Former rebel leader elected Kosovo prime minister The Kosovo parliament on Friday elected former rebel leader Ramush Haradinaj, an ethnic Albanian, as prime minister of the UN-controlled southern Serbian province.


Hamas May Accept Statehood in West Bank (AP) AP - The militant group Hamas will accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a long-term truce with Israel, a leader said Friday, apparently softening Hamas' hardline stance and boosting hopes for renewed peace efforts after Yasser Arafat's death.


Supreme Court to Hear ISP, Cable Dispute (AP) AP - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether cable companies must open their high-speed lines to rival Internet providers.


134 Nations Drop Death Penalty; 62 Still Have It  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A total of 134 countries have  given up capital punishment, 10 more than had done so at the  start of 2003, a campaigner against capital punishment reported  on Friday.


Wal-Mart, fending off rivals, slashes prices on 24 items Bruised by aggressive promotional pricing by competitors over the Thanksgiving weekend, Wal-Mart on Thursday announced a counterattack.


Microsoft Bends On NT Support Faced with continued customer foot-dragging on license renewals and deployment, Microsoft said Friday has decided to offer  quot;custom quot; Windows NT 4.0 support contracts to enterprises that still haven #39;t migrated to later versions of the network operating


Hornets trade Armstrong to Mavericks for Dickau (AFP) AFP - The New Orleans Hornets, who have the worst record in the National Basketball Association, looked to the future as they traded Darell Armstrong to Dallas for Dan Dickau, the Mavericks said.


Drugs in sport: Jones denies fresh Conte claims over injecting <b>...</b> Marion Jones denied the allegations that emerged yesterday from Victor Conte, the man at the centre of the Balco doping scandal, who claimed that he had witnessed her injecting performance-enhancing drugs he supplied.


Bonds Could Have Unknowingly Taken Steroids  OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Barry Bonds took creams and  oils that could have contained steroids, but did so unknowingly  out of blind faith in his trainer and best friend, the baseball  player's lawyer said on Friday.


Kettle crew not on Target The Salvation Army #39;s red kettles are being banned from collecting outside Target #39;s 1,313 stores nationwide, costing the charitable organization an estimated \$9 million in holiday donations and


NTL to sell broadcast business for 1.84bn UK media company NTL has entered into an agreement to sell its broadcast business to a consortium led by Australian firm Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG) and other third party investors for a purchase price of 1.84bn.


Moya lands opening point for Spain SEVILLE, Spain (AFP) -- Carlos Moya fired Spain into a 1-0 lead on Friday at Seville #39;s Olympic Stadium, defeating Mardy Fish of the United States 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in 1hr 57min.


F1: Button  #39;misguided #39; over move FORMULA One star Jenson Button admits his attempts to secure a move to Williams were  quot;misguided quot;. The 24-year-old declared his intention to leave BAR in August to rejoin his first team but the move was blocked


Area sports in brief One of the people free-agent right-hander Carl Pavano wanted to talk to on his trip to Detroit was Tigers pitching coach Bob Cluck.


Weak employment report casts doubts over US economic strength (AFP/File) AFP/File - A weaker-than-anticipated report on the US labor market, showing just 112,000 jobs added in November, cast fresh doubts over the pace of growth of the world's largest economy.


US Study Says Sage Grouse Not Endangered A government study has concluded the greater sage grouse is not an endangered species, a finding ranching and oil and gas interests in the West had lobbied hard for, a congressional spokesman said on Friday.


Music industry asks Napster founder, former arch foe, for help LOS ANGELES: The recording industry has turned to its former arch-nemesis, the founder of online music file-swapping service Napster, to help it beat the piracy that it once accused him of spawning.


Germany  #39;thwarts attack on Iraqi premier #39; BERLIN: German authorities arrested three Iraqis yesterday on suspicion that they planned an attack on Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi while he was visiting Germany, the country #39;s chief prosecutor said.


Deliberations Begin in Air India Bomb Trial  VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Nearly two decades  after Air India Flight 182 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean  killing 329 people, the fate of the two Sikh extremists charged  with the bombing is finally in hands of a judge.


Chemical Plant Explosion Rocks Houston (Reuters) Reuters - An explosion at a southwest Houston\chemical plant was felt as far as 15 miles away on Friday\night, witnesses told Reuters.


Possible boycott at Target stores due to opposition of holiday <b>...</b> (December 3, 2004, 7:38 pm) Target stores may soon be the focus of a boycott because of a new holiday policy. In January, Target officials informed the Salvation Army that their holiday bell ringers could


Conte blows the whistle on Jones After 18 months of leaks, slurs and broken reputations the biggest doping scandal in sports history took its most dramatic twist yesterday when the man at the centre of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative investigation claimed he had devised and


Drugs in Sport: Baseball rocked by Bonds and Giambi admissions The ever-widening Balco scandal has sent new shockwaves through baseball, as it emerged that Barry Bonds, arguably the best player in the game, had used suspicious substances


Norgren on the move at PGA Swedish golfer Marcus Norgren picked up three shots through five holes in today #39;s third round of the Australian PGA Championship on Queensland #39;s Sunshine Coast.


Amateur body pencils Bolton hero into plans for a golden future Amir Khan will be the favourite to win gold in the lightweight division at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in Mianyang City, China, next November - assuming, that is, that the three-time champion and double Olympic gold medallist Mario Kindeln


NBA Sues to Stop Review of Brawl Suspensions The National Basketball Association has filed a lawsuit to block the players #39; union obtaining an independent review of the lengthy suspensions which followed the mass brawl in last month #39;s game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit


Notre Dame Says Coach Search Is Ongoing (AP) AP - Notre Dame's Plan 'A' appears to be heading to Florida.


China #39;s Risk of Hard Landing #39; for Economy Remains, US Says China #39;s policy of fixing the value of its currency to the dollar has made government efforts to slow its economy more difficult, the US Treasury Department said in a semi-annual report


Bush Signs Internet Tax Moratorium (PC World) PC World - Action doesn't cancel existing taxes on Internet sales, however.


Rise Of Virtual Wireless Firms (Investor's Business Daily) Investor's Business Daily - Operating a wireless phone company is hardly a license to print money. Many wireless firms struggle to generate cash flow. It normally takes years to break even.


IBM Reportedly Set To Sell Its Personal Computer Business (Investor's Business Daily) Investor's Business Daily - Big Blue might be ready to lose another key link to its hardware legacy.


Studies: Captive Elephant Breeding Hard (AP) AP - Elephants in zoos are living as long as those in the wild, but their population in captivity is dwindling because it is so difficult to breed them, according to studies released Friday.


Putin Accuses U.S. of Double Standard (AP) AP - Russian President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized the United States on Friday, accusing it of a double-standard in fighting terrorism and questioning whether any election in Iraq can be democratic when fighting is raging in the country.


Thousands Uprooted by Clashes in East Congo -U.N.  GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - Thousands of civilians have fled  their homes after clashes in the east of the Democratic  Republic of Congo, the United Nations said on Friday, but it  was unclear who was behind the violence.


Salvation Army Bell Ringers Welcomed Back To Mervyn #39;s MONTEREY, Calif. -- Salvation Army bell ringers will be back in time for the holidays, at least at one nationwide store chain that had banned them.


Bush Signs Internet Tax Moratorium President George Bush on Friday signed into law a three-year moratorium on Internet access taxes. The law extends a ban on Internet taxes that expired on November 1, 2003.


Prince Of Persia Returns Ubisoft has released its holiday flagship title, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within for all major consoles, including the Nintendo GameCube.


Busch Picks Up Honors at NASCAR Awards (AP) AP - Kurt Busch's busy week of celebration was capped Friday night with his acceptance of NASCAR's Nextel Cup championship trophy.


