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Rebels withdraw blockade of Kathmandu Nepalese rebels said today they were removing a blockade of the capital that had cut Kathmandu off from the rest of the country for a week.$LABEL$0
Typhoon Aere Pounds Northern Taiwan At least seven people are confirmed dead as Typhoon Aere pounded northern Taiwan with high winds and heavy rain. The storm hit the area with maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers-an-hour.$LABEL$0
Greenpeace Protests Ford's Plans for Cars (AP) AP - Greenpeace activists scaled the walls of Ford Motor Co.'s Norwegian headquarters Tuesday to protest plans to destroy hundreds of non-polluting electric cars.$LABEL$0
Online Music Goes Back to School (washingtonpost.com) washingtonpost.com - In this era of high-speed Internet access, the back-to-school season features college students streaming back into their broadband-wired dormitory rooms, booting up their computers and letting gigabytes of digital tunes flow like a waterfall -- and for many students, the question of whether the downloading violates copyright laws plays second fiddle. However, a legal, affordable alternative has a chance to thrive in this potentially huge market, or at least that's what the digital music business and the universities are hoping.$LABEL$3
EDS to Pay #36;50M to Extend Opsware Deal (AP) AP - Electronic Data Systems Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to pay #36;50 million to extend an agreement with Opsware Inc. for software used in running data centers.$LABEL$3
National Commerce, Stockholders Settle NEW YORK (Reuters) - National Commerce Financial Corp.<A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=NCF.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">NCF.N</A> said on Tuesday it agreed to settle previously disclosed shareholder class-action lawsuits challenging its proposed merger with SunTrust Banks, Inc.<A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=STI.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">STI.N</A>.$LABEL$2
New York Jets Sign Quincy Carter HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Quarterback Quincy Carter signed with the New York Jets on Tuesday, three weeks after his surprising release by Dallas...$LABEL$0
Abuse Judge Forcing Intelligence Testimony MANNHEIM, Germany - The U.S. military judge hearing the Abu Ghraib abuse said Tuesday that prosecutors have until Sept...$LABEL$0
Kodak buying National Semi #39;s image sensor business Eastman Kodak Co. says it #39;s agreed to buy the Imaging business of National Semiconductor Corp., which develops and manufactures complimentary metal oxide semiconductor image sensor devices.$LABEL$2
National Semiconductor to Sell Imaging Unit National Semiconductor Corp. said Monday it agreed to sell its imaging business, which makes chips used in small cameras and cell phones, to camera giant Eastman Kodak Co., as it focuses on its main business of making analog chips.$LABEL$3
Briefly: EDS extends Opsware contract roundup Plus: AOL signs up for Omniture traffic tool...Friendster hires ex-AOL ad exec...HP inks deal with energy firm.$LABEL$3
Shell settles with SEC for \$120 mln DALLAS (CBS.MW) -- Royal Dutch/Shell Group will pay a \$120 million penalty to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of its overstatement of nearly 4.5 billion barrels of proven reserves, the federal agency said Tuesday.$LABEL$2
US Airways: More Turbulence Ahead? Attempting to ward off a second bankruptcy filing, management and pilots of US Airways (Nasdaq: UAIR) took discussions of concessions that might keep the airline afloat through this past weekend.$LABEL$2
Citigroup to buy First American Bank Citigroup of New York said Tuesday it will acquire First American Bank of Bryan, Texas. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Citigroup #39;s earnings.$LABEL$2
Heinz Profit Rises, Shares Higher Ketchup maker HJ Heinz Co. (HNZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said quarterly profit rose 7.8 percent, excluding a year-earlier tax benefit, as demand for new products $LABEL$2
Northern Ireland #39;s only brewery to close BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Northern Ireland #39;s only brewery must close after a suitable buyer failed to come forward, its Belgian owner Interbew announced Tuesday.$LABEL$2
Adelphia seeks \$3.2B from Rigases Bankrupt cable operator asks court to force payments, says family already admitted they owe money. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Adelphia Communications Corp.$LABEL$2
British Gas bills to rise The energy provider said household gas bills would rise by 12.4 per cent and electricity by 9.4 per cent from September 20. The company blamed the increases on the record price of wholesale gas, which also impacts on the cost of producing electricity.$LABEL$2
Cisco to acquire software developer P-Cube for \$200M AUGUST 24, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Cisco Systems Inc. said yesterday that it has agreed to acquire Sunnyvale, Calif., software developer P-Cube Inc.$LABEL$3
Windows XP SP2 Automatic Update due tomorrow Windows XP users with Automatic Update enabled will have a rather hefty download tomorrow (August 25), as Microsoft plans to release Service Pack 2 for Windows XP via Automatic Update.$LABEL$3
Indiana man charged with hacking into former employer #39;s systems AUGUST 24, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - A Columbus, Ind., man was charged yesterday in federal court with hacking into the systems of his Gloucester, Mass.$LABEL$3
Russian teenager wins cycling gold Russian teenager Mikhail Ignatyev gave his nation their first medal of the Olympic track cycling competition on Tuesday, winning gold in the men #39;s points race.$LABEL$1
Newcastle United Football Club back in for Rooney? Everton Football Club have rejected an offer of 20million from Newcastle United Football Club for Wayne Rooney - although they may return with an improved offer.$LABEL$1
The first Guantanamo trials are set to take place The historic military trials of four al Qaeda suspects are set to get under way at the US military base in Cuba. The Guantanamo Bay cases mark the first time military commissions have been held for more than 50 years.$LABEL$0
Eastern provinces prepare for typhoon The eye of typhoon Aere will move northwestward after sweeping past a sea area off Taipei and will hit East China coastal areas between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.$LABEL$0
Tehran Threatens To Retaliate If Israel Strikes Nuclear Facilities Iran has reiterated that it will retaliate if Israel carries out a preemptive strike against its nuclear program. The escalating war of words comes as a top US arms-control official has charged that Tehran $LABEL$0
Luddite <em>Reg</em> readers want flat weather, please <strong>Letters</strong> Oh, and don't be mean to spamvertised sites$LABEL$3
Russians Complain About Gymnastics Scoring (AP) AP - The Russian Olympic delegation joined the growing list of Olympic malcontents Tuesday, arguing that its two biggest stars got cheated in the gymnastics competition.$LABEL$1
Verizon, Qwest Ask Court to Block New FCC Rules (Reuters) Reuters - Verizon Communications Inc. and\Qwest Communications International Inc. asked a federal court\on Tuesday to block temporary rules by the U.S. Federal\Communications Commission forcing the companies to lease phone\lines to rivals for at least another six months.$LABEL$2
Quincy Carter Finds a Home with the Jets (Reuters) Reuters - The New York Jets\solved their backup quarterback problems by signing Quincy\Carter, who was recently released by the Dallas Cowboys. Terms\of the deal were not announced.$LABEL$1
Verizon, Qwest Ask Court to Block FCC WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=VZ.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">VZ.N</A> and Qwest Communications International Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=Q.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">Q.N</A> asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to block temporary rules by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission forcing the companies to lease phone lines to rivals for at least another six months.$LABEL$2
U.S. Blue Chips Near Flat; Verizon Weighs NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. blue chips were lower on Tuesday, as a drop in phone company Verizon Communications Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=VZ.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">VZ.N</A> overshadowed a brokerage upgrade on Caterpillar Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=CAT.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">CAT.N</A> and a three-session drop in oil prices.$LABEL$2
US Airways: More Turbulence Ahead? Management and pilots break off talks, making liquidation more likely.$LABEL$2
Typhoon Aere Menaces Taiwan, Markets Close (Reuters) Reuters - Strong winds and heavy rain from Typhoon\Aere pounded Taiwan on Tuesday, disrupting air and sea traffic\and forcing financial markets, schools and businesses in Taipei\and nearby counties to close.$LABEL$3
Heinz Squeezes Out Results Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) is probably one of the most efficiently run public companies and continues to quot;remove clutter quot; and quot;squeeze out cost quot; to improve cash management and balance sheet performance.$LABEL$2
DBCC says Philippines not in a fiscal crisis situation Malacaang allayed fears yesterday that the Philippines is on the brink of a financial crisis as it assured that the government is exerting its best efforts to bring down the widening $LABEL$2
UPDATE 1-Citigroup to acquire First American Bank of Texas Citigroup Inc. (CN: Quote, Profile, Research) the world #39;s largest financial services company, said on Tuesday it will acquire First American Bank in the quickly-growing Texas market.$LABEL$2
Belfast brewery to close after 107 years Northern Ireland #39;s only brewery is to close with the loss of up to 85 jobs after failing to find a buyer, its Belgian owner Interbrew says.$LABEL$2
National Commerce to Settle Suits National Commerce Financial Corp. said Tuesday that it agreed to settle shareholder lawsuits challenging SunTrust Banks Inc. #39;s proposed purchase of the financial services company.$LABEL$2
Kodak buys National Semis imaging business ROCHESTER, NYEastman Kodak will acquire the imaging business of National Semiconductor Corp., which develops and manufactures metal oxide semiconductor image sensor devices.$LABEL$2
Verizon, Qwest Ask Court to Block FCC Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Qwest Communications International Inc. (QN: Quote, Profile, Research) asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to block $LABEL$2
Paying an ARM and a Leg Shares of Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation ARM Holdings (Nasdaq: ARMHY) tumbled 19 on Monday in response to the company #39;s buyout offer initially valued at \$913 million $LABEL$2
Microsoft To Resume SP2 Auto Updating Wednesday Microsoft will resume rolling out Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Wednesday when it starts pushing the massive update to business users via Windows Automatic Update and the Windows Update Web site.$LABEL$3
Cingular to use AT amp;T brand six months after merger Cingular Wireless LLC, AT amp;T Wireless Services Inc. and AT amp;T Corp. reported an agreement resolving issues related to the use of the AT amp;T brand in connection with Cingulars pending acquisition of AWS, as $LABEL$3
Intel Cuts Prices in Preparation for New Product Line Intel is moving to reduce its chip inventory and make way for new products by deeply discounting some of its Pentium 4 and Itanium processors.$LABEL$3
T-Mobile Checks in at Red Roof T-Mobile Hotspot #39;s network of public venues with Wi-Fi is extensive and its partners are big names you #39;ve heard of(Starbucks, FedEx Kinko #39;s, Borders Books).$LABEL$3
Virtual Girlfriend Sven-Erik writes quot; BBC News reports about a Hong Kong based company called Artificial Life that has developed a solution for men without a partner, in the form of a virtual girlfriend that appear as an animated figure on the video screen of a mobile phone $LABEL$3
Gartner optimistic about chip numbers But that optimism isn #39;t matched by Infineon, which said that while the market worldwide remains buoyant, the US is a special case and cautioned that growth might not be as strong as it expected.$LABEL$3
Study: Apple, Dell lead PC customer satisfaction index The PC industry is doing a better job of satisfying its US customers than in recent years, and improvements to technical support seem to have done the trick, according to the $LABEL$3
SAP To Build New Human Resources System for US Postal Service The US Postal Service has awarded SAP a \$35 million contract to supply a new human-resources system. SAP has benefited from a series of big customer wins this year, showing strong revenue growth $LABEL$3
Backyard telescope helps find new planet With the help of a modified backyard telescope, astronomers have discovered a giant planet orbiting another star. It is the first extrasolar world found with such modest equipment.$LABEL$3
Upset Russians ask IOC to take long look at gymnastics The Russian Olympic delegation joined the growing list of Olympic malcontents Tuesday, arguing that its two biggest stars got cheated in the gymnastics competition.$LABEL$1
Italians brush off kidnapping threat Italy #39;s government insisted Tuesday it will keep its troops in Iraq despite a demand by militants holding an Italian journalist hostage that Italian forces pull out within 48 hours.$LABEL$0
Nepal rebels suspend blockade for a month Nepal #39;s Maoist rebels have temporarily called off a crippling economic blockade of the capital effective on Wednesday, saying the move was in response to popular appeals.$LABEL$0
Consumers set for huge bill rises British Gas have announced a large bill increase for its millions of customers. The energy giant said household gas bills would rise by 12.$LABEL$2
Briefly: Real touts one week, 1 million songs roundup Plus: Chipmaker Fujitsu prepares WiMax chip...EDS extends Opsware contract...AOL signs up for Omniture traffic tool.$LABEL$3
Minor Earthquake Shakes Athens; No Damage or Injuries A minor earthquake rattled Olympic venues in Athens Tuesday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage. The tremor was measured at 4.5 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter about 70 kilometers northeast of the Greek capital, under the Aegean Sea.$LABEL$1
Carter - joined the Jets. (Getty Images) Less than three weeks after being released by the Dallas Cowboys, quarterback Quincy Carter has landed with the New York Jets. Carter arrived in New York on Tuesday and signed a one-year contract.$LABEL$1
Uncle Bobby speaks out on Rooney Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson has insisted his club #39;s interest in Wayne Rooney is genuine amid talk of conspiracy theories. The 71-year-old confirmed for the first time that United are chasing the teenager #39;s $LABEL$1
Chipmaker Fujitsu prepares WiMax chip Company preps single chip WiMax compliant part for use in wireless broadband gear.$LABEL$3
HP puts choke hold on virus throttling product After unveiling cutting-edge technology for choking off the spread of viruses in March, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) is quietly shelving the project, citing conflicts with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system, a company executive said.$LABEL$3
Study: Apple, Dell lead PC customer satisfaction index The PC industry is doing a better job of satisfying its U.S. customers than in recent years, and improvements to technical support seem to have done the trick, according to the results of a study released Tuesday by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.$LABEL$3
Calif. Wins at Little League World Series (AP) AP - Jordan Brower struck out eight batters and knocked in the winning run to lead Thousand Oaks, Calif., into the United States semifinals with a 3-1 win over Lincoln, R.I., at the Little League World Series on Tuesday.$LABEL$1
Oil Prices Fall to \$45 as Iraq Oil Flows LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell sharply to \$45 on Tuesday, extending losses to a third day as a more optimistic Iraq export picture helped unwind some of the supply worries that have lifted the market to historic levels.$LABEL$2
Verizon, Qwest Ask Court to Block New FCC Rules WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. asked a federal court on Tuesday to block temporary rules by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission forcing the companies to lease phone lines to rivals for at least another six months.$LABEL$2
Blue Chips Near Flat; Verizon Weighs NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. blue chips were lower on Tuesday, as a drop in phone company Verizon Communications Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=VZ.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">VZ.N</A> overshadowed a brokerage upgrade on Caterpillar Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=CAT.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">CAT.N</A> and a three-session drop in oil prices.$LABEL$2
Check Ears Before You Pick a Fight, Study Advises (Reuters) Reuters - It may be wise to check out a\stranger's ears before picking a fight, U.S. researchers\advised on Monday.$LABEL$3
Scientists to Flesh Out George Washington's Appearance (Reuters) Reuters - Americans know George\Washington as the dour founding father with white hair and\ponytail depicted on U.S. currency, but most people have little\idea what the nation's first president really looked like\beyond this stock image.$LABEL$3
Poultry Producer's Stock Falls 23 Percent NEW YORK (Reuters) - Poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=SAFM.O target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">SAFM.O</A> on Tuesday said it is being hurt by lower wholesale prices and higher grain costs in the current quarter, sparking a 23 percent drop in its stock and pulling down shares of its rivals.$LABEL$2
Dollar Climbs, But Real Money on Sideline NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar was mostly stronger across the board on Tuesday as dealers pared back bets against the currency in predominantly technical trading.$LABEL$2
Botswana firm 'dismisses' workers Botswanan diamond mining firm Debswana dismisses workers who took part in an illegal strike, agency reports say.$LABEL$2
Italian troops 'to stay in Iraq' Italy says it has no intention of withdrawing its troops from Iraq despite the demands of kidnappers who seized an Italian journalist.$LABEL$0
Shell Settles Oil Reserve Fraud Case for \$150.7 Million Shell agreed today to finalized settlements with U.S. and UK regulators over its mis-statement of proven oil reserves.$LABEL$2
U.S. Sprinters Take Aim at 200M Semifinals ATHENS, Greece - Three Americans, including 100-meter gold medalist Justin Gatlin, will attempt to advance to the semifinals in the 200 meters Tuesday when action resumes on the Olympic Stadium track at 1 p.m. EDT...$LABEL$0
Ad spending predicted to rise Fueled by optimism for a growing US economy, two advertising forecasters yesterday predicted notable gains for the industry next year, despite the absence of the presidential $LABEL$2
PUTIN ON RUSSIAN-BELARUSSIAN COMPROMISE IN GAS PRICES Russia and Belarus achieved compromise and settled the gas pricing problem, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a joint press conference with his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.$LABEL$2
AT amp;T Cell-Phone Brand Will Live On The enterprise customers doing cell-phone business with the confusing mix of AT amp;T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, and AT amp;T now have a future roadmap, after the three companies $LABEL$3
Vonage, NETGEAR to Offer VoIP/WLAN Devices Vonage has teamed with NETGEAR Inc. to develop a suite of broadband telephony devices incorporating the latest version of Texas Instruments #39; VoIP and WLAN chipsets.$LABEL$3
Olympic Results: Tuesday, August 24 Australia has pulled off an upset win in the Olympic baseball semi-final, defeating gold medal favorite Japan, 1-0. Two Australian pitchers shut down Japan #39;s all-professional lineup Tuesday while Aussie first $LABEL$1
Saints behaviour unacceptable: Barnwell Southampton have been told it was quot;unacceptable quot; they parted company with manager Paul Sturrock after just two games into the Barclays Premiership season.$LABEL$1
Rangers seek Champions League riches against CSKA Moscow Rangers can reduce their grim 68 million pound (\$123 million) debt by beating CSKA Moscow in Wednesday #39;s final Champions League qualifier but manager Alex McLeish $LABEL$1
Jets end not subject to suspension New York Jets defensive end John Abraham, alleged to have violated the terms of his aftercare treatment, will meet with league officials Wednesday to appeal the findings of a recent random test.$LABEL$1
Bali bomb conspirator escapes punishment for the crime One of the key members of the Bali bomb conspiracy, Idris, has escaped punishment for the crime. Indonesia correspondent Tim Palmer reports, the man confessed to his involvement in the Bali bombing, but the $LABEL$0
Verizon, Qwest Ask Court to Block Rules Verizon and Qwest asked a federal court to block temporary rules forcing the companies to lease phone lines to rivals for at least another six months. <FONT face=""verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica"" size=""-2"" color=""#666666""><B>-Reuters</B></FONT>$LABEL$3
Fosters restructure proves costly Australia #39;s largest beer and wine company, Foster #39;s Group, said its second-half net profit fell 72 per cent on costs to restructure its wine business, and forecast modest growth for 2005.$LABEL$2
Internets Google goes public After a series of missteps, Google finally pulled off its much-hyped initial public offering last week. The good news about this unusual IPO, which sought to deprive Wall Street banks of full control over $LABEL$2
UK Regulator Calls Shell Misconduct Unprecedented #39; (Update2) UK regulators said Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe #39;s second-largest oil company, was guilty of unprecedented misconduct #39; #39; in overstating reserves that led to fines of \$151.$LABEL$2
Markets lower as falling price for oil and BMO earnings fail to <b>...</b> TORONTO (CP) - A strong profit report from the Bank of Montreal and a lower price for oil weren #39;t enough to spark buying interest as North American stock markets edged lower Tuesday.$LABEL$2
UPDATE 4-Sanderson warns on prices, costs, 3rd-qtr net up Poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc. (SAFM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it is being hurt by lower wholesale prices and higher grain costs in the $LABEL$2
She Loves You; well, Virtually Hong Kong-based phone technology firm, Artificial Life, has announced the upcoming release of its new 3G game Virtual Girlfriend. Virtual Girlfriend is a mobile phone game that is based on intelligent animated $LABEL$3
Microsoft leaves UN industry group Microsoft has followed a European company in withdrawing from a UN software standards group for commerce. Known as the United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic $LABEL$3
Gold medalist Noguchi pondering future ATHENS - While world record holder Paula Radcliffe is still picking up the pieces after burning out in the women #39;s marathon at Athens Olympics, gold medal winner Mizuki Noguchi is simply basking in the glory and pondering her next move.$LABEL$1
Australian rowers reprimanded ATHENS: The Australian Olympic women #39;s eight have been reprimanded for a breach of team protocol over an ugly war of words between crew members after one quit rowing three quarters of the way through the Olympic final.$LABEL$1
Italian troops #39;to stay in Iraq #39; Italy says it has no intention of withdrawing its 3,000 troops from Iraq in the face of demands from kidnappers who have seized an Italian journalist.$LABEL$0
Locusts invade ""Passion of Christ"" town (Reuters) Reuters - It seemed like an invasion of Biblical proportions in the Italian town of Matera, the outdoor setting for Mel Gibson's film\""The Passion of The Christ"".$LABEL$0
Afghans to Free 400 Pakistani Prisoners (AP) AP - Afghan President Hamid Karzai promised Tuesday to repatriate 400 Pakistani prisoners who fought with the former ruling Taliban regime and have been held in Afghan jails since 2001, a Pakistani official said.$LABEL$0
Oil Prices Fall to \$45 as Iraq Oil Flows LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than a dollar to \$45 on Tuesday, in a third day of losses as a more optimistic Iraq export picture helped unwind some of the supply worries that have lifted the market to historic levels.$LABEL$2
Jets Sign Quincy Carter Quarterback Quincy Carter signed with the Jets on Tuesday, three weeks after his surprising release by Dallas.$LABEL$1
Treasuries Slip on Lower Crude Oil CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices fell for a third session on Tuesday as oil prices simmered down and dealers became convinced of future Federal Reserve rate hikes after upbeat comments by Fed Governor Ben Bernanke.$LABEL$2
United Adds Fee for Frequent-Flier Phone Bookings United Airlines is adding a \$15 fee for booking frequent-flier trips by telephone.$LABEL$2
Rulon Gardner Wins First Two Matches ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Rulon Gardner won two pool matches Tuesday, his first in the Olympics since his monumental gold-medal upset of Russia's supposedly unbeatable Alexander Karelin in Sydney, to move within one victory of reaching the Greco-Roman wrestling semifinals at 264 1/2 pounds (120kg).$LABEL$0
Polish Cops Bust 100-Member Computer Piracy Gang WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish police have broken up a gang of more than 100 hackers who sold pirated music and films, using academic computer systems around the world to store their wares, a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Amazon lists PlayStation 3 Retailer's Japanese arm posts product page for hotly anticipated game console.$LABEL$3
Bank Shares Higher As M amp;A Hits Market Financial stocks got a lift Tuesday as speculation about merger and acquisition activity was injected into the market after Citigroup Inc.$LABEL$2
US Home Sales Slow In July Home sales slowed in the Untied States in July, but experts say they still moved at a healthy pace. Tuesday #39;s report from a business group (the National Association of Realtors) says sales of previously-owned homes dropped 2.9 percent in July.$LABEL$2
Group urges EPA to cut pollution If the government required deeper cuts in air pollution from power plants, at least 3,000 lives would be saved and 140,000 children would avoid asthma and other respiratory ailments, an environmental group said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
International hacker ring busted p2pnet.net News:- A large international network of hackers who stole computer programmes, films and music and then sold them on the black market has been broken up by Polish police.$LABEL$3
Argentina beat Italy for place in football final Favourites Argentina beat Italy 3-0 this morning to claim their place in the final of the men #39;s Olympic football tournament. Goals by leading goalscorer Carlos Tevez, with a smart volley after 16 minutes, and $LABEL$1
Katie Smith tears cartilage; disappointment for Serbia amp; <b>...</b> Athens, Greece (Sports Network) - US women #39;s basketball player Katie Smith will miss the remainder of the Olympics after an MRI exam revealed torn cartilage in her right knee.$LABEL$1
Argos #39; Bishop grabs weekly CFL award CBC SPORTS ONLINE - Toronto fans weren #39;t the only people who took notice of quarterback Michael Bishop #39;s first start of the season.$LABEL$1
Study: Apple, Dell lead PC customer satisfaction index (MacCentral) MacCentral - The PC industry is doing a better job of satisfying its U.S. customers than in recent years, and improvements to technical support seem to have done the trick, according to the results of a study released Tuesday by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.$LABEL$3
Karzai declares Afghanistan and Pakistan ""brothers in fighting terror"" (AFP) AFP - Pakistan and Afghanistan have reaffirmed they are partners in fighting terrorism, Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared at the end of a two-day visit.$LABEL$0
Citigroup to Acquire First American Bank NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=C.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">C.N</A> the world's largest financial services company, said on Tuesday it will acquire First American Bank in the quickly-growing Texas market.$LABEL$2
Short Ride to Disaster Selling stocks short is a very, very risky move that shouldn't be attempted by new investors.$LABEL$2
Khan guarantees medal British lightweight Amir Khan beats South Korean Baik Jong-sub to secure at least a bronze medal.$LABEL$1
Holmes on course for double Britain's Kelly Holmes stays on track for a medal double as she qualifies for the 1500m semi-finals.$LABEL$1
Najaf's Residents Feel Trapped in Battle (AP) AP - For nearly three weeks, Amer al-Jamali hasn't been able to go to work. He cannot visit his father, find medication for his diabetic children or even sleep on his roof to escape the city's suffocating heat made worse by power outages.$LABEL$0
China braces for Typhoon Aere after seven feared dead in Taiwan, Japan (AFP) AFP - Typhoon Aere pounded northern Taiwan with heavy rain and powerful winds triggering landslides and causing widespread disruption to transport, and leaving at least seven people feared dead.$LABEL$0
Web Scribe Ranks Olympic Last-Place Losers (Reuters) Reuters - For those who believe the adage ""all\Olympic athletes are winners,"" a Canadian man has dedicated the\past 10 days to proving you wrong.$LABEL$3
RealNetworks Sells 1 Million Songs Since Price Cut (Reuters) Reuters - RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK.O) has sold\more than a million song downloads since launching a 49 cent\per song campaign a week ago, the Internet media and software\company said on Tuesday.$LABEL$3
UPDATE 4-Possis tumbles after disappointing heart trial Shares of Possis Medical Inc. (POSS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) tumbled as much as 41 percent on Tuesday after the company cut its earnings outlook due to $LABEL$2
Russia, Belarus set new deadline for common currency Sochi. (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko announced they have set a new deadline - January 1, 2006 - for the introduction of a common currency in their nations.$LABEL$2
85 jobs to go with closure of Belfast brewery A brewery in west Belfast which produces Bass beer is to close in January with the loss of up to 85 jobs. It will bring to an end 107 years of brewing at Ulster Brewery on Glen Road.$LABEL$2
RealNetworks Sells 1 Million Songs Since Price Cut RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK.O: Quote, Profile, Research) has sold more than a million song downloads since launching a 49 cent per song campaign a week ago, the Internet media and software company said on Tuesday.$LABEL$2
