Stand up. Tongue update. Time travelers.
Houston Chronicle - 8 hours ago By KYRIE O'CONNOR. 1. I was, I confess, slightly disconcerted by Laura Bush's stand-up act at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night. Now, I'm thrilled she'd have the gumption to take on that

Georgia City May Want Bride to Pay
New York Times - 2 hours ago DULUTH, Ga., May 2 - The runaway bride-to-be who led this Atlanta suburb on an expensive game of hide-and-seek last week may face charges after all, the authorities said, and the city was investigating whether to bill her for the search.

Former hostage says don't pay ransom
Brisbane Courier Mail - 24 minutes ago FORMER Iraqi hostage Thomas Hamill today urged against paying a ransom for the release of Australian captive Douglas Wood, warning it could encourage more abductions. Mr Hamill, an American, escaped his captors last year after being held for one month.

Morgan Stanley fails to silence rebel campaign over Purcell
Independent - 2 hours ago By Katherine Griffiths in New York. Former executives at Morgan Stanley have refused to call off their campaign to oust the investment banking giant's chief executive Philip Purcell, despite concessions from the board.

'Inexperience' of troops blamed in agent's death
Washington Times - 1 hour ago By John Phillips. ROME -- Italy yesterday blamed "stress and inexperience" among US troops for the shooting death of its top intelligence agent in Baghdad but accepted that he was killed accidentally. In a

Israeli cabinet member quits to protest pullback plan
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - 1 hour ago By Laura King, Los Angeles Times. JERUSALEM -- Natan Sharansky, the onetime symbol of oppressed Soviet Jewry, quit his Cabinet post yesterday to protest Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer.

Fla. governor signs tougher sex offender bill
Kansas City Star - 36 minutes ago BY MARC CAPUTO. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - (KRT) - The parents of two murdered girls choked back tears and hugged Gov. Jeb Bush when he signed a law Monday that makes it easier for Florida to execute some future sex

China to lift ban on citizens going to Taiwan
Reuters - 29 minutes ago By John Ruwitch. BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing will lift restrictions on Chinese tourists going to Taiwan and is offering the island a pair of giant pandas in a show of goodwill at the end of a visit by Taiwan opposition leader Lien Chan.

Verizon looks like MCI winner
News-Leader.com - 1 hour ago By Jon Van. Chicago — After more than two months of offers and counteroffers, Verizon Communications Inc. appears to have secured a deal to buy MCI Inc. as Qwest Communications International Inc. dropped out of the competition.

Annan calls for nuclear disarmament
Xinhua - 1 hour ago BEIJING, May 3 --UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has challenged world leaders to breathe life into a key nuclear disarmament treaty. Annan opened a month-long conference on the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in New York on Monday.