Bonds Tries to Clear His Name Barry Bonds -- the biggest name in baseball -- has now been smeared by the steroid scandal known as Balco, and the San Francisco Giants superstar tried to clear his image through his attorney Friday.


Williams suffer fresh bout of road rage If Sir Frank Williams hoped a complete change of drivers for 2005 would eradicate the tensions that raged so publicly between Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya last season, the British team principal appears mistaken.


Princeton #39;s Steep Climb Finally Ends Having established itself as a women #39;s soccer power in the Ivy League, Princeton made a significant leap into the NCAA #39;s upper echelon this year by reaching the College Cup for the first time.


Hearing set for Pacers #39; Artest CBC SPORTS ONLINE - Suspended Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest will take the first steps in hopes of saving his NBA season next week.


Transmeta licenses low-power technology to Fujitsu Transmeta has licensed its LongRun2 power management technology to Fujitsu, the second customer to purchase the rights to use the technology, Transmeta said Thursday.


States Begin Security Checks of Driver's License Photos Fraud crackdown begins with with photo comparisons and invisible security numbers.


AOL to Adapt WebEx Services for AIM Consumers Voice over IP, online presentations, and multiparty video conferencing under consideration.


Napster founder goes legit Shawn Fanning, founder of Napster and former scourge of the music industry, has set up his own firm in an attempt to legitimise online file-sharing.


Tigers, Pavano optimstic after visit com. Free agent pitcher Carl Pavano, whose visits to five American League cities in a week will set up the most talked-about pursuit at the Winter Meetings, left the Motor City on Friday


Australian Official Travels to Iraq (AP) AP - Defense Minister Robert Hill traveled to Iraq Saturday to meet with some of the 900 soldiers Australia has stationed there as part of the U.S.-led coalition, the ministry said.


Brehaut Takes Lead in PGA Tour Qualifier (AP) AP - Jeff Brehaut shot an 11-under 61 Friday and took a two-stroke lead halfway through the PGA Tour's final qualifying tournament.


Bush Appealing to Congress on 9/11 Bill (AP) AP - President Bush will make a final appeal to Congress to find a way to pass legislation before the end of the year that would make the Sept. 11 commission's terror-fighting recommendations law, White House officials said Friday.


Halifax forecasts 2 house price fall House prices will decline 2 per cent over the next year as the market experiences a  quot;measured slowdown quot;, the Halifax said yesterday.


Wolves  amp; Dudley agree Burtonwood takeover Wolverhampton  amp; Dudley, the brewer and pub group, announced a 120m offer for Burtonwood of Cheshire, sparking speculation about a wave of sector consolidation.


Watchdogs: Don #39;t Scale Back Nuke Cleanup The US Department of Homeland Security plans to scale back the level of cleanup recommended after detonation of a dirty bomb, policy watchdogs assert.


Ubisoft Ships Prince of Persia: Warrior Within SAN FRANCISCO, CA - December 2, 2004 -bisoft, one of the worlds leading video game publishers, today announced that Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is now available on store shelves for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Xbox


On a Slow Court, Spain Is Quicker The first day of the Davis Cup final between Spain and the United States made history as a record 27,200 spectators took their seats under the temporary roof in the Estadio Olimpico.


Yanks May Have to Pay to Send Giambi Away The Yankees are making plans for the 2005 season, desperately hoping that Jason Giambi will be a former Yankee but operating, at least for the moment, as if he will be with them.


Miller #39;s winning streak ends at three as Goergl wins Super Austrian Stephan Goergl ended American Bode Miller #39;s three-race winning streak by taking a World Cup Super-G race in the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.


Confusing week coming to end at Utah Eventually, the Utah Utes will know who they #39;re playing, where they #39;re playing and who will be coaching them in the future.


NBA, Union Debate Brawl Before Arbitrator NBA, Players #39; Union Go Before Arbitrator to Debate Suspensions of Four Players Over Mich. Brawl. A fan wearing a T-shirt with a message about the Indiana Pacers watches a large television screen during the


Mosul clashes plague forces in North Iraq American and Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents in several areas of Mosul yesterday, killing at least 11 attackers in a key northern city that has seen a surge in violence recently, officials said.


Far Fewer Jobs Were Added in November Than Forecast The economy added 112,000 payroll jobs in November, far fewer than the month before and not enough to keep up with average increases in the adult population.


Weighing I.B.M.'s Possible Absence in the PC Market I.B.M. is in discussions to sell its PC business to Lenovo, the largest maker of PC's in China - a burgeoning market that Hewlett-Packard and Dell covet.


Coupons in Hand, Shoppers Welcome Markdowns Shocked by a mediocre post-Thanksgiving weekend, merchants are rushing to mark down their merchandise - before the majority of holiday shoppers have even seen it.


Some Officials Seeking Shift From Pensions Some California officials are proposing that the state get out of the pension business and give state and municipal workers a 401(k) plan instead.


Rare bird falls to avian malaria An extremely rare Hawaiian bird dies in captivity, possibly marking the extinction of its entire species only 31 years after it was first discovered.


Pound: Jones Should Lose Olympic Medals (AP) AP - Marion Jones should be stripped of her five Olympic medals if allegations that she used banned drugs before the 2000 Sydney Games are true, World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound said Friday.


Pacers Activate Miller From Injured List (AP) AP - Guard Reggie Miller was activated from the Indiana Pacers' injured list Friday, and the franchise's career scoring leader will make his season debut this weekend after serving a one-game suspension.


Yanks May Have to Pay to Send Giambi Away Even though the Yankees are trying to develop a case against Jason Giambi, they are skeptical about ever getting his contract voided.


Mets Cut Ties With Hospital The Mets were one of the first professional sports franchises to enter a long-term, multimillion-dollar agreement with a hospital in which the hospital paid for the right to have its doctors treat members of the team.


Nationals Open Shop A 1,000-square-foot gray trailer in the parking lot of RFK Stadium serves as the first retail outlet fans can get Nationals gear.


Pennington to Start Quarterback Chad Pennington is scheduled to start for the New York Jets when they face the Houston Texans on Sunday.


Portis Will Be Busy Running back Clinton Portis should get the ball often against the Giants as the Redskins plan to rotate Ladell Betts in less often.


Pavano on Tour Coveted free agent pitcher Carl Pavano will visit five cities, including Baltimore, in less than a week to decide where to sign.


Cavs Cage Tigers Freshman Sean Singletary scores 25 points and Devin Smith has 23 on Friday night as No. 24 Virginia overcomes a huge game by Auburn freshman Toney Douglas to edge the Tigers, 89-87.


Wizards Pummel Hawks, 114-90 (AP) AP - Larry Hughes scored 19 points and Juan Dixon added 17 to lead Washington to a 114-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, moving the Wizards four games over .500 for the first time in almost three years.


Microsoft introduces new blog service Microsoft Corp., worlds largest software maker, has entered the blog market with its new MSN Spaces beta service that it started offering to end-users starting Thursday.


Miller in downhill win BODE Miller earned his fourth win of the season when he and fellow American Daron Rahlves finished a first-ever 1-2 in a World Cup downhill today.


Magic Defeat Knicks, 104-98 (AP) AP - Cuttino Mobley scored 34 points in his second game back from a groin injury and made two key hustle plays down the stretch to lead the Orlando Magic past the New York Knicks 104-98 Friday night.


Powerful drug kingpin extradited to US Drug kingpin Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, wearing handcuffs and a bulletproof vest, flew late Friday aboard US government plane for trial in the United States, becoming the most powerful Colombian trafficker to ever be extradited


Meyer Spurns Irish for Gators Notre Dame has failed and Florida has succeeded in hiring Utah Coach Urban Meyer, according to various family members.


