Mar 27, 7:25 AM ET This Sept. 1971 file photo shows of a nuclear bomb detonated at the Mururoa atoll, French Polynesia. The French government is offering compensation to thousands of people who suffered health problems as a result of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific, the French Defense Minister Herve Morin said Tuesday March 27, 2009 .

GM asks U.S. gov't for $2.6 bln to build hybrids Wed Apr 1, 2009 8:35pm EDT DETROIT , April 1 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp ( GM.N ) has asked for $2.6 billion of low interest government loans to support the development of three new hybrid vehicles, according to a business plan update released on Wednesday. GM's loan request, which would help develop two spinoffs from its all-electric Chevrolet Volt, raises to $10.3 billion the aid it is seeking under a U.S. Energy Department program designed to support development of fuel-efficient vehicles. The request for low-interest taxpayer backed loans was made on Monday to the U.S. Treasury Department, GM said. It was the automaker's third request for loans under the program. It was also the first time GM has confirmed that it intended to move ahead with production of variants of the Volt, a battery-powered car that will carry a small, 1.4-liter engine as a generator designed to kick in after 40 miles. (64 km) The Volt, which is scheduled to go into production in late 2010, remains one of the most closely watched upcoming GM vehicles and has been central to the automaker's attempt to reinvent itself in the eyes of consumers. In January, GM showed off a concept version of a Cadillac called the Converj, which was based on the electric-drive system the automaker has developed for the Volt. GM executives have said the top U.S. automaker plans to use the Volt system in other other models to raise volume and bring down the cost of the lithium-ion batteries the vehicles require. The White House-appointed autos task force has given GM 60 days to come up with a restructuring plan that cuts costs and debt levels more deeply than the automaker had planned. It was not immediately clear how that review process might affect GM's bid to secure the Department of Energy loans. President Barack Obama has warned that GM may have to be restructured in bankruptcy if it fails to win sweeping concessions from the United Auto Workers union and bondholders.

3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation 4/10/2008 2:25:36 PM U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Reston, VA - North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation. A U.S. Geological Survey assessment, released April 10, shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency's 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil. Technically recoverable oil resources are those producible using currently available technology and industry practices. USGS is the only provider of publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources. New geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes. About 105 million barrels of oil were produced from the Bakken Formation by the end of 2007. The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states and is the largest "continuous" oil accumulation ever assessed by the USGS. A "continuous" oil accumulation means that the oil resource is dispersed throughout a geologic formation rather than existing as discrete, localized occurrences. The next largest "continuous" oil accumulation in the U.S. is in the Austin Chalk of Texas and Louisiana, with an undiscovered estimate of 1.0 billions of barrels of technically recoverable oil. The USGS estimate of 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil has a mean value of 3.65 billion barrels. Results of the assessment can be found at http:// energy.usgs.gov . - 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia - 18-times as much oil as Iraq - 21-times as much oil as Kuwait - 22-times as much oil as Iran - 500-times as much oil as Yemen -…………….and it's all right here in the Western United States

Very early photo of NYC sold for $62,500 Mar. 30, 2009 12:12 PM Associated Press NEW YORK - A very early photograph of New York City in the 1840s has sold for $62,500. The photo depicting Manhattan's Upper West Side as open countryside was sold Monday at Sotheby's auction house. The photo is a daguerreotype, an early form of photography that was used mainly for portraits. It is believed to date from 1848 and shows a white house with shutters, a grassy hillside and a horse-drawn carriage. Sotheby's said the photo was recently discovered in New England. Neither the buyer nor the seller was identified. The auction house estimated the pre-sale value of the daguerrotype at $50,000 to $70,000.

Hamid Karzai signs law 'legalising rape in marriage' President Hamid Karzai has signed a law the UN says legalises rape in marriage and prevents women from leaving the house without permission. 31 Mar 2009 The law, which has not been publicly released, is believed to state women can only seek work, education or doctor's appointments with their husband's permission. Only fathers and grandfathers are granted custody of children under the law, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women. Opponents of the legislation governing the personal lives of Afghanistan's Shia minority have said it is "worse than during the Taliban". Telegraph.co.uk

Forgive student debt, suggests borrower Many struggling with loans support idea, but its chances are slim April 1, 2009 The banks were bailed out, and automakers got help, too. Even some people who bought more house than they could afford are getting relief. But as the economy still sputters along, Robert Applebaum thinks he has a better idea: Cancel all the outstanding student loan debt. The impact would be immediate, he says, as people paying hundreds of dollars a month on their student loans could instead spend that money elsewhere. The seemingly fanciful idea has hit a nerve. Since Applebaum, a New York lawyer, started a Facebook group on Jan. 29, more than 156,000 people have joined and 40,000 have signed a petition intended to be sent to Congress. Applebaum, who owes about $96,000 on law school loans, has become a full-time spokesman for the cause. Baltimore Sun