Cingular, AT amp;T Reach Branding Agreement It #39;s official. Cingular Wireless may continue to use the AT amp;T Wireless brand in its advertising, at least in the short term, following its planned merger with the carrier.$LABEL$3
Of Marathon Mice And Fat Men NEW YORK - By attacking the same basic biology drug companies are targeting for new anti-fat drugs, researchers have genetically engineered mice with abilities far beyond those of normal rodents.$LABEL$3
Gartner: Chip revenue to see steady growth Worldwide semiconductor revenue is expected to rise by over 27 percent during 2004, according to a new report. Revenue this year will reach \$226 billion, market research company Gartner said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
T-Mobile, Colubris Land Wi-Fi Hotel Deals T-Mobile USA has inked a deal to deliver Wi-Fi access to Accor Hotels #39; Red Roof Inns. Separately, Colubris Networks has been tapped by i-Hotel International to help it deliver high-speed wireless access to hotels across Canada.$LABEL$3
Hadash Party joins prisoners #39; strike for 24 hours The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality Party (Hadash) is organizing a 24-hour hunger strike on Wednesday at a protest tent being set up at the Umm el-Fahm junction in solidarity with Palestinian security prisoners.$LABEL$3
Wi-Fi Adapters Turn Inward Those wireless LAN cards that insert into a laptop, Tablet PC or PDA have just gone on the endangered species list, according to a new report published this week.$LABEL$3
McPeak collects elusive Olympic medal ATHENS - Holly McPeak finally won the Olympics medal that has eluded her for so long, teaming with Elaine Youngs to win a bronze medal for the United States in beach volleyball Tuesday night.$LABEL$1
Discus Champion Thrown Out of Games Hungarian Olympic discus champion Robert Fazekas will lose his gold medal and be expelled from the Games after breaking doping rules, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Tuesday.$LABEL$1
American Decathlete Clay Currently in Third World record holder Roman Sebrle moved ominously close to Dmitriy Karpov with just two disciplines remaining in the Olympic decathlon Tuesday.$LABEL$1
Jets sign Quincy Carter Quarterback Quincy Carter signed with the New York Jets on Tuesday, three weeks after his surprising release by Dallas. Carter, who started every game for the Cowboys last season, was released Aug. 4, before the team #39;s first exhibition game.$LABEL$1
Father and son collect consecutive holes-in-one as partners in <b>...</b> Tradition goes that if you #39;re lucky enough to shoot a hole-in-one, then you buy the drinks back at the clubhouse. Steve Percassi, 57, and his 28-year-old son, Steve Jr.$LABEL$1
Chechen Government: 12 Militants Killed Chechnya #39;s Kremlin-backed government says its forces have killed 12 militants in the latest clashes in the breakaway republic.$LABEL$0
IRAQ VIOLANTE DO NOT SURRENDER TO TERROR BLACKMAIL (AGI) Rome, Italy, Aug 24 The president of the Left Democrat MPs, Luciano Violante, speaking of the abduction of the Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni in Iraq said that it was necessary not to surrender to the blackmail of terrorists.$LABEL$0
BIG HIKE IN ENERGY BILLS The company says the record price of wholesale gas, which also effects the cost of electricity, is to blame. A spokesman said the increases would add an extra 7p a day to electricity bills.$LABEL$2
Putin Says Belarus Gas Spat Is Over President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia and Belarus have put a sharp dispute over natural gas deliveries behind them and that there are no obstacles to good relations.$LABEL$2
Vonage Teams With Netgear on VoIP Tech According to a June 2004 report by industry research firm In-Stat/MDR, more than 10 percent of all broadband subscribers will use broadband IP telephony by the end of 2008.$LABEL$3
Iraqi ministers escape attacks BAGHDAD (BBC)-- Two Iraqi interim government ministers have survived apparent assassination attempts in the capital Baghdad. Convoys carrying the environment and education ministers were attacked on their way to offices in the city.$LABEL$0
Blue Chips Nudge Ahead, Oil Eases NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. blue chips were little changed on Tuesday as an upgrade on Caterpillar Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=CAT.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">CAT.N</A> and a three-session drop in oil prices offset weakness in technology shares.$LABEL$2
U.S. Takes the Bronze in Women's Beach Volleyball ATHENS (Reuters) - Americans Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs beat an injured Natalie Cook and partner Nicole Sanderson of Australia to claim the bronze medal in the Olympic women's beach volleyball competition Tuesday.$LABEL$1
German Officials' Growth Outlook Better (AP) AP - German finance professionals grew less pessimistic about the country's economic growth outlook, but remain concerned that the euro's record highs against the U.S. dollar will weigh on exports, a monthly survey showed Tuesday.$LABEL$2
Twenty Schools Sign Up for Legal Song Downloads WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. colleges and universities are increasingly giving students free access to download services like Roxio Inc.'s Napster to discourage illegal song copying, the recording industry said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Bin Laden Driver Charged at Guantanamo GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Osama bin Laden's chauffeur was formally charged Tuesday in the first U.S. military tribunal since World War II, appearing at a pretrial hearing where his lawyer challenged the process as unfair...$LABEL$0
Eclipse to consider open-source data reporting Business intelligence software company Actuate proposes an open-source Java-based reporting tools.$LABEL$3
Gartner: Chip revenue to see steady growth At the same time, an increase in inventory is making chip vendors and distributors worried.$LABEL$3
AMD chips edge ahead of Intel Figures from ZDNet Germany labs indicate that AMD's fastest chips outpace those of Intel for mainstream applications.$LABEL$3
Nokia to offer encryption tool The handset maker is teaming up with a Swedish security company to offer encryption software for some of its phones.$LABEL$3
Colgate to Cut 12 Percent of Work Force (Reuters) Reuters - Colgate-Palmolive Co. said on\Tuesday it would cut about 12 percent of its 37,000-person work\force as part of a four-year restructuring plan for which it\anticipates after-tax charges of #36;550 million to #36;650 million.$LABEL$2
PluggedIn: Lost? Your Phone Knows a Way Out (Reuters) Reuters - Back when everyone\believed the world was flat, people thought these rocky shores\on Spain's windswept ""coast of death"" were the end of the\world. In today's world, you only need a mobile phone to get\there ... and back.$LABEL$3
Polish Cops Bust 100-Member Computer Piracy Gang (Reuters) Reuters - Polish police have broken up a gang of\more than 100 hackers who sold pirated music and films, using\academic computer systems around the world to store their\wares, a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Twenty Schools Sign Up for Legal Song Downloads (Reuters) Reuters - U.S. colleges and universities are\increasingly giving students free access to download services\like Roxio Inc.'s Napster to discourage illegal song copying,\the recording industry said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Blue Chips Are Flat, Caterpillar Gains NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. blue chips were little changed on Tuesday as an upgrade on Caterpillar Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=CAT.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">CAT.N</A> and a three-session drop in oil prices offset weakness in technology shares.$LABEL$2
Trial Letdown Hits Possis Medical Disappointing trial data regarding the AngioJet catheter takes a 38 bite out of Possis Medical's stock.$LABEL$2
Colleges Rally Against Music Piracy The nation's colleges and universities are taking more aggressive steps to curb rampant Internet music piracy, according to a report released today. <FONT face=""verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica"" size=""-2"" color=""#666666""><B>-washingtonpost.com</B></FONT>$LABEL$3
Stocks to Watch Tuesday (Reuters) Reuters - Stocks to watch on Tuesday: JOHNSON \JOHNSON , GUIDANT CORP.$LABEL$2
HP Shelves Virus Throttler Security service was discontinued because of compatibility problems with Windows.$LABEL$3
A missed chance RBI could rue OIL continues to set new records by the day. Last Friday, it was in whispering distance of \$50 a barrel as Iraq and the woes of the giant Russian producer, Yukos, kept markets on tenterhooks.$LABEL$2
Shell Shocked? Long-suffering investors in Royal Dutch Petroleum (NYSE: RD) and Shell Transport (NYSE: SC) likely spent the day wondering whether this morning #39;s news might finally clear the air.$LABEL$2
Trial Letdown Hits Possis Medical Shares of device maker Possis Medical (Nasdaq: POSS) are down 38 to \$19.20 after the company cut its fiscal 2005 earnings outlook after a trial involving its AngioJet blood clot treatment yielded disappointing results.$LABEL$2
Sumitomo puts \$29 bn takeover bid for UFJ Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Japans second largest bank, today put forward a 3,200 billion (\$29 billion) takeover bid for United Financial Group (UFJ), the countrys fourth biggest lender, in an effort to regain initiative in its bidding $LABEL$2
Japan Tobacco #39;s Canadian Unit Files for Bankruptcy Protection Japan Tobacco Inc. #39;s Canadian unit, JTI-Macdonald, filed for bankruptcy protection after the Quebec government sued it for C\$1.$LABEL$2
Cognos Makes \$52.2 Million Offer for Frango Business-software maker Cognos will buy Swedish financial-reporting software company Frango for \$52.2 million. Cognos says the acquisition will strengthen its portfolio of corporate performance $LABEL$2
Cisco Systems Acquires P-Cube P-Cube develops service control platforms, which help service providers identify subscribers, classify applications, improve service performance and charge for multiple services without costly infrastructure upgrades, Cisco said.$LABEL$3
OMB Names Timothy Young As No. 2 IT Exec As associate administrator for E-government and IT, he #39;s being assigned to identify, develop, and implement the government #39;s E-government priorities.$LABEL$3
Apple tops US consumer satisfaction Recent data published by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows Apple leading the consumer computer industry with the the highest customer satisfaction.$LABEL$3
Rangers coach calls on fans to back spurned Australian Olympian Rangers coach Alex McLeish has called on fans to back the likely return of Australian Olympian Craig Moore for the crucial Champions league return leg against CSKA Moscow here.$LABEL$1
Noguchi looks back quot;I really feel its weight, quot; Noguchi said. quot;Every time I look at it, my eyes well up in tears. I want to show it to all the people who made it possible.$LABEL$1
NBA stars face formidable challengers Winning a gold medal would ease the sting of two Olympic qualifying defeats for the United States team of NBA stars. But their path to defending the throne is a rocky one, with unbeaten Spain coming up first $LABEL$1
Italy upsets Americans in semifinals US women #39;s water polo coach Guy Baker was seething so much about an unusual call that he could barely speak. His world champion squad was too quot;crushed quot; to explain what happened.$LABEL$1
UPDATE 1-Argentina outplay Italy to secure easy passage Favourites Argentina swept Italy aside on Tuesday to march into the final of the Olympic Games soccer tournament without having conceded a goal in five games.$LABEL$1
Karzai declares Afghanistan and Pakistan quot;brothers in fighting <b>...</b> ISLAMABAD : Pakistan and Afghanistan have reaffirmed they are partners in fighting terrorism, Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared at the end of a two-day visit.$LABEL$0
S P Lifts Calif. Bond Rating 3 Notches (Reuters) Reuters - Standard Poor's Ratings\Services on Tuesday raised its general obligation bond rating\on California to 'A' from 'BBB,' citing an easing of the Golden\State's cash crunch.$LABEL$2
Colleges Rally Against Music Piracy (washingtonpost.com) washingtonpost.com - Colleges and universities across the country are taking new steps to fight rampant Internet music piracy by beefing up their education efforts, offering legal music downloading options and stiffening penalties for illegal file sharing, according to a report released today.$LABEL$3
Intel Cuts Prices in Preparation for New Product Line (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - Intel has slashed prices by up to 35 percent on some of its \Pentium 4 and Itanium processors, bringing down the costs of some desktop and notebook computers by as much as #36;200.$LABEL$3
Gateway Adds Micro Center to Its Distribution Channel (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - Gateway has added another marquee name to the roster of retailers that sell its line of personal computers and other products: Micro Center. Gateway's new line of notebooks, desktops and monitors are now available at the retailer's 20 stores nationwide, says a corporate statement.$LABEL$2
Whale trapped at N.S. power plant after swimming through sluice gates (Canadian Press) Canadian Press - ANNAPOLIS ROYAL, N.S. (CP) - A hydroelectric plant in Nova Scotia remained shut down Tuesday after a wayward whale swam through the underwater gates that connect the facility with the Bay of Fundy.$LABEL$0
Product Review: IBM ThinkPad X40 (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - The ultra-portable sector of the notebook industry over the last few years has become a showcase for the engineering prowess of the world's largest computer companies.$LABEL$3
A Golden Moment for Misty May and Kerri Walsh ATHENS (Reuters) - Americans Misty May and Kerri Walsh finished off their Olympic beach volleyball competition with a perfect record and a gold medal after beating Brazil in straight sets in the final match Tuesday.$LABEL$1
Ex-Member of Kerry Legal Team Arraigned (AP) AP - A former member of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's legal team pleaded innocent Tuesday to a charge of soliciting a prostitute.$LABEL$0
JTI-Macdonald Files for Court Protection VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Japan Tobacco's <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=2914.T target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">2914.T</A> JTI-Macdonald Corp. unit filed for court protection from creditors on Tuesday in a fight with Quebec tax officials, who have accused the firm of smuggling to avoid more than \$1 billion in taxes.$LABEL$2
S P Lifts Calif. Bond Rating 3 Notches SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Standard Poor's Ratings Services on Tuesday raised its general obligation bond rating on California to 'A' from 'BBB,' citing an easing of the Golden State's cash crunch.$LABEL$2
Iraq Forces Advance on Najaf Shrine, Battle Rages NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces tightened their grip on the streets around a sacred shrine in Najaf Tuesday after the government warned Shi'ite rebels inside they would be killed if they did not surrender.$LABEL$0
Oil Prices Fall to \$45 as Iraq Oil Flows Oil prices dropped sharply today, extending losses to a third day as a more optimistic Iraq export picture helped partly unwind some supply worries.$LABEL$2
Food Prices Up As India Strike Continues Prices for food and essential commodities spiraled upward Tuesday as thousands of truck drivers in India ignored a government appeal to call off a four-day-old nationwide strike.$LABEL$2
Failed European first Mars probe, Beagle 2, still a mystery Scientists are no closer to discovering what happened to the ill-fated space probe Beagle 2, which vanished while attempting to land on Mars, according to an investigation released Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Global chip sales to increase 27 percent in 2004: study Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to reach 226 billion US dollars in 2004, a 27.4 percent increase from 2003 revenues, according to the latest quarterly update released Tuesday by Gartner.$LABEL$3
Pay heed to domestic market, IT firms told Indian software companies, which have been busy conquering the world and neglecting their backyard, should not continue doing so. This is because the domestic market is going to grow into a huge opportunity $LABEL$3
EDS Signs With Opsware, Again Global IT services powerhouse EDS extended it contract with Opsware (Quote, Chart) for data center automation software and services, the company said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Nokia to offer encryption tool Nokia plans to work with Swedish security company Pointsec Mobile Technologies to develop an encryption tool for high-end phones, the companies said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Highlights from NBC #39;s Olympic coverage, and a look ahead HIGHLIGHT: Gymnastics team Al Trautwig and Tim Daggett #39;s superb job on the audience #39;s protest of Alexei Nemov #39;s score on the high bars.$LABEL$1
Italy #39;s military presence in Iraq will continue despite abduction Italy will do whatever is possible to secure the release of an Italian freelance journalist kidnapped byIraqi insurgents, but will not bow to demands to withdraw its troops, the Italian government said Tuesday.$LABEL$0
Typhoon Aere Lashes Taiwan #39;s Capital Typhoon Aere battered northern Taiwan on Tuesday with howling winds and sheets of rain that grounded flights, shut down financial markets and triggered mudslides on the densely populated island.$LABEL$0
Execs upbeat on IT spending Amid mixed indications of software industry's health, polled tech execs predict spending rise.$LABEL$3
AMD desktop chips edge ahead of Intel Figures from ZDNet Germany labs show AMD's fastest chips outpacing its rival's for mainstream applications.$LABEL$3
Vonage connects with Linksys, Netgear on VoIP Vonage teams with Wi-Fi equipment makers Linksys and Netgear on voice over Internet Protocol.$LABEL$3
Adelphia Wants Rigas Family to Repay Billions WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) -- Adelphia Communications wants its founder to pay more than \$3 billion the cable company says it #39;s owed.$LABEL$2
Challenges Face Mideast Leaders (CBS/AP) Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday that he would push ahead with a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip despite a stinging setback to the plan from his Likud Party.$LABEL$0
Shell Settles Corporate Fraud Charges for \$120 Million Royal Dutch/Shell, one of the world #39;s largest oil companies, agreed yesterday to pay \$120 million in penalties to settle charges of corporate fraud with the Securities and Exchange Commission for overstating its oil reserves.$LABEL$2
TD, Banknorth in Talks on Possible Deal Canada #39;s Toronto Dominion Bank (TD.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday that it is in talks with US-based Banknorth Group (BNK.$LABEL$2
Update 4: Kuwait Foreign Minister Discusses Oil Kuwait #39;s foreign minister said Wednesday that Middle East oil exporters are producing at maximum capacity to stabilize prices that are being driven up by speculators from outside the region.$LABEL$2
Japan #39;s banking revival starts with a cleanup quot;Revival starts with a cleanup, quot; said post-World War II finance minister Juichi Tsushima on August 17, 1945. And a convoluted cleanup in Japan #39;s banking business is what is under way today.$LABEL$2
EU will probe Microsoft, Time Warner buy European antitrust regulators have announced they will conduct an in-depth investigation into a plan by Microsoft and Time Warner to acquire digital rights management company ContentGuard, a move that #39;s seen as a setback for the deal.$LABEL$2
Toll Brothers profit jumps 56 percent NEW YORK - Toll Brothers Inc., a US builder of luxury homes, said on Wednesday third-quarter profit rose 56 percent, easily beating analysts forecasts, helped by record home-building revenue.$LABEL$2
Durable Goods Orders Rise on Plane Demand Orders for US durable goods -- items meant to last at least three years -- posted a larger-than-expected rise in July, boosted by an increase in demand for passenger $LABEL$2
HHG buoyed by return to profits British insurer and fund manager HHG was back in the black at the half-year stage today as it recovered from losses of 902m (1.$LABEL$2
ATA says its not leaving Midway Airport INDIANAPOLIS ATA Airlines is denying reports that it wants to sell its gates at Chicago #39;s Midway Airport. The Indianapolis-based airline released a brief statement from chairman J-George Mikelsons, saying $LABEL$2
Stocks to Open Higher, Oil Still Focus US stocks are expected to open modestly higher Wednesday, as oil prices remain center stage but thin summer volumes are likely to continue.$LABEL$2
Microsoft announces SP2 support for Singapore users The days of piece-meal patching and shipped updates are over as Microsoft Singapore urged users to take advantage of the Automatic Updates feature in Windows XP to upgrade to Service Pack 2 (SP2).$LABEL$3
UT club has dreams of a mission to the red planet and a small but determined group of engineering graduate students is organizing to get the word out. Members of the campus chapter of $LABEL$3
NTT DoCoMo, Motorola Strike Phone Deal NTT DoCoMo, Japan #39;s top mobile-phone carrier, and Motorola Inc., the world #39;s No. 2 cell-phone maker, plan to develop a next-generation mobile phone that subscribers in Japan can also use while traveling in $LABEL$3
Semiconductor sales booming in 2004 Worldwide semiconductor sales will reach \$226bn in 2004, a 27.4 per cent increase from 2003, according to the latest prediction from Gartner.$LABEL$3
New RealPlayer Software Manages Media From Different Stores <b>...</b> Harmony, which is incorporated in version 10.5 (and will also be in the next version of the RealRhapsody music service), allows the player to manage Digital Rights Management (DRM)-protected $LABEL$3
Aussie teacher quits after web threats AN AUSSIE teacher has quit after 35 years after his students threatened him on a web page. Greg Frawley was one of about 10 teachers threatened on the page set up by students at Hurlstone Agricultural High School.$LABEL$3
Yahoo! loses US appeal over French ruling on Nazi auctions Yahoo! has lost an appeal against a US district courts ruling which said that the company does not have to obey a French courts decision requiring it to block French citizens from accessing internet auctions of Nazi memorabilia at Yahoo!$LABEL$3
Cisco boosts carrier offerings with P-Cube buy Cisco Systems has confirmed that it is to spend \$200m to acquire privately held P-Cube, a California-based developer of internet protocol (IP) service control platforms.$LABEL$3
Microsoft pulls out of standards group over intellectual property <b>...</b> Microsoft has pulled out of an international standards body because of concerns over control of intellectual property contributed to the group.$LABEL$3
US tops the spam league The US is the originator of over 42 of the worlds unsolicited commercial e-mail, making it the worst offender in a league table of the top 12 spam producing countries published yesterday by anti-virus firm Sophos.$LABEL$3
SMIC to challenge latest TSMC infringement claims Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) said Wednesday it will defend itself against the latest allegations of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation $LABEL$3
UN organizes open-source software day across Asia The United Nations, through its International Open Source Network (IOSN) will organize the first annual Software Freedom Day on Saturday in an effort to educate Asian users $LABEL$3
Hollywood sues DVD-chip makers The Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA) yesterday confirmed the organisation has begun legal proceedings against two makers of DVD chip alleging that the pair #39;s willingness to offer their products more widely than they should.$LABEL$3
Actuate Joins Eclipse; Starts Open Source BI Project Actuate Corp. announced that it has joined the Eclipse Foundation, the organization focused on delivering an open source development environment, and has launched a new Eclipse project to focus on open-source business intelligence and reporting tools.$LABEL$3
SAP Delivers for the Mailman Neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of night can keep the US Postal Service from its appointed rounds, but a 25-year-old Human Resources software system is apparently stopping the mailman in his tracks.$LABEL$3
NASA Picks Swede Launch Site for Balloons STOCKHOLM, Sweden Aug. 24, 2004 - NASA has agreed to launch its largest scientific balloons from a site in northern Sweden, a spokesman said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Google #39;s Real Rivals: Yahoo, MSN, And Amazon A customer-satisfaction study of E-business Web sites says Google has a huge lead among search-engine sites but will face still challenges from portals.$LABEL$3
3rd time proves golden charm for El Guerrouj Hicham El Guerrouj was likening the meaning of his daughter #39;s name to the precious gold he had earned, but the Moroccan might as well have been describing the last half of the men #39;s 1,500 meters at Olympic Stadium last night.$LABEL$1
Olympic Results: Wednesday, August 25 The first of 18 gold medals to be awarded Wednesday, on the 12th day of the summer Olympics in Athens goes to Kate Allen of Austria.$LABEL$1
Greek judo star dies after leap ATHENS A member of Greeces Olympic judo squad who leaped from a third-story apartment after an argument with her boyfriend just days before the Athens Games has died, a hospital source said Tuesday.$LABEL$1
Isinbayeva aims to be female Bubka Yelena Isinbayeva beat her own world record to clinch the Olympic women #39;s pole vault gold on Tuesday coming one step closer to matching the performances of her idol, Sergei Bubka.$LABEL$1
Olympic diary: Day 12 Brazilian fans got a little bit too excited during the final of the women #39;s beach volleyball competition. Seeing that their team of Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar was struggling $LABEL$1
Moorcroft Would Back Radcliffe Bid David Moorcroft believes Paula Radcliffe is capable of making the impossible possible by competing in the Olympic 10,000metres in Athens.$LABEL$1
Foudy Improves, Remains Game-Time Decision ATHENS, Greece - US soccer captain Julie Foudy #39;s sprained right ankle showed signs of improvement Wednesday, although she remains a game-time decision for Thursday #39;s gold-medal game against Brazil.$LABEL$1
US boxer topples the Russian giant He saw the looks and he heard the snickers and he guessed that the joke was at his expense. Boxing has never been the subtlest of sports, and Ward has never been the largest of light heavyweights.$LABEL$1
Danish player strike is called off Danish league players suspended their weeklong strike on Wednesday, allowing the Brondby and Aalborg clubs to field their full squads for Thursday #39;s UEFA Cup matches.$LABEL$1
Sudan accepts deployment of more AU peacekeepers: official Sudan is to accept the deployment of more African peacekeepers for the cantonment of the rebels in Darfur, Sudanese Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa said Wednesday, as $LABEL$0
Settling Israeli Settlements Palestinian officials have called on the Bush administration to clarify its position on the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.$LABEL$0
Polio threatening to reach epidemic proportions in Africa The crippling Polio disease has spread to at least one dozen countries in West and Central Africa and is threatening to become an epidemic, the United Nations has said.$LABEL$0
Palestinian intelligence chief shot Gunmen ambushed the head of the Palestinian intelligence service in Gaza City today, seriously wounding him in the chest and killing two bodyguards after opening fire on his convoy, Palestinian officials said.$LABEL$0
BA cancels four more flights British Airways has cancelled four domestic flights but says other services have returned to normal at Heathrow Airport after severe disruptions earlier this week.$LABEL$0
Pakistan #39;s Caretaker Prime Minister Steps Down Pakistan #39;s caretaker prime minister has stepped down, clearing the way for Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to take control of the country #39;s Parliament.$LABEL$0
Hopes for peace talks as Nepal rebels lift blockade Nepal #39;s ruling coalition has expressed hopes for peace talks with Maoist rebels, as the capital, Kathmandu, returned to normal after the rebels lifted a week-long blockade.$LABEL$0
Japan #39;s NTT DoCoMo, Motorola strike deal to develop mobile phone TOKYO Schaumburg(Illinois)-based Motorola and Japan #39;s top mobile-phone carrier plan to develop a more sophisticated mobile phone that subscribers in Japan can use while traveling to other parts of Asia and to Europe.$LABEL$3
Rulon Gardner Loses Bid for Repeat Gold (AP) AP - Rulon Gardner was in another Olympic wrestling upset #151; his own. One of the biggest stars of the 2000 Summer Games, Gardner was thrown to the mat in overtime Wednesday by Kazakhstan's Georgi Tsurtsumia and lost 4-1 in his Greco-Roman semifinal match.$LABEL$1
Durable Goods Orders Rise on Plane Demand (Reuters) Reuters - Orders for U.S. durable goods --\items meant to last at least three years -- posted a\larger-than-expected rise in July, boosted by an increase in\demand for passenger aircraft, a Commerce Department report on\Wednesday showed.$LABEL$2
Oil Prices Halt Three-Day Losing Streak (Reuters) Reuters - Oil prices rose modestly on Wednesday,\halting a three-day losing streak on profit-taking from record\highs near #36;50 a barrel.$LABEL$2
Two Russian Planes Crash, Cause Unclear (Reuters) Reuters - Two Russian passenger planes crashed\almost simultaneously, killing all 89 people on board in what\investigators said on Wednesday was probably a freak\coincidence but might have been a terrorist attack.$LABEL$0
Beltre Hits 40th in Dodgers' Win (AP) AP - Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam to become the first player to reach 40 home runs this season, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-2 victory over the Montreal Expos on Tuesday night. His previous career high for homers was 23, set last season.$LABEL$1
TD, Banknorth in Talks on Possible Deal (Reuters) Reuters - Canada's Toronto Dominion Bank (TD.TO)\said on Wednesday that it is in talks with U.S.-based Banknorth\Group (BNK.N) about a possible deal.$LABEL$2
DoubleClick Signs on MSN to Use Its Rich Media Ads (Reuters) Reuters - A top executive for Web marketing\company DoubleClick (DCLK.O) on Tuesday said Microsoft Corp's\(MSFT.O) MSN Web portal will use its rich media ads online,\paving the way for wider use of a key DoubleClick product.$LABEL$3
EU Probes Microsoft/Time Warner Venture (Reuters) Reuters - The European Commission on Wednesday\launched an in-depth investigation of plans by Microsoft Corp.\and Time Warner Inc. to acquire joint control of U.S.\ContentGuard Holdings Inc.$LABEL$2
Jeter Helps Yankees Steal One in Cleveland (AP) AP - A night after he was hit on the left elbow by a pitch, Derek Jeter stole two bases in the ninth inning and scored on Hideki Matsui's two-out single to lead the visiting New York Yankees past Cleveland 5-4 Tuesday night, handing the Indians their ninth straight loss.$LABEL$1