Supreme Court to Hear Case on Cable as Internet Carrier The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into one of the most heated debates over the future of the Internet: how to classify high-speed Internet cable service for purposes


New McDonald #39;s Chief Vows to Keep Strategy Unchanged The new chief executive of the McDonald #39;s Corporation, James A. Skinner, promised yesterday to continue the positive momentum the company has had for the last 18 months and make no significant


Congo Tells Rwanda Troops to Stay Out President Joseph Kabila accused Rwanda on Friday of trying to cause a confrontation with Congo in an effort to disrupt Congolese moves to secure the country and move toward elections next year.


Man stabs 12 children in northeast China A man stabbed and injured 12 first-grade children at a primary school in northeast China Friday morning before being seized by police, Xinhua news agency said.


IBM Focuses on Services, Outsourcing Units (AP) AP - International Business Machines Corp.'s possible exit from the personal computer business would be the latest move in what amounts to a long goodbye from a field it pioneered and revolutionized.


Chiefs' Green Expected to Start Sunday (Reuters) Reuters - Kansas City Chiefs\quarterback Trent Green is expected to start in Sunday's game\against the Oakland Raiders despite suffering from bruises to\his ribs and hip.


CORRECTED: Tundra Study Backs Longer Oil-Search Season (Reuters) Reuters - Snow is more important than\ice in protecting the delicate tundra from disturbances, a\finding that holds promise for a longer oil-exploration season\in Alaska's rapidly warming Arctic, state officials said on\Friday.


Jamal Lewis Out Versus Bengals  BALTIMORE, (Sports Network) - Baltimore Ravens running back  Jamal Lewis will miss his second straight game with a sprained  right ankle when his club takes on the Cincinnati Bengals this  Sunday.


Explorer Says Titanic Should Be Protected (AP) AP - Legendary explorer Robert Ballard was nervous this summer as he prepared to return to the Titanic for the first time since he discovered the famous shipwreck nearly two decades ago.


Backman Sentenced to 10 Days in Jail  KENNEWICK, Wash., (Sports Network) - Wally Backman, briefly  the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, was sentenced to 10  days in jail Friday for violating his probation.


Scientist: Prairie Dogs Have Own Language (AP) AP - Prairie dogs, those little pups popping in and out of holes on vacant lots and rural rangeland, are talking up a storm. They have different "words" for tall human in yellow shirt, short human in green shirt, coyote, deer, red-tailed hawk and many other creatures.


Yankees and Mets Swap Relievers  NEW YORK, (Sports Network) - The New York Yankees and New  York Mets swapped lefthanded relievers on Friday, with the  Yankees shipping Felix Heredia across the East River in  exchange for Mike Stanton and cash considerations.


Bodies Found in Nicaragua May Be Briton, American  MANAGUA, Nicaragua (Reuters) - Nicaraguan police found two  bodies on Friday on a volcanic island and said they were likely  the remains of an American and a Briton who went missing last  month.


Tech Stings Bulldogs Stephanie Higgs scores 16 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 55-49 upset of No. 6 Georgia, which shot just 29 percent Friday night in Atlanta and lost for the second time in a week.


Ukrainian Court Orders New Vote for Presidency Ukraine's Supreme Court overturned the results of the country's disputed election and ordered a new runoff by Dec. 26.


Germans Say Plot Against Allawi Foiled; 3 Arrested German authorities said they disrupted a possible plot to attack Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, during his visit here Friday, arresting three Iraqi men and conducting raids across the country.


Suspicion Swirls Around Bonds The lawyer for Barry Bonds confirmed Friday that the San Francisco Giants left fielder used a clear substance and a cream given to him by his personal weight trainer


Pennington Scheduled To Start for the Jets Quarterback Chad Pennington is scheduled to return to the New York Jets #39; lineup tomorrow against the Houston Texans at Giants Stadium.


Miami Heat Crush the Bulls 105-81 (AP) AP - Shaquille O'Neal didn't dominate and didn't need to Friday night. Reserve Christian Laettner scored 23 points  #151; making 10 of 13 shots  #151; Eddie Jones added 21 and O'Neal 18 as the Miami Heat moved the ball around the floor, shot 50.6 percent and beat the Chicago Bulls 105-81.


Baseball Owners Tentatively OK Expos Move (AP) AP - Baseball owners took another step toward moving the Montreal Expos to Washington next year, giving conditional approval Friday but hinging their decision on the September agreement that did not cap the cost of a new ballpark.


Eustachy Returns to Iowa, but Loses Game (AP) AP - Larry Eustachy returned to Iowa with a new look and a new attitude. He also picked up a technical foul. Some things never change.


Weighing a PC Market After a Retreat by I.B.M. I.B.M. is in discussions to sell its PC business to Lenovo, the largest maker of PC's in China - a burgeoning market that Hewlett-Packard and Dell covet.


Salvation Army Hurts After Target Denial The sound of bell ringers has always been heard at Target stores, but this year the bells have been silenced, and that silence is having tremendous effects.


US Newspapers and their Audience USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but dont really understand the Washington Post. They do, however, like their smog statistics shown in pie charts.


Spurs Hold on to Beat the Pistons 80-77 (AP) AP - Ben Wallace's return from a six-game suspension couldn't help the Detroit Pistons overcome San Antonio, with Tony Parker scoring 20 points and Brent Barry hitting two critical free throws in the final seconds as the Spurs held on for a rugged 80-77 victory Friday night.


Spain lead United State 2-0 in Davis Cup final Rafael Nadal upset Andy Roddick 6-7 (8-6), 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 to give Spain a 2-0 lead over the United States in the Davis Cup final in Seville, Spain, on Friday.


Celtics 91, Raptors 89 Gary Payton saved his biggest contribution for last, going scoreless for the first time in Boston but stealing the ball in the final seconds to help the Celtics hold off the Toronto Raptors 91-89 Friday night.


Russia opposes veto powers for India NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday expressed his opposition to veto powers for India or any other country seeking to become member of a revamped UN Security Council.


England emerge champions England made their first-ever appearance in the IRB Emirates International Dubai Sevens a winning one by posting a 26-21 win over a Fijian side twice reduced to six men on the field.


Rockies #39; Neagle arrested for solicitation of prostitution Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Colorado Rockies pitcher Denny Neagle was arrested early Friday for allegedly paying a woman \$40 for oral sex, the Rocky Mountain News reported.


Annan #39;s Post at the UN May Be at Risk, Officials Fear United Nations officials fear that Secretary General Kofi Annan may have lost the confidence of the organization #39;s most powerful constituent, the United States.


Sharon faces uphill battle to form new coalition JERUSALEM (AFP)- Israel #39;s prime minister stepped up efforts yesterday to overcome resistance within his right-wing Likud party to include Labour in an enlarged government coalition, ahead of a decisive party meeting next week.


Rare bird falls to avian malaria An extremely rare Hawaiian bird has died in captivity, possibly marking the extinction of its species only 31 years after it was first discovered.


Rockies Name Third Base Coach (AP) AP - The Colorado Rockies named Mike Gallego their third base coach and Jeff Bridich as manager of minor league operations on Friday.


No. 23 Iowa Crushes Centenary 88-53 (AP) AP - Pierre Pierce scored 19 points and No. 23 Iowa continued to dominate in its own tournament, rolling to an 88-53 victory over winless Centenary on Friday night in the first round of the Hawkeye Challenge.


High Court To Decide Cable Case The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to consider whether the federal government should require cable television operators to open their cable lines to Internet service providers offering competing services.


SUVs gaining popularity The Census Bureau has confirmed what any driver on the Parkway East already knows: There are a lot of sport utility vehicles out there.


Lycos Europe #39;s antispam tool no longer available After days of negative publicity and criticism, Lycos Europe #39;s  quot;Make love not spam quot; screensaver application is no longer available.


