News

AP - Google Inc.’s fourth-quarter profit nearly tripled as the online search engine leader once again sprinted past analyst expectations, but the breathtaking growth still wasn’t enough to propel its high-flying stock to new heights.

AP - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

AP - Two senators, a Republican and a Democrat, leading separate efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush’s troop buildup in Iraq joined forces Wednesday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House.

AP - President Hugo Chavez was granted free rein Wednesday to accelerate changes in broad areas of society by presidential decree, a move critics said propels Venezuela toward dictatorship.

AP - A must-pass bill covering about one-sixth of the federal budget swept through the House on Wednesday. A sizable chunk of Republicans joined virtually all Democrats in approving spending increases for education, veterans and the AIDS battle in Africa.

AP - Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as “Shrub,” died Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 62.

AP - Lavender and tea tree oils found in some shampoos, soaps and lotions can temporarily leave boys with enlarged breasts in rare cases, apparently by disrupting their hormonal balance, a preliminary study suggests.

AP - “Prison Break” actor Lane Garrison should be charged with manslaughter and drunken driving for a car crash that killed a teenage passenger and injured two others, police said Wednesday.

Reuters - Venezuela’s Congress on Wednesday
granted President Hugo Chavez powers to rule by decree for 18
months as he tries to force through nationalizations key to his
self-styled leftist revolution.

AP - Barry Bonds gave the San Francisco Giants the right to terminate his $15.8 million, one-year contract if he is indicted.

AP - Clemson University and the NAACP said Tuesday they are investigating an off-campus party held during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend that some considered offensive because white students drank malt liquor and at least one partygoer wore black face.

AP - Negotiations for an alliance between the Tokyo and New York stock exchanges have been completed, Japan’s main bourse said Wednesday. An announcement of the results of the talks will be made at a joint news conference Wednesday morning in New York, the Tokyo Stock Exchange said in a statement.