This newspaper is generated daily by my (un)intelligent agent. For
more information on the newspaper's generation or if you have
questions/comments, please consult the Newspaper
Frequently Asked Questions list.
-Thanks, Aaron, proprietor of the Last
Homely House
This edition was generated on Fri Jul 4 08:45:01 EDT 2008
BIG SUR, Calif. - Independence Day is normally a booming time for tourism here, with visitors settling into cliffside vacation homes or trekking out to campgrounds nestled among the redwoods. But this year, the only out-of-towners in Big Sur are firefighters working around the clock to save the storied community from flames.
MINSK, Belarus - A homemade bomb exploded at an outdoor concert in Belarus' capital early Friday, injuring at least 50 people. Officials blamed hooligans.
NEW YORK - He's gone from hot-dog top dog to underdog. Renowned competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi is aiming to chomp his way back to the top of the annual Fourth of July hot dog eating competition on Coney Island after a disappointing three-dog loss last year shattered his six-year winning streak.
NEW YORK - Dismissing privacy concerns, a federal judge overseeing a $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube has ordered the popular online video-sharing service to disclose who watches which video clips and when.
LOS ANGELES - Larry Harmon wasn't the original Bozo the Clown, but he was the real one. Harmon, who portrayed the wing-haired clown for more than half a century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure, said his publicist, Jerry Digney. He was 83.
WIMBLEDON, England - The top two players in men's tennis are on course to meet in their third straight Wimbledon final, but both have to get through today's semifinals first. No. 1 Roger Federer plays Marat Safin and No. 2 Rafael Nadal meets Rainer Schuettler.
LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks slipped back towards this week's five-month low on Friday as steadying oil prices failed to erase concerns about slowing economic growth and rising inflation, and as banking stocks came under renewed pressure.
TAIPEI/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Historic regular flights between Taiwan and China began on Friday, in a show of conciliation between the long-time rivals that could bring large numbers of mainland Chinese visitors to the island.
HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe said on Friday that although he accepted the need for negotiations to end Zimbabwe's crisis, the opposition must drop their claim to power and accept that he was the country's leader.
MINSK (Reuters) - About 50 people were wounded by a home-made bomb in Belarus's capital on Friday at an Independence Day concert attended by long-time ruler President Alexander Lukashenko, officials said.
FARGO, North Dakota (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama waded into controversy on Thursday over his plans to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq, first saying he might "refine" his views but later declaring his stance had remained unchanged for more than a year.
TOKYO (Reuters) - G8 leaders aim to present a united front against global inflation, driven by soaring oil and food prices, at a summit in Japan next week, but solving the problem requires more than just a strong message from rich nations.
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Ingrid Betancourt began each day in captivity at 4 a.m. -- cold and depressed but awake in the dark waiting to hear her mother's words of encouragement over the radio.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's communist parties said the government must tell them by Monday if it plans to press ahead with the next step in a controversial civilian nuclear deal with the United States, which they strongly oppose.
MINSK (AFP) - A bomb packed with nuts and bolts injured up to 50 young revellers at a huge outdoor concert in the Belarussian capital Minsk attended by President Alexander Lukashenko, officials said Friday.
TAOYUAN, Taiwan (AFP) - China and Taiwan resumed regular direct flights Friday for the first time in six decades, ushering in what Beijing called a "new start" in their tense and testy relations.
BOGOTA (AFP) - French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt left Bogota bound for France and a meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy one day after her jungle rescue from six years in rebel captivity.
LONDON (AFP) - Biofuels have caused world food prices to increase by 75 percent, according to the findings of an unpublished World Bank report published in The Guardian newspaper on Friday.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A US man who was born a woman before undergoing gender realignment surgery has given birth to a baby girl, US media reported.
ZURICH (AFP) - Swiss banking giant UBS, which had been hit hard by the subprime crisis, on Friday said it would break even or report a slight loss for its second quarter thanks to a substantial tax credit.
SINGAPORE (AFP) - World oil prices held steady near record highs Friday, driven by supply worries and a weak dollar, analysts said.
Republican strategists trying to game Sen. Barack Obama's choice for a running mate are focusing more and more on the possibility that he might pick former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a friend of labor and blue-collar workers. "Gephardt is the one we're most afraid of," said a key GOP strategist and Bush ally.
FARGO, North Dakota (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama waded into controversy on Thursday over his plans to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq, first saying he might "refine" his views but later declaring his stance had remained unchanged for more than a year.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A compound in red wine may ward off a variety of medical conditions related to aging, providing heart benefits, stronger bones and preventing eye cataracts, researchers said on Thursday.
WIMBLEDON, England - A spot in her seventh Wimbledon final already secured, Venus Williams headed back to Centre Court to catch the end of the next match. Scouting? Not really. More like rooting for her sister.
SAPPORO, Japan - Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week.