Spain sweeps opening singles from US in Davis Cup final With drums pounding and a brass band playing, Andy Roddick and his US teammates were reduced to silence yesterday in the Davis Cup final.


Unbeaten Auburn looks like a loser  quot;The system has forsaken us, quot; moans local contractor  quot;Tiny Tim quot; Thompson, standing in the parking lot of a strip mall less than a mile from Auburn University.


Germany foils plan to attack Allawi German authorities claimed to have foiled a plot to attack Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, as German police arrested three Iraqis in a series of raids across three cities.


Indian press lashes Putin for ruling out UN Security Council veto NEW DELHI (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin has been given a thumbs-down from India #39;s media after failing to back veto rights for any new permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.


Rumsfeld to Remain at Pentagon President Bush will keep Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, administration aides said Friday, hours after Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson resigned with a dire warning about the nation's vulnerability.


One State Talks About Shifting Out of Pensions Some California officials are proposing that the state get out of the pension business and give state and municipal workers a 401(k) plan instead.


TSA Keeping Pat-Down Procedures in Place Despite a barrage of complaints, the Transportation Security Administration will continue to require physical pat-downs for some passengers at security checkpoints.


Holiday Gift Card Giving Gets More Innovative From department store to discounter, retailers are using innovative technology and clever packaging to make shoppers feel good about giving the gift of plastic.


Fox Calls For Court Review of Standards  Fox Broadcasting Co. is appealing a record-setting \$1.18 million fine for airing racy fare on a show called "Married by America," saying the government's indecency rules for broadcast television are unconstitutional because they don't apply to cable and satellite television.


Boeing Changes Management in Key Division  Boeing Co. changed management of its commercial aircraft division yesterday, replacing the head of the sales team after losing several competitions to its European rival Airbus SAS.


Riggs Bank Replaces Its Chief Legal Officer Riggs has replaced Joseph M. Cahill as part the ongoing fallout from a recent internal investigation into failures to abide by federal laws designed to prevent money laundering.


Prosecutors Want Trial to Remain in Houston Federal prosecutors Friday urged a judge in Houston to keep the fraud trial of three former Enron Corp. executives in the energy trader's hometown, saying that a fair trial is possible.


NBA Wrap: Spurs Squeeze Past Pistons (Reuters) Reuters - Tony Parker scored 20 points and Brent\Barry made two free throws in the final seconds to give the San\Antonio Spurs an 80-77 win over the Detroit Pistons Friday.


Tennis: Spain take 2-0 lead over US in Davis Cup final Rafael Nadal upset world number two Andy Roddick in four sets to give Spain a commanding two-nil lead over the United States in the Davis Cup final on Friday.


NHL players still oppose salary cap An overwhelming majority of NHL players who expressed their opinion in a poll said they would not support a salary cap even if it meant saving a season that was supposed to have started Oct. 13.


Revived Wizards remain on a roll One of the longest-running curiosities in sports is why fans in Atlanta don #39;t come out to professional sports events. And many fans who showed up at Philips Arena last night


Danforth Says He Left Position At UN for Personal Reasons John C. Danforth, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said Friday that he withdrew his name from contention for any senior post in President Bush #39;s second term


Indian press lashes Putin for ruling out UN Security Council veto (AFP) AFP - President Vladimir Putin earned a thumbs-down from India's media after failing to back veto rights for any new permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.


Newest Reports Place Bonds Back at Center of Steroid Case Barry Bonds is being linked more than ever to what could be baseball's biggest scandal since the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series.


Fockers retain film chart crown Comedy Meet The Fockers remains top of the North American box office chart after taking another 23.7m.


Study Finds Patterns in Web Site User Motivations and Questions Web developer David Poteet of New City Media reports on the User Interface 9 Conference.


Stats Likely to Stand Those in charge of baseball's statistics say Barry Bonds's records will remain intact for now.


IBM said to be eyeing a sale of its PC business IBM, which pioneered the personal computer business in the 1980s, is said to be negotiating the sale of its PC unit in a move that could reshape the industry.


CAD to probe China Aviation Oil on share sale by parent SINGAPORE : China Aviation Oil has confirmed it is being probed by the Commercial Affairs Department for problems at the company. On Friday, the white-collar crime buster


Arsenal loss of form is a crisis, says Wenger Arsene Wenger says Arsenal #39;s loss of form adds up to a crisis at Highbury but believes the feeling inside the club remains optimistic.


Dominick Guinn and Serguei Liakhovich heavyweight quotes Ballys Atlantic City, in association with Main Events, will present a sensational fight card highlighted by featherweights Rocky Juarez vs.


UN urges aid for tsunami orphans The UN highlights the plight of children orphaned by the tsunami disaster, some of whose lives are at risk.


Taking Europe for a Ride In a manner that recalls haggling in a Persian bazaar, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Islamic Republic of Iran are engaged in a tussle about the meaning of their recently concluded bargain over Tehrans nuclear program.


China: Relations with EU will Suffer if Arms Embargo Continues China has warned that continuing the European Union (EU) arms embargo on Beijing will negatively affect the relationship between them.


Microsoft Sues Spammers The software giant, Microsoft, has filed lawsuits against seven companies for violating the CAN-SPAM  quot;Brown Paper Wrapper quot; rule.


Wenger hopes for end to  quot;crisis quot; Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted the Gunners are in the middle of a  quot;crisis quot;, but backed his players to battle out of their mediocre form.


High court will rule on cable network access WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court, accepting appeals from the cable-television industry and the administration of President George W. Bush, has agreed to decide whether cable operators must open their high-speed data networks to Earthlink Inc.


Global warming #39;s big chill plummeted, ushering in a deep freeze that lasted a century or more, researchers have proposed. earth and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says he has evidence that this happened.


Ashlee Simpson to Perform Live for AOL (AP) AP - Ashlee Simpson is getting behind the mic again  #151; only this time, she's promising it will be live. Simpson, whose lip-synch-gone-awry on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in October made her an instant punch line, will headline a concert for AOL Monday in Los Angeles, AOL told The Associated Press Friday.


Green, Hokies want ACC crown Eric Green had a chance to be a member of the Miami Hurricanes. Now, he wants to beat them. Green and Virginia Tech will come into the Orange Bowl today with a chance to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference championship all to themselves.


Wallace Returns, Pistons Lose Spurs 80, Pistons 77 SAN ANTONIO -- With big, bad Ben Wallace back in the lineup, the Detroit Pistons almost rallied from a big deficit for a big win. A bigger night from their big man might #39;ve helped.


Under US pressure, Tehran halts uranium conversion Under pressure from Washington, Tehran acquiesced November 28 to demands by the French, German, and British governments that it halt all activities related to the enrichment of uranium.


Recovery operations resume at China landslide, at least 23 dead (AFP) AFP - Recovery operations at a landslide in southwest China which left at least 23 dead and scores missing have resumed as nearby coal mines were shut for investigations into their possible role in the disaster.


Wal-Mart Starts Rare Newspaper Ad Blitz (Reuters) Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , hurt by\sluggish sales over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, on Friday\launched a rare advertising blitz in newspapers across the\United States touting price cuts.


Court to Hear Cable Line Sharing Case The Supreme Court Friday agreed to consider whether the federal government should require cable television operators to open their cable lines to Internet service providers offering competing services. -The Washington Post


PC Sector Sale by IBM Would Signal Change International Business Machines Corp. has steadily lost its hold on the PC market, buffeted by made-to-order rivals such as Dell Inc. and low-cost competition from overseas. -The Washington Post


IntelSat Regains Control Of Key Satellite Intelsat Ltd. has regained communications with a satellite that it lost track of last weekend, but engineers do not know if they will be able to fully restore service. -The Washington Post


EU Wants US Clarification on WTO Stance The EU trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, has asked US officials for their stance on threatened World Trade Organization action over aid to Airbus.


