SetFit/ag_news · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 100 1.01k	label int64 0 3	label_text stringclasses 4 values
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	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	2	Business
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.	0	World
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	1	Sports
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.	1	Sports
Van Grunsven wins sixth equestrian medal Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands successfully defended her Olympic title Wednesday by winning the individual dressage competition.	1	Sports
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 .	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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 ...	3	Sci/Tech
RIAA Cheers College Music Deals (PC World) PC World - Penn State, Cornell University among those offering paid download services to students.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	0	World
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	1	Sports
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	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	1	Sports
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	2	Business
Churches 'snap up Passion DVDs' Makers of The Passion of the Christ are tempting US churches with bulk orders, says The New York Times.	0	World
A Small Cap for Any Market The market may be stuck in neutral, but your portfolio doesn't have to be.	2	Business
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.	0	World
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.	2	Business
Hollywood battles DVD chip makers Hollywood has made legal moves against two chip makers in its bid to combat DVD piracy.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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	3	Sci/Tech
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	1	Sports
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	1	Sports
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.	0	World
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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).	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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.	2	Business
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	2	Business
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	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	1	Sports
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.	1	Sports
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.	1	Sports
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.	1	Sports
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.	1	Sports
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.	1	Sports
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	1	Sports
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	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
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.	0	World
Fuji Readies 16X DVDs (PC World) PC World - Fuji joins the fray of makers of 16X DVD media with scheduled fall release.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	1	Sports
'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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	0	World
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.	3	Sci/Tech
OmniVision's No Flash in the Pan The specialty chip maker predicts a lean transition quarter, but it plans a rebound in 2005.	2	Business
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.	1	Sports
Door open for silicon replacement A breakthrough in the way scientists make crystals could lead to a replacement for silicon in chips for devices.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	2	Business
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	3	Sci/Tech
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	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
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	3	Sci/Tech
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.	1	Sports
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>	3	Sci/Tech
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>	3	Sci/Tech
Squeezing Out Monkey Clones Researchers who once dismissed another team's cloning method used the disputed process to create monkey embryos. By Kristen Philipkoski.	3	Sci/Tech
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.	3	Sci/Tech
Door open for silicon replacement A breakthrough in the way scientists make crystals could lead to a replacement for silicon in electronic devices.	3	Sci/Tech

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

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

2

Business

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.

0

World

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

1

Sports

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.

1

Sports

Van Grunsven wins sixth equestrian medal Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands successfully defended her Olympic title Wednesday by winning the individual dressage competition.

1

Sports

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 .

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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 ...

3

Sci/Tech

RIAA Cheers College Music Deals (PC World) PC World - Penn State, Cornell University among those offering paid download services to students.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

0

World

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

1

Sports

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

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

1

Sports

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

2

Business

Churches 'snap up Passion DVDs' Makers of The Passion of the Christ are tempting US churches with bulk orders, says The New York Times.

0

World

A Small Cap for Any Market The market may be stuck in neutral, but your portfolio doesn't have to be.

2

Business

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.

0

World

Jury Rules WTC Attacks Were Two Events; Silverstein May Recover 2x ... 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.

2

Business

Hollywood battles DVD chip makers Hollywood has made legal moves against two chip makers in its bid to combat DVD piracy.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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

3

Sci/Tech

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

1

Sports

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

1

Sports

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.

0

World

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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).

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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.

2

Business

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

2

Business

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

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

1

Sports

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.

1

Sports

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.

1

Sports

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.

1

Sports

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.

1

Sports

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.

1

Sports

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

1

Sports

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

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

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.

0

World

Fuji Readies 16X DVDs (PC World) PC World - Fuji joins the fray of makers of 16X DVD media with scheduled fall release.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

1

Sports

'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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

0

World

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.

3

Sci/Tech

OmniVision's No Flash in the Pan The specialty chip maker predicts a lean transition quarter, but it plans a rebound in 2005.

2

Business

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.

1

Sports

Door open for silicon replacement A breakthrough in the way scientists make crystals could lead to a replacement for silicon in chips for devices.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

2

Business

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

3

Sci/Tech

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

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

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

3

Sci/Tech

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.

1

Sports

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." -AP

3

Sci/Tech

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. -Reuters

3

Sci/Tech

Squeezing Out Monkey Clones Researchers who once dismissed another team's cloning method used the disputed process to create monkey embryos. By Kristen Philipkoski.

3

Sci/Tech

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.

3

Sci/Tech

Door open for silicon replacement A breakthrough in the way scientists make crystals could lead to a replacement for silicon in electronic devices.

3

Sci/Tech