Typhoon Aere Pounds Taiwan, Heads Into China (Reuters) Reuters - A powerful typhoon triggered landslides\and flash floods in northern Taiwan on Wednesday before plowing\into China where hundreds of thousands of people have been\evacuated.$LABEL$0
Justice Dept. to Announce Cyber-Crime Crackdown (washingtonpost.com) washingtonpost.com - The Justice Department is set to announce a major crackdown on cyber-crime that will include arrests, subpoenas and property seizures of alleged e-mail spammers and online scam artists, according to law enforcement and industry sources.$LABEL$3
Redefining Swedishness (and causing a stir in the literary world) (AFP) AFP - In once uniform Sweden, a book being hailed as the ultimate generational novel serves as a reminder that you no longer need to be a blond, blue-eyed, beer-guzzling giant, or even speak the language correctly, to be considered truly Swedish.$LABEL$0
NTT DoCoMo, Motorola Strike Phone Deal (AP) AP - NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile-phone carrier, and Motorola Inc., the world's No. 2 cell-phone maker, plan to develop a more sophisticated mobile phone that subscribers in Japan can also use while traveling to other parts of Asia as well as Europe, the companies said Wednesday.$LABEL$3
Gunmen Attack Senior Palestinian Officer (AP) AP - Gunmen opened fire at a convoy carrying the deputy Palestinian intelligence chief on Wednesday, seriously wounding him in the chest and killing two bodyguards, Palestinian officials said.$LABEL$0
Jets Sign Quarterback Quincy Carter (AP) AP - Herman Edwards believes not giving Quincy Carter a second chance would be a crime.$LABEL$1
Canada Picks Same-Sex Advocates As Judges (AP) AP - Two judges known for supporting same-sex unions were nominated Tuesday to fill vacancies on Canada's Supreme Court, and they will be assessed in the country's first-ever public screening of such appointments.$LABEL$0
Mortgage Applications Off in Aug. 20 Week (Reuters) Reuters - New applications for U.S. home loans\fell last week after a brief bounce, as 30-year mortgage\interest rates edged up, an industry group said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
NTT DoCoMo, Motorola to develop 3G mobile handset for business users (AFP) AFP - Japan's top cellphone operator NTT DoCoMo and US telecoms giant Motorola announced a deal to jointly develop a third-generation handset for business users, marking the American company's first major foray into the lucrative Japanese mobile phone market.$LABEL$3
Zimbabwe Opposition to Boycott Elections (AP) AP - Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change said Wednesday that it would boycott future elections until the government reforms election laws, ends what the movement calls state-sponsored political violence and repeals what it terms repressive media and security laws.$LABEL$0
Bryant Judge Restricts Courtroom Cameras (AP) AP - The judge in the Kobe Bryant rape case on Tuesday sharply restricted how the news media may cover the trial using television and still cameras, saying he was worried too much exposure could threaten the fairness of the proceedings.$LABEL$1
Actuate Joins Eclipse, Starts Open-Source BI Project (Ziff Davis) Ziff Davis - After joining the Eclipse Foundation, the company launches a project to create open-source business intelligence and reporting tools.$LABEL$3
Baseball Today (AP) AP - San Francisco at Florida (7:05 p.m. EDT). Giants rookie Noah Lowry (3-0) starts against Dontrelle Willis (9-9).$LABEL$1
Fact and Comment (Forbes.com) Forbes.com - The news from Iran is grim. This Islamic dictatorship--the biggest source of terrorist training and financing in the world and the nation that's doing all it can to stir up trouble in already combustible Iraq--is clearly on the cusp of becoming a nuclear power. The clerical fascists running the country have dropped just about all pretense of their atomic programs being energy-related only. Tehran announced in July that it had resumed making the centrifuges needed to produce highly enriched uranium, a key ingredient for nuclear bombs. ...$LABEL$2
Toronto hostage-taker holds woman at gunpoint, shot dead by police: reports (Canadian Press) Canadian Press - TORONTO (CP) - An armed hostage-taking at the height of morning rush-hour in front of Toronto's busy Union Station on Monday morning ended with a police sharpshooter killing a male suspect, broadcast reports said.$LABEL$0
EU Extends Review of Microsoft Deal (AP) AP - Software giant Microsoft Corp. and the media and entertainment powerhouse Time Warner Inc. ran into fresh trouble with the European Union on Wednesday as antitrust regulators ordered an in-depth probe of their deal to collaborate in making anti-piracy software.$LABEL$3
Critical Netscape Flaw Found (PC World) PC World - Web servers may be vulnerable to attack, security company warns.$LABEL$3
Sharapova Loses to Wild Card in Conn. (AP) AP - Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was upset in three sets by wild card Mashona Washington Tuesday in the Pilot Pen tennis tournament. Sharapova had 12 double-faults in the match. Three of them occurred in the two games that Washington broke the fourth-seeded Russian in the deciding set of her 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win.$LABEL$1
Els Reflects on Season of Heartache (AP) AP - ""To be No. 1 in the world is one thing, but to win a major, that's what we all strive for. That's what we all want."" #151; Ernie Els, three weeks before the Masters.$LABEL$1
Humpback Whale Trapped at Power Plant (AP) AP - A hydroelectric plant in Nova Scotia remained closed Tuesday after a wayward humpback whale swam through the underwater gates connecting the facility with the Atlantic Ocean.$LABEL$3
Trading Privacy for Convenience A test project, now in use at Reagan National Airport, aims to give frequent fliers a quicker pass through security checkpoints by using the latest biometric technologies -- such as eye scans -- to verify a passenger's identity.$LABEL$2
NASA Picks Swede Launch Site for Balloons (AP) AP - NASA has agreed to launch its largest scientific balloons from a site in northern Sweden, a spokesman said Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Project Shows Promise for Grape Growers (AP) AP - Since the discovery five years ago that a ravenous insect was spreading grape-killing Pierce's Disease in California, grape growers have contributed millions of dollars to fund research projects they hope can end the scourge.$LABEL$3
Skilled Labor in High Demand, Low Supply Some contend that low-cost labor in India, China and elsewhere is far from the only thing inhibiting job growth in the United States -- skilled workers just aren't out there. American adults rank 12th in literacy among those of 20 high-income, industrialized countries, according to a study.$LABEL$2
Blueberry Compound Fights Cholesterol, Study Finds (Reuters) Reuters - A compound used by blueberries and\grapes to fight off fungal infections could help lower\cholesterol, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Fishing Warnings Up Due to Mercury Pollution-EPA (Reuters) Reuters - Americans were cautioned about\eating fish from more than one-third of U.S. lakes and nearly\one-fourth of its rivers last year due to pollution from\mercury and other chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection\Agency said on Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Weak El Nino Forecast in Pacific by End August-NOAA (Reuters) Reuters - A weak El Nino, a weather pattern\that distorts wind and rainfall patterns worldwide, is expected\to develop in the central Pacific by the end of this month,\U.S. government forecasters said on Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Molineux joy at Hoddle deal Former England manager Glenn Hoddle has been unveiled as the new boss of Championship strugglers Wolves. Hoddles appointment was announced at a Molineux press conference this morning, and he will take charge of the side for an initial six-month period.$LABEL$1
Inhaled Anthrax Vaccine Protects in Animals-Report (Reuters) Reuters - A powdered anthrax vaccine that\people potentially could take by themselves protects rabbits\against the deadliest form of the bacteria, researchers said on\Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Durable Goods Orders Rise in July America's factories saw orders for costly manufactured goods in July post the biggest gain in four months, an encouraging sign that the economy is emerging from an early summer funk.$LABEL$2
China raises domestic fuel prices China is planning to raise domestic petrol and diesel retail prices by about 6 as crude oil prices stay near record highs.$LABEL$2
Cigarette firm acts in tax row One of Canada's biggest cigarette firms seeks creditor protection after a C\$1.4bn(US\$1bn) tax claim over alleged smuggling.$LABEL$2
US house sales fall in July Sales of non-new houses in the US fell last month but still exceeded analyst forecasts.$LABEL$2
Famous film maker put up for sale Ilford Imaging, the world's largest producer of black and white camera film, is up for sale after going into administration.$LABEL$2
State discloses venture results Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill yesterday released results for the 103 venture capital funds the state pension plan invested in from 1986 through 1998, which ranged from a searing 127 percent annual gain to a dismal 46 percent annual decline.$LABEL$2
Funeral director suspended for 5 years A state regulatory board yesterday handed a five-year suspension to a Lawrence funeral director accused of unprofessional conduct and deceptive practices, including one case where he refused to complete funeral arrangements for a client because she had purchased a lower-priced casket elsewhere.$LABEL$2
Putnam as pariah The flagship George Putnam fund has managed to beat the Dow Jones industrial average by four percentage points in this year's trying market.$LABEL$2
Shakedown street Whether you live in Brookline or Scituate or Framingham, it is a good day when the town finally gets around to doing something about your beaten-up street. The potholes get filled, and the street gets repaved. New sidewalks and lighting go in. Trees and even some flowers are planted.$LABEL$2
Jeter Walks, Runs and Pulls Yanks to Victory Derek Jeter, who suffered a bone bruise on his left elbow when he was plunked by a pitch Monday, not only played Tuesday, but he turned out to be the star.$LABEL$1
In place of dollars, a cool change Cash has never been so cool. Usher Raymond IV, the 25-year-old R amp;B singer who has been dubbed the king of pop, launched the Usher Debit MasterCard late last month. The sleek black card, which features the artist's face, has been passed out to concertgoers during his nationwide ''The Truth Tour. quot; The card is also available through a website, ushermc.com.$LABEL$2
Jets Turn to Carter to Back Up Pennington Dissatisfied by the performance of three backups who have never taken a regular-season snap in the N.F.L., the Jets signed Quincy Carter.$LABEL$1
July home sales strong An expected spike in mortgage rates was supposed to cool off the red-hot housing market, but that spike failed to happen, and real estate sales remained strong in July both locally and nationally, according to reports released yesterday.$LABEL$2
Prices for oil fall for 3d day WASHINGTON -- Oil prices tumbled for a third consecutive day yesterday, briefly falling below \$45 a barrel, as geopolitical concerns that had brought the market to a boil in recent weeks appeared to cool off.$LABEL$2
Yukos suffers another setback MOSCOW -- Russian oil company Yukos suffered a fresh setback yesterday in its survival struggle against multibillion-dollar tax bills when one of its appeals was thrown out and another adjourned by a Moscow court.$LABEL$2
Royal Dutch/Shell fined \$120m WASHINGTON -- A \$120 million fine levied on Royal Dutch/Shell Group by the Securities and Exchange Commission resolves the company's part in the SEC inquiry into the overstatement of oil and gas reserves, but the role of individuals is still under investigation, regulators said yesterday..$LABEL$2
A young monk opens a rare window of candor in Tibet He confirms Chinese are diluting traditional Buddhist culture and the monks' role.$LABEL$0
Fresh face lift ATHENS -- In a race of attrition that resembled a demolition derby as much as an Olympic final, Joanna Hayes of the United States captured gold in the 100-meter hurdles last night because she managed to keep her feet while others were losing theirs.$LABEL$1
Toronto-Dominion seeks Banknorth stake Toronto-Dominion Bank is in the final stages of negotiations to take a controlling interest in New England regional bank Banknorth Group Inc. in a transaction worth as much as \$3.5 billion, according to executives involved in the talks.$LABEL$2
Give handball a sporting chance ATHENS -- I saw a game that featured, with only the slightest expansion of our basic concepts, fast breaks, fouled in the act of shooting, sneakaways, pivotmen, turnovers, weaves, give-and-gos, lookaway passes, backward bounce passes, skip passes, a penalty shot, a backdoor play, and great shot blocking worthy of a Russell or a Roy.$LABEL$1
Hunt for clues to Russia crashes Russian investigators refuse to rule out sabotage after two airliners crash minutes apart, killing 89 people.$LABEL$0
Middle management TORONTO -- The life of the setup reliever, lived to the fullest here last night by Mike Timlin, is rarely rewarded in the box score with the capital S' (as in save, or seal of approval).$LABEL$1
Another one-run game won? This is too good TORONTO -- Maybe the capricious forces that rule the baseball universe, the ones that so far this summer have dictated that 26 of the 30 teams in the major leagues would have won more one-run games than the Red Sox, finally are tilting in the Sox' favor. After last night's 5-4 escape over the Toronto Blue Jays, the one in ...$LABEL$1
On tap: aluminum bottles PITTSBURGH -- How much would you pay for a bottle of beer that stays cold nearly an hour longer?$LABEL$2
Top Shia leader returns to Iraq Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, seen by many as crucial to ending the Najaf crisis, is back in Iraq from the UK.$LABEL$0
July Durable Good Orders Rise 1.7 Percent America's factories saw orders for costly manufactured goods post the biggest gain in four months, a sign that the economy is emerging from an early summer funk.$LABEL$2
Cheney rejects gay marriage ban US Vice-President Dick Cheney opposes a federal ban on gay marriage - seemingly contradicting George Bush.$LABEL$0
A Bank Takeover in Japan Breaks Tradition The biggest takeover battle in Japanese history got even bigger as the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group sought to disrupt a rival's expansion plans with a \$29 billion hostile bid for UFJ Holdings.$LABEL$2
Carter signs with Jets Quarterback Quincy Carter signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets yesterday, three weeks after his surprising release by Dallas.$LABEL$1
BC freshmen forced to stand on own feet Kicker Ryan Ohliger of Newark, Del., and punter Johnny Ayers of Oakton, Va., will have the huge responsibility of being the only freshman starters on the Boston College football team this season. Pressure? What pressure?$LABEL$1
Dozens Charged in Crackdown on Spam and Scams Federal and state law enforcement agencies have quietly arrested or charged dozens of people with crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other online scams.$LABEL$2
Clearing the hurdle of doping scandals ATHENS -- Evita Agiasoteli has been counting Greece's Olympic medals. Each one comes with a celebration from the boy next door, who likes to run through their neighborhood in the northern Athenian suburb of Nea Ionia yelling quot;Hellas! quot; with each gold. Other neighbors often leave their evening yogurts unfinished so they can join the boy's victory cheer.$LABEL$1
Some Light Shed on Panel Decision to Deny Aid to United Members of a federal loan board said they felt United Airlines bid for \$1.6 billion in assistance was based on a faulty business plan.$LABEL$2
After comeback, comedown for US Playing from behind finally doomed the US women's volleyball team. After struggling just to get out of the preliminary round, the Americans were eliminated from the Olympics yesterday in Athens when a late rally fizzled against Brazil in a quarterfinal defeat, 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-27, 15-6.$LABEL$1
Zimbabwe opposition poll boycott Zimbabwe's main opposition party say they will not take part in elections unless major reforms are made.$LABEL$0
No finishing kick left for Pappas ATHENS -- Tom Pappas, a US gold medal favorite in the decathlon, saw his quest for an Olympic crown dashed yesterday by a serious foot injury that forced him to withdraw from the pole vault portion of the 10-event competition.$LABEL$1
Europe helps tackle Morocco fires France, Spain and Italy are sending water-bomber planes to Morocco to fight a major forest fire . $LABEL$0
Ward: No size too great ATHENS -- As the deeply religious Andre Ward, the 20-year-old from Oakland, Calif., waited through the day for last night's match with two-time world champion Evgeny Makarenko, he pondered his predicament. Not only was he facing the pre-Olympic gold medal favorite in the quarterfinals of the light heavyweight division, but he was stepping in against a 6-foot-6-inch opponent who towered ...$LABEL$1
Aussies face Cuba in final Brendan Kingman's sixth-inning RBI single sent Australia to a stunning 1-0 victory yesterday over Japan, putting the Aussies in today's gold medal game against Cuba.$LABEL$1
Lincoln's summer run comes to end Sidearm curveballs, regular fastballs, and even some knuckleballs. No matter the direction or the spin, Jordan Brower was nearly unhittable.$LABEL$1
Hmong ordered from Thai camp Soldiers order about 1,500 ethnic Hmong people to leave a refugee camp in central Thailand.$LABEL$0
US sailors lose guessing game In the course of an hour, the notorious Meltemi wind yesterday cost American sailors Tim Wadlow of Marblehead and Pete Spaulding their chance to win a medal in their first Olympics.$LABEL$1
NL notables Braves right fielder J.D. Drew cut his head when he hit it on the dugout railing following batting practice and was removed from the starting lineup against Colorado. Drew was taken to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, where he received two staples to close the wound. He returned to Turner Field and was in uniform by the fourth inning but did ...$LABEL$1
Beltre's slam lifts Dodgers Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam to become the first player to reach 40 home runs this year, and Alex Cora homered and had five RBIs to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-2 rout of the Expos in Montreal.$LABEL$1
Israel wins first Olympic gold Israeli windsurfer Gal Fridman makes sporting history by winning his country's first gold medal in the men's Mistral.$LABEL$0
Thousands at Bangladesh funeral Up to 30,000 people attend the funeral of a Bangladeshi opposition politician killed in a grenade attack in Dhaka.$LABEL$0
AL notables The Yankees posted their 48th come-from-behind victory, most in the majors. Chris Young -- the Rangers' 16th starter this season -- became the first pitcher from Princeton to start a major league game since Dave Sisler of the 1961 Washington Senators.$LABEL$1
Indian politician sent to prison Top Hindu nationalist politician Uma Bharti is remanded in an Indian jail over charges of inciting religious violence 10 years ago.$LABEL$0
Software Seeks Online Bargains Consumers in the United States are already spending record amounts of money online. One e-commerce company has a novel way to help Net shoppers hunt for bargains this holiday season.$LABEL$2
Controversy mishandled all around ATHENS -- For a while, if the Olympic repo men were to come looking for his gold medal, it seemed as if Paul Hamm would have to do the old twin spin that used to work so well back home in Wisconsin. quot;Sorry, I'm his brother Morgan, quot; Paul would say. quot;Paul's down at the Parthenon. Or maybe the Plaka. No, ...$LABEL$1
Dominant US women's squad a true dream team ATHENS -- Through five games, the US women are outscoring opponents by 29 points a game. They've been dominant to the point of ennui. They crush their opponents on the glass, hand out twice as many assists per game, and, generally, have it their way, every game. They lead the Olympics in nine statistical categories.$LABEL$1
Barents Sea 'faces major threats' The pristine Arctic waters of the Barents Sea are overfished and face serious pollution problems, the UN says.$LABEL$0
Going deep -- for memories TORONTO -- Last night, Doug Mientkiewicz was on call as the Red Sox' emergency catcher in case calamity befell Doug Mirabelli , raising the uncomfortable specter of the one-time minor league catcher trying to corral Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. He escaped that duty, serving only as a pinch runner and defensive replacement at first base for Kevin Millar in last night's ...$LABEL$1
They're quick to impress ATHENS -- Another night, another strong showing for America's sprinters. Allyson Felix , at 18 years old the youngest of the young lions, cruised to victory in her 200-meter heat, and then easily won her semifinal heat (22.36) to advance to the finals.$LABEL$1
'DNA analysis' spots e-mail spam Computational biologists at IBM develop an anti-spam filter that works in the same way scientists analyse DNA.$LABEL$0
Coach still fighting mad at Estrada ATHENS -- It had been 24 hours since Providence super heavyweight Jason Estrada not only lost a boxing match but also his dignity, and US boxing coach Basheer Abdullah still wasn't over it.$LABEL$1
Band 'dumps sewage on tourists' The Dave Matthews Band is sued for allegedly dumping human waste from a bus onto a boat in the Chicago River.$LABEL$0
Efforts to eradicate polio falter JOHANNESBURG -- The global effort to eradicate polio will not meet its deadline to stop transmission of the virus by the end of the year, a World Health Organization official acknowledged yesterday, citing the spread of cases from northern Nigeria.$LABEL$0
Magazine offers reward for return of paintings OSLO -- The weekly magazine Se og Hoer offered a \$14,800 reward yesterday for information leading to the return of two priceless Edvard Munch masterpieces stolen from an Oslo museum over the weekend. The city-owned Munch Museum reopened yesterday, two days after three masked robbers, including at least one with a pistol, snatched ''The Scream quot; and ''Madonna quot; and fled in ...$LABEL$0
Naples police in huge mafia swoop Hundreds of carabinieri police are taking part in an operation to crush a wave of mafia killings in Naples.$LABEL$0
Afghan leader vows to release 400 Pakistani prisoners ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai promised yesterday to repatriate 400 Pakistani prisoners who fought with the former ruling Taliban regime and have been held in Afghan jails since 2001, a Pakistani official said.$LABEL$0
A Trail of 'Major Failures' Leads to Defense Secretary's Office In tracing responsibility for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, a panel drew a line that extended to Donald H. Rumsfeld.$LABEL$0
Bush Campaign's Top Outside Lawyer Advised Veterans Group Benjamin L. Ginsberg said the veterans attacking John Kerry's Vietnam War record asked for his help and that he agreed.$LABEL$0
Outsourcing issue flares up at chip conference STANFORD, CALIFORNIA - On Monday, the same day the California Senate passed a bill that would ban state agencies from contracting services out to companies that use overseas labor, opponents and proponents of offshore outsourcing clashed during a conference at Stanford University.$LABEL$2
Actuate moves to take enterprise reporting to open source Business intelligence software vendor Actuate Corp. is hitching its wagon to the open-source movement in the hope of seeing its applications get even broader acceptance in the marketplace.$LABEL$2
Top Cleric Looks to Broker Deal in Najaf NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric returned to the country from Britain on Wednesday and his aides called for a nationwide march to Najaf to end nearly three weeks of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants in this holy city...$LABEL$0
Israel Wins First-Ever Olympic Gold ATHENS, Greece - A windsurfer whose first name means ""wave"" in Hebrew gave Israel its first Olympic gold medal ever Wednesday, taking a plunge in the Saronic Gulf to celebrate. Gal Fridman sailed a remarkably consistent regatta, never finishing worse than eighth in the 11-race series...$LABEL$0
Stocks to Watch Tuesday NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks to watch on Tuesday: JOHNSON JOHNSON <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=JNJ.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">JNJ.N</A>, GUIDANT CORP. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=GDT.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">GDT.N</A>$LABEL$2
Preston Bows Out Matt Daniels had a homer and four RBIs, and tossed a two-hitter to lead Richmond, Texas, to a 13-1 win over Preston, Md., at the Little League World Series on Tuesday.$LABEL$1
Top Cleric Looks to Broker Deal in Najaf NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric returned home from Britain on Wednesday to help broker an end to nearly three weeks of fighting in Najaf and is calling on his followers to join him in a march to reclaim the holy city, his spokesmen and witnesses said. Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani return came as heavy fighting persisted in Najaf's Old City...$LABEL$0
Adrian Beltre Hits His 40th Home Run Adrian Beltre's first five full seasons in the majors were marked by stretches of inconsistency and only flashes of power potential. This year, the Los Angeles Dodgers' third baseman has become one of baseball's most prolific sluggers...$LABEL$0
Midfield Now Strength Not so long ago, D.C. United was throwing inexperienced players into the starting lineup and calling up minor leaguers to fill the roster.$LABEL$1
Russian Jet Crashes Kill at Least 135 BUCHALKI, Russia - A Russian airliner crashed and another apparently broke up in the air almost simultaneously after taking off from the same airport, officials said, killing all 89 people aboard and raising fears of a terrorist attack. Authorities said rescuers found wreckage from a Tu-154 jet with at least 46 on board, about nine hours after it issued a distress signal and disappeared from radar screens over the Rostov region some 600 miles south of Moscow...$LABEL$0
Unit's Report Supports Kerry's Version WASHINGTON - The Navy task force overseeing John Kerry's swift boat squadron in Vietnam reported that his group of boats came under enemy fire during a March 13, 1969, incident that three decades later is being challenged by the Democratic presidential nominee's critics. The March 18, 1969, weekly report from Task Force 115, which was located by The Associated Press during a search of Navy archives, is the latest document to surface that supports Kerry's description of an event for which he won a Bronze Star and a third Purple Heart...$LABEL$0
Mitch Decides to Stay Ryan Mitch, a backup quarterback who had missed two practices and a team meeting, returned Tuesday and pledged to remain with the Maryland program the next four years.$LABEL$1
Prison Abuse Report Cites Top Commanders WASHINGTON - Inattention to prisoner issues by senior U.S. military leaders in Iraq and at the Pentagon was a key factor in the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, but there is no evidence they ordered any mistreatment, an independent panel concluded...$LABEL$0
Wide-Open Receiving The wide receivers position is the one truly unsettled position for the Virginia Cavaliers as they begin a season of great expectations.$LABEL$1
2 Russian Jets Crash Within Minutes Officials made no immediate statements about the possible causes of the twin crashes but the timing raised suspicions of a terrorist attack.$LABEL$0
MLB, D.C. Talk Major League Baseball negotiators held day-long sessions with District officials Tuesday and toured RFK Stadium as part of efforts to find a new home for the Montreal Expos.$LABEL$1
A Push for More Power At Iraq Plant The story of Baiji power station, which can produce more electricity than any plant in Iraq, helps explain why power generation remains one of the most vexing reconstruction challenges in the country.$LABEL$0
Money Is Driving Moscow Makeover For decades, pilgrims to Red Square have first passed in the shadow of the stolid Moskva hotel and the elegant Manezh exhibition hall. Once they made it across the square's cobblestoned expanse, they found their view obscured by the modernist concrete hulk known as the Hotel Rossiya.$LABEL$0
From Coal to Culture This old mining town in the northeast of England used to be a grimy industrial wasteland. Now it's becoming a gleaming cultural center and -- who would have thought it? -- tourist destination$LABEL$0
Slopes Only for Bloom Two-sport star Jeremy Bloom lost an appeal to an NCAA panel on Tuesday to keep his college eligibility as a football player at Colorado while still being allowed to receive endorsements as a professional skier.$LABEL$1
On the Road to Greatness Based on Che Guevara's early days, <I>The Motorcycle Diaries</i> is a tender tribute to the young man, not the myth$LABEL$0
Nice Witch of the North Comedienne Shabana Rehman's Pakistani roots and Norwegian lifestyle make a provocative comic brew$LABEL$0
Justice to Announce Cyber-Crime Crackdown The Justice Department is set to announce a major crackdown on cyber-crime that will include arrests, subpoenas and property seizures of alleged e-mail spammers and online scam artists, according to law enforcement and industry sources. <BR><FONT face=""verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica"" size=""-2""\ color=""#666666""><B>-The Washington Post</B></FONT>$LABEL$3
Verizon, Qwest to Fight FCC Rate Freeze Verizon Communications Inc. and other parties have asked a federal court to throw out a set of temporary regulations banning giant regional phone companies from raising the wholesale rates they charge competitors for at least six months. <FONT face=""verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica"" size=""-2""\ color=""#666666""><B>-The Washington Post</B></FONT>$LABEL$3
Northwest Ticket Fees Urge Web Use Beginning Friday, travelers on Northwest Airlines will have to pay as much as \$10 extra to buy tickets by phone or in person, rather than through Northwest's Web site. <BR>\<FONT face=""verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica"" size=""-2""\ color=""#666666""><B>-The Washington Post</B></FONT>$LABEL$3
Report Says Air Force's Space Programs Improved The Air Force's management of its space programs has improved during the past year but some systems, including an early warning missile contract, will continue to need special attention, according to an advisory panel review released yesterday.$LABEL$3
Md. Machines Seek Vote Of Confidence Critics say the state has been too quick to embrace electronic voting and could be headed for a fiasco in November elections.$LABEL$3
EU Extends Review of Microsoft-Time Warner Deal Software giant Microsoft Corp. and the media and entertainment powerhouse Time Warner Inc. ran into fresh trouble with the European Union on Wednesday as antitrust regulators ordered an in-depth probe of their deal to collaborate in making anti-piracy software.$LABEL$3
'NFL 2K5' Edges Out 'Madden NF' The virtual football championship matchup this year pits ""Madden NFL 2005"" against ""ESPN NFL 2K5"" from Sega's ESPN Videogames division. Both E-rated titles excel at delivering the National Football League experience to your living room through a combination of excellent controls, online gameplay and improved defensive features.$LABEL$3
Museum welcomes flesh-eating bugs London museum takes charge of 100 flesh-eating beetles used to strip animal carcasses down to bare bones.$LABEL$3
Fear and Loathing in #133; Lobsterland When lobsters flirt or fight they first signal their intention by urinating in one another's faces. Strange facts like this are published in a new book about the little-known life of these familiar crustaceans.$LABEL$3
Secret Sex Lives Of High-flying Finch Uncovered In The Rockies To shed light on the secretive sex lives of rosy-finches, birds that nest high in the Rocky Mountains, researchers clip on crampons and get climbing.$LABEL$3
Textile Fragments Provide Details of Ancient Lives Charred and brittle bits of fabric are providing new insights into the lives of prehistoric people, thanks to advances in chemical analysis of textiles.$LABEL$3
Who Knew? U.S. Presidential Trivia Just 11 weeks remain in the race for the White House. Getting into the campaign spirit, National Geographic News reviews presidential trivia.$LABEL$3
US deserter reunited with family arrived on a remote island in northern Japan to start a new life with his Japanese wife and their two daughters. court-martial last month after saying he deserted from South Korea because he was frightened.$LABEL$0
Grains Found in Georgia Traced to Huge Asteroid Impact ATLANTA (AP) -- A layer of quartz grains found in an east Georgia kaolin mine have been traced to the impact of a giant asteroid that crashed near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay 35 million years ago. The 54-mile-wide crater left by the meteor, the sixth-largest in the world, has previously been identified as the source of a rare mineral called Georgiaite...$LABEL$3
NASA Picks Swede Launch Site for Giant Balloons By TOMMY GRANDELL STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- NASA has agreed to launch its largest scientific balloons from a site in northern Sweden, a spokesman said Tuesday. To launch them, the Swedish Space Corp., which owns Esrange, has signed a \$1.32 million contract with the Swedish construction company NCC to double the size of the present launch pad...$LABEL$3
Space Radiation May Harm Astronauts' Blood Cells In the time it takes you to read this sentence, more than 10 million red blood cells in your body will die. Don't be alarmed; it's natural, and stem cells in your bone marrow are constantly making enough new cells to replace the dying ones. But what if those blood-making cells stopped working? This could be a concern for astronauts taking long trips beyond Earth orbit.$LABEL$3
Meteorites Supplied Earth Life with Phosphorus University of Arizona -- University of Arizona scientists have discovered that meteorites, particularly iron meteorites, may have been critical to the evolution of life on Earth. Their research shows that meteorites easily could have provided more phosphorus than naturally occurs on Earth -- enough phosphorus to give rise to biomolecules which eventually assembled into living, replicating organisms...$LABEL$3
Health Highlights: Aug. 24, 2004 Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay: ----- Contaminated Fish in Many U.S. Lakes and Rivers Fish that may be contaminated with dioxin, mercury, PCBs and pesticides are swimming in more than one-third of the United States' lakes and nearly one-quarter of its rivers, according to a list of advisories released by the Environmental Protection Agency...$LABEL$3
EU will probe Microsoft, Time Warner buy The decision is a setback for the two companies and their plan to acquire ContentGuard, a digital rights management firm.$LABEL$3
Briefly: Microsoft IPTV to woo Swiss test group roundup Plus: Sony speeds up Memory Stick cards...Real touts one week, 1 million songs...Chipmaker Fujitsu prepares WiMax chip.$LABEL$3
SP2: Bad for your blood pressure? That's what some IT managers say, a survey finds. Even more believe it'll be the toughest Windows update ever.$LABEL$3
Report: companies expect fast IT spending growth But IDC researchers voice a more cautious view, based on factors including high oil prices.$LABEL$3
Actuate pushes open-source data reporting The software maker proposes open-source Java-based reporting tools for consideration by the Eclipse open-source foundation.$LABEL$3
IBM lays claim to extension of server reign Says new research shows that it remains the top server computer vendor. But HP trumpets leadership in ""high growth"" segments.$LABEL$3
Japan designers shoot for supercomputer on a chip The MDGrape 3 chip will calculate faster than most supercomputers in existence, its creators say.\$LABEL$3
Nanotech will tap nature's potential, investor says Venture capitalist says a revolution is at hand, despite a setback like Nanosys' canceled IPO.$LABEL$3
Latest International news on mobile: sms INT to 7333 Hamid Karzai was sworn in on Tuesday as Afghanistan #39;s first elected president in a ceremony attended by several foreign dignitaries, including US Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld, report agencies.$LABEL$0
Verizon blames federal rules for broadband holdup Company is holding back high-speed fiber service out of fear that it will have to lease the links to rivals at below its own cost.$LABEL$3
CompactFlash card takes licking, keeps ticking Bridge demolition destroys digital camera, but CompactFlash card hangs on to bridge's final moments.$LABEL$3
Sony speeds up Memory Stick cards Starting in October, the company will begin selling higher-speed cards that transfer data at rates of up to 80mbps.$LABEL$3
ISS: Critical Netscape flaw could be widespread Security company Internet Security Systems is warning of a critical security hole in a commonly used technology from the Mozilla Foundation called the Netscape Network Security Services library that could leave Web servers vulnerable to remote attack.$LABEL$3
Washington State Ferries expands ferryboat Wi-Fi service Washington State Ferries expects to provide passengers on its high-traffic Puget Sound routes with free Wi-Fi service it will begin rolling out next month.$LABEL$3
Tight security as Karzai is sworn in AFGHANISTANS capital Kabul was placed under tight security today for the historic inauguration of Hamid Karzai as the countrys first popularly elected president.$LABEL$0
EDS extends IT automation deal with Opsware for three years Outsourcing vendor Electronic Data Systems has renewed an agreement for IT services from automation and utility software company Opsware that could be worth \$145 million over eight years.$LABEL$3
Actuate moves to take enterprise reporting to open-source Business intelligence software vendor Actuate is teaming up with the open-source movement in an effort to give its applications more exposure in the marketplace.$LABEL$3
HP shelves virus-throttling product Virus Throttler, unveiled by HP in February, was one of two new security services developed by company researchers that debuted at the RSA Security Conference.$LABEL$3
New IRS accounting system, a year late, nears completion With the deployment of a new financial accounting system for the IRS running a year late, officials involved with the project now say it will go live in October.$LABEL$3
Study: E-business customer satisfaction on the rise Users of portals, news sites and search engines were a bit less satisfied than average consumer scores overall, a University of Michigan survey show. Scores were higher for online travel, retail, auction and brokerage sites.$LABEL$3
Indiana man charged with hacking into former employer's systems Patrick Angle, was charged with intentionally deleting the source code for software he had been developing for Massachusetts-based Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates.$LABEL$3
Connexion by Boeing partners with iPass The agreement with Connexion by Boeing will give iPass customers Wi-Fi access while flying, while Boeing gets a partner that knows how to sell service contracts for hot spot connectivity to business travelers.$LABEL$3
EU extends MS, Time Warner probe The European Commission (EC) opened an in-depth investigation on Wednesday into plans by Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc. to take over U.S. digital rights management (DRM) company ContentGuard Holdings Inc.$LABEL$3
SMIC to challenge latest TSMC infringement claims Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) said Wednesday it will defend itself against the latest allegations of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation made by rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC).$LABEL$3
Intel to launch tri-mode Wi-Fi chip set Fulfilling a long-time goal, Intel Corp. is set to introduce on Thursday its first chip set that supports all three current forms of Wi-Fi, according to sources familiar with the announcement.$LABEL$3
Rossi named new Atalanta coach Serie A strugglers Atalanta have named Delio Rossi as their new coach, the club announced on its website on Tuesday. Rossi, the 44-year-old who previously coached Salerno and Lecce in Italy #39;s top-flight, replaces Andrea Mandorlini.$LABEL$1
Outsourcing issue flares up at chip conference STANFORD, CALIF. -- On Monday, the same day the California Senate passed a bill that would ban state agencies from contracting services out to companies that use overseas labor, opponents and proponents of offshore outsourcing clashed during a conference at Stanford University.<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p><p><img src=""http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.ifw.general/ibmpseries;sz=1x1;ord=200301151450?"" width=""1"" height=""1"" border=""0""/><a href=""http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;9824455;9690404;u?http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;9473681;9688522;d?http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/pseries/campaigns/boardroom/index.html?ca=pSeries met=boardroom me=E P_Creative=P_InfoW_RSS"">Introducing IBM eServer p5 systems.</a><br/>Powered by IBMs most advanced 64-bit microprocessor (POWER5(tm)), p5 systems can run UNIX and Linux simultaneously. Learn more about eServer p5 systems.</p>$LABEL$3
BEA departures continue BEA Systems continues to see an exodus of high-level executives, with Chief Marketing Officer Tod Nielsen exiting this week.$LABEL$3
India beats Germany in Champions Trophy field hockey India rallied to outscore Germany 3-1 for its first victory in the men #39;s Champions Trophy field hockey tournament in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday.$LABEL$1
Gartner: '04 chip revenue growth strong, '05 weaker BOSTON - The semiconductor industry remains on track to record a significant increase in revenue during 2004, according to Gartner Inc.'s latest forecast for the year released Tuesday. After that, however, the outlook takes a turn for the worse.$LABEL$3
Yahoo's legal battle over Nazi items continues PARIS - Yahoo Inc. may after all find itself having to answer to the French courts for its failure to block French users' access to information about the sale of Nazi memorabilia on its U.S. Web sites.$LABEL$3
ISS: Critical Netscape hole could be widespread Security company Internet Security Systems Inc. (ISS) is warning its customers about a critical security hole in a commonly used technology from the Mozilla Foundation called the Netscape Network Security Services (NSS) library that could make Web servers vulnerable to remote attack.$LABEL$3
Players get a chance to beat Tiger Woods at his own game Tiger Woods is faltering on the PGA Tour these days, while Vijay Singh has taken over the No. 1 ranking in the world. If only Woods could play like his video game character in quot;Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005.$LABEL$1
Yahoo Faces New Court Battle over Nazi Items U.S. court says it's a French matter; plaintiff organizations want ban on sale of Nazi memorabilia.$LABEL$3
NBC's Olympic Coverage Irks HDTV Owners HDTV sports fans are disappointed that there's a limited menu of Olympic sports that can be seen on high definition and that many of these events are shown 24 hours or later than they are on NBC.$LABEL$3
Report Shows Universities Curtailing Online Piracy By ALEX VEIGA LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Despite evidence that sharing music and movies online remains popular, a report issued Tuesday by a committee of entertainment and university leaders says universities have made strides the past year to curtail online piracy. The report, submitted to Congress by the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, highlights steps taken by the universities to tackle Internet piracy but offers few details of their effectiveness...$LABEL$3
University Offers Free Microsoft Software to Students PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) -- Students returning to Washington State University this week found free Microsoft software waiting for them...$LABEL$3
NTT DoCoMo and Motorola Strike Phone Deal TOKYO (AP) -- NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile-phone carrier, and Motorola Inc. (MOT), the world's No...$LABEL$3
Bank of America Exec to Get Severance Pay Bank of America Corp. said a departing executive is eligible to collect about \$20.7 million in severance and other payments from the company.$LABEL$2
Boeing wins \$7.35B airplane order Singapore Airlines, Asia #39;s most profitable airline, eyes growth with plans to buy up to 31 jets. SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines said Wednesday it planned to buy up to 31 Boeing Co.$LABEL$2
Jamaica to Provide Free Internet Access KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Jamaica's government on Tuesday announced a \$5 million program to provide free Internet access in poor communities across the island. The ""e-Jamaica"" initiative will establish 60 Internet centers across the country by 2010, mostly in post offices, said Commerce and Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell...$LABEL$3
Microsoft offers SP2 compatibility guide Microsoft has launched a do-it-yourself kit to help IT professionals assess their software #39;s compatibility with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Fears among system administrators and IT managers that XP SP2 may $LABEL$3
BenQ wins ODM contract from Nokia SOME INDUSTRY OBSERVERS had predicted that BenQ had shot itself in the foot by promoting its own branded mobile handsets at the recent European footie (soccer) fest in Portugal.$LABEL$3
More delays for British Airways passengers in London (AFP) AFP - British Airways cancelled four more flights due to what it called lingering problems from a staff shortage at London's Heathrow Airport which delayed thousands of travellers earlier in the week.$LABEL$0
Indian Software Giant Shares Start Trading (AP) AP - Shares of India's top software firm, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., soared as much as 41 percent in their first day of trading Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Williams-Sonoma Profit Up; Keeps Forecast (Reuters) Reuters - Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM.N) on\Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 55 percent increase in\quarterly profit, sending its stock up 6 percent, as sales\jumped at its Pottery Barn chain.$LABEL$2
Nobel prizes to be announced in October, Blair and Bush in the running (AFP) AFP - The 2004 Nobel prizes will be announced between October 4 and 11, the Nobel Foundation said, with US president George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the running for the prestigious Peace Prize.$LABEL$0
Hockey teams seek foreign secrets of success (Reuters) Reuters - When India play Pakistan, it is a classic hockey match, their historic rivalry sucking in the whole stadium.$LABEL$0
Astra Cancer Drug Tied to More Pneumonia (Reuters) Reuters - AstraZeneca Plc. said on Wednesday a new\study in Japan showed a higher rate of a potentially fatal side\effect in patients taking its lung cancer pill Iressa than that\demonstrated in an earlier analysis.$LABEL$2
Aussies finish 1-2 in women #39;s triathlon Austrian Kate Allen won gold in the Olympic women amp;apos;s triathlon Wednesday while American Susan Williams took the bronze. Allen was time in two hours, four minutes, 43.$LABEL$1
Banknorth, TD Bank Are in Talks Canada #39;s TD Bank Financial Group is discussing quot;a possible transaction quot; with the Northeast regional bank Banknorth Group Inc.$LABEL$2
Heat is on MTFG to place UFJ bid Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. was under pressure Wednesday to come up with a takeover offer for UFJ Holdings Inc. that would fend off an unexpectedly generous \$29 billion rival bid by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.$LABEL$2
Two Turks kidnapped in Iraq, risk execution: TV report (AFP) AFP - A Turkish television channel aired footage showing two Turks believed to be held hostage in Iraq by armed militants who have threatened to execute them unless their company withdraws from the country within 72 hours.$LABEL$0
Two Israelis among dead in Russian plane crash At least two Israeli citizens were among 89 people killed in two passenger plane crashes in Russia late on Tuesday, an Israeli embassy official said on Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Typhoon forces 240,000 to flee CHINA evacuated hundreds of thousands of people as Typhoon Aere lashed neighbouring Taiwan yesterday, triggering landslides and leaving at least seven people feared dead.$LABEL$0
More BA flights canceled More British Airways flights were canceled Wednesday after thousands were stranded by canceled flights at London #39;s Heathrow Airport because of staff shortages at the airline.$LABEL$0
Hicks charged with war crimes ACCUSED Australian Taliban fighter David Hicks was charged with war crimes by a US military tribunal today after meeting his father for the first time in five years.$LABEL$0
Experts Say Nepal Rebels #39; Plan Resembles Peru #39;s Shining Path Nepal #39;s communist insurgency has been flexing its muscles, with a successful blockade of the capital Kathmandu. Experts say the Maoists have modeled themselves on Peru #39;s Shining Path, using violence to end Nepal #39;s rigid caste system.$LABEL$0
India, GCC agree to promote economic cooperation New Delhi, Aug 25 (VNA) - India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) signed on Wednesday a Framework Agreement on Economic Cooperation to boost economic and trading ties as well as to explore the possibility of a free trade area between India and GCC $LABEL$2
US economy boosted by rise in manufacturing orders Fears of a slowdown in the US economy today eased as factories reported a jump in orders for costly manufactured goods during July.$LABEL$2
Toll Brothers 3Q Profits Beat Estimates Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. reported Wednesday that strong demand pushed third-quarter profits well above Wall Street expectations.$LABEL$2
Sprint provides VoIP to eighth-largest cable company Sprint Corp. said Wednesday that it will provide Internet telephone service to cable operator Mediacom Communications Corp. #39;s customer base of 2.7 million homes in 23 states.$LABEL$2
Stocks Edge Lower As Oil Prices Climb Stocks edged lower Wednesday as investors weighed rising oil prices against a pair of government reports that gave a mixed picture about the economy.$LABEL$2
UPDATE 2-US mortgage applications fall 6.3 percent in week Applications for US home loans fell 6.3 percent last week after a brief bounce in early August spurred by a drop in mortgage rates, an industry group said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Last call for Jack Daniel #39;s? Brown-Forman #39;s whiskey sales are strong but Wall Street sees cracks in the company #39;s china sales. By Parija Bhatnagar, CNN/Money staff writer.$LABEL$2
HHG gets out of red zone AMP spin-off HHG plc has produced a pound stg. 46 million (\$A117 million) profit for the six months to June 30 - a massive turnaround from the pound stg.$LABEL$2
Motorola takes step into Japan market TOKYO Motorola and NTT DoCoMo said on Wednesday that they would jointly develop third-generation cellphones, giving the American company an important foothold in the Japanese market.$LABEL$3
Dragging the Net for Cyber Criminals In an attempt to stem the growing tide of online scams, identity theft and the proliferation of junk e-mail, the Justice Department and state law enforcement officials have initiated what $LABEL$3
Sheep put brave face on stress LONDON, England -- Sheep have shown researchers why stressed-out people are comforted by the sight of a friendly face. Scientists at the Babraham Institute in the eastern English city of Cambridge discovered $LABEL$3
Small #39;scope spots big planet A new extra-solar planet has been identified orbiting a star 500 light years from our solar system. The discovery was made by a team using a four-inch diameter telescope to make their observations - a size $LABEL$3
Linksys, Vonage In Equipment Deal Irvine-based Linksys (www.linksys.com) announced that it is in a deal with Voice over IP (VoIP) provider Vonage (www.vonage.com) to provide equipment for home and small businesses.$LABEL$3
Semiconductor Market Grow 27 Percent in 2004 However, the Gartner Dataquest Semiconductor Inventory Index showed inventories in the supply chain at the low end of the quot;caution quot; zone.$LABEL$3
EFF wins JibJab case p2pnet.net News:- Still smiling because of its victory over Hollywood, the EFF has chalked up another win. This time, Music publisher Ludlow Music has officially backed down on its threats against web animation $LABEL$3
MS anti-Linux ad #39;misleading #39; p2pnet.net News:- A Microsoft UK quot;WEIGHING THE COST OF LINUX VS. WINDOWS? LET #39;S REVIEW THE FACTS quot; magazine ad has been nailed as misleading by Britain #39;s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).$LABEL$3
Yahoo Continues Fight Over Nazi Paraphernalia Furthering a story that began in 2000, the US Court of Appeals has ruled that US District Court judge operated outside the realm of his jurisdiction by attempting to rule on a case with international ramifications.$LABEL$3
Beware #39;Peeping Tom Webcam Worm #39; A warning was issued today about a Peeping Tom computer virus which can hijack webcams and spy on users. The virus, or worm as it is technically $LABEL$3
Sony preparing high-speed Memory Stick Pro Sony is continuing development of its Memory Stick format, with a new high-speed variety due out this fall. Backward compatible with existing devices, it will be recognizable by a red and white color scheme.$LABEL$3
El Guerrouj: destiny fulfilled The great Moroccan reveals hidden depths to fit the final piece into a reign that was lacking just one achievement, reports Len Johnson.$LABEL$1
In memory of Luke, Loretta races for her life LUKE. His name is tattooed forever on her right ankle. His memory, just as permanently, in her heart. Loretta Harrop ran the race of her life in Athens yesterday, the inspiration of her late $LABEL$1
Victory is golden for city cyclist Edmonton #39;s Lori-Ann Muenzer defied two of the world #39;s best cyclists Tuesday to top the field of 500-metre sprinters, laying claim to the first gold medal ever won by a Canadian track cyclist.$LABEL$1
More blazers than tracksuits at Games If you picture an Olympic team as athletes in tracksuits with a few blazer-clad types in the background to look after them, it is time for a radical rethink.$LABEL$1
Formula One statistics for Belgian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher #39;s Hungarian Grand Prix victory was the German #39;s 12th in 13 races this year, a Formula One record for a single season.$LABEL$1
Sri Lanka spinners throttle South Africa Sri Lanka spinners Rangana Herath and Tillakaratne Dilshan shared six wickets to help bowl South Africa out for 191 in the third one-day international on Sunday.$LABEL$1
McLEISH GOING FOR GLORY Rangers manager Alex McLeish insists the prestige of taking on European football #39;s elite is the only thing spurring him on to steer the club into the Champions League.$LABEL$1
Iraq #39;s Sistani Returns, Plans to End Najaf Crisis Iraq #39;s top Shi #39;ite cleric made a sudden return to the country on Wednesday and said he had a plan to end an uprising in the quot;burning city quot; of Najaf, where fighting is creeping ever closer to its holiest shrine.$LABEL$0
Royal Dutch/Shell Fined \$150 Million Description: Royal Dutch/Shell agrees to pay more than \$150 million to settle fraud charges in the United States and Britain. The company was accused of overstating its proven oil and gas reserves by more than 20 percent.$LABEL$2
Kuwait pumping crude oil at maximum levels Kuwaiti FM says his country is producing oil at maximum capacity to try to stabilise oil prices. NEW DELHI - Kuwait #39;s foreign minister said Wednesday his government was pumping crude to maximum capacity to $LABEL$2
Europe starts new Microsoft probe The European Commission has opened a probe into Microsoft #39;s and Time Warner #39;s plans to buy anti-piracy software manufacturer ContentGuard.$LABEL$2
US July Durable Goods Orders Probably Rose 1, Survey Shows US orders for durable goods may have risen for a second straight month in July, paced by more bookings for commercial aircraft, computers and machinery, according to a survey of economists ahead of today #39;s government report.$LABEL$2
Motorola To Develop FOMA Mobile Phone Handset for DoCoMo DoCoMo previously procured FOMA handsets only from domestic manufacturers. The two companies -- Motorola and DoCoMo -- said they aim to market the new handset from next spring targeting business users.$LABEL$3
Dozens charged in spam, scam crackdown Federal and state law enforcement agencies have quietly arrested or charged dozens of people with crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other online scams in recent weeks, according to several people involved in the actions.$LABEL$3
Sheep pine for absent friends: official The Cambridge University team which discovered that sheep prefer happy, smiley people has once again pushed back the envelope of ovine understanding with the revelation that sheep cheer up when they see snaps of friends and relatives.$LABEL$3
Advertising watchdog reprimands Microsoft over #39;facts #39; Microsoft recently launched a #39;Get the Facts #39; ad campaign telling consumers Linux isn #39;t cheaper than Windows. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) thinks they should get the facts too -- but it #39;s warned Microsoft to make sure its are straight first.$LABEL$3
Rbot virus spies on surfers A new worm has been discovered in the wild that #39;s not just settling for invading users #39; PCs - it wants to invade their homes too.$LABEL$3
Computer Associatates Bonus Proposal Defeated The management of Computer Associates (CA:NYSE - news - research) on Wednesday defeated three efforts by shareholders and corporate governance advocates to punish the company for an accounting scandal that led to the restatement of \$2 billion in revenue $LABEL$3
Israelis celebrate first gold medal Israel #39;s first gold medalist ever, Gal Fridman, Wednesday met an outburst of joy seconds after he won the men #39;s Mistral sailing race at the Olympics.$LABEL$1
Humpback Whale Trapped at Power Plant ANNAPOLIS ROYAL, Nova Scotia - A hydroelectric plant in Nova Scotia remained closed Tuesday after a wayward humpback whale swam through the underwater gates connecting the facility with the Atlantic Ocean.$LABEL$3
Bronze possible for Hill ATHENS -- Shawn Hill #39;s Olympics are over, but it remains to be seen if he will bring back a medal from Athens. The 23-year-old Mississauga pitcher tossed six quality innings in Canada #39;s 8-5 loss to Cuba on Tuesday night, ending up with a no decision.$LABEL$1
Radcliffe is running again Paula Radcliffe stepped up her training in Athens this morning as she prepares to make a final decision over whether to run the 10,000m on Friday night.$LABEL$1
Flight Data Recorders Found of 2 Crashed Planes in Russia Investigators picked through the scattered wreckage today of two Russian passenger jets that crashed nearly simultaneously Tuesday night after leaving Moscow, and reported $LABEL$0
Paris marks liberation from Nazis Thousands of people in Paris are preparing to mark the anniversary of the city #39;s liberation in World War II. Sixty years ago, the Nazi troops who had occupied the French capital for four years, surrendered.$LABEL$0
Durable Goods Orders Up; Homes Sales Down WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orders for U.S. durable goods posted a larger-than-expected rise in July, but new home sales showed signs of buckling under the weight of higher interest rates, two government reports showed on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Astra Cancer Drug Tied to More Pneumonia TOKYO (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc. said on Wednesday a new study in Japan showed a higher rate of a potentially fatal side effect in patients taking its lung cancer pill Iressa than that demonstrated in an earlier analysis.$LABEL$2
Toronto-Dominion in Talks With Banknorth of Maine (Update2) Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada #39;s second-largest bank by assets, said it #39;s in talks for a possible transaction #39; #39; with Banknorth Group Inc.$LABEL$2
Music Publisher Settles Copyright Skirmish Over Guthrie Classic San Francisco, CA - Music publisher Ludlow Music, Inc., has officially backed down on its threats against web animation studio JibJab Media Inc.$LABEL$3
CA #39;s Cron To Remain Interim CEO Don #39;t expect Ken Cron to become CEO of Computer Associates International. At least, not anytime soon. Cron, currently CA #39;s interim CEO, will likely retain that status after the company #39;s annual stockholders $LABEL$3
Olympics Chiefs Want Bush Campaign to Back Off (Reuters) Reuters - Olympic officials are seething at a\campaign ad for President Bush which, they say, hijacks the\Olympic brand.$LABEL$0
Durable Goods, Housing Data Trip Stocks NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were slightly lower on Wednesday after government reports for July on durable goods orders and new home sales cast some doubt on the strength of the economy.$LABEL$2
Mortgage Applications Fall 6.3 Percent NEW YORK (Reuters) - Applications for U.S. home loans fell 6.3 percent last week after a brief bounce in early August spurred by a drop in mortgage rates, an industry group said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Palestine condemns attack on deputy intelligence chief Brig. Rashid Abu Shbak, chief of Palestinian preventive security in Gaza, described on Wednesday the attack on the deputy chief of security intelligence Tareq Abu Rajab as quot;a condemned crime quot;.$LABEL$0
Economic Doubts Rally Treasuries NEW YORK (Reuters) - Treasury debt prices rallied on Wednesday as the latest U.S. economic data contained enough soft spots to keep the economic outlook uncertain.$LABEL$2