China's Snow jumps Bud Light to be world No 1 LONDON (Reuters) – Chinese beer Snow leapt ahead of Bud Light to become the world's biggest selling beer as China stretches its lead as the largest beer market in the world, according to provisional data from researcher Plato Logic. Snow, which is brewed by SABMiller and its Chinese partner China Resources Enterprises Ltd, saw its 2008 sales volumes jump 19.1 percent to 61 million hectoliters putting it well ahead of Bud Light and sister brew Budweiser. Belgium-based InBev based in Belgium and brewer of Stella Artois and Beck's, took over Bud Light and Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion in November 2008 to create the world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev. Plato lists the top six beer brands as the Snow range of beers followed by the Bud Light range, including Dry and Ice, at 55.6 million hectoliters, Budweiser at 43.4 million followed by AB-InBev's Brazilian beer Skol, Modelo's Mexican beer Corona and the Heineken brand. The Snow brand has grown rapidly as China overtook the United States earlier this decade to become the biggest beer market in the world in terms of volume and is now over 50 percent larger. In 2007, Plato put Snow second to Bud Light and ahead of Budweiser. The Snow range of brands accounts for 84 percent of sales at the China Resources-SABMiller joint venture in 2008, the Chinese group reported in its 2008 results earlier on Tuesday. However, AB-InBev argued that Bud Light was the world's best selling beer as a single trademark brand as Snow represents a family of beer brand that include at least 25 extensions. It added that the Budweiser family of brands which include Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Select, Bud Light Lime and others remain the best-selling family of beers in the world. "By itself, Bud Light remains the largest single brand in the world," AB-InBev said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Pimp paid prostitute with chicken nuggets Monday March 30, 2009 An Australian man who pimped a 16-year-old schoolgirl paid her with chicken nuggets for having sex with men, a court has been told. Ronald Vikash Gander, 27, and his 16-year-old girlfriend devised a plan to prostitute a teenage girl so they could afford the weekly $1,050 rent on a serviced inner-Brisbane apartment, the Brisbane District Court was told. The court was told the girl made $4,500 for having sex with five middle-aged men in June last year. Gander and his girlfriend used the money for living expenses and paid the girl nothing except for the occasional box of chicken nuggets. The court was told Gander's girlfriend - who cannot be named - threatened the student, who had run away from home, with eviction if she didn't continue having sex with clients to earn her keep. Judge Marshall Irwin described the prostitution offences as "sordid". "The girl was used as if she was a piece of meat ... and your conduct can properly be described as that of a sleaze merchant," Judge Irwin said. Gander pleaded guilty on Monday to one count each of procuring prostitution with a circumstance of aggravation and knowingly participating in the provision of prostitution with a circumstance of aggravation. The court was told he had a substantial criminal history of dishonesty offences, and that he was on parole when he committed these offences. Judge Irwin sentenced Gander to two and a half years' jail, to be suspended after nine months, for the latest offence.

Rare condition gives toddler super strength Wed. May. 30 2007 9:44 AM Associated Press ROOSEVELT PARK, Mich. -- Liam Hoekstra was hanging upside down by his feet when he performed an inverted sit-up, his shirt falling away to expose rippled abdominal muscles. It was a display of raw power one might expect to see from an Olympic gymnast. Liam is 19 months old. But this precocious, 22-pound boy with coffee-colored skin, curly hair and washboard abs is far from a typical toddler. "He could do the iron cross when he was 5 months old," said his adoptive mother, Dana Hoekstra of Roosevelt Park. She was referring to a difficult gymnastics move in which a male athlete suspends himself by his arms between two hanging rings, forming the shape of a cross. "I would hold him up by his hands and he would lift himself into an iron cross. That's when we were like, 'Whoa, this is weird,'" Hoekstra said. Liam has a rare genetic condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, or muscle enlargement. The condition promotes above-normal growth of the skeletal muscles; it doesn't affect the heart and has no known negative side effects, according to experts. Liam has the kind of physical attributes that bodybuilders and other athletes dream about: 40 percent more muscle mass than normal, jaw-dropping strength, breathtaking quickness, a speedy metabolism and almost no body fat. In fitness buffs' terms, the kid is ripped. "We call him The Hulk, Hercules, the Terminator," his mother said. Liam can run like the wind, has the agility of a cat, lifts pieces of furniture that most children his age couldn't push across a slick floor and eats like there is no tomorrow -- without gaining weight. "He's hungry for a full meal about every hour because of his rapid metabolism," Dana Hoekstra said. "He's already eating me out of house and home."