Chief of Halliburton unit wanted top spot John Gibson said Friday that he decided to resign as chief executive officer of Halliburton Energy Services when it became apparent he couldn #39;t become the CEO of the entire corporation, after getting a taste of the No.


Cloud hangs over Dec. auto sales SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- November US auto sales for domestic manufacturers disappointed industry watchers on Thursday, raising concerns about tepid results in the typically strong final month of the year.


Utah #39;s Meyer spurns Irish, picks Gators ATLANTA - In what had to be a sobering reality check for Notre Dame fans everywhere, Utah #39;s Urban Meyer has turned down his self-professed  quot;dream job quot; and agreed to become the next football coach at the University of Florida.


Nitties maintains one-shot lead at Australian PGA Former Australian amateur James Nitties birdied the 18th hole Saturday while Bob Estes bogeyed the last, allowing Nitties to overtake the American and maintain his one-shot lead at the Australian PGA championship.


The numbers don #39;t add up This is a math problem that voters or hard drives can #39;t solve. It sounds so simple, but in the 2004 college football season, three into two won #39;t go.


Agent says Tigers didn #39;t make \$40-million offer Free agent Carl Pavano ended his visit to Detroit on Friday and left town accompanied by a report that the Tigers have offered the right-hander a four-year contract for \$40 million.


Nets: Kidd #39;s a hit in practice Yes, he was back. He showed some familiar signs of his brilliant self, there were rave reviews, and the Nets suddenly looked as though they #39;re ready to become an NBA team again.


Judge reserves decision in Air India terrorism trial (AFP) AFP - Two men charged with murder and conspiracy in the Air India bombings, the world's most lethal terror strike prior to September 11, 2001, will wait until March to hear a verdict, a judge said.


Assaults on Baghdad police, mosque kill 30 In the deadliest insurgent violence in weeks, rebels in Baghdad struck a police station and a mosque Friday in brazen dawn attacks, killing at least 30 people and wounding nearly an equal number.


Colombian drug kingpin extradited to United States One of the world #39;s most notorious drug traffickers, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, is on his way to the United States after being extradited from Colombia.


Muslim rebels kill 5 police in Kashmir gunbattle A Muslim rebel attack on an Indian Kashmir police camp left five police and one rebel dead in the region #39;s biggest raid since Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visited India last month, police said on Saturday.


Shrimp Tariffs Upheld on Shrimp Imports It looks like the US has upheld its penalty tariffs on importing shrimp from Vietnam and China--to the relief of American shrimp producers and the detriment of consumers.


Miller storms to downhill glory American skiier Bode Miller made it four World Cup wins in five races when he stormed to victory in the men #39;s downhill at Beaver Greek in Colorado.


Westwood #39;s card marked but not wrecked by 17th A double-bogey six on the treacherous 17th hole at the Gary Player Country Club cost Lee Westwood the outright lead after the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge yesterday.


NHL Lockout ending?? The NHL and the NHLPA have planned a meeting for December 9th in Toronto to discuss the NHLPAs new proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement.


GREEN LIGHT If the 30-yard frozen rope Chad Pennington threw to Santana Moss for a touchdown - into the wind -esterday in practice is any indication, the quarterback should be


Princeton women taken down by UCLA Princeton was in unfamiliar territory as the first Ivy League team to reach the Final Four of the NCAA women #39;s soccer tournament.


Philippine towns mop up it hit Taiwan on Saturday. Hundreds of people fled their homes and two people were reported missing after torrential. Nanmadol killed at least 35 people in the Philippines and


Bush mum on whether Annan should resign President George W Bush yesterday declined to endorse a Republican senator #39;s call for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resign but did not offer Annan any words of support.


Pace of US job growth slows The nation's labor markets sputtered again last month as job growth, which surged in October, reverted to the lackluster pace that has marked the recovery for much of the year.


Drug fee plan draws fire Cancer drug distributors are trying to charge storage and handling fees to the makers of the drugs, a move some consumer groups worry could undermine parts of the Medicare prescription benefit law meant to curb pricing abuses.


State Street Research to cut staff after buyout The Boston investment firm State Street Research  amp; Management Co. plans to let go 116 employees, or 28 percent of its total staff, according to a filing with city and state officials, a result of its pending acquisition by BlackRock Inc.


Putnam official resigns THE REGION Putnam Investments said Deborah F. Kuenstner, managing director and chief investment officer of the mutual fund firm's Large-Cap Value investment team and International Value team, will leave the company at year-end. Kuenstner has also been an executive board member and management team leader for the \$1 billion Putnam Classic Equity fund. Josh Brooks, chief investment officer of the ...


Oil prices continue slide for fourth day  Crude oil futures sank for a fourth straight day yesterday, settling beneath \$43 a barrel for the first time in nearly three months and capping a 14 percent decline for the week.


Sweet success of Splenda results in a supply dilemma Dieters hoping for a slew of new products with the sugar substitute Splenda may be disappointed next year.


Court will hear case on cable Net access WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to consider whether cable companies must open their high-speed lines to rival Internet providers.


Catalogs hold fast in the electronic age  FREEPORT, Maine -- L.L. Bean projects that its online sales will overtake its catalog business within two years, but don't expect any trees to be spared in the process.


Palmisano #39;s Vision in Remaking IBM IBM chief executive Samuel J. Palmisano has never been your typical suit. During his 31-year career at Big Blue, he has taken bold actions and broken with IBM (IBM ) tradition when it made strategic sense.


Stocks Edge Higher; Oil at 21/2-Month Low NEW YORK, Dec. 3 -- Stocks gained slightly Friday and the major indicators ended higher for the second straight week. Crude oil futures continued their decline, falling below \$43 per barrel for the first time in 2 1/2 months.


Ziggy pushed out of Telstra OUTGOING Telstra chief executive officer Dr Ziggy Switkowski revealed yesterday he was pushed from the top job at Australias largest company after a split with some board members.


Boeing sales to get new leadership Boeing announced a shake-up in its executive ranks yesterday, ousting its chief airplane salesman at a time when rival Airbus is beating it in airplane orders for the fourth consecutive year.


US Airways, CWA deal offers options US Airways #39; 800 reservations agents at Parkway Center will have the option of transferring to North Carolina or receiving cash buyouts plus one year #39;s


Plasma, LCD TV sales seen doubling next year Colour television (CTV) makers expect Indian consumers to switch over to top-end plasma projection and liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions at a rapid rate.


ATHLETICS:  #39;I TAUGHT JONES TO USE DRUG #39; MARION JONES injected herself with performance-enhancing drugs while the man at the centre of huge doping scandal watched, he claimed in an explosive TV interview last night.


GOLF: LEE #39;S SUN BID GETS HIT FOR SIX LEE Westwood #39;s hopes of a halfway lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa were sunk by a watery double bogey at the 17th yesterday.


Kings pull Pacers off East pedestal In the realistic portion of their brains, the Indiana Pacers know they aren #39;t supposed to be all that good right now. But they also know they aren #39;t supposed to be this bad.


Wallace back in lineup, but can #39;t help Detroit beat San Antonio Ben Wallace #39;s return to the Detroit Pistons #39; lineup was far less eventful than his last appearance for the defending NBA champions.


NFL notebook: Green likely to start Quarterback Trent Green took most of the snaps in yesterday #39;s Kansas City practice and is likely to start for the Chiefs tomorrow at Oakland.


US skier Kildow wins downhill event Lindsey Kildow of Vail, Colo., won her first World Cup skiing event yesterday, taking the season #39;s first downhill in 1 minute, 23.44 seconds.


Owners give OK to move The Montreal Expos appear to be near the end of a long road, mere inches from finally becoming the Washington Nationals. And Mayor Anthony Williams believes the District of Columbia is making similar progress


30 killed in attacks in Baghdad Insurgents in Baghdad struck a police station and a mosque at dawn Friday, killing at least 30 people and wounding nearly as many.


Manila appeals for storm relief; weather improves The Philippines put the toll at more than 1,000 dead or missing in four storms in two weeks but, even with a break in the weather on Saturday


Heathrow Security Breach to be Investigated The Department of Transport says it will investigate claims of a security breach at Heathrow airport after an undercover journalist reportedly entered restricted areas and walked unchecked and unnoticed around passenger aircraft due to take off.


Census: SUV popularity accelerating across nation Once every week or two, Brian Spangler pumps \$30 of gasoline into his 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Spangler said neither the cost nor the driving bothers him.


Suns #39; streak ends at nine Kevin Garnett compiled 23 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves used a tough defense to snap the Phoenix Suns #39; nine-game winning streak 97-93 on Friday night.


Yanks, Mets make a deal The Yankees have spent the last two years trying to find a left-handed reliever to take the place of Mike Stanton. Now they have one: Mike Stanton.


Car Bomber Attacks Near Baghdad Green Zone (Reuters) Reuters - A suspected suicide car bomb detonated\near a police station beside the protected Green Zone in\Baghdad on Saturday, the latest strike in a guerrilla campaign\to undermine Iraq's inexperienced security forces.


Ben Wallace Back in Pistons Lineup (AP) AP - Ben Wallace's return to the Detroit Pistons' lineup was far less eventful than his last appearance for the defending NBA champions.


Spain Quiets U.S. in Opening Davis Play (AP) AP - With drums pounding and a brass band playing, Andy Roddick and his U.S. teammates were reduced to silence Friday in the Davis Cup final.


High Court To Decide  Cable Case (washingtonpost.com) washingtonpost.com - The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to consider whether the federal government should require cable television operators to open their cable lines to Internet service providers offering competing services.


Russia's president to head for India's Silicon Valley (AFP) AFP - Russia's President Vladimir Putin is heading to the high-tech city of Bangalore, on the second day of his trip to India, after ruffling feathers by rebuffing New Delhi's hopes of a veto on an enlarged UN Security Council.


PC Sector Sale By IBM Would Signal Change (washingtonpost.com) washingtonpost.com - Among corporate technology managers, it's one of the oldest adages: "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM."


Kerio Partners Must Pass Rigorous Exam To Carry New ServerFirewall (TechWeb) TechWeb - Kerio Technologies, a vendor that specializes in perimeter and messaging security, has rolled out a new channel program and a new software-based firewall.


Philippines issues new warning against job-seekers heading for Iraq (AFP) AFP - Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's government has issued a fresh warning to Filipino job-seekers trying to fly to Iraq despite a government ban.


Bonds: I didn't know Two Red Sox diehards, comedians Lenny Clarke and Denis Leary, stood in the shadow of the Green Monster Thursday night and reveled in the team's championship.


Manila Appeals for Storm Relief; Weather Improves  REAL, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippines put the toll  at more than 1,000 dead or missing in four storms in two weeks  but, even with a break in the weather on Saturday, relief  supplies were running short and fears of disease were  spreading.


Rights Watch Urges Karzai to Sideline Warlords  KABUL (Reuters) - A leading rights group urged Afghan  President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to sideline warlords  implicated in rights abuses and strengthen the rule of law when  he announces a new cabinet after being sworn in next week.


Jets get armed for run New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington will start tomorrow against the Houston Texans after sitting out the last three games with a strained right rotator cuff.


All wrapped up Before last night's game, Doc Rivers spoke of his team's tough win 48 hours earlier against the Milwaukee Bucks. What made it special, he suggested, was that the Celtics had managed a victory despite not playing very well.


Arbitrator decides on appeals hearing An arbitrator's decision yesterday has taken the recent NBA suspensions to a different venue -- the courtroom. Arbitrator Roger Kaplan ruled he does have the authority to decide if appeals on behalf of the four suspended Indiana Pacers can be heard by someone other than NBA commissioner David Stern .


Today's schedule College basketball: Men -- Indiana vs. UConn at Hartford Civic Center, noon; Pioneer Valley Classic at Westfield, 1 and 3 p.m.; BU at UNH, 2 p.m.; Harvard at Maine, 2 p.m.; Babson at Salem St., 2 p.m.; Wheaton at Endicott, 2 p.m.; Tufts at Clark, 2 p.m.; Maine-Presque Isle Tournament at Presque Isle, Maine: Boston Baptist vs. Bowdoin, 2 p.m.; ...


Kildow fastest down mountain Lindsey Kildow of the United States won her first World Cup race yesterday, capturing the season's first downhill in 1 minute 23.44 seconds. The 20-year-old Kildow battled wind and swirling snow on a shortened men's Olympic downhill course.


UNH set for next challenge The University of New Hampshire football team will be without its most dynamic playmaker in today's NCAA Division 1-AA quarterfinal matchup against Montana.


Auburn is likely the odd team out Auburn has put together one of the greatest years in school history, claiming a spot in today's Southeastern Conference title game against No. 15 Tennessee.


On Day 1, a lot of pain in Spain It's the Bryans or bust! That's the desperate predicament today for some American tourists -- a.k.a. the US Davis Cup team -- who find themselves in a lion's den called Estadio Olimpico. Surrounded by 27,200 high-decibel growlers, Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish felt the teeth of those homebodies in the seats, plus Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya ...


This 1-2 an American original Yesterday was former Austrian downhill champion Franz Klammer's 51st birthday, and he celebrated with a prerace champagne toast with coaches and well-wishers alongside the Birds of Prey downhill course.


Yankees bolster bullpen The New York Yankees began reshaping their roster yesterday, sending outfielder Kenny Lofton and more than \$1.5 million to the Philadelphia Phillies for setup man Felix Rodriguez and also reacquiring Mike Stanton from the Mets.


Ephs are on mark Talk about home cookin'. Hosting its annual men's basketball Invitational Tournament this weekend, Williams College rolled to a record-tying victory last night.


Waiting in Texas with pride, prayers KILLEEN, Texas -- Hollie Keahtigh had hoped until Thursday that her husband, an Army captain in Fort Hood's First Cavalry Division, would be home from Iraq to spend Christmas with her, their 5-year-old son, and 2-year-old daughter.


Insurgent attacks kill 29 in Baghdad BAGHDAD -- Nearly simultaneous attacks against two police stations and a Shi'ite Muslim mosque killed at least 29 Iraqis here yesterday, ending the relative lull in violence in the capital that had followed US-led offensives against insurgents in Fallujah and northern Babil Province.


New Ukraine vote ordered  KIEV -- Ukraine's highest court declared the results of the disputed presidential election invalid yesterday and ordered a new runoff between the two main candidates on Dec. 26.


Ex-rebel picked to lead Kosovo PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro -- Kosovo lawmakers yesterday elected a former rebel commander to be the prime minister even though he was recently questioned by UN war crimes investigators.


Syria ready to renew peace talks with Israel, envoy says  LONDON -- Syria wants to renew peace talks with Israel without preconditions and no longer insists that talks should resume exactly where they left off in 2000, its ambassador to London said yesterday.


Hearing on prisoner's death halted over access DENVER -- An Army appeals court stopped a key hearing yesterday for three soldiers charged with killing an Iraqi general during an interrogation and ordered the military to explain why the proceedings have been closed to the public.


5 blasts rock Madrid gas stations after warning MADRID -- Five small explosive devices detonated yesterday at Madrid gas stations along busy highways after a telephone warning from the armed Basque separatist group ETA, officials said.


