Though new German Chancellor Angela Merkel stands opposed to the existence of the U.S. holding facility for those captured as the U.S. and its allies fight the war on terror, she isn`t planning on pressing the issue forcefully too soon in talks with President Bush. Since her election as the first female chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ms. Merkel has vowed to repair ties with the United States which were severely strained over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The British cellular provider Vodafone has expressed interest in the purchase of the Indian cellular provider Hutchison-Essar, whose value is estimated at $14 billion and is owned by Hutchison

Thanks to Caress Glowing Touch, Lisa Murray, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was named the winner of the national Caress Confidante contest with Entertainment Tonight. She got to show off her radiant, beautiful skin at the 57th Annual Emmy Awards.

Yao Ming?s return to the Rocket?s lineup has been a blessing in the sky for the struggling Rockets who were seriously undermanned without him. With Yao in the lineup, the Rockets can finally take off and might stand the off chance of making it into the playoffs. If you needed any proof of what Yao means for the Rockets, take a look at what he did for them in his last game.

The entertainment world had rewarded the actor and director Clint Eastwood has been with a special honor in Los Angeles for his contributions to the western genre.

Don?t look now, but the Rockets have been showing some signs of life as of late. One of the biggest keys to the Rockets? resurgence has been the play of power forward Stromile Swift. The Rockets signed Swift in the offseason for the full midlevel exception.

In this modern era, where time is a precious commodity and many people don?t have time to increase their social circles by taking part in hobbies or singles activities, more and more are turning to the internet to find friends and partners.

Eric Beal, senior guard, scored 21 points recently at the state 3A boys basketball tournament, to beat Squalicum 61-47 in a loser-out, consolation-round game.

Japan Tobacco, the world`s third largest manufacturer of cigarettes, is purchasing the British company Gallaher for $14.7 billion.

In order to fight Internet fraud, some of the online banking sites advise their customers to use "virtual keypads", meaning enter passwords on the screen.

The Atkins Nutritional Approach, better known as the Atkins Diet is the most marketed and well-known of the low-carbohydrate diets. Now, a Stanford University study shows that it is also the most effective of diets available.

With such great performance shown by Oakland it was not surprising that Seattle were not able to stop them from marking their 15th consecutive win over Seattle. It is hard to say if any of the other teams, Tampa Bay, Texas or Toronto would have been able to stop Oakland.

Thousands of Air Madrid passengers remain stranded in Spain and other locations, after the company announced bankruptcy Friday. The Spanish airliner stopped all its flights. The Spanish civilian aviation authority revoked the charter airliner`s charter in Saturday.

As the holiday season approaches every market is trying to be ranked number one in their field. Regardless of whether it is a store, a trader or even a search engine, no company wants to come in second. A recent survey at service wrap has given results as to which search engine is number one this Christmas season.

Recent terror threats along the eastern seaboard of the U.S., from New York to Baltimore, have put the country on a high state of alert. Many threats stemmed from intelligence gathered from insurgents captured during fighting in Iraq.