Diners can 'have a ball' at testicle festival OAKDALE, Calif. — The fundraising idea may seem a little nuts, but Oakdale's annual Testicle Festival is always a big hit. On Monday, volunteers with the town's Rotary Club plan to fry up 400 pounds of the private parts of bulls and serve them to diners who pay $50 apiece for the sit-down meal. The event, whose proceeds also benefit the Oakland Cowboy Museum, has drawn an average of 450 people and last year raised $28,000. It's common practice on cattle ranches for young male bovines to be castrated into steers, which after the initial loss, eventually makes them more docile and easier to handle. Fans of the delicacy, also referred to as "mountain oysters," come from around the state. According to Rotarians, everyone who buys a ticket is guaranteed to "have a ball."

ShamWow Guy In Slap, Chop Bust TV pitchman battered hooker in South Beach hotel room brawl MARCH 27--Meet Vince Shlomi. He's probably better known to you as the ShamWow Guy, the ubiquitous television pitchman who has been phenomenally successful peddling absorbent towels and food choppers. Shlomi, 44, was arrested last month on a felony battery charge following a violent confrontation with a prostitute in his South Beach hotel room. According to an arrest affidavit, Shlomi met Sasha Harris, 26, at a Miami Beach nightclub on February 7 and subsequently retired with her to his $750 room at the lavish Setai hotel. Shlomi told cops he paid Harris about $1000 in cash after she "propositioned him for straight sex." Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly "bit his tongue and would not let go." Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue. The affidavit, a copy of which you'll find here , notes that during the 4 AM fight Harris sustained facial fractures and lacerations all over her face (she is pictured here in mug shots snapped following busts in 2008 and 2005). After freeing his tongue, a bleeding Shlomi ran to the Setai lobby, where security summoned cops. Harris refused to cooperate with officers, who recovered $930 from her purse.

JUMP TO IT ...AND BUY A HARRIER Sunday March 29,2009 FOR sale, one careful owner, complete service history and repaired after a bit of a bump – a 730mph Harrier Jump Jet. All right, it’s missing an engine, but the legendary British fighter could make you a garden feature. The Harrier GR7 (ZD462) is being offered to the highest bidder after spending its twilight years as a training plane for mechanics at RAF Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire. The two-seater will have trouble fitting into most garages. It is 46ft long and has a wingspan of 26ft. A new GR7 would cost millions, but used, engineless, Harriers have fetched just over £60,000. The British-invented Harriers became famous in the 1982 Falklands War. This particular jet’s history is not so illustrious. It came to RAF Cosford after crashing into the sea in 1996. The pilot safely ejected. It is being sold by the Disposal Services Authority, which sells items for the armed forces. Daily Express

$2.3M awarded in suit over botched circumcision The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday, March 30, 2009 A Fulton County jury has awarded $1.8 million in damages to a boy whose penis was severed in a botched circumcision. The state court jury gave another $500,000 to the boy’s mother in the decision rendered Friday. The case involves a child, identified only as D.P. Jr., who was born at South Fulton Medical Center in 2004. In a suit filed two years later, his mother contended that the doctor who circumcised him removed too much tissue and that his pediatrician failed to respond when a nurse complained of excessive bleeding. The tip of the penis was placed in a biohazard bag and might have been reattached if a urologist had attended to the boy within eight hours, one of the mother’s lawyers, David J. Llewellyn of Atlanta, said. The jury found that both the pediatrician, Dr. Cheryl Kendall, and the physician who performed the circumcision, Dr. Haiba Sonyika, were negligent. South Fulton Medical Center was absolved of liability. The pediatrician’s lawyer, Roger Harris, said he disagreed that the jury’s decision indicated that Dr. Kendall was negligent because she didn’t go to the hospital. He hinted at an appeal. “We believe there was error committed during the course of the trial,” he said. Dr. Sonyika’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.

S ay hello to our friend Graham. Now that the pennies have really begun to pile up, he'll be standing in for scale. Graham is about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and he weighs about 180 pounds, or about 35 times less than the 1 million pennies stacked beside him

One billion, eighteen thousand, one hundred and seventy-six Pennies [ Five school buses. ] E ach of these blocks represents one 9x11x41 foot school bus - as seen above. If you were to stack all these pennies in a single pile, one atop the other, the stack would reach nearly one thousand miles high. For comparison, note that the Space Shuttle typically orbits only 225 miles above the Earth's surface.