S.Africa Police Arrest Thatcher Son in Coup Probe CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was arrested in South Africa on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in a mercenary plot against the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.$LABEL$0
Australian may get family reunion before war crime tribunal GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba : The father of accused Australian terrorist David Hicks hopes to hold an emotional reunion with his son before he appears before a US war crimes tribunal.$LABEL$0
Gaza Gunmen Shoot Palestinian Intelligence Chief GAZA (Reuters) - Gunmen ambushed the commander of the Palestinian intelligence service in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, wounding him, killing two bodyguards and fueling fears of spreading chaos.$LABEL$0
Singapore Air Sets \$7.35 Bln Boeing Order SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines Ltd., the world's second most valuable airline, said on Wednesday it planned to buy up to 31 Boeing Co 777-300ER planes worth about US\$7.35 billion to support growth plans.$LABEL$2
Two Russian Planes Crash, Cause Unclear MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian passenger planes crashed almost simultaneously, killing all 89 people on board in what investigators said on Wednesday might have been a terrorist attack or simply a mysterious coincidence.$LABEL$0
Typhoon Aere Pounds Taiwan, Heads Into China TAIPEI (Reuters) - A powerful typhoon triggered landslides and flash floods in northern Taiwan on Wednesday before plowing into China where hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated.$LABEL$0
TD, Banknorth in Talks on Possible Deal TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Toronto Dominion Bank <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=TD.TO target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">TD.TO</A> said on Wednesday that it is in talks with U.S.-based Banknorth Group <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=BNK.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">BNK.N</A> about a possible deal.$LABEL$2
U.S. New Home Sales Fall in July WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. new home sales fell more than expected in July to the their lowest pace since December, as higher mortgage rates cooled the housing market, a government report showed on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Sudan Govt. Agrees to Bigger AU Force in Darfur ABUJA (Reuters) - Sudan's government agreed in a breakthrough at peace talks on Wednesday to allow more African Union troops to enter the Darfur region to confine rebel fighters to their bases, a possible precursor to disarmament.$LABEL$0
Bulgaria Won't Pay Libya Over HIV Case (AP) AP - A senior Bulgarian official ruled out paying any compensation to get Libya to reconsider the death sentences of five Bulgarian nurses accused of infecting children with HIV.$LABEL$0
Paris Fetes 1944 Liberation from Nazi Occupation PARIS (Reuters) - Two columns of Second World War tanks, trucks and cars rumbled through Paris on Wednesday to re-enact the arrival of French and United States forces 60 years ago to liberate the city from four years of Nazi occupation.$LABEL$0
Shell 'faces \$1.5bn Nigeria bill' The Senate in Nigeria reportedly passes a motion requiring Shell's operation in the country to pay \$1.5bn in compensation to oilfield communities.$LABEL$2
Europe starts new Microsoft probe The European Commission opens a probe into Microsoft and Time Warner's plans to buy anti-piracy firm ContentGuard.$LABEL$2
MmO2 leapfrogs rivals with super-fast 3G Telecoms provider mmO2 says it will adopt extra fast 3G network technology from next summer, although the ultra-high-speed network initially will be available only in the Isle of Man.$LABEL$3
Indian low-cost airline expands India's first low-cost airline, Air Deccan, offers cheap flights between Bangalore and New Delhi.$LABEL$2
Bahrain eyes power grid upgrade Middle East island nation Bahrain is to spend \$1.86bn upgrading its electricity network after Monday's blackout brought the country to a standstill.$LABEL$2
Student #39;s Projects Win \$100,000 in Siemens Westinghouse <b>...</b> Aaron Goldin, a senior San Dieguito High School Academy in Encinitas, CA, won the \$100,000 Grand Prize scholarship in the individual category for inventing the Gyro-Gen, a gyroscope that converts ocean wave energy into electricity.$LABEL$3
Pinochet to testify in Jara case Chile's ex-leader Augusto Pinochet is told to give written testimony in the 1973 murder of singer Victor Jara.$LABEL$0
Oil Prices Halt Three-Day Losing Streak Oil prices rose modestly today, halting a three-day losing streak on profit-taking from record highs near \$50 a barrel.$LABEL$2
Can Lifeway Survive a Disaster? What happens when a great company gets hit by unforeseen circumstances?$LABEL$2
Don't Make the Babies Cry The telecom industry has endured some tough times. They haven't seen anything yet.$LABEL$2
Bush Campaign's Top Outside Lawyer Resigns An election lawyer for President Bush also has been advising a veterans group running TV ads against John Kerry.$LABEL$0
Sleepless sheep can count on familiar faces The way to soothe an anxious sheep is to show it a picture of another sheep. British scientists believe that - like humans - sheep need to see a familiar face when they are alone.$LABEL$3
Consumers Trade in Home Phones for Mobile and Web Laura Bekke moved into her new Amsterdam flat last week and declined to have a fixed phone line installed. Merijn Groenhart, a $LABEL$3
Microsoft Leaves UN Standards Group pk2000 writes quot;Microsoft withdrew from a United Nations software standards group for commerce. quot; #39;Unfortunately, for now, we have made the decision to stop participating in UN/Cefact for business reasons and this serves as notification of our immediate $LABEL$3
Harrop wins silver FORMER Aussie backpacker Kate Allen pipped Australian favourite Loretta Harrop in sight of the finish to win the Olympic women #39;s triathlon today, but will take the gold medal home to Austria.$LABEL$1
South Africa opts to bat first at Dambulla Dambulla: South African captain Graeme Smith won the toss and decided to bat in the third One-dayer against Sri Lanka in Dambulla.$LABEL$1
Two Russian Planes Crash, 89 Die, After Hijack Alarm (Update7) Two Russian passenger airliners from Moscow crashed within minutes of each other, killing all 89 passengers and crew, the greatest number of civilian Russian air deaths in a single day for more than three years.$LABEL$0
'On Death and Dying' Author Dies at 78 PHOENIX - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, a psychiatrist who revolutionized the way the world looks at terminally ill patients with her book ""On Death and Dying"" and later as a pioneer for hospice care, has died. She was 78...$LABEL$0
Russia Probes Cause of Two Plane Crashes BUCHALKI, Russia - Russian emergency workers searched heaps of twisted metal and tall grass Wednesday for clues about what caused two airliners to plunge to earth within minutes of each other, killing all 89 people aboard. Officials said one jet sent a hijack distress signal, raising fears terrorists had struck...$LABEL$0
Thatcher's Son Charged in Coup Plot CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was arrested Wednesday and charged with helping to finance a foiled plot to overthrow the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. Thatcher, a 51-year-old businessman who has lived in South Africa since 2002, was arrested at his Cape Town home shortly after 7 a.m...$LABEL$0
Australian Detainee Meets With Father GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The father of an imprisoned Australian cowboy accused of fighting with Afghanistan's ousted Taliban saw his son for the first time in five years Wednesday, as he prepared to go before an American military tribunal on war crimes charges. After the meeting, David Hicks, 29, wore a suit and tie as he arrived for a tribunal hearing on charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes, aiding the enemy and attempted murder for allegedly firing at U.S...$LABEL$0
Sistani Returns to Iraq, Calls for March on Najaf Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, returned to the country on Wednesday and urged Iraqis to march on the ""burning city"" of Najaf, where fighting is creeping ever closer to its sacred shrine.$LABEL$0
July Durable Good Orders Rise 1.7 Percent WASHINGTON Aug. 25, 2004 - America #39;s factories saw orders for costly manufactured goods in July post the biggest gain in four months, an encouraging sign that the economy is emerging from an early summer funk.$LABEL$2
Tata Consulting Services makes successful IPO Indian software and services giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) made its stock market debut today, jumping 16 per cent over the day as investors piled money into the firm.$LABEL$2
Politics cloud debate on Philippine #39;crisis #39; MANILA When President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared this week that the Philippines was quot;already in the midst of a fiscal crisis, quot; many thought she was just stating the obvious.$LABEL$2
Macrovision CDS-300 version 7 beta <strong>Exclusive</strong> A CD lock-in tech that only annoys P2P traders?$LABEL$3
Wayward whale yet to leave NS power plant area ANNAPOLIS ROYAL, NS - Nova Scotia Power officials continued to keep the sluice gates open at one of the utility #39;s hydroelectric plants Wednesday in hopes a wayward whale would leave the area and head for the open waters of the Bay of Fundy.$LABEL$3
American Susan Williams Takes Triathlon Bronze Kate Allen produced a stunning run to overhaul long-time leader Loretta Harrop in the last 150 meters of the women #39;s Olympic triathlon Wednesday and win Austria #39;s first gold medal at Athens.$LABEL$1
Programs: for Stealth Lovers, 'Thief' Is a Steal PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Reuters) - One of the joys of the games in the ""Thief"" series is the ability to sneak up on opponents, quietly take them out with a good knock on the noggin, and then dump their body in the shadows so you can resume your hunt for loot.$LABEL$3
Livewire: Beep! Beep! Ultra-Fast Broadband Is Here LONDON (Reuters) - For Rainer Kinnunen, life has been a bit of a blur since he signed up for a superhigh-speed Internet service three years ago.$LABEL$3
Consumers Trade in Home Phones for Mobile and Web AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Laura Bekke moved into her new Amsterdam flat last week and declined to have a fixed phone line installed. Merijn Groenhart, a disc jockey in the same city, has lived without a home phone for over a year.$LABEL$3
Playboy Posts Unused Google Excerpt to Web Site SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Playboy magazine on Tuesday posted to its Web site an unpublished portion from its interview with Google's founders, which raised regulatory eyebrows not for what it revealed, but for its timing -- just before the Internet search engine's much-anticipated initial public offering.$LABEL$3
DoubleClick Signs on MSN to Use Its Rich Media Ads NEW YORK (Reuters) - A top executive for Web marketing company DoubleClick <A HREF=""http://www.reuters.co.uk/financeQuoteLookup.jhtml?ticker=DCLK.O qtype=sym infotype=info qcat=news"">DCLK.O</A> on Tuesday said Microsoft Corp's <A HREF=""http://www.reuters.co.uk/financeQuoteLookup.jhtml?ticker=MSFT.O qtype=sym infotype=info qcat=news"">MSFT.O</A> MSN Web portal will use its rich media ads online, paving the way for wider use of a key DoubleClick product.$LABEL$3
New Project Shows Promise for Grape Growers By DAISY NGUYEN RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- Since the discovery five years ago that a ravenous insect was spreading grape-killing Pierce's Disease in California, grape growers have contributed millions of dollars to fund research projects they hope can end the scourge...$LABEL$3
Early Heart Attacks Likelier in Smokers If you're under 40 and smoke, your risk of having a heart attack is significantly greater than someone your age who doesn't, a new study finds. According to the report, male smokers between the ages of 35 and 39 were almost five times as likely to have a nonfatal heart attack as were nonsmokers.$LABEL$3
Draining Brain Toxins May Slow Alzheimer's Cognitive test scores remained stable in treated patients HealthDayNews -- Reducing levels of specific toxins in the brain may help stabilize cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease patients. That's the finding of preliminary research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, published in the August issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease...$LABEL$3
CA execs can keep bonuses--for now Computer Associates International shareholders vote down a proposal to recoup money paid to top execs during an accounting scandal.$LABEL$3
Gartner sees solid server sales IBM, HP, Sun and Dell lead the market, which saw 7.7 percent revenue growth in the second quarter, compared with a year earlier.$LABEL$3
Programs: for Stealth Lovers, 'Thief' Is a Steal (Reuters) Reuters - One of the joys of the games\in the ""Thief"" series is the ability to sneak up on opponents,\quietly take them out with a good knock on the noggin, and then\dump their body in the shadows so you can resume your hunt for\loot.$LABEL$3
U.S. Women's Hoops Team Cruises Into Semis (AP) AP - Hushing a boisterous crowd with its all-around domination, the United States defeated Greece 102-72 Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Olympic women's basketball tournament. The Americans, seeking their third straight gold medal, will play Russia in the semifinals Friday.$LABEL$1
Livewire: Beep! Beep! Ultra-Fast Broadband Is Here (Reuters) Reuters - For Rainer Kinnunen, life has been a bit\of a blur since he signed up for a superhigh-speed Internet\service three years ago.$LABEL$3
Consumers Trade in Home Phones for Mobile and Web (Reuters) Reuters - Laura Bekke moved into her new\Amsterdam flat last week and declined to have a fixed phone\line installed. Merijn Groenhart, a disc jockey in the same\city, has lived without a home phone for over a year.$LABEL$3
Soft Margins Cut Bombardier Profit (Reuters) Reuters - Second-quarter profit fell by\two-thirds at plane and train maker Bombardier Inc. (BBDb.TO)\as its regional aircraft business lagged a rebound in the\business jet market, the company said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
US Women's NBA stars get the message - gold or failure (AFP) AFP - Hours before the United States women's basketball Dream Team routed Greece 102-72 to reach the Olympic semi-finals, US captain Dawn Staley gathered the squad to make sure they knew the stakes.$LABEL$1
Over 100 Arrested in U.S. Spam Crackdown (AP) AP - The Justice Department has made a series of arrests against purveyors of e-mail ""spam"" as part of a nationwide crackdown against Internet scam artists, a marketing group said Wednesday.$LABEL$3
Gartner: Q2 server shipments up on Sun, Dell strength Server shipments and revenue increased in the second quarter as Sun Microsystems Inc. and Dell Inc. gained market share at the expense of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and IBM Corp., according to research released by Gartner Inc. Wednesday.$LABEL$3
Intel Eyes Tri-Mode Wi-Fi (PC World) PC World - Upcoming chip set will support 802.11a, b, and g networks.$LABEL$3
Typhoon Aere slams into China after claiming 12 lives elsewhere (AFP) AFP - Typhoon Aere slammed into China after killing at least 12 people in the region and forcing more than half a million Chinese to evacuate their homes and thousands of fishing boats to return to port.$LABEL$0
Europeans on Ryder Cup Scramble at BMW (AP) AP - Sergio Garcia can afford to look relaxed at the BMW International Open. The Spaniard is one of six players to have sealed berths on the 12-man European Ryder Cup team that faces the United States at Oakland Hills in Michigan on Sept. 15-17.$LABEL$1
Basketball: U.S., Russia Set for Semifinal Showdown ATHENS (Reuters) - The unbeaten U.S. women's basketball team cruised to another victory Wednesday, pummeling Greece 102-72 to advance to the Olympic semi-finals.$LABEL$1
Japan Plans to Launch Spy Satellites (AP) AP - A Japanese government panel has approved plans to send two spy satellites into Earth's orbit beginning next year, a media report said Wednesday.$LABEL$3
Williams-Sonoma Profit Up; Stock Jumps CHICAGO (Reuters) - Williams-Sonoma Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=WSM.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">WSM.N</A> on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 55 percent increase in quarterly profit, sending its stock up 10 percent, as sales jumped at its Pottery Barn chain.$LABEL$2
Soft Margins Cut Bombardier Profit MONTREAL (Reuters) - Second-quarter profit fell by two-thirds at plane and train maker Bombardier Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=BBDb.TO target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">BBDb.TO</A> as its regional aircraft business lagged a rebound in the business jet market, the company said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Montgomerie, Donald Paired in Ryder Cup Race MUNICH (Reuters) - The two favorites for a Ryder Cup wildcard, youngster Luke Donald and seven-time European number one Colin Montgomerie, have been paired for the first two rounds of the BMW International Open that begins Thursday.$LABEL$1
AL Wrap: Matsui's Late Single Leads Yankees Past Indians NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hideki Matsui drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning single to earn the rallying New York Yankees a 5-4 victory over the host Cleveland Indians in the American League Tuesday.$LABEL$1
Gymnastics: Russia Chief Blasts 'Judging Mafia' MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's gymnastics chief Leonid Arkayev has added his voice to a chorus of public opinion calling for major reforms in his sport, saying Olympic gymnasts are powerless against what he called ""judging mafia.$LABEL$1
RIAA Cheers College Music Deals Penn State, Cornell University among those offering paid download services to students.$LABEL$3
Prisoners 'to get Afghan trials' The US says many of the prisoners it is holding in Afghanistan will stand trial under Afghan law.$LABEL$0
U.S. Cruises Past Greece The women's basketball team advances to the semifinals with a 102-72 win over Greece, which had heart, the home court and little else.$LABEL$1
Australian Detainee Meets With Father GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The father of an imprisoned Australian cowboy accused of fighting with Afghanistan's ousted Taliban saw his son for the first time in five years Wednesday as he headed into an American military tribunal to face war crimes charges. David Hicks, 29, wore a suit and tie as he arrived for a tribunal hearing on charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes, aiding the enemy and attempted murder for allegedly firing at U.S...$LABEL$0
Israel Wins First Olympic Gold A windsurfer whose first name means ""wave"" in Hebrew gave Israel its first Olympic gold medal ever Wednesday, taking a plunge in the Saronic Gulf to celebrate.$LABEL$1
Pakhalina Leads Springboard Preliminaries Yulia Pakhalina of Russia leads the Olympic preliminaries of 3-meter springboard diving, beating out Canada's Blythe Hartley and China's Guo Jingjing.$LABEL$1
Slyusareva Wins Women's Points Race Russia's Olga Slyusareva adds an Olympic gold medal to her collection of world championships, easily winning the points race Wednesday.$LABEL$1
Google Blesses Blogger Users with AdSense Advertising Google Blesses Blogger Users with AdSense Advertising\\Blogger, having replaced the default Google powered AdSense ads with a search enhanced Blogger task bar, has recently announced that they will now make Google AdSense advertisements available to Blogger members and other personal blog owners via a new program. Biz Stone, a Google ...$LABEL$3
Friendster Names Ex-AOL Executive VP of Sales Friendster Names Ex-AOL Executive VP of Sales\\Friendster today announced that it has named Charles Barrett as Vice President of Sales, effective immediately. Charlie will oversee all aspects of advertising sales. His first initiatives will include building a world-class national ad sales team and creating new revenue producing programs. In addition, ...$LABEL$3
Real Networks iTunes Price Cutting Bags 1 Million Sales Real Network's iTunes Price Cutting Bags 1 Million Sales\\Real Network's recent price cutting of iPod compatible song downloads may not be bringing profit to the company, but it is cutting into the iTunes market as well as carving their own song download market before Microsoft enters the picture. Real has ...$LABEL$3
Infocus: Using Libwhisker This article discusses the use of Libwhisker, a PERL module which allows for the creation of custom HTTP packets and can be used for penetration testing various web applications.$LABEL$3
Reactors Trim Radioactive Waste Researchers at a Department of Energy lab are developing fuel rods that could halve the amount of nuclear waste produced. That's good news for Yucca Mountain, Nevada, where 40 years' worth of radioactive material is slated to be stored. By John Gartner.$LABEL$3
Copyright Bill Needs Big Changes Technology companies and public-interest groups want to narrow the scope of the controversial Induce Act to focus on those who engage in 'mass, indiscriminate infringing conduct.' By Katie Dean.$LABEL$3
JibJab Is Free for You and Me Turns out that Ludlow Music, which claims to own the copyright on a classic Woody Gutherie song, may not actually own it after all. Which means JibJab, a scrappy web animation site, gets to use 'This Land Is Your Land' to its heart's content. By Katie Dean.$LABEL$3
Poll: Voters Want Paper Trail Almost three-quarters of likely voters think electronic voting systems should produce a paper record the voter can verify, according to a new poll. But that's not likely to happen for many of them in November. By Laila Weir.$LABEL$3
Attacking the Fourth Estate A series of subpoenas issued to reporters as part of the Justice Department's investigation of the leak of a CIA operative's identity seems more like a tactic of intimidation than legitimate information gathering. Commentary by Adam L. Penenberg.$LABEL$3
Master of the Nerdiverse Craig Newmark could become a dot-org millionaire. He'd rather help you find a cheap sublet, a cool job and maybe even a date. By Josh McHugh from Wired magazine.$LABEL$3
Music Services Score an A-Plus More colleges and universities are embracing music services for their students in an effort to cut down on peer-to-peer traffic that clogs school networks and puts students at risk for lawsuits. By Katie Dean.$LABEL$3
The New American Idol Politics as usual? Hasta la vista, baby. The radical center has flexed its muscle in California, short-circuiting the parties and going directly to the people. Now it could sweep the nation. By Jill Stewart from Wired magazine.$LABEL$3
Dozens Charged in Push Against Spam and Scams Federal and state law enforcement agencies have quietly arrested or charged dozens of people with crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other online scams.$LABEL$3
European Union Extends Review of Microsoft Deal Microsoft and Time Warner ran into fresh trouble in Europe today as antitrust regulators ordered an in-depth probe of their deal to collaborate in making anti-piracy software.$LABEL$3
Polish Cops Bust Computer Piracy Gang Polish police have broken up a gang of more than 100 hackers who sold pirated music and films, using academic computer systems around the world.$LABEL$3
UPDATE 3-Williams-Sonoma quarterly profit up; stock jumps Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 55 percent increase in quarterly profit, sending its stock up 10 $LABEL$2
Update 3: EU Probes Microsoft-Time Warner Deal Risking another trans-Atlantic tussle over Microsoft Corp., European Union antitrust regulators said Wednesday they were investigating whether the software giant #39;s deal with media conglomerate Time Warner Inc.$LABEL$2
Seven Brokerages Fined Total \$3.65M by SEC Seven regional brokerage firms have been fined a total \$3.65 million by federal regulators for allegedly failing to disclose that they received payments for issuing research on certain companies, in a settlement announced Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Durable Goods Orders Up; Homes Sales Down Orders for US durable goods posted a larger-than-expected rise in July, but new home sales showed signs of buckling under the weight of higher interest rates, two government reports showed on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Soft Margins Cut Bombardier Profit Second-quarter profit fell by two-thirds at plane and train maker Bombardier Inc. (BBDb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) as its regional aircraft business lagged a rebound $LABEL$2
US Economy: July New Home Sales Fall, Durable Goods Rise US new home sales in July fell 6.4 percent to a 1.134 million annual rate, the year #39;s slowest pace and a sign housing may provide less fuel for the economy in coming months.$LABEL$2
Gartner: Q2 server shipments up on Sun, Dell strength Server shipments and revenue increased in the second quarter as Sun Microsystems Inc. and Dell Inc. gained market share at the expense of Hewlett-Packard Co.$LABEL$2
DoCoMo, Motorola Partner on 3G Phone US and Japanese mobile-phone giants Motorola and DoCoMo are teaming up to develop a FOMA handset that runs on GSM/GPRS networks. The third-generation device will allow Japanese business users $LABEL$3
CA execs can keep bonuses--for now Computer Associates International shareholders on Wednesday struck down a proposal to recoup money paid out to executives during a long-running accounting scandal.$LABEL$3
Intel Eyes Tri-Mode Wi-Fi Fulfilling a long-time goal, Intel is set to introduce this week its first chipset that supports all three current forms of Wi-Fi, according to sources familiar with the announcement.$LABEL$3
Israel celebrates joy of first gold medal Israel has celebrated its first Olympic gold medal, saying Gal Fridman #39;s win gave pride and joy to Jewish people around the world.$LABEL$1
Cricket: Officials Call Off Australia-Pakistan Match Due to Heavy <b>...</b> Organizers in Amstelveen, the Netherlands have called off the cricket match between Australia and Pakistan after heavy rain overnight soaked the pitch.$LABEL$1
Cricket: Herath puts South Africa in spin DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka : Little-known spinner Rangana Herath grabbed three wickets as Sri Lanka boosted their chances of wrapping up the one-day series when they restricted South Africa to a modest 191 in the third match here.$LABEL$1
Anky van Grunsven continues domination in dressage Athens, Greece (Sports Network) - Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands successfully defended her gold medal in the individual dressage event on Wednesday at the Olympics.$LABEL$1
Michael Reiziger out with shoulder injury MIDDLESBROUGH, Aug 24 (SW) - Michael Reiziger will be sidelined for the coming six to eight weeks. The player dislocated his shoulder a few weeks ago and is unable to play on.$LABEL$1
Quarter million Chinese flee typhoon Typhoon Aere made landfall in southeastern China Wednesday after killing five people and flooding Taiwan, the BBC reported. The storm system packing winds of 86 mph and gusts $LABEL$0
Occupation army invades Nablus, detains leader of al-Aqsa group The Israeli occupation army yesterday renewed its invasion of Nablus city to the north of the West Bank and imposed curfew, while the Israeli military vehicles were deployed intensively in several areas of the city.$LABEL$0
Guantanamo detainee visits with parents An Australian detainee being arraigned Wednesday before a US military commission on charges of attempted murder and aiding al Qaeda met with his parents, their first visit together in five years.$LABEL$0
Hungarian prime minister resigns, pre-empting ouster (AFP) AFP - Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy resigned, pre-empting a move by his ruling Socialist party to oust him in a no-confidence vote in parliament next month.$LABEL$0
Olympic Gold's Price: #36;12 Bln for Athens (Reuters) Reuters - The Athens Olympics will cost a total of\almost 10 billion euros ( #36;12.09 billion), more than double the\original target, pushing Greece's budget gap well above EU\limits, finance ministry sources said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Militants Threaten Turkish Hostages' Lives (AP) AP - Militants in Iraq are threatening to kill two Turkish hostages if their company does not withdraw from the country within three days, Turkish media reported Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Sardine Migration One of Nature's Great Wonders (Reuters) Reuters - Once a year the\normally-tranquil waters off South Africa's balmy east coast\bubble as billions of sardines migrate north with sharks and\dolphins in hot pursuit.$LABEL$3
Ad watchdog warns Microsoft to 'Get the Facts' Linux 10 times more expensive? U.K. standards body says company's ""Get the Facts"" ad campaign may be misleading.$LABEL$3
Virgin plans China mobile service Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has said the group is in talks with a Chinese company over setting up a mobile phone service in mainland China.$LABEL$2
CA shareholders reject compensation proposal Computer Associates shareholders have defeated a stockholder proposal calling for current and former executives to return bonuses based on restated results, the company said.$LABEL$2
Stocks Up on Conflicting Economic Reports Stocks inched higher in quiet trading Wednesday as a pair of government reports offered conflicting signals about the economy and oil prices declined.$LABEL$2
Second-Quarter Server Sales Grow 8 Economic worries notwithstanding, the server market continued to grow at a healthy clip in the second quarter, according to research firm Gartner.$LABEL$2
Brokerage unit saps H amp;R Block but will it be sold? A day after H amp;R Block Inc. (HRB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported its first-quarter loss some analysts wondered if the largest US tax preparation firm would consider selling its brokerage business.$LABEL$2
Applebee #39;s: Olympics ate our sales Applebee #39;s International Inc. shares fell more than 4 percent Wednesday after the restaurant company reported weak August sales and said it expects the Olympics will hurt sales for the first week of September.$LABEL$2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 Comes Complete With Errors Microsoft began rolling out SP2 last week, claiming that the software offers the latest security #39;innovations, #39; fixes several major security holes, and provides new protective features.$LABEL$3
DoCoMo, Motorola to build FOMA/GSM handset Increasing NTT DoCoMo #39;s reach outside Japan, the Japanese carrier has partnered with Motorola to build a 3G FOMA phone that also does GSM/GPRS.$LABEL$3
Sheepish portraits can calm woolly nerves London - British scientists have found a seemingly unlikely way to soothe anxious sheep, a report said on Wednesday - by showing them photographs of other sheep.$LABEL$3
Tiny telescope spots giant planet A tiny telescope has spotted a giant planet circling a faraway star, using a technique that could open a new phase of planetary discovery, according to scientists.$LABEL$3
JibJab Is Free For You and Me Ludlow Music dropped its demands that JibJab, a small web animation site, stop using Woody Guthrie #39;s quot;This Land is Your Land quot; in a satirical Flash cartoon.$LABEL$3
Japan win baseball bronze Japan #39;s all-professional team have overpowered newcomers Canada 11-2 to win the Olympic baseball bronze medal, restoring some of their pride following a shock 1-0 semi-final loss to Australia.$LABEL$1
Don #39;t do the math in the Hamm controversy If everybody always agreed with me, there wouldn #39;t be any sense in writing a column. So in the true Olympic spirit, it #39;s your turn.$LABEL$1
Van Grunsven wins sixth equestrian medal Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands successfully defended her Olympic title Wednesday by winning the individual dressage competition.$LABEL$1
Thatcher #39;s son arrested over coup plot claims Mark Thatcher, the son of the former prime minister Baroness Thatcher, has been arrested at his home in Cape Town . South African authorities say he has been detained by police investigating an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea .$LABEL$0
Passengers face more delays British Airways has cancelled four domestic flights as the effects of yesterday #39;s problems continued to disrupt operations from Heathrow.$LABEL$0
Israeli FM praises French fight against anti-Semitism Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom said here Wednesday that he was confident French authorities are making every effort to fight against anti-Semitism.$LABEL$0
PM Shujaat tenders resignation, federal cabinet dissolved ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat has resigned from his office and the federal cabinet has also been dissolved. The national assembly will elect the leader of the house on Friday while the new prime minister will take oath on Saturday.$LABEL$0
Instant Messaging On Rise at Work and Mobile Instant Messaging On Rise at Work and Mobile\\Instant Message use in the workplace and on mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) is on the rise, according to a new survey from America Online Inc. The second annual survey on instant messaging use in America, released today by the world's ...$LABEL$3
RIAA Cheers College Music Deals (PC World) PC World - Penn State, Cornell University among those offering paid download services to students.$LABEL$3
Britain to deploy fighter planes to Afghanistan (AFP) AFP - Britain said it would deploy six Royal Air Force Harrier jets to Afghanistan, the first time it has sent combat planes to the country following the fall of the Taliban regime.$LABEL$0
Server Sales Continue to Soar (Ziff Davis) Ziff Davis - According to Gartner, worldwide server revenue increased in the second quarter by 7.7 percent over the year-ago period, and server shipments jumped 24.5 percent.$LABEL$3
Gardner Unable to Defend His Olympic Title ATHENS (Reuters) - U.S. heavyweight Rulon Gardner lost his Olympic title Wednesday after being beaten in the semi-final stage of the 120kg Greco-Roman wrestling event by Georgiy Tsurtsumia of Kazakhstan.$LABEL$1
Spokane diocese files for bankruptcy By becoming only the third diocese nationally to seek shelter in bankruptcy court, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane is hoping the court will help provide a clearer picture of its financial liability in mounting sex-abuse lawsuits and goad its $LABEL$2
Singapore Air Sets \$7.35 Bln Boeing Order SINGAPORE/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines Ltd. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=SIAL.SI target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">SIAL.SI</A> plans to buy up to 31 Boeing Co. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=BA.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">BA.N</A> long-range 777-300ER planes worth about \$7.35 billion, the carrier said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Sick Serbians Bow Out in Volleyball ATHENS (Reuters) - Reigning champions Serbia and Montenegro, hit by a virus, were eliminated from the men's Olympic volleyball tournament Wednesday in an outstanding match with Russia.$LABEL$1
Gambro Sells US Clinics Business Gambro, the Swedish medical technology group controlled by the Wallenberg family, on Tuesday confirmed the sale of its US dialysis clinics business to DaVita and also unveiled $LABEL$2
Churches 'snap up Passion DVDs' Makers of The Passion of the Christ are tempting US churches with bulk orders, says The New York Times.$LABEL$0
A Small Cap for Any Market The market may be stuck in neutral, but your portfolio doesn't have to be.$LABEL$2
Iraq's Leading Shiite Cleric Looks to Broker Deal With Rebels Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani returned after surgery, raising hopes that the rebellion led by Moktada al-Sadr would be resolved.$LABEL$0
Jury Rules WTC Attacks Were Two Events; Silverstein May Recover 2x <b>...</b> The second of three scheduled trials to determine the amount of the recovery for the destruction of the World Trade Center #39;s twin towers ended in a victory for master lease holder Silverstein Properties, and its head Larry Silverstein.$LABEL$2
Hollywood battles DVD chip makers Hollywood has made legal moves against two chip makers in its bid to combat DVD piracy.$LABEL$3
US cracks down on spam mountain John Ashcroft, the attorney General of the US, is expected to announce on Thursday dozens of lawsuits against alleged spammers following a low key campaign against the practise across the US.$LABEL$3
Microsoft Pulls Out of UN Talks In an e-mail message sent Monday to two officials of the UN standards group, Dave Welsh, a Microsoft program manager, wrote: quot;Microsoft regularly evaluates its standards participation and its $LABEL$3
Bad Hair Day for Sir Mark First, the son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was caught in his pyjamas when police raided his Cape Town home. Then he was robbed in a holding cell while waiting to be charged with helping finance a foiled coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.$LABEL$0
Italian troops to stay on in Iraq despite hostage ultimatum The Italian government said Tuesday it would maintain its 3,000 troops in Iraq despite an ultimatum from a radical Muslim group holding an Italian journalist and demanding that Rome withdraw its forces within 48 hours.$LABEL$0
Bills QB Losman to Have Surgery on Leg (AP) AP - Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback J.P. Losman will have surgery Thursday to repair the left leg he broke in practice.$LABEL$1
Nigerian Senate Orders Shell Unit to Pay (AP) AP - Nigeria's Senate has ordered a subsidiary of petroleum giant Royal/Dutch Shell to pay a Nigerian ethnic group #36;1.5 billion for oil spills in their homelands, but the legislative body can't enforce the resolution, an official said Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Australian Taliban charged at US military tribunal after meeting family (AFP) AFP - A US military tribunal charged Australian Taliban fighter David Hicks with warcrimes after he was allowed to meet his family for the first time in five years.$LABEL$0
Report: Iraqi Official's In-Law Abducted (AP) AP - Militants said Wednesday they had kidnapped the brother-in-law of Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan and demanded he end all military operations in the holy city of Najaf, according to a video, Al-Jazeera television reported. The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified.$LABEL$0
Accreditation Team Criticizes U. of Ill. (AP) AP - A panel from the association that accredits the University of Illinois chastised the school Wednesday for failing to resolve the long-standing controversy over its American Indian mascot, which supporters argue is an honored tradition and others say is racially offensive.$LABEL$1
Edwards Stumps in Democratic Stronghold (AP) AP - Vice presidential candidate John Edwards on Wednesday sought to assure black supporters that he and John Kerry have ""fought for this community our entire lives"" #151; and would continue doing so #151; on a day devoted to reaching out to the base in the Democratic stronghold of northeast Ohio.$LABEL$0
GM Pulls 'Jack Flash' Corvette Ad DETROIT (Reuters) - Protests from seven safety groups prompted General Motors Corp. to pull a television ad that shows a young boy driving a Corvette sports car so recklessly that it goes airborne, officials of the automaker said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Boeing and Airbus clash The US and the EU have agreed to hold further talks in order to avoid legal action in the trade dispute over government support for Airbus and Boeing.$LABEL$2
Canada bank, Banknorth talk \$2B deal Canada #39;s Toronto Dominion Bank said Wednesday it is in talks with US-based Banknorth Group about a possible deal, while a published report said the two parties are in advanced negotiations that could lead to a \$2.$LABEL$2
Williams-Sonoma Delivers Value If you received a cool catalog in the mail recently, most likely it came from one of the companies under the umbrella of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM).$LABEL$2
Boston Scientific Gets FDA Balloon OK Medical device company Boston Scientific Corp. said Wednesday the Food and Drug Administration granted the company US marketing clearance for its peripheral cutting balloon microsurgical dilation device to improve blood flow to diseased kidneys.$LABEL$2
Investors Pull Out of Homebuilder Stocks Investors pulled out of homebuilder stocks on Wednesday after a pair of economic reports on the pace of home sales indicated the once-hot market might be cooling.$LABEL$2
Smucker Spreads It On Thick The latest earnings report from jam specialist JM Smucker (NYSE: SJM) heralds quot;Record First Quarter Results. quot; Read carefully, though.$LABEL$2
Beer Shows Its quot;Metal quot; Early 2000 we took a look at beermeister Miller as it prepared to take some of its nice, cold, frosty brew doggies out of their traditional glass bottles and aluminum $LABEL$2
Key Windows update fully rolls out Computer giant Microsoft has fully rolled out its crucial security update to computers running its Windows XP. Last week, it quot;soft launched quot; Service Pack 2 (SP2) security update, making it available for some $LABEL$3
Motorola, DoCoMo Team For 3G Handsets Motorola and NTT DoCoMo plan to target Japanese business travelers with a new 3G handset next spring that will run on W-CDMA and GSM networks.$LABEL$3
Update 8: Justice Dept. Cracks Down Internet Crime The Justice Department on Wednesday shut down a network allegedly used to illegally share copyrighted music, movies, software and games and, separately, has embarked a nationwide campaign against purveyors of e-mail quot;spam.$LABEL$3
Semiconductor Sales Booming in 2004 Worldwide semiconductor sales will reach US\$226 billion in 2004, a 27.4 percent increase from 2003, according to the latest prediction from Gartner.$LABEL$3
WS-I tackles Web services attachments Standards body the Web Services Interoperability Organization, or WS-I, on Tuesday published updated standards compliance guidelines for applications that use file attachments.$LABEL$3
Hollywood battles DVD chip makers The Motion Picture Association of America #39;s (MPAA) campaign against movie piracy has taken another turn after it confirmed it was suing two chip makers.$LABEL$3
One dream inspires El Guerrouj Throughout the chilly Moroccan winter, one dream burned bright for Hicham El Guerrouj as he trained in the thin air of the Atlas mountains.$LABEL$1
Fridman: #39;My Dream has Come True #39; Gal Fridman today added a glorious chapter to Israels tragic Olympic history and sent a nation into delirious bewilderment by winning their first ever gold medal.$LABEL$1
Bayley wins Keirin gold medal, capping Australia #39;s golden show Australia #39;s Ryan Bayley won the men #39;s Keirin final Wednesday, becoming the only cyclist to win two individual gold medals at the Athens Games.$LABEL$1
Athletics: She #39;s the Bahamas #39; darling ATHENS - Tonique Williams-Darling has claimed the Bahamas #39; first individual athletics gold by blasting to the women #39;s 400m title.$LABEL$1
Argentina Continues to Stifle, Will Play for Gold rgentina swept aside Italy, 3-0, yesterday in Athens to advance to the final of the Olympic men #39;s soccer tournament without conceding a goal in five games.$LABEL$1
NATO says #39;so far so good #39; on Olympic security BRUSSELS : NATO remains on alert to protect the Olympics from extremists, even if no incidents have occurred and the perceived threat remains low as the Games move into their last few days, an official said.$LABEL$1
Not Normal Routine for Gymnastics The gymnastics competition at the 2004 Olympic Games produced some extraordinary performances, but ultimately was overshadowed by judging controversies that pitted nation against $LABEL$1
Son of #39;Iron Lady #39; a coup plotter? Former British PM Margaret Thatcher #39;s son arrested in South Africa for possible connection to alleged coup plot. After numerous rumors and allegations linking him to a plan to overthrow the leader of oil-rich $LABEL$0
Sistani returns as US forces trap Mehdi Army Iraq #39;s Shi #39;a spiritual leader rushed back from abroad on Wednesday to quot;save Najaf quot; after American forces smashed militia defences to trap hundreds of supporters of rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the city #39;s shrine.$LABEL$0
2 More Nations Report Polio Cases Cases of polio have been found in Mali and Guinea, bringing to 12 the number of African countries recently reinfected by an ongoing polio epidemic in Nigeria.$LABEL$0
Pakistan #39;s caretaker PM resigns Pakistan #39;s interim Prime Minister Chaudhry Shaujaat Hussain has announced his resignation, paving the way for his successor Shauket Aziz.$LABEL$0
Washington ignores North #39;s verbal attacks Washington shrugged off harsh verbal attacks from North Korea against US President George W. Bush, saying that the insults would not hinder efforts to end nuclear crisis on the peninsula.$LABEL$0
WHO Official Seeks More Money for Bird Flu The world #39;s wealthier nations must contribute more money and intellectual power to fighting bird flu or risk a worldwide epidemic that spreads to people, a Vietnam-based official from the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Israelis to Expand West Bank Settlements Description: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he is committed to dismantling Jewish settlements in Gaza. But Israel says it will continue to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and cites the tacit approval of the Bush administration.$LABEL$0
BA services #39;back to normal #39; British Airways today said it had resumed normal service for most of its operations as it reduced the number of cancelled flights to four.$LABEL$0
Pakistan PM makes way for Aziz Pakistan #39;s caretaker prime minister has resigned and his cabinet dissolved in a formality to allow the finance minister to take over as head of the government.$LABEL$0
Fuji Readies 16X DVDs (PC World) PC World - Fuji joins the fray of makers of 16X DVD media with scheduled fall release.$LABEL$3
Hurt Leopold Off U.S. Team at World Cup (AP) AP - Jordan Leopold of the Calgary Flames pulled out of the World Cup on Wednesday because of a concussion, the third key defenseman lost by the defending champion United States.$LABEL$1
'Super Earth' Discovered at Nearby Star (SPACE.com) SPACE.com - In a discovery that has left one expert stunned, European astronomers have \ found one of the smallest planets known outside our solar system, a world about \ 14 times the mass of our own around a star much like the Sun.$LABEL$3
U.S. Overcomes Cuban Jamming of Broadcasts (AP) AP - The Bush administration has successfully overcome Cuban jamming of U.S. government radio and television broadcasts through transmission from a military aircraft, the State Department said Monday.$LABEL$0
Sky Capture: How NASA Will Bring Genesis Down to Earth (SPACE.com) SPACE.com - An experienced team of pilots, engineers and scientists are relying on a reinforced skydiving parachute and a helicopter's hook to safely return the first samples from space since the Apollo era.$LABEL$3
OmniVision's No Flash in the Pan The specialty chip maker predicts a lean transition quarter, but it plans a rebound in 2005.$LABEL$2
Prosecutors Seize Medical Files of Greek Sprint Stars Prosecutors seize the hospital records of two Greek sprinting stars who withdrew from the Olympics after they missed a doping test and were involved in a suspicious motorcycle accident.$LABEL$1
Door open for silicon replacement A breakthrough in the way scientists make crystals could lead to a replacement for silicon in chips for devices.$LABEL$3
Card fraud prevention 'pays off' Fraud on UK credit cards has fallen - but identity fraud is on the up, a survey from analysts Datamonitor finds.$LABEL$3
Europeans investigate Microsoft #39;s intentions The European Commission announced Wednesday it will extend an antitrust investigation of a move by Microsoft and Time Warner to take control of technology that could help the music and movie industries fight piracy.$LABEL$2
Windows XP SP2 Has a Dangerous Hole Windows XP Service Pack 2 promises to raise the security bar for the sometimes beleaguered operating system. Unfortunately, one of the new features could be spoofed so that it reports misleading information $LABEL$3
Tiny telescope spots new Jupiter-sized planet WASHINGTON - Astronomers have used a network of small telescopes to discover a planet circling a far-off star. quot;This discovery demonstrates that even humble telescopes can make huge contributions to planet $LABEL$3
Ad claimed Linux 10 times more expensive than Windows LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) - A Microsoft advertisement claiming that the Linux operating system is much more expensive to operate than its own Windows was found to be misleading by the a UK regulator on Wednesday.$LABEL$3
Real Sells 1 Million Songs in First Week of Promotion RealNetworks says it sold a million songs in the first week of its 49-cent-per-track promotion. The digital-media firm also signed agreements with the University of California at Berkeley and $LABEL$3
Liverpool Progresses to Champions League; Monaco, Inter Advance Four-time champion Liverpool progressed to soccer #39;s Champions League 2-1 on aggregate, overcoming a 1-0 home defeat to AK Graz in the second leg of qualifying.$LABEL$1
Justice Dept. Cracks Down on Internet Crime Moving against Internet crime, the Justice Department on Wednesday disrupted a network allegedly used to illegally share copyrighted files and was engaged in a series of arrests against purveyors of e-mail ""spam."" <FONT face=""verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica"" size=""-2"" color=""#666666""><B>-AP</B></FONT>$LABEL$3
Music Industry Sues 744 More for File Sharing The trade group representing the\U.S. music industry has filed a new round of lawsuits against\744 people it alleges used online file-sharing networks to\illegally trade in copyrighted materials, it said on Wednesday. <FONT face=""verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica"" size=""-2"" color=""#666666""><B>-Reuters</B></FONT>$LABEL$3
Squeezing Out Monkey Clones Researchers who once dismissed another team's cloning method used the disputed process to create monkey embryos. By Kristen Philipkoski.$LABEL$3
Smallest 'Earth-like' planet seen European scientists have discovered what they describe as the smallest Earth-like planet orbiting a star outside of our Solar System.$LABEL$3
Door open for silicon replacement A breakthrough in the way scientists make crystals could lead to a replacement for silicon in electronic devices.$LABEL$3
Site Bars Black Box Voting Head A politically progressive website at the forefront of discussions about electronic-voting machines and election irregularities is barring Black Box Voting founder Bev Harris from posting to its site. By Joanna Glasner.$LABEL$3
Open-source developers focus on accessibility KDE'S developers unveil plans to make things easier for people with disabilities through their Linux desktop software.$LABEL$3
Briefly: WS-I tackles Web services attachments roundup Plus: Newspaper sites take up paid search ads...Microsoft IPTV to woo Swiss test group...Sony speeds up Memory Stick cards...Real touts one week, 1 million songs.$LABEL$3
WS-I tackles Web services attachments Standards body publishes three technical compliance guidlines regarding how attached files exchange data.$LABEL$3
Amazon to sell AT T's Net phone service Second such partnership in one week underscores the importance of VoIP in Ma Bell's long-term plans.$LABEL$3
Justice Department Cracks Down On Spammers It disrupted a network allegedly used to illegally share copyrighted files and is making a series of arrests against purveyors of spam.$LABEL$3
China's Inbreeding Pandas to Be Given More Space (Reuters) Reuters - China is trying to stop its pandas,\rebounding from the brink of extinction, from inbreeding by\building them a giant safari park, Xinhua news agency said on\Wednesday.$LABEL$3
US Military, Spy Satellites Need More Coordination (Reuters) Reuters - U.S. troops increasingly rely on\data collected by satellites, but the intelligence and military\communities lack a process for coordinating which technologies\to fund, an Air Force official said on Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Roads Go Wild, Get Safer No street signs. No crosswalks. No accidents. Surprise: Making driving seem more dangerous could make it safer. By Tom McNichol from Wired magazine.$LABEL$3
Japan's Hot Springs Sullied by Scandal (AP) AP - For at least four centuries, the rust-colored waters that bubble out of the mountainside behind the Ikaho Shrine have been as good as gold to this little spa village. Shared by dozens of inns, the spring waters are among the most venerable in the country.$LABEL$0
Hurricane Charley Leaves Cuba \$1 Billion Bill HAVANA (Reuters) - Hurricane Charley caused more than \$1 billion in damage to Havana and its surrounding provinces when it roared through western Cuba on Aug. 13, killing four people, a leader of the ruling Communist Party said on Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Intel Unit Members Faulted in Iraq Abuse WASHINGTON - Twenty-seven members of an intelligence unit at Abu Ghraib prison either requested or condoned certain abuses of Iraqi prisoners there, an Army investigation found. ""We discovered serious misconduct and a loss of moral values,"" said Gen...$LABEL$0
Stocks Up on Conflicting Economic Reports NEW YORK - Stocks inched higher in quiet trading Wednesday as a pair of government reports offered conflicting signals about the economy and oil prices declined. Despite the modest rise in share prices, investors have been in no hurry to commit new money to stocks...$LABEL$0
Video Feeds Follow Podcasting Just as people currently use newsreaders to read syndicated text from blogs and news sites, a few hackers are creating applications that let users view syndicated video feeds. Think of it as TiVocasting. By Daniel Terdiman.$LABEL$3
Atlanta Fed chief sees respectable US job growth Atlanta Federal Reserve President Jack Guynn said on Wednesday he expected quot;respectable quot; US job growth in the coming months.$LABEL$2
Singapore Air signs \$7 billion Boeing deal SINGAPORE Singapore Airlines, Asia #39;s fourth-largest carrier, said on Wednesday that it had chosen Boeing to supply as many as 31 new long-range jetliners, a deal that could be worth more than \$7 billion to the US aerospace company.$LABEL$2
Sprint, Mediacom agreement could lead to wireless reseller deal Sprint Corp. announced a multiyear agreement with the countrys eighth-largest cable operator Mediacom Communications Corp., enabling Mediacom to provide telephony services in nearly all of its markets currently covering 2.7 million homes in 23 states.$LABEL$2
Global server sales up in second quarter Global sales of servers, powerful computers used by large companies, rose 7.7 percent in the second quarter to \$11.55 billion (6.4 billion pounds) as demand for information technology remained strong after a three-year downturn $LABEL$3
Fuji Readies 16X DVDs Fuji Photo Film, better known by its FujiFilm brand name, will begin selling 16X DVDR media and double-layer DVDR media later this year.$LABEL$3
Report: US Leads in Spam Production The United States tops the quot;Dirty Dozen quot; list of spam-producing countries released by security firm Sophos. quot;The problem is that there is so much money to be made with spam, and it is very $LABEL$3
Custom-System Builders: Intel Price Cuts Move Processor Sweet Spot System builders say Intel #39;s latest price cuts will help them clear out old inventory and should move the sweet spot of the company #39;s processor lineup to the 3GHz Pentium 4 from the 2.8GHz Pentium 4. After $LABEL$3
Sam Kellerman / FOXSports.com Posted: 2 minutes ago I confess that I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to women #39;s beach volleyball. In fact, I know only one thing about the sport - that it is the supreme aesthetic experience available on planet Earth.$LABEL$1
Countdown to Spa. As the F1 circus leaves Hungary in Eastern Europe, the build up begins to F1s eagerly awaited return to the great Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium this weekend.$LABEL$1
Iran #39;s Supreme Leader Warns US About Najaf Siege Iran #39;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the United States is facing what he called quot;decades of hatred quot; in the Islamic world because of the US-led military siege in the Iraqi Shi #39;ite holy city of Najaf.$LABEL$0
The semantics of Israeli occupation Every few months, an Israeli official creates a public-relations nightmare for government spokesmen by simply pointing out the obvious.$LABEL$0
H R Block Files One Away Declining mortgage margins sink the tax-preparation specialist's first quarter.$LABEL$2
Second Career for Old Robot: Art A German art group reprograms old assembly-line robots to become autonomous artists. The machines draw, spin tunes and dance in public. The group wants to show that the industrial beasts can create beauty. By David Cohn.$LABEL$3
Open source makes noise Developers forum looks at Linux for the disabled. Also: Microsoft chided for ad campaign.$LABEL$3
Microsoft wraps up MOM 2005 management tool Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said it has finished work on Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005, a major update to its MOM 2000 performance management software.$LABEL$3
Italian transport minister in call to unions over Alitalia crisis (AFP) AFP - Italian Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi urged trade unions to cooperate in efforts to end the crisis at Alitalia, warning that the government had already done all it could.$LABEL$0
Florida E-Vote Study Debunked Statisticians release an analysis debunking a previous Berkeley study that said President Bush received more votes than he should have in Florida counties that used touch-screen voting machines. By Kim Zetter.$LABEL$3
Nigerian Senate orders Shell to pay 1.5 billion dollar compensation (AFP) AFP - The Nigerian Senate has ordered Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell to pay 1.5 billion dollars (1.2 billion euros) compensation for damages caused by nearly 60 years of exploration in the Niger Delta, a Senate document said.$LABEL$0
Sunlight to Fuel Hydrogen Future Solar power these days comes from cells that turn light into electricity, but researchers are now working on materials that can crank out hydrogen. By John Gartner.$LABEL$3
Seeking a Sleeping Giant (Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles Times - BAMIAN, Afghanistan #8212; Archeologist Zemaryalai Tarzi can barely bring himself to look at the ravaged cliff face where two ancient Buddhas towered until the Taliban infamously blasted them to bits.$LABEL$0
Plans to Expand Settlements Spark Anger (AP) AP - The recent announcement of plans to add more than 1,800 housing units to West Bank settlements may have sparked world anger, but on the ground it's just business as usual. The fact is #151; settlement building never stopped.$LABEL$0
Civilian aircraft keep US factories busy in July (AFP) AFP - Roaring demand for civilian planes added thrust to the US manufacturing sector in July, government figures showed, an encouraging sign for factories.$LABEL$2
Dollar Shrugs Off Overvalued U.S. Housing NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar so far has brushed off signs the U.S. property market could be overheating as house prices keep rising quickly and consumer demand stays robust.$LABEL$2
Basketball: U.S., Russia, Brazil in Semifinals ATHENS (Reuters) - The unbeaten U.S. women's basketball team cruised to another victory Wednesday, pummeling Greece 102-72 to advance to the Olympic semifinals where it will meet Russia.$LABEL$1
Top Seed Federer Handed Tough Opener at U.S. Open NEW YORK (Reuters) - World number one Roger Federer faces a stern test in the first round of the U.S. Open after being pitted against Spaniard Albert Costa in Wednesday's draw.$LABEL$1
Shell increases 2004 spending in Europe LONDON -- Royal Dutch/Shell Group on Wednesday announced a \$150 million increase in the amount of money it will spend in 2004 on exploration and production in Europe, bringing the total to \$1.$LABEL$2
Possible Bank Merger: Banknorth, TD Bank are in talks Canada #39;s TD Bank Financial Group says it #39;s discussing a quot;possible transaction quot; with Portland, Maine-based Banknorth Group.$LABEL$2
FDA OKs Boston Scientific Cutting Balloon Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it received US regulatory approval for a device to treat complications that arise in patients with end-stage kidney disease who need dialysis.$LABEL$2
H amp;R Block Files One Away One quarterly earnings report cannot make or break a company. Sure, it can provide a fair depiction of a company #39;s current state of affairs, but by definition it is a backward-looking tool.$LABEL$2
Civilian aircraft keep US factories busy in July WASHINGTON : Roaring demand for civilian planes added thrust to the US manufacturing sector in July, government figures showed, an encouraging sign for factories.$LABEL$2
Northwest Sues Sabre Over Contract Northwest Airlines Corp. said Wednesday it is suing Sabre Travel Network for breach of contract in a Minnesota district court. The airline alleges the unit of Sabre Holdings Corp.$LABEL$2
Stocks stick close to the flatline The Dow Jones industrial average is down four points at ten-thousand-94. Decliners on the New York Stock Exchange hold a narrow lead over advancers.$LABEL$2
Microsoft Releases MOM 2005 to Manufacturing Microsoft on Wednesday reached another milestone in its multiyear Dynamic Systems Initiative when it released to manufacturing the latest version of its Microsoft Operations Manager.$LABEL$2
Toll Brothers #39; profit soars 56 HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. (Dow Jones/AP) -- Toll Brothers Inc. Wednesday said profit for its latest quarter surged 56 percent as demand for new luxury homes remained strong.$LABEL$2