UN journalists are honored  UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Correspondents Association chose the Wall Street Journal, independent filmmaker Theodore Folke, and the British Broadcasting Corporation for its top journalism prizes yesterday.


The Poetry of 'Gimme an A! Gimme an S! Gimme a T!' Jonny Hurst, Britain's soccer chant laureate, does not have as high a profile as the nation's poet laureate, but their responsibilities are vaguely similar.


VeRO: eBay's version of the DMCA My wife's friend  Lisa (not her real name) just had her eBay account suspended for selling unopened Juice Plus vitamins on eBay. You know, like Flintstone's chewables, but more expensive and poorer tasting (snake oil). We're not talking about a prescription product of any kind. Vitamins and herbal supplements are considered food products in the USA.  eBay, under their VeRO program, allowed Juice Plus to kill her auctions under the pretence of protecting their intellectual property rights and a few days later eBay suspended her account entirely.


TENNIS: HOT ROD SHOCKED AS SPAIN BLANK US ANDY RODDICK suffered a surprise defeat as Spain raced to a commanding 2-0 lead in the Davis Cup Final. Rafael Nadal beat the American big gun 6-7 6-2 7-6 6-2 to add to Spanish No.1 Carlos Moya #39;s defeat of Mardy Fish 6-4 6-2 6-3 in Seville yesterday.


Gators get what they want in Utah coach When it came down to making a decision between the Notre Dame job he had often dreamed about and what could become his dream job in Gainesville, University of Utah football


FOOTBALL: BURNS FACES SCOTS KO CELTIC manager Martin O #39;Neill last night insisted that club commitments could prevent Tommy Burns staying onas Scotland #39;s No.2.


Three Peters Challenge in Australia European Tour Members Peter OMalley, Peter Senior and Peter Lonard remain in contention to tale the Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship as they trail fellow Australian James Nitties going into the final round at the Hyatt Collum on the


CRPF camp attack: Two militants killed SRINAGAR: The two militants, who had stormed a security camp killing five CRPF personnel, were shot dead on Saturday by security forces, ending a 30-hour long gunbattle at Sopore, 55 km from Srinagar, in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.


BALCO blows whistle Victor Conte Jr. #39;s claims to have seen Marion Jones inject steroids could tarnish the track star #39;s career. By NED BARNETT, Staff Writer.


Blast, gunfire rocks Baghdad A CAR bomb exploded next to an Iraqi police station just outside Baghdad #39;s Green Zone today, killing six Iraqi policemen and wounding another 10 in the second attack in two days targeting local security forces in the capital, an Iraqi security official


Floods Recede in Philippines Helicopters delivered food to survivors and picked up the sick and injured on Friday as flash floods began to recede. More than 650 people were killed and nearly 400 are missing in the disaster, which was triggered by back-to-back storms.


Technology ; Napster creator unveils online music technology After registering music and copyright information in Snocap #39;s database, labels and artists can manage online distribution through Snocap #39;s copyright management system, which lets them set rules for each track on a global basis.


Panel says keep sage grouse off endangered list Sage grouse should not be listed as an endangered species, said a US Fish and Wildlife Service panel of biologists Friday. The panel of regional managers and senior scientists made their recommendation to


As media darling, Conte #39;s pushing it No one knows where Jason Giambi goes from here, now that he has come clean about the dirty business of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.


UK ; Chelsea to host Newcastle That is just two points shy of United #39;s total at the same stage of the 1998/99 treble season and a point ahead of their tally when they won the title in 2002/03.


Notebook: Arbitrator rules he can decide on hearing appeals Two weeks after the fact, lawyers for the NBA and the players #39; union had their own little brawl. Attorneys for the two sides fought before an arbitrator and in federal


Kidd almost set The Nets have waited more than two months for Jason Kidd to practice. So it shouldn #39;t be a problem for them to wait another two days before he suits up.


Islamabad backs Kofi Annan ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has lent its full support to United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan and wishes to see him complete his remaining tenure in office.


Pakistan, India agree to reopen second rail link ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India on Friday ended a two-day meeting on reviving Khokhrapar-Monabao rail link and agreed to take necessary steps for an early resumption of the train service.


IBM mulls sale of PC business IBM, seeking to exit an industry it helped pioneer two decades ago, hired Merrill Lynch to find a buyer for its personal-computer unit.


Oil giant  #39;in business #39; The main supplier of jet fuel to China is continuing to do business despite a criminal investigation of its 442.6m losses on derivative trading, the company said.


Webber not excited about rejoining Pizzonia New Williams-BMW lead driver Mark Webber of Australia isn #39;t excited about the prospect of reuniting with former Jaguar team-mate Antonio Pizzonia of Brazil in Formula 1. Webber was hoping to be Williams #39; second


Meyer OKs 7-year deal with Gators nly a few days ago, it looked like a done deal. Urban Meyer, a devout Irish-Catholic who always considered Notre Dame his dream job, seemed a lock to end up in South Bend, Ind.


New Iraqi prison photos investigated IRAQ:The photos found on a Web site show Navy SEALs sitting on prisoners, some with blood dripping from their heads. BY SETH HETTENA.


Israeli forces detain senior Hamas militant Israeli forces detained a senior leader of Hamas #39;s military wing in the West Bank today during a night-time raid on his hideout, witnesses said.


Car Bombers Attack Near Baghdad Green Zone  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Twin car bombs detonated outside a  police station near the protected Green Zone in Baghdad on  Saturday, killing at least three people in the latest guerrilla  strike against Iraq's shaky security forces.


Three Ways Technology Brings People Together The holidays are coming. Now, more than ever, the desire is to be close to friends and family. While not everyone can catch a plane or train to be with the ones they love, today #39;s communications technologies


Hollywood Steps Into DVD Format Fight Three top Hollywood studios are throwing their considerable weight behind one of two competing formats for the next generation of DVDs, citing in part the need to stem piracy.


Webber stirs Pizzonia row Mark Webber has re-ignited the war of words with former Jaguar teammate Antonio Pizzonia, accusing the Brazilian of lying about quality of their cars.


Utah coach seems Florida-bound With widespread reports asserting that Utah coach Urban Meyer has accepted an offer to become the next football coach at the University of Florida, the most serious potential suitor for University


NBA sues to keep Pacers bans out of arbitration The NBA filed a federal suit Friday in an effort to block an arbitrator from hearing an appeal of the suspensions handed out to four members of the Indiana Pacers for fighting with fans


Profile: Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, once one of the world #39;s most powerful criminals, has been extradited to the US to face drug smuggling and money-laundering charges.


Western governors focus on wildlife A majority of Western governors gathered in San Diego yesterday said they favor significant revisions in the federal Endangered Species Act, one of the nation #39;s landmark environmental laws.


Middle East emerges as prime growth market for graphic solutions ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT), a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions, today announced that PCI Express (PCIe)-enabled graphics


Rumor Control: Bono buys Edios and Metal Gear Solid: The Movie The official story:  quot;No, this isnt true. Just a wild rumor. quot;--Eidos staffer. Bono was unavailable for comment. What we heard: Though at first it was laughed off as one of the loopiest rumors to hit the


Steroid shock waves ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED <b>...</b> San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds, third on Major League Baseball #39;s career home run list, testified to a grand jury that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by a trainer who was indicted in a steroid-distribution ring, but Bonds


Iran Wants OPEC to Return to Quotas  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Saturday reiterated its call for  OPEC to pull supply back down to official quota levels and  mapped out a way to fund a long-promised production hike, a  newspaper reported.


EXPLOSIONS HIT MADRID FIVE explosions rocked Madrid last night after Basque terror group Eta threatened bombings in the Spanish capital. A petrol filling station was one of the targets but initial reports said the explosions were by  #39;low potency #39; bombs.


Dollar set to make gains against yen LONDON: The dollar headed for its first weekly gain in more than two months against the yen after Japanese officials suggested they may stem the currency #39;s slide and on expectations that US firms employed 200,000 workers last month.


Wenger confident that Arsenal can emerge from crisis ARSNE WENGER admitted yesterday that Arsenals run of disappointing results amounts to a crisis, although he played down the extent of the dilemma as much as he could.


German Police Foil Plot To Kill Iraqi Premier German police Friday arrested three Iraqis suspected of hastily putting together a failed plot to assassinate interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi during his visit for talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.


IBM reported to put its PC business up for sale San Francisco, December 4: IBM is reportedly in talks to sell its personal computer business in a deal that could be worth up to \$2 billion and would cap a gradual withdrawal from the business it helped to pioneer in 1981.


Lycos Europe halts anti-spam counterattacks NEW YORK Just four days after it began, a spam-fighting campaign by Web portal Lycos Europe has been ended on the grounds the cure might be worse than the disease.


Baseball will survive, just like it always has Some people cannot fathom the indifference. The revelations about Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds brought a rousing  quot;so what? quot; from the general public, causing waves of journalistic outrage around the country.


Highbury return for Petit? Arsenal #39;s injury concerns could see Emmanuel Petit return to the club on a short-term deal, manager Arsene Wenger revealed. The 34-year-old free agent won the double with Arsenal in 1998 before moving on to Barcelona and more recently Chelsea.


Colorado Rockies pitcher Denny Neagle cited for solicitation Colorado Rockies pitcher Denny Neagle was cited Friday for solicitation after a woman in his car said he paid her \$40 for oral sex, police said.


15 Killed Russia Warehouse Fire (AP) AP - Fifteen people were killed when a fire broke out in a furniture factory warehouse in the Moscow region, the Interfax news agency reported Saturday.


Mugabe Expected to Purge More Officials Before Election (Reuters) Reuters - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is\expected to purge more officials from his ruling ZANU-PF\movement on Saturday as the party gears itself for\parliamentary elections next March amid wrangles over the\succession question.


Ukraine's Yanukovich to Run Again in Repeat Vote  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich  said on Saturday he would run against opposition liberal Viktor  Yushchenko again in a rerun of their contested presidential  election and he defiantly vowed he would win.


M.T.A. Seeks Tax Increases Over 5 Years The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is proposing a tax increase to raise \$900 million a year to help pay for a five-year rebuilding program.


NHLPA to offer compromise NEW YORK -- The NHL Players #39; Association is working on a proposal that will see players give up serious concessions in a bid to salvage the season.


Rockies #39; Neagle charged with soliciting a prostitute Colorado Rockies pitcher Denny Neagle was charged Friday with soliciting a prostitute after a woman in his car said he paid her \$40 for oral sex, police said.


EDITORIAL: Time for Annan to resign post On Thursday, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada joined Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota in calling for the immediate resignation of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.


Looking for Water on the Red Planet Description: Scientists exploring Mars via the rover  #39;Opportunity #39; published 11 papers detailing the progress of the research being done in an area called Meridiani Planum.


Baseball in Bonds quandary The player swinging for the most storied record in baseball is being linked more than ever to what could be the sport #39;s biggest scandal since the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series.


Local manager weighs in on steroid use By the numbers. By Elia Powers. With recent reports stemming from grand jury testimony that link major league baseball sluggers Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds to past steroid use, discussion of the sports tainted image resurfaced this week.


Meyer snubs Irish for Florida The search for a new Notre Dame football coach has apparently taken an abrupt and unexpected turn Friday when several media outlets reported that Utah coach Urban Meyer accepted the coaching job at Florida.


Notre Dame women land in right spot Being in the right spot earned the Notre Dame womens soccer team a spot in the NCAA championship game. Candace Chapman scored with about 18 minutes left Friday to lift the


China landslide kills 23, rescue work halted (Reuters) Reuters - At least 23 people were killed in a landslide which hit a mountain village in southwestern China, where the search for missing people has been halted by fears of further slides, state media reported on Saturday.


Tsunami Victims Prey to Crime from Asia to Europe (Reuters) Reuters - Thieves, rapists, kidnappers and hoaxers\are preying on tsunami survivors and families of victims in\Asian refugee camps and hospitals and in the home countries of\European tourists hit by the wave.


Baghdad Green Zone targeted by car bombers At least three people have been killed and more than 40 wounded after twin suicide car bombs blew up outside a police station near Baghdad #39;s Green Zone.


Valley resident falls to 51st at LPGA Q-school DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. -- Caryn Wilson of Rancho Mirage shot a 4-over par 76 on Friday and is tied for 51st place after three rounds of the LPGA Tour Qualifying School.


Florida backers excited about hiring University of Florida fans not only enjoyed the school #39;s hiring of Utah #39;s Urban Meyer as coach, but some took a bit of delight in beating Notre Dame for his services.


Khan back with a bang in Liverpool AMIR KHAN shrugged off a hectic build-up to make a stunning return to the ring in Liverpool last night. The 17-year-olds life has been one non-stop whirl since he returned from Athens three months ago with an Olympic silver medal.


Bullpen gets two new arms In a week that featured the breakdown of trade talks involving Randy Johnson and Jason Giambi #39;s steroid admission, trades for Felix Rodriguez and Mike Stanton sure seem trivial.


Another good BCS debacle?  quot;The purpose of the BCS is to match the nation #39;s top two college football teams in an end-of-season bowl game for the National Championship.


Colombia sends drug kingpin to US Colombia has extradited to the United States the most notorious drug cartel kingpin in its custody, El Tiempo newspaper reported Saturday.


Apparent abuse photos turn up CORONADO, Calif. -- The US military said it has begun a criminal investigation into photos that appear to show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed prisoners and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head.


REVIEW: Music player measures running pace It #39;s been a few decades since anyone recorded my mile splits as I bounded over hill and dale, immersed in running #39;s intoxicating rhythm.


Russia invites YUKOS unit bids, India interested (Reuters) Reuters - Russia said on Saturday it would welcome more offers for the assets of oil major YUKOS as the only declared bidder, Gazprom, inked a cooperation deal with India's state-run ONGC oil firm.


Want cheap iTunes? Become a Mountie Apple, which opened the virtual doors on the Canadian store late on Wednesday, is selling songs for 99 Canadian cents, which translates to about 83 US cents, 16 per cent less than those in the United States pay for their iTunes.


Baghdad car bomb kills 15 A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb Saturday at the entrance to Baghdad #39;s heavily fortified Green Zone, killing at least 15 and wounding 30 others.


Suspect suicide bomb kills 2 Iraqi policemen A police station on the outskirts of Baghdad #39;s Green Zone has been attacked by a suspected suicide bomber driving a truckload of explosives.


Car Bombers Strike Near Green Zone, 7 Dead  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Twin suicide car bombs blew up outside  a police station near Baghdad's Green Zone on Saturday, killing  seven people and wounding 57 in the latest deadly strike  against Iraq's shaky security forces.


Monitors Want Access to Mozambique Vote Count  MAPUTO (Reuters) - The Commonwealth and European Union have  asked Mozambique for access to centers where votes from this  week's election are being verified, after complaints by  monitors raised questions over the credibility of the ballot.


Next season not so bad, experts say Sure, next year #39;s season likely will have more storms in the Atlantic region than an average year, Colorado State University forecaster William Gray said.


NAPSTER FOUNDER REVEALS NEW FILE-SHARING PROJECT NAPSTER creator SHAWN FANNING has revealed his plans for a new licensed file-sharing service with an almost unlimited selection of tracks.