3 Family Members Charged in Dog Dispute Last Update: 3/30 3:14 pm Maryland State Police say stolen dog triggered a bizarre incident that left three members of the same family facing charges. It happened yesterday on Charles Street in Walkersville. Troopers say a juvenile broke into a home to steal a dog. When Troopers arrived on the scene the victim, 66 year old Robert Shoemaker, was not cooperating with the investigation. He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Police say 42 year old Michael Shoemaker threatened to burn the house down during the dispute. That left him facing charges of threatening arson. Nobody was injured in the dispute, but Michael and Robery Shoemaker were both taken to Frederick County Central Booking. abc2news

McDonald's in Swedish strip club dispute 1 Apr 09 15:25 CET Hamburger chain McDonald's has reacted with ire to a new neon sign outside a Swedish strip club in southern Sweden. McDonald's argues that the sign used to invite patrons to "McDragan's Drive In!" strip tease bar in Edsvära near Falköping, is far too similar to its own logo and have demanded that it be removed without delay. "We're going to send him a letter. In our view this is clearly a breach of our trademark," McDonald's spokesman Claes Eliasson told The Local. But the strip tease club owner, Dragan Bratic, denied that there was any likeness. "The sign has nothing to do with McDonald's. It is two breasts with nipples. Anyone can see that," Bratic told Swedish online newspaper GT.se. When asked about the name McDragan's, Bratic replied that the Mc in fact stands for motorcycle and bears no relation to the Mc in McDonald's. "I'm not Irish, I'm a Yugoslav. And I don't sell hamburgers, I sell live striptease," he insists. But if Dragan Bratic does not take down his sign in the coming days, Claes Eliasson warns that McDonald's will pursue the matter through legal channels.

Mar 30, 11:34 PM ET Transportation Security Administration (TSA) undated handout image shows a composite of 4 separate scans, a female in the left two and a male in the right two, from a whole body scan machine, or millimeter wave machine being used at a security check point at the Salt Lake International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah. The new machine developed by New York based L3 Communications is in use for the first time today by passengers and takes a whole body scan penetrating clothing. This is a pilot program by the TSA to test the machines in a live setting for the first time at Salt Lake International Airport March 30, 2009.

Tue Mar 31, 8:38 AM ET In this photo released Tuesday, March 31, 2009, by the Newark (Ohio) Police Department, a motorized bar stool is shown. Police in Newark, 30 miles east of Columbus, say when they responded to a report of a crash with injuries on March 4 2009, they found a man who had wrecked a bar stool powered by a deconstructed lawn mower. Police say Kile Wygle, 28 was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after he told an officer at the hospital that he had consumed 15 beers. Wygle told police his motorized bar stool can go up to 38 mph.

Saturday March 28,2009 A spoof website claiming to offer internet users a free year-round tan through their computer screens has attracted more than a million hits. Computertan.com, set up two months ago to promote the work of a skin cancer charity, initially promises to ensure sun-worshippers "look great in the office" by transmitting ultraviolet rays into their homes. But when users click to access a "free five-minute tan trial", bars from a sun bed appear on the screen with a message warning "Don't be fooled - UV Exposure Can Kill". The site then goes on to warn the public of the threat posed by skin cancer, which kills an average of five Britons every day. Visitors to the site are also shown graphic images of the effects of the disease and are offered the opportunity to pass on the warnings by "hoaxing" a friend with a link to the spoof tanning service. The Nottingham-based Karen Clifford Skin Cancer Charity, known as Skcin, described the success of the site as phenomenal. SPOOF WEBSITE WITH SERIOUS MESSAGE

A street-legal spy car of your very own? Canwest News Service Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Spy fantasists can now buy their very own James Bond car, complete with hood-mounted machine gun cannons and rocket launchers secreted by the front grille, for just $125,900 U.S. -- and it's even street legal. The ultimate spy car edition includes: Front grill rockets, machine gun cannons, revolving licence plate and other must have accessories. "The weaponry is fake, of course, so it doesn't work but it looks realistic," says Cloverdale businessman Mark Stuzka, who has teamed up with Exclusive Motor Cars to produce the Ultimate Spy Car. "Neither can it be operated when the ignition is switched on, as the last thing we want is people ahead being frightened to death at the sight of a cannon in their rear-view mirror." The revolving licence plate also won't flip while driving, so don't think you can beat that speeding ticket by displaying a phoney number!

Stuzka will display the custom supercar, inspired by the Aston Martin featured in the James Bond movie Die Another Day, at the Vancouver International Auto Show this week, and will be taking orders. "We plan to produce just 200 in the next four years so they will keep their value as a collectable car," he says. "In the first three months, we have already sold 20 per cent of the production run. "We are getting calls from all over the world, including Belgium where a man there has changed his name legally to James Bond." Stuzka said he came up with the idea when he and friends were thinking of building supercars for people who don't have a million dollars. "It just seemed like a great idea and we soon realized there was a great opportunity here to fulfil some people's spy fantasies," he says. The Ultimate Spy Car is hand-built and sits on a Ford Mustang chassis with an extended wheelbase. Under the hood is a supercharged Ford V8 engine that delivers power Bond would be happy with during an escape or pursuit. "The beauty of this car is it can be serviced at your local Ford dealership and it uses parts widely available," adds Stuzka. You can choose either manual or automatic transmission and pick your own exