Star talk

Star talk "Does it bother me that Im attached to Threes Company30 years after? Not at all." Joyce DeWitt Actress

Today's birthdays * Actress Eva Marie Saint is 87. Actress GinaLollobrigida is 84. Playwright Neil Simon is 84. Singer Bill Withersis 73. Actress Karolyn Grimes (Zuzu in Its a Wonderful Life) is 71.Percussionist Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind and Fire is 60.Percussionist Domingo Ortiz of Widespread Panic is 59. Singer JohnWaite is 56. Guitarist Kirk Pengilly of INXS is 53. Steel guitaristTeddy Carr (Ricochet) is 51. DJ Zonka (Big Audio Dynamite) is 49.Singer Michael Sweet of Stryper is 48. Bassist Matt Malley (CountingCrows) …

U.S. Forces Kill 6 Insurgents in Iraq

BAGHDAD - About 50 suspected insurgents attacked a U.S. base in the center of a city north of Baghdad on Friday, sparking a battle with U.S. soldiers and helicopters that left at least six militants dead, the Iraqi army said.

The fighting took place in Baqouba, a Sunni insurgent stronghold that has seen a recent spike in violence largely blamed on militants who fled a three-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad.

Five U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in Iraq, the military announced on Friday.

An explosion near a military vehicle in Diyala Province on Friday killed three Task Force Lightning soldiers, the military said. In another incident, two …

Israeli-run zones shield West Bank criminals

When Nasser Qaout went to investigate strange sounds in his sheep pen late at night, a gang of armed thieves shot him in the leg and made off with half his flock.

He and Palestinian police know who the thieves are _ and even where they are _ but a year and half later, they're still in their homes about five kilometers (three miles) down the road.

Police say they can't arrest the crooks because they live in an Israeli-controlled area, which Palestinian forces can't enter freely. It's a unique dilemma for Palestinian law enforcement: How to maintain security when criminals have more freedom of movement than police do.

The international community …

Redskins sure Rypien to stay

Don't believe talk of quarterback Mark Rypien bolting theRedskins for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian League. Scoophears it's just a leverage ploy by Rypien, and even the Redskins knowit.

Redskins GM Charlie Casserly and Argonauts GM Mike McCarthy areclose, and Casserly isn't sweating. The Redskins aren't evenplanning to begin negotiating with Rypien until after the draft.

Rypien, who earned $1.5 million last year and was the 14thhighest-paid quarterback in the league, is believed to be asking formore than $3 million a year. The Argonauts aren't in a position tosign Rypien for that kind of money.

Rypien, who did not throw one interception on the …

Analysis: Bipartisan deal, bipartisan opposition

WASHINGTON (AP) — The newly struck debt-ceiling compromise between President Barack Obama and the Republican leaders of Congress represents a historic accomplishment of divided government, with all the disappointment that implies for the most ardent partisans inside the two major parties and out.

But it marks an accomplishment nonetheless between a Democratic president elected in 2008 and the Republicans who, Obama memorably said, handed his party a "shellacking" at the polls two years later.

The tea party conservatives won't like it, regretting it doesn't cut spending by more. "Someone has to say no, I will," Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said in a statement emailed from …

Lead singer of Cascada hopes to make it big in America

Cascada has already tasted success in the United States with its catchy dance song "Everytime We Touch," a top ten Billboard hit two years ago.

But the trio, led by German-born singer Natalie Horler, is hoping to make a bigger splash with the new CD "Perfect Day," released this week. Horler, along with producers Manian & Yanou, sold more than three million copies of their debut record _ most of that in Europe, where their techno-tinged tunes have really taken off.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the 26-year-old Horler talked about breaking big in the United States, her chemistry with her producers and why she feels she's …

End of era as brigade disbands

One of the oldest Boys' Brigade companies in the world is to bedisbanded.

The 1st Aberdeen Company, founded in 1887, was just the 100th inthe world to be created.

Now, due to dwindling numbers, the company is to disband.

And former officers, old boys and friends of 1st Aberdeen arebeing invited to a special service to …