TCS shares close at 16 premium on debut Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, and Mr S. Ramadorai, Managing Director, look at the TCS shares being listed on the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Citigroup Resets \$1.18 Billion Credit for Cinram International Citigroup Inc. refinanced a \$1.18 billion credit facility for Cinram International Inc., the world #39;s second-biggest maker of digital video disks, that will reduce the company #39;s borrowing costs, the company said.$LABEL$2
Justice Dept. Cracks Down Internet Crime WASHINGTON Aug. 25, 2004 - Federal agents seized computers and software Wednesday as part of an investigation targeting an Internet network used to illegally share copyrighted music, movies, software and games, Attorney General John Ashcroft said.$LABEL$3
Gartner sees solid server sales Global revenue from server sales climbed to \$11.5 billion in the second quarter, according to new data from Gartner. This represents a 7.7 percent revenue increase over the same period last year, the market researcher said Wednesday.$LABEL$3
New Technique to Advance Semiconductors In an advance that could lead to lighter spacecraft and smarter cars, researchers have developed a new technique for producing a high-quality semiconductor that #39;s much more resistant to extreme conditions than the silicon found in most of today #39;s $LABEL$3
Under Fire, CA Pledges To Right Its Ship Facing palatable shareholder anger, top executives of Computer Associates International pledged Wednesday to add 150 new employees to aid its channel efforts and to overcome distractions created by the accounting scandal that continues to haunt the company $LABEL$3
#39;Super Earth-like #39; planet discovered PARIS - European astronomers announced Wednesday the discovery of what they say is the smallest known planet orbiting a star other than our sun.$LABEL$3
Best Software overhauls Act Best Software launched this week an overhaul of its Act contact management software, adding to the product line a second version with more scalability and advanced functionality.$LABEL$3
WS-I Addresses Web Services Attachments Interoperability The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) on Tuesday announced three new profiles have been published as quot;Final Material: quot; Basic Profile 1.1, Attachments Profile 1.0, and Simple SOAP Binding Profile 1.0.$LABEL$3
Webcam worm watches from afar A new version of an old computer worm has a nasty twist, anti-virus firm Sophos warned on Monday. The Rbot-GR worm can use webcams attached to infected computers to spy on users.$LABEL$3
Athletics: Champion of champions quot;Hee-sham! Hee-sham! Hee-sham! quot; they called, pressing flesh against the chest-high fence that separates the champions from the hordes in the belly of the Olympic Stadium.$LABEL$1
Record Run Gives American Joanna Hayes Hurdles Gold Joanna Hayes of the United States stamped her authority on a chaotic Olympic 100 meters hurdles competition when she blazed to the gold medal in a Games record 12.$LABEL$1
Isinbayeva cleared high five OLYMPIC pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva said today she cleared five metres in training earlier this year under competition conditions, nine centimetres more than the world record she set in winning gold in Athens.$LABEL$1
Hicks fronts military commission DAVID Hicks, the Australian accused of fighting with the Taliban, appeared before a US military commission panel overnight, with defence lawyers challenging the impartiality of one panel member once praised for quot;tracking and killing quot; Taliban fighters.$LABEL$0
Bali bombers may be brought here THE Australian Government may try to bring those behind the Bali bombings to Australia for trial if they avoid jail time in Indonesia.$LABEL$0
New Polio Cases Reported in Sudan Global health officials say war-torn Sudan is one of three sub-Saharan African countries reporting new cases of polio. The new polio virus is believed to the same strain registered in a major outbreak in northern Nigeria.$LABEL$0
Rebels lift blockade, warn of more Maoists rebels have lifted a blockade that cut Nepal #39;s capital Kathmandu off from the rest of the country for a week. In a statement released Tuesday, however, the rebels warned the $LABEL$0
Former Enron Executive Will Pay \$1.49 Million Enron Corp. #39;s former director of investor relations has agreed to pay \$1.49 million to settle fraud charges related to the bankrupt energy company, US securities regulators said on Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Can You Live with Windows XP SP2? Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Microsoft Windows XP is expected to start showing up on many more desktops today (Wednesday 8/25), as Microsoft starts to deliver it to XP Professional users who have automatic updates turned on, as well as via Windows Update.$LABEL$3
It #39;s out there somewhere Astronomers are claiming to have found a quot;super-Earth quot; orbiting a star some 50 light years away. They say the finding could significantly boost the hunt for worlds beyond our Solar System.$LABEL$3
Briefly: Music promoter offers concert downloads Music promoter the Mean Fiddler has signed a deal with Universal Records that will let fans download live tracks from bands who are playing at events such as the Reading Festival.$LABEL$3
Vonage doubles its money Broadband Internet telephony company Vonage raised \$105 million in its latest round of funding, which will be used to expand its reach in the United States and internationally.$LABEL$3
ATHENS OLYMPICS 2003 / Hayes captures bizarre 100-meter hurdles <b>...</b> As the American sliced to victory in Tuesday night #39;s final of the women #39;s 100-meter hurdles at the Athens Olympics, a crash early in the race had taken out two of her main rivals.$LABEL$1
Israeli dedicates first gold to Munich victims Israel #39;s first Olympic gold medallist has dedicated his victory to his 11 countrymen killed in the Munich massacre of 1972, vowing he would visit their memorial to show them his medal.$LABEL$1
Brazilians win gold at the beach Athens, Greece (Sports Network) - Brazil #39;s Ricardo Sanos and Emanuel Rego won their country #39;s first-ever gold medal in men #39;s beach volleyball Wednesday night with a straight set victory over Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera of Spain.$LABEL$1
Ba #39;asyir transferred to Cipinang, formal charges expected in days Investigators submitted the case file on cleric Abu Bakar Ba #39;asyir to prosecutors on Wednesday, paving the way for his trial on charges of involvement in a string of terrorist attacks across the country.$LABEL$0
Netherlands Panel Suggests Turkey-EU Talks (AP) AP - An influential Dutch advisory body said Wednesday that Islam was not a bar to membership in the European Union and recommended the organization open talks with Turkey, while insisting Ankara do more to meet EU human rights standards.$LABEL$0
Bryant Prosecutors Question Defense DNA Evidence (Reuters) Reuters - Prosecutors in the rape case against\U.S. basketball star Kobe Bryant are questioning the validity\of DNA evidence crucial to the defense's case, saying data\appeared to have been manipulated and might have to be thrown\out.$LABEL$1
Wiesel urges swift action in Sudan; Danny Glover arrested at Sudanese embassy (AFP) AFP - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel urged the international community to take swift action to end the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's embattled Darfur region.$LABEL$0
Ridge: Convention Security Measures Solid (AP) AP - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday that security measures for the Republican National Convention are as strong and well-coordinated as officials have had for any event.$LABEL$0
A Low-Key Olympic Return for Marion Jones ATHENS (Reuters) - Triple champion Marion Jones made a low-key return to Olympic competition Wednesday by successfully qualifying for Friday's women's long jump final.$LABEL$1
India wins \$77m steel investment Australia's largest steelmaker BlueScope is to build three manufacturing plants in India, as part of an ongoing expansion across Asia.$LABEL$2
Dirrell Boosts American Title Hopes in Boxing ATHENS (Reuters) - Middleweight Andre Dirrell boosted the United States' slim hopes of winning an Olympic boxing title by booking a place in the semi-finals with a narrow victory over Cuba's Yordani Despaigne Wednesday.$LABEL$1
Awesome Halkia Stuns Sad Pittman in Hurdles ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek sensation Fani Halkia blitzed to gold in the Olympic women's 400 meters hurdles on Wednesday to confirm her meteoric rise in the world elite.$LABEL$1
Iraqi killed on 'march to Najaf' At least one person is killed apparently heeding a top Iraqi cleric's call to march on Najaf, where a stand-off continues.$LABEL$0
Man shot dead in Canada stand-off Police shoot and kill an armed man who had taken a woman hostage in a dramatic stand-off in the Canadian city of Toronto.$LABEL$0
M. Jones Advances American Marion Jones advances to the final of the long jump in her first appearance of the Athens Olympics but Allen Johnson exits the second round of the 110-meter hurdles.$LABEL$1
Ridge Reviews Security in N.Y., Declaring 'We Are Prepared' The homeland security secretary today inspected arrangements for the Republican convention that starts next week.$LABEL$0
Stocks Rally on Lower Oil Prices NEW YORK - Stocks rallied in quiet trading Wednesday as lower oil prices brought out buyers, countering a pair of government reports that gave a mixed picture of the economy. In the final hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average added 83.62, or 0.8 percent, to 10,182.25...$LABEL$0
US Stocks Gain as Oil Prices Tumble US stocks made strong gains in late-day trading on Wednesday, as a tumble in oil prices boosted investor confidence about the economy, but thin volume meant dealers were skeptical about the strength of the rally.$LABEL$2
Altria, Kraft Foods raise dividend payouts NEW YORK, August 25 (New Ratings) - Altria Group Inc (MO.NYS), the parent group of the tobacco company, Philip Morris, raised its regular quarterly dividend today from \$0.$LABEL$2
JB Oxford Sued by SEC for Improper Mutual Fund Trades (Update2) JB Oxford Holdings Inc., a Beverly Hills-based discount brokerage firm, was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly allowing thousands of improper trades in more than 600 mutual funds.$LABEL$2
Oil falls \$1-a-barrel as gasoline prices slide Oil prices fell more than \$1 to just over \$44 a barrel Wednesday, dragged down by heavy losses in US gasoline futures after summer driving demand failed to meet expectations.$LABEL$2
Global server revenue up 8 percent in second quarter Worldwide server revenue surpassed 11.5 billion US dollars in the second quarter of 2004, up 7.7 percent from the same quarter a year ago, according to a study released Wednesday by Gartner.$LABEL$3
Sprinting Toward VoIP Telecom network operator Sprint (Quote, Chart) will provide VoIP services to cable operator Mediacom Communications under a multi-year deal announced today.$LABEL$3
MPAA sues DVD chipmakers The Motion Picture Association of America #39;s war on piracy took an unexpected turn this week with a new lawsuit. This time, instead of targeting pirates directly the MPAA has sued two microchip makers, Sigma Designs, Inc.$LABEL$3
Greek sprinter rides cheers to victory ATHENS - Homeland favorite Fani Halkia of Greece, cheered on by her compatriots in Olympic Stadium, roared to victory in the women #39;s 400 meter hurdles Wednesday night, taking the gold medal in a time of 52.$LABEL$1
Sa #39;adi Thawfeeq reporting from Dambulla DAMBULLA, Wednesday - Sri Lanka spinners strangled the South African batting dismissing them for 191 in 50 overs on a slow two-paced pitch at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium here today - venue of the third one-day international played under lights.$LABEL$1
India gt; India-Kuwait sign extradition treaty New Delhi, Aug 25 Learning a quick lesson from the ongoing Indian hostage crisis in Iraq, India and Kuwait tonight pledged to jointly combat terrorism by signing an extradition treaty and an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.$LABEL$0
US agents raid five locations in digital piracy probe (AFP) AFP - US federal agents raided five locations in what authorities described as the first criminal enforcement action targeting copyright piracy of films, music and software on peer-to-peer networks.$LABEL$3
Microsoft Releases MOM 2005 to Manufacturing (Ziff Davis) Ziff Davis - The latest version of its Microsoft Operations Manager includes 20 new Microsoft Management Packs that encapsulate intimate knowledge about how specific applications should work, with the aims of cutting operational cost and complexity.$LABEL$3
New Technique to Advance Semiconductors (AP) AP - In an advance that could lead to lighter spacecraft and smarter cars, researchers have developed a new technique for producing a high-quality semiconductor that's much more resistant to extreme conditions than the silicon found in most of today's electronics.$LABEL$3
Simple Telescopes Discover New Planet (AP) AP - Astronomers using telescopes not much larger than the spyglass Galileo wielded 400 years ago have discovered a new Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a bright, distant star.$LABEL$3
Paris Fetes 1944 Liberation from Nazi Occupation World War II tanks rumbled through Paris on Wednesday and thousands of Parisians danced in the streets to re-enact the arrival of French and US forces 60 years ago to liberate $LABEL$0
Briefly: Music promoter offers concert downloads roundup Plus: WS-I tackles Web services attachments...Newspaper sites take up paid search ads...Microsoft IPTV to woo Swiss test group.$LABEL$3
Microsoft's MOM goes out the door Software giant takes big step toward October release of Microsoft Operations Manager 2005.$LABEL$3
Death of the Internet greatly exaggerated Russian antivirus expert says claims in the media of an ""electronic Jihad"" were taken out of context.$LABEL$3
Vonage doubles its money Funding round of \$105 million brings broadband Internet telephony company's total haul to \$208 million.$LABEL$3
It's all a game for Bush vs. Kerry The presidential race is being played out in several new video and online games.$LABEL$3
Deutsche Bank hit again by phishing attack Deutsche Bank AG was the target of a renewed phishing attack late Tuesday extending into Wednesday, after facing its first-ever reported assault last week, according to a bank spokesman.$LABEL$3
NTT DoCoMo, Motorola tie up on 3G handsets NTT DoCoMo will release a handset compatible with non-Japanese cellular networks and with its own 3G (third generation) mobile network early next year. The handset will be made by Motorola Inc. for DoCoMo and will also support wireless LAN, the two companies said in a statement on Wednesday.$LABEL$3
Playboy Publishes More of the Google Interview on Playboy.com Playboy Publishes More of the Google Interview on Playboy.com\\Playboy magazine on Tuesday published previously unsyndicated interview excerpts to its Web site from its interview with Google's founders. The original interview was published just before the Internet search engine's much-anticipated initial public offering.\\In the never before seen excerpt on Playboy.com, Google ...$LABEL$3
Search Engine Marketing Issues - Link Popularity Search Engine Marketing Issues - Link Popularity\\For years, ""link popularity"" and ""Google PageRank"" have been the talk of the town in the search engine optimization community. However, the definition of link popularity and how it differs from PageRank (PR), as well as how much effect these actually have on search ...$LABEL$3
Shell to Spend More on North Sea Venture Royal Dutch/Shell Group announced Wednesday that it would spend US\$1.8 billion on exploration and production in the North Sea, including building a pipeline to transfer gas from Norway to Britain.$LABEL$2
Asian Stocks: Japan Climbs, Led by UFJ; China Mobile Advances Japanese stocks rose, with the Topix index having its longest winning streak in 13 months. UFJ Holdings Inc. advanced after Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.$LABEL$2
UPDATE 1-Northwest, Sabre tussle heats up, Sabre shares fall A dispute between Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWAC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Sabre Holdings Corp. (TSG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) intensified $LABEL$2
How to Make Millions, Slowly In the best combination of tobacco #39;n #39; food news since Homer Simpson #39;s tomacco, today Altria Group (NYSE: MO) and its cheesy stepchild Kraft (NYSE: KFT) both upped their dividends.$LABEL$2
Williams-Sonoma 2nd-Qtr Net Rises 55; Shares Soar (Update5) Williams-Sonoma Inc. said second- quarter profit rose 55 percent, boosted by the addition of Pottery Barn stores and sale of outdoor furniture.$LABEL$2
Ex-Exron exec to pay \$1.49M to settle charges While criminal trials await other former Enron Corp. executives, the Houston-based company #39;s former director of investor relations has agreed to pay \$1.$LABEL$2
Oil tumbles below \$44 Oil prices sank more than 2 percent and fell below \$44 a barrel Wednesday, extending their recent slide after a government report showed domestic gasoline supplies had not fallen last week, as Wall Street had expected last week.$LABEL$2
Toll Bros. tops target Toll Brothers Inc., a US builder of luxury homes, said Wednesday fiscal third-quarter profit rose 56 percent, easily beating analysts #39; forecasts, helped by record home-building revenue.$LABEL$2
Motorola to develop FOMA handset for DoCoMo TOKYO - NTT DoCoMo Inc and Motorola Inc of the United States said Wednesday they will jointly develop a handset for DoCoMo #39;s third-generation FOMA mobile phone service.$LABEL$3
Technique allows more resilient semiconductors In an advance that could lead to lighter spacecraft and smarter cars, researchers have developed a new technique for producing a high-quality computer chip that is much more resistant to extreme conditions than the silicon found in most of today #39;s $LABEL$3
UN-funded agency releases free Linux user manual The International Open Source Network (IOSN), an organization funded by the United Nations, has released a beginner #39;s manual for the Linux desktop.$LABEL$3
Yahoo has problem with the Nazis YAHOO #39;S BID to stop two French groups stopping it selling neo-nazi paraphernalia are having a job convincing the US court system to intervene.$LABEL$3
LogicLibrary Announces Logidex 3.5 for J2EE and .NET LogicLibrary, a provider of software asset management tools, Tuesday announced Logidex 3.5 for J2EE and .NET platforms that features compliance with the Basic Profile of the Web Services $LABEL$3
Lagat Remains Gracious in Defeat Bernard Lagat gave Kenya a silver medal in the men #39;s 1,500m race, marginally losing out to race favourite Hicham El Guerrouj in a dramatic final on Tuesday night.$LABEL$1
JOHNSON AND JONES PROGRESS Marion Jones made a low-profile return to the Olympics on Wednesday, four years after her name was up in lights for the duration of the Sydney Games.$LABEL$1
Second Andre win in a row boosts US gold medal hopes Andre Dirrell, fighting with a tattoo of his grandfather #39;s face on his back, assured the United States of at least two boxing medals Wednesday by narrowly beating Cuba #39;s Yordani Despaigne to advance to the Olympic middleweight semifinals.$LABEL$1
Satisfied Customers Jefferson Graham writes for USA Today, #147;Apple #146;s trendy iPod digital music player, which has revitalized the company, is giving laptop sales a boost during back-to-school season. Many students, after falling in love with the iPod, are packing for college with new Apple Macintosh computers. #148; Aug 23$LABEL$3
U.S. State Dept Finishes Review of Iraq Aid Plan (Reuters) Reuters - The State Department finished an\intensive review this week on how best to spend #36;18.4 billion\in U.S. aid to Iraq and may shift focus to smaller-scale\projects, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Va. Senate Leader Opposes Baseball Plan (AP) AP - As baseball officials met Wednesday with backers hoping to lure the Montreal Expos to Northern Virginia, a second key lawmaker said he opposes a plan to finance a ballpark with bonds backed by the ""moral obligation"" of the state.$LABEL$1
U.S. Soldier Dies in Truck Crash in Iraq (AP) AP - A U.S. soldier was killed in a truck accident north of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, a military spokesman said.$LABEL$0
Stocks End Up as Oil Prices Fall NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on Wednesday, as a drop in oil prices boosted investor confidence about the economy, but thin volume meant dealers were skeptical about the strength of the rally.$LABEL$2
Dollar Dips Against Most Major Currencies NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar dipped against most major currencies on Wednesday after mixed data on U.S. durable goods orders and weaker-than-expected new home sales did little to brighten the U.S. economic outlook.$LABEL$2
Longer-Dated Treasuries Rise NEW YORK (Reuters) - Longer-dated Treasuries rose on Wednesday as a soggy batch of U.S. economic data dampened the outlook for future growth, although a disappointing auction of 2-year notes curbed the session's gains.$LABEL$2
Northwest, Sabre Tussle Heats Up CHICAGO (Reuters) - A dispute between Northwest Airlines Corp. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=NWAC.O target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">NWAC.O</A> and Sabre Holdings Corp. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=TSG.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">TSG.N</A> intensified on Wednesday as the airline sued Sabre for changing the way it displays fares on its computerized reservation system.$LABEL$2
Starbucks Aug. Same-Store Sales Up 8 Pct SEATTLE (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee-shop chain, on Wednesday said sales at stores open at least a year rose 8 percent in August, the first time growth fell below double-digits in nine months.$LABEL$2
Washington Post Editor Stepping Down Steve Coll, The Washington Post's managing editor for six years, said today he is stepping down at the end of the year to pursue book projects.$LABEL$2
Hungarian tycoon picked as new PM Hungary's ruling Socialists choose a multi-millionaire to succeed Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy.$LABEL$0
Still AT T Wireless, for a Spell A tussle over the beleaguered wireless service provider's brand name leaves one Fool uninspired.$LABEL$2
Plan Comes Under Fire As baseball officials met Wednesday with backers of a northern Virginia ballpark for the Expos, a second key lawmaker said he opposes a plan to finance the stadium.$LABEL$1
U.S. Prepares for Possible Flu Outbreak WASHINGTON - Closing schools, restricting travel and rationing scarce medications may be the nation's first protections if a powerful new flu strain spurs a worldwide outbreak because it will take months to brew a vaccine, say government preparations for the next pandemic. Specialists say it's only a matter of time before the next one strikes, and concern is rising that the recurring bird flu in Asia could be the trigger if it mutates in a way that lets it spread easily among people...$LABEL$0
Australian Held in Cuba Pleads Innocent GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - An Australian cowboy accused of fighting with the Taliban against U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan pleaded innocent to war crimes charges Wednesday before a U.S...$LABEL$0
Starbucks Posts Robust August Sales Starbucks #39; (SBUX:Nasdaq - news - research) sales slowed a bit in August, but still came in above the coffee shop chain #39;s long-term targets.$LABEL$2
Rate Scare at H amp;R Block H amp;R Block #39;s (HRB:NYSE - news - research) low-multiple shares cheapened Wednesday as investors tried to digest its explanation for a wide first-quarter earnings miss.$LABEL$2
EU Probes DRM Deal The European Commission is investigating the proposed acquisition of DRM software maker ContentGuard by Microsoft and Time Warner.$LABEL$2
Stocks Rally on Lower Oil Prices Stocks rallied in quiet trading Wednesday as lower oil prices brought out buyers, countering a pair of government reports that gave a mixed picture of the economy.$LABEL$2
Two Regional Bells Sue To Lift Access-Price Freeze Verizon and Qwest have asked a federal court to force the FCC to drop its price freeze on the fees their competitors pay to connect to their regional networks.$LABEL$2
Bill to raise Calif. minimum wage advances A bill to raise California #39;s minimum wage to \$7.75 an hour over the next two years is headed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, providing a major test of his pledge to reject $LABEL$2
Microsoft Posts Windows XP Service Pack 2 Compatibility Guide Microsoft has released a kit to help IT professionals spot compatibility problems between Windows XP Service Pack 2 and other applications, and how to roll out fixes.$LABEL$3
Modified Mice Stay Super-Fit -- Without Exercise The super-rodents can run farther and about an hour longer than average mice. The new rodents also appear to resist weight gain in the complete absence of exerciseeven when fed a high-fat diet that led normal mice to become obese.$LABEL$3
Smallest #39;Earth-like #39; planet seen European scientists have discovered what they describe as the smallest Earth-like planet orbiting a star outside our Solar System.$LABEL$3
Celebrating Open Source Several organisations will celebrate Saturday #39;s International Software Freedom Day by hosting open source events around the country.$LABEL$3
ATHENS OLYMPICS 2004 / Japan bags bronze medal Japan hustled, hurled, homered--and what would it be if it didn #39;t bunt a few times--to a face-saving Olympic bronze medal in baseball.$LABEL$1
Airline Security Said Tight in Russia (AP) AP - At Moscow's biggest international airport, people cannot even enter the building without passing through metal detectors. But such tough security contrasts with domestic flights that lack reinforced cockpit doors and funding for other basic safeguards.$LABEL$0
Sprint, Mediacom Announce VOIP Deal (AP) AP - Sprint Corp. and cable television provider Mediacom Communications Corp. announced an agreement Wednesday that will allow Sprint to offer Internet telephone service to Mediacom's 2.7 million household subscribers.$LABEL$3
Navy Report Backs Kerry Role in Incident (AP) AP - A Navy report filed five days after a disputed incident in Vietnam supports John Kerry's version and contradicts critics who say the Democratic presidential nominee never came under enemy gunfire when he won two medals.$LABEL$0
Lucent Lands Isle Of Man Deal The Isle of Man is once again in the spotlight, this time with mmO2 #39;s plans to tap Lucent Technologies for a Manx Telecom UMTS network.$LABEL$3
Starbucks Aug. Same-Store Sales Up 8 Pct Starbucks Corp., the world #39;s largest coffee-shop chain, on Wednesday said sales at stores open at least a year rose 8 percent in August, the first time growth fell below double-digits in nine months.$LABEL$2
Stocks End Up as Oil Prices Fall US stocks ended higher on Wednesday, as a drop in oil prices boosted investor confidence about the economy, but thin volume meant dealers were skeptical about the strength of the rally.$LABEL$2
Simple Telescopes Discover New Planet Astronomers using telescopes not much larger than the spyglass Galileo wielded 400 years ago have discovered a new Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a bright, distant star.$LABEL$3
Today #39;s Home News Greek athlete Fani Halkia finished in 52.82 to win the gold medal in the women #39;s 400m hurdles final on Wednesday. She is the third Greek athlete to win Olympic gold in an athletics event, after Voula Patoulidou and Costas Kenteris.$LABEL$1
Thatcher #39;s Son Charged in Coup Plot CAPE TOWN, South Africa Aug. 25, 2004 - The son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, an ex-race car driver whose business career has been dogged by accusations of questionable arms deals and $LABEL$0
Japan Planning to Launch Spy Satellites TOKYO (AP) -- A Japanese government panel has approved plans to send two spy satellites into Earth's orbit beginning next year, a media report said Wednesday. If confirmed, the missions would be the first since late 2003 for Japan's ailing space program, which has suffered a slew of launch and mission failures...$LABEL$3
Microsoft wraps up MOM 2005 management tool Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 offers new features such as graphical systems views and enhanced reporting tools, and has been designed to be easier to deploy than its predecessor.$LABEL$3
Deutsche Bank hit again by phishing attack After facing its first-ever phishing attack last week, Deutsche Bank AG said today it was the target of a renewed assault that began late yesterday and continued until this morning.$LABEL$3
Yahoo's legal battle over Nazi items continues The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a District Court judgment on procedural grounds, opening up again the question of whether Yahoo is responsible under French law for information published on its Yahoo.com portal.$LABEL$3
Gartner: '04 chip revenue growth strong, '05 weaker The semiconductor industry should take in \$226 billion in revenue this year, up 27 from last year, according to research firm Gartner Inc. But that grow is expected to slow in 2005.$LABEL$3
Outsourcing issue flares up at chip conference A panel including two venture investors, a scholar, a laid-off software engineer and two chip industry CEOs debated the issue at the Hot Chips event sponsored by the IEEE.$LABEL$3
CA shareholders back management over bonuses issue Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) avoided a revolt at its annual meeting on Wednesday, when shareholders voted down a proposal requesting that the company's board adopt a policy of revoking executive bonuses paid based on financial results that are later revised.$LABEL$3
RIAA Expands P-to-P Lawsuits Latest round of legal action targets users of a variety of services, including eDonkey.$LABEL$3
HDTV Competition Could Bring Deals Prices are likely to drop as more outlets, including PC vendors, get into the market.$LABEL$3
Search Engine Giving Away \$5 Million in Advertising Search Engine Giving Away \$5 Million in Advertising\\Search engine Tygo.com hit the Internet today with an unusual marketing approach that matches its unusual advertising model. The new search engine is giving away \$5,000,000 in advertising through its Flat Rate Placement program to introduce advertisers to its new advertising model. Tygo.com ...$LABEL$3
UPDATE 3-TD Bank woos Banknorth for US expansion Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) , which earlier this year ended talks to merge its discount brokerage unit with E-Trade Financial (ET.$LABEL$2
Yemen Seaports on Alert for Possible Terror Attack (Reuters) Reuters - Yemen has received information that\foreign terrorists are planning to attack its sea ports, a\security source said on Wednesday.$LABEL$0
IBM nets 500m Lloyds TSB deal COMPUTER bellwether IBM has signed a seven-year, 500 million contract with Lloyds TSB to supply the UK bank with internet telephony and data services.$LABEL$3
Gardner Puts Down Boots to Begin New Life ATHENS (Reuters) - A giant man placing his blue boots in the center of a yellow mat would be a strange sight to the uninitiated.$LABEL$1
Delta Halfway Through Restructuring - WSJ NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=DAL.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">DAL.N</A>, still hoping to avoid filing for bankruptcy, has completed about half its planned restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.$LABEL$2
Jones in Long-Jump Final; Johnson Falters ATHENS, Greece - Marion Jones made a quiet Athens debut, advancing easily to the long jump final. Allen Johnson had the attention of everyone in the stadium, for all the wrong reasons...$LABEL$0
Royal Dutch/Shell Settles with SEC The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK #39;s Financial Services Authority have formally agreed on Shell in July for misleading the market.$LABEL$2
Boeing stock soars on news of 777 order Shares in The Boeing Co. hit a one-year high Wednesday on news that the aircraft builder has received an order to build 18 777-300 ER (extended range) airplanes for Singapore Airlines, with the airline also $LABEL$2
Stocks rally as falling oil prices lure buyers Stocks rallied in quiet trading Wednesday as oil prices fell for a third straight day and countered a pair of government reports that gave a mixed picture of the economy.$LABEL$2
Oil: Price drops nearly US\$2 a barrel NEW YORK - Oil prices fell nearly US\$2 a barrel on Wednesday, dragged down by heavy losses in US petrol futures after summer driving demand in the world #39;s largest consumer failed to meet expectations.$LABEL$2
CA shareholders back management over bonuses issue Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) avoided a revolt at its annual meeting on Wednesday, when shareholders voted down a proposal requesting that the company #39;s board adopt a policy of revoking executive $LABEL$3
American Teen Allyson Felix Grabs 200 Meter Silver Jamaican speedster Veronica Campbell earned the Caribbean nation their first Olympic gold medal of the 2004 Games when she won the 200 meters Wednesday in a searing 22.$LABEL$1
Fridman gives Israel first-ever gold medal Athens, Greece (Sports Network) - Israel picked up its first-ever gold medal at the Olympics on Wednesday when windsurfer Gal Fridman won the men #39;s mistral.$LABEL$1
Rangers 1-1 CSKA Moscow Vagner Love struck the killer blow to Rangers #39; Champions League ambitions as CSKA Moscow left Ibrox with a deserved 3-2 victory on aggregate.$LABEL$1
HDTV Competition Could Bring Deals (PC World) PC World - Prices are likely to drop as more outlets, including PC vendors, get into the market.$LABEL$3
Olympic Wrap: Greece Hails New Diva in Halkia ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece hailed a new sporting diva on Wednesday when Fani Halkia surged from relative obscurity a few days ago to be crowned the women's 400 meters hurdles Olympic champion.$LABEL$1
Tiny Telescope Detects a Giant Planet (Reuters) Reuters - A tiny telescope has spotted a giant\planet circling a faraway star, using a technique that could\open a new phase of planetary discovery, scientists said on\Tuesday.$LABEL$3
Federer and Henin-Hardenne Get the Top Spots for U.S. Open Roger Federer will open against Albert Costa, and Justine Henin-Hardenne will play a qualifier when the tournament begins Monday.$LABEL$1
Dell May Soon Unveil More Consumer Goods -Analyst NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.reuters.co.uk/financeQuoteLookup.jhtml?ticker=DELL.O qtype=sym infotype=info qcat=news"">DELL.O</A>, the world's largest PC maker, could announce an expanded selection of its consumer electronics line in the next several weeks, a retail industry analyst said on Wednesday.$LABEL$3
Mars Odyssey Begins Overtime After Successful Mission NASA -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter begins working overtime today after completing a prime mission that discovered vast supplies of frozen water, ran a safety check for future astronauts, and mapped surface textures and minerals all over Mars, among other feats. ""Odyssey has accomplished all of its mission-success criteria,"" said Dr...$LABEL$3
Possible Flu Outbreak Threatens U.S. By LAURAN NEERGAARD WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States may have to close schools, restrict travel and ration scarce medications if a powerful new flu strain spurs a worldwide outbreak, according to federal plans for the next pandemic, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. It will take months to brew a vaccine that works against the kind of super-flu that causes a pandemic, although government preparations include research to speed that production...$LABEL$3
New Technique to Advance Semiconductor Performance By MATTHEW FORDAHL (AP) -- In an advance that could lead to lighter spacecraft and smarter cars, researchers have developed a new technique for producing a high-quality semiconductor that's much more resistant to extreme conditions than the silicon found in most of today's electronics. Devices built with the rugged material would not require cooling and other protections that add size, weight and cost to traditional silicon electronics in power systems, jet engines, rockets, wireless transmitters and other equipment exposed to harsh environments...$LABEL$3
New Lawsuit Challenges Anti-Piracy Technology By LAURENCE FROST PARIS (AP) -- Copy protection technologies used to prevent CDs from being pirated online are facing a legal challenge in France, where a judge began a formal investigation of record label EMI Group PLC for using them. Confirming a report in French financial daily Les Echos, the record store Fnac said Wednesday it has also been placed under investigation by a French judge along with EMI's French arm...$LABEL$3
Review: Game Boy Add-On Video Is Limiting (AP) AP - A pair of new add-ons for Nintendo Co.'s Game Boy Advance turn the handheld into something considerably more than a gaming machine #151; a video phone and a video player. As long as you bear in mind that you're dealing with a toy, you might not be too bothered by the less than stellar quality.$LABEL$3
Microsoft Expands Windows Update Release (AP) AP - Microsoft Corp. is starting to ramp up distribution of its massive security update for the Windows XP operating system, but analysts say they still expect the company to move at a relatively slow pace to avoid widespread glitches.$LABEL$3
Real Madrid, Man Utd, Juventus Advance (AP) AP - Manchester United, Juventus and Real Madrid advanced Wednesday night to the first round of the European Champions League, and American midfielder DaMarcus Beasley scored to help PSV Eindhoven qualify.$LABEL$1
Discrimination at U.S. Polls Now 'Subtler, More Creative' (Reuters) Reuters - The old methods of U.S.\discrimination at the polls have been replaced by ""subtler and\more creative tactics,"" according to a report released on\Wednesday.$LABEL$0
House Intelligence Chairman Named (Reuters) Reuters - Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra\was picked to head the House Intelligence Committee, replacing\Rep. Porter Goss who has been nominated to head the Central\Intelligence Agency, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said\on Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Deadline looms in Sudan crisis Khartoum agrees to allow more African Union troops and monitors in Darfur.$LABEL$0
Sadr loyalty grows, even as Sistani returns Mahdi Army emerging as well-organized parallel government$LABEL$0
Red Roof Inns Selects T-Mobile for Broadband Service (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - Building on its strategy to push its service into hotels, T-Mobile will be making its HotSpot wireless-broadband service available throughout the Red Roof Inn chain, owned by Accor. Under the agreement, guests at the Red Roof Inns can access the network in the common area and in individual rooms.$LABEL$3
Microsoft Releases SP2 Test Guide (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has taken steps to help enterprise developers who want to test their applications against Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).$LABEL$3
Sistani to Lead Peace Mission to Embattled Iraq City NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric was due to travel to Najaf on Thursday after making a surprise return to the country to try to end bitter fighting creeping ever closer to the city's holiest shrine.$LABEL$0
Stocks Close Higher in Light Volume NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks made strong gains on Wednesday as a tumble in oil prices boosted investor confidence about the economy, but thin volume meant dealers were skeptical about the strength of the rally.$LABEL$2
US Awards Airliner Antimissile Contracts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Northrop Grumman Corp. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=NOC.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">NOC.N</A> and BAE Systems PLC <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=BA.L target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">BA.L</A> were tapped by the Bush administration on Wednesday to develop competing systems to protect U.S. commercial aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles, a potential multibillion-dollar market.$LABEL$2
Coke Loses Quiznos Sandwich Account ATLANTA (Reuters) - Quiznos Sub, the third-largest U.S. sandwich chain, said on Wednesday it signed a deal to serve PepsiCo Inc. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=PEP.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">PEP.N</A> drinks in its U.S. outlets, ending a 23-year relationship with Coca-Cola Co. <A HREF=""http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=KO.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"">KO.N</A>$LABEL$2
U.S. Treasury Prices Are Mixed NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices were mixed on Wednesday as economic data proved tepid and demand for an auction of two-year notes was thin.$LABEL$2
Dollar Dips Against Most Major Currencies NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar dropped against most major currencies on Wednesday after mixed data on U.S. durable goods orders and weaker-than-expected new home sales did little to brighten the U.S. economic outlook.$LABEL$2
Alitalia unions get pay warning The Italian government warns the unions at airline Alitalia that if they do not agree to pay cuts, the carrier could go bankrupt within a month.$LABEL$2
U.S. Launches Fierce Air Attack on Rebels in Najaf (Reuters) Reuters - U.S. planes unleashed a fierce\attack on rebel targets in Najaf early on Thursday, a Reuters\witness said.$LABEL$0
Vice chairman quits Wal-Mart (USATODAY.com) USATODAY.com - Thomas Coughlin, who joined Wal-Mart Stores as head of security and rose to vice chairman, will give up the post early next year after 25 years of service that helped the company become the world's biggest retailer.$LABEL$2
Berlusconi in Libya to discuss illegal immigration with Kadhafi (AFP) AFP - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi for talks on how to stop illegal immigrants using the north African state as a springboard for entry into Italy.$LABEL$0
Bush Campaign Lawyer Quits Over Ties to Ads Group (Reuters) Reuters - A top lawyer for President\Bush's re-election campaign resigned on Wednesday after\disclosing he has been providing legal advice to a group that\accuses Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of lying\about his Vietnam War record.$LABEL$0
Mishap Ends Briton's Transpacific Rowing Attempt ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A British man's attempt to become the first person to row across the North Pacific Ocean ended after his boat capsized, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday.$LABEL$0
Boeing Wins Order From Singapore, Fails to Sell 7E7 (Update1) Boeing Co, the world #39;s second-biggest maker of commercial aircraft, won a \$3.6 billion order for 18 planes from Singapore Airlines Ltd.$LABEL$2
Washington Post Managing Editor Stepping Down Steve Coll, The Washington Post #39;s managing editor for six years, said today he is stepping down at the end of the year to pursue book projects.$LABEL$2
Greenspan Says Effects of Japan Currency Sales Hard to Gauge The effect of Japan #39;s currency sales this year and last on the value of the yen are difficult to judge, #39; #39; Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said.$LABEL$2
DOJ Raids Private P2P Operation Authorities raided five residences and and an Internet service provider Wednesday morning in the first federal criminal enforcement action against private peer-to-peer (P2P) (define) networks.$LABEL$3
Server Sales Favor Linux Linux servers are on the rise again thanks in part to low-end and x86-64 based servers, according to a new survey by market research firm Gartner.$LABEL$3
Computer Associates shareholders defeat proposal to recall bonuses Shareholders of Computer Associates International, the software maker tarred by an accounting scandal, Wednesday defeated a proposal calling for current and former executives to return bonuses based on restated results.$LABEL$3
RIAA Steps Up P2P Legal Campaign The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) launched its back-to-school, anti peer-to-peer (P2P) (define) campaign Tuesday with a national media briefing praising the efforts of a handful of colleges and universities to stop piracy.$LABEL$3
Microsoft Releases MOM 2005 To Manufacturing Channel partners say the release of enterprise and SMB versions of Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 this week will boost Windows management but they #39;re not sure whether it will boost sales.$LABEL$3
Microsoft Windows-Linux Comparison Found to be Unfair A Microsoft ad saying that Linux was 10 times more expensive than Windows has been found to be an unfair advert in the UK. The UK #39;s Advertising Standards Authority $LABEL$3
Open-Source Community Skeptical About Microsoft #39;s Sender ID <b>...</b> Microsoft this month is moving forward with the developer implementation of its anti-spam Sender ID framework, but open-source advocates and mail vendors doubt whether the software giant #39;s new proposed license meets open-source requirements.$LABEL$3
Ask Kim Komando Q: I hear weird sounds coming from my computer - for instance, a door opening and closing. Is this normal? I use America Online. A: These sounds are coming from your AOL Buddy List, letting you know when a buddy has logged in or logged off.$LABEL$3
Greek comes from nowhere to win women #39;s hurdles To the roar of an adoring home crowd, Fani Halkia completed her unexpected romp through the Olympics on Wednesday with a victory in the women #39;s 400-meter hurdles.$LABEL$1
WRAPUP 1-Record-breaking Arsenal sweep past Rovers Champions Arsenal made history on Wednesday by trouncing Blackburn Rovers 3-0 at Highbury to set a 43-match unbeaten league record in English football.$LABEL$1
High drama as stars dissolve in tracks of tears ATHENS: Seldom have sporting moments of inconceivable pain and delirious joy covered more emotional ground yet been so difficult to distinguish.$LABEL$1
Athens Asides AUSTRIAN triathlon athlete Kate Allen passed Australia #39;s Loretta Harrop just seconds before crossing the finish line yesterday, completing a stunning race in which she passed over half the field during the final leg.$LABEL$1
Fridman gets Israel #39;s 1st ever gold ATHENS - Windsurfer Gal Fridman won his country #39;s first gold medal since Israel began competing in the Olympics at Helsinki in 1952 when he captured the men #39;s Mistral sailboard title at Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre on Wednesday.$LABEL$1
UPDATE 1-Rangers crash out after home draw with CSKA Rangers failed to reach the Champions League group stage for a second successive season as CSKA Moscow progressed 3-2 on aggregate after a 1-1 away draw on Wednesday.$LABEL$1
Cost of Gold in Olympics: \$12.1 Bln The Athens Olympics will cost a total of almost 10 billion euros (\$12.1 billion), more than double the original target, pushing Greece #39;s budget gap well above EU limits, finance ministry sources said on Wednesday.$LABEL$1
Danish players suspend strike against FIFA transfer rules COPENHAGEN: Danish footballers on Wednesday temporarily suspended their week-long strike action in protest at a rule by the games ruling body FIFA concerning the transfer of players under 23 years old.$LABEL$1
SI.com HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Jeff Kent was the latest to put a knockout punch on the Philadelphia Phillies . Now the question is, for how much longer will Larry Bowa hang on to the ropes?$LABEL$1
Thatcher son held in S Africa probe for role in Guinea coup CAPE TOWN, AUGUST 25: The son of former British PM Margaret Thatcher was arrested in South Africa on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in a mercenary plot against the government of Equatorial Guinea.$LABEL$0
Kathmandu back in business after Maoist rebels lift blockade KATHMANDU - Food and supplies are rolling into Kathmandu again after Maoist rebels lift a week-long blockade that demonstrated their growing power in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom.$LABEL$0
Praying for Christian Unity, Pope Sends Treasured Icon Back to <b>...</b> Vatican City, Aug. 25--Pope John Paul II on Wednesday kissed a treasured Russian icon and sent it back to Moscow as a sign of his affection for the Russian Orthodox Church and his desire to end $LABEL$0
Cingular, AT T and AT T Wireless Resolve Brand Issues (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - AT T Wireless and \Cingular Wireless say they have resolved the issues relating to Cingular's use of the AT T brand name once Cingular's acquisition of its former rival is complete. The agreement also includes a provision for the purchase of AT T network services.$LABEL$3
Report: Enterprises Go Outside for Security Help (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - It is no secret that enterprise networks are increasingly under attack from a variety of sources that are difficult to thwart. To address the problem, many are turning to outside security providers, which is driving \the rapid evolution of new safeguarding technologies, according to \research conducted by the Yankee Group.$LABEL$3
New Jersey's Xanadu Faces Stiff Environmental Tests (Reuters) Reuters - Xanadu, a #36;1.3 billion entertainment\complex planned for New Jersey, now faces a stiffer\environmental test because two state agencies likely will\demand a more in-depth look at how air quality and traffic\would be affected.$LABEL$3
Former Enron Executive Pleads Guilty to Aiding Securities Fraud Former Enron Corp. executive Mark Koenig pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston to aiding and abetting securities fraud and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.$LABEL$2
Dow Closes Up 83 on Lower Oil Prices Stocks rallied in quiet trading Wednesday as oil prices fell for a fourth straight session, countering a pair of government reports that gave a mixed picture of the economy.$LABEL$2
Citigroup Buys Texas Bank Continuing to snap up branch networks in states with large Hispanic populations, Citigroup Inc. Tuesday, Aug. 24, agreed to buy First American Bank of Texas for an undisclosed price.$LABEL$2
Department Of Justice raids P2P users homes Today the US Department of Justice launched an assault on P2P filesharing. Using search warrants, they searched five homes and the offices of one ISP.$LABEL$3
Tiny telescope detects a giant planet A tiny telescope has spotted a giant planet circling a faraway star, using a technique that could open a new phase of planetary discovery, scientists said.$LABEL$3
#39;Marathon #39; mice ready to run and run The marathon mouse has been unveiled by scientists: a rodent which, with a little genetic tinkering, can run twice as far as a normal mouse.$LABEL$3
Report: Asia faces water shortage Scientists are warning that Asian farmers are drying up the continents underground reserves by drilling millions of pump-operated wells to draw out water.$LABEL$3
Cable Operator Mediacom Partners With Sprint In the latest alliance between a cable and telephone company, cable operator Mediacom Communications Corp. on Wednesday said it would use Sprint Corp.$LABEL$3
You can blame NASA for the peculiar weather I have resisted commenting on this summer #39;s weather in hopes that it would straighten itself out. Since that no longer seems possible, however, I feel compelled to offer some advice on the subject.$LABEL$3
Gardner Puts Down Boots to Begin New Life A giant man placing his blue boots in the center of a yellow mat would be a strange sight to the uninitiated. But to American Rulon Gardner, the symbolism was huge.$LABEL$1
Sri Lanka clinch series DAMBULLA: Marvan Atapattu slammed a solid 97 not out on a difficult pitch as Sri Lanka wrapped up the one-day cricket series with a four-wicket victory over South Africa in the third match on Wednesday.$LABEL$1
250,000 Chinese flee typhoon TAIPEI, Taiwan -- China has begun evacuating almost 250,000 people from coastal areas as it braces for the onslaught of Typhoon Aere.$LABEL$0
JCC Arson Roils French Jews Jewish leaders expressed growing frustration this week with continuing anti-Semitic violence in Europe following the torching of a Jewish community center in Paris early Sunday.$LABEL$0
Europe Opens Another Inquiry Involving Microsoft The European Commission has opened an investigation into the planned acquisition of ContentGuard Holdings by Microsoft and Time Warner, a commission spokeswoman said Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Cirrus Logic to Lay Off Workers Cirrus Logic Inc., a maker of microchips for consumer electronics, on Wednesday said it will lay off 7 percent of its employees to save \$2 million to \$3 million per quarter, with expense reductions starting in its third quarter.$LABEL$2
US banks want a piece of Texas US banks are feasting on the fast-growing Texas market, where a rapidly growing population and its ability to lure new businesses have experts predicting competition for deals there will become more intense.$LABEL$2
Wall Street rallys as falling oil prices lure buyers By George Chamberlin , Daily Transcript Financial Correspondent. A big drop in oil prices helped stock prices move higher Wednesday.$LABEL$2
Calif. to host greatest garage sale ever The state is holding a rummage sale to get rid of a whole bunch of unwanted stuff. SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is holding a rummage sale to dispose of unwanted state property from aircraft engines to jewelry.$LABEL$2
Mediacom Taps Sprint to Provide VoIP Mediacom Communications says it will launch VoIP telephone service in selected markets in the first half of 2005 in partnership with Sprint.$LABEL$3
Simply the best? Arsenal #39;s victory over Blackburn has set a new record of 43 league matches unbeaten, surpassing the old mark set by Nottingham Forest in 1978.$LABEL$1
Hicks confirms abuse allegations ACCUSED Australian terrorist David Hicks confirmed allegations he was abused while in US military ustody in Afghanistan, his father said today.$LABEL$0
Briefly: Toshiba tinkers with Wi-Fi for TV roundup Plus: Music promoter offers concert downloads...WS-I tackles Web services attachments...Newspaper sites take up paid search ads.$LABEL$3
Accounting deadline could kill software spending Wall Street analysts debate whether year-end Sarbanes-Oxley deadline will sap demand for corporate software systems.$LABEL$3
Redback on the comeback trail Eight months after it emerged from bankruptcy, Redback Networks is racking up new contracts.$LABEL$3
Toshiba tinkers with Wi-Fi for TV The 802.11a offshoot will allow TVs and other non-PC devices to receive video files more easily.$LABEL$3
Borland acquires software project planning tool Focused on improving its requirements management arsenal for software development, Borland Software on Wednesday is announcing its acquisition of Estimate Professional, a software project planning and estimation tool.$LABEL$3
Cubs Nudge Brewers 4-2 on Last-Gasp Homer (AP) AP - Corey Patterson hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday to give the Cubs a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago's eighth victory in 11 games.$LABEL$1
German investor confidence stabilises in December on oil price declines (AFP) AFP - Investor confidence in Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, stabilised, albeit at low levels, in December, as falling oil prices helped offset concerns about the negative economic effects of the strong euro, a new poll showed.$LABEL$2
US new home sales dive 6.4 percent in July (AFP) AFP - Sales of new US homes plunged in July for the second straight month, data showed, a sign of chillier demand cooling the once red-hot market.$LABEL$2
Open-Source Community Skeptical About Microsoft's Sender ID License (Ziff Davis) Ziff Davis - Sender ID's license is making it impossible for open-source programmers to use it in their e-mail applications.$LABEL$3
BA boss admits 'we got it wrong' British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington admits the airline ""got it wrong"" after staff shortages led to travel chaos.$LABEL$0
Dirrell Boosts American Title Hopes in Boxing Middleweight Andre Dirrell boosted the United States #39; slim hopes of winning an Olympic boxing title by booking a place in the semi-finals with a narrow victory over Cuba #39;s Yordani Despaigne Wednesday.$LABEL$1
Japan #39;s UFJ Says It Is Examining SMFG Offer, But No Change to MTFG <b>...</b> Earlier, SMFG said it offered the one-for-one share exchange ratio to UFJ Holdings as part of its bid to win the support of UFJ for its merger proposal over a rival offer from MTFG.$LABEL$2
Airline to charge \$10 for buying tickets NEW YORK To the long list of things that used to be free but that airlines now want you to pay for, add walking up to the counter to buy a ticket.$LABEL$2
UPDATE 1-Soft landing for China economy not yet assured-IMF A soft landing for China #39;s booming economy was not yet a sure thing, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, despite a raft of measures by Beijing to slow investment in overheated sectors.$LABEL$2
Liquidation threat grows at Alitalia MILAN Alitalia moved closer to liquidation Wednesday with a government official demanding that the management of the Italian state-owned airline and its unions reach a quick agreement on a restructuring plan.$LABEL$2
Virus worms way into webcams It sounds like a sci-fi nightmare, but it could be every teenage geek #39;s dream: a computer worm that can wriggle into bedrooms and secretly hijack webcams to spy on people.$LABEL$3
US court delivers blow to Yahoo A US appeals court has ruled that a lower tribunal had no right to decide a case brought against US internet giant Yahoo by two French groups trying to halt online sales of Nazi memorabilia.$LABEL$3
PDF Proof: #39;This Song is Your Song #39; A court case alleging copyright infringement against a Web site using a popular song in a political parody ended abruptly when an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) investigation revealed that Woody Guthrie #39;s quot;This Land is Your Land quot; is in the public $LABEL$3
Telekom Austria posts better than expected results Telekom Austria AG has posted better than expected financial results for the first half of the year, scarcely one week after merger talks with Swisscom AG broke down.$LABEL$3
Alternatives To The INDUCE Act The Importance of writes quot;The INDUCE Act, which has been discussed many times previously, will likely be getting a lot more attention thanks to the recent Grokster decision.$LABEL$3
PlayStation Portable Chip Details boarder8925 writes quot;The Register posted an article today that detailed the PlayStation Portable #39;s chip specs. The CPU will run at up to 333MHz, and its frontside bus at up to 166MHz.$LABEL$3
Athletics: For Greeks, hurdles offer redemption after heroes #39; fall ATHENS In her semifinal, Fani Halkia had run the fastest women #39;s 400-meter hurdles in Olympic history. After the final on Wednesday night she ran what might have been the slowest victory lap.$LABEL$1
Wrestling: Cinderella in Sydney suffers turnabout at hands of <b>...</b> One of the big stars of the 2000 Summer Games, Gardner was thrown to the mat in overtime by Georgi Tsurtsumia of Kazakhstan and lost 4-1 in his Greco-Roman semifinal match.$LABEL$1
Jana vows to return JANA Pittman, the girl who had no right to even be in an Olympic final, today ran her heart out but ultimately finished just out of the medals in the 400m hurdles final.$LABEL$1
Cuba takes gold medal in baseball ATHENS Cuba captured its third gold medal in Olympic baseball on Wednesday, beating Australia by 6-2 as Frederich Cepeda hit a two-run homer for the Cubans.$LABEL$1
US appeals court delivers blow to Yahoo over Nazi memorabilia row (AFP) AFP - A US appeals court has ruled that a lower tribunal had no right to decide a case brought against US Internet giant Yahoo by two French groups trying to halt online sales of Nazi memorabilia.$LABEL$3
N.B. truck driver accused in heist of 50,000 cans of Moosehead beer (Canadian Press) Canadian Press - FREDERICTON (CP) - A New Brunswick truck driver arrested in Ontario this week has been accused by police of stealing 50,000 cans of Moosehead beer.$LABEL$0
SkyCity plays its cards right NEW Zealand casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group expects to double its Australian earnings in 2004-05 following its takeover of the Darwin casino.$LABEL$2
Bouygues and Vivendi in mobile deal PARIS Bouygues Telecom and Vivendi Universal, both of France, began a new mobile phone service Wednesday in an attempt to bolster their market share and increase revenue from young customers.$LABEL$3
Beckoned by the Balkans LONDON For a company that had just reported a 26 percent increase in its quarterly earnings, sharply beating market expectations, Telekom Austria found itself with an awful lot of explaining to do as its top executives met with analysts and investors in $LABEL$3
Militant cleric charged in 2003 hotel bombing JAKARTA A militant Muslim cleric was charged Wednesday under a tough antiterrorism law in the bombing of a Jakarta hotel and could face the death penalty if convicted.$LABEL$0
Dual-core chips bring dual caches Dual-core chips that AMD and Intel plan to bring to market next year won't be sharing their memories.$LABEL$3
Winamp flaw: Digital attacks use skins for camouflage Users of the music player should watch out for hacked themes; a flaw allows would-be intruders to take control of PCs.$LABEL$3
BMC adds PeopleSoft management BMC Software has released a new version of Patrol for PeopleSoft 2.0 that allows companies to centrally manage PeopleSoft users, transactions, jobs, SQL requests, and business processes.$LABEL$3
CAO chief faces Singapore probe The chief of Beijing-backed China Aviation Oil #39;s (CAO) Singapore unit has agreed to return to Singapore this week to face investigators in the city-state #39;s biggest financial scandal since the 1995 fall of Barings Bank, company $LABEL$2
A Microsoft deal gets full EU inquiry BRUSSELS The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into Microsoft #39;s and Time Warner #39;s plans to jointly acquire ContentGuard Holdings, a specialist in software that protects digital material from counterfeiting, a commission spokeswoman $LABEL$2
Feds Bust File-Sharing Sites Operation Digital Gridlock targets peer-to-peer sites, ISPs in piracy investigation.$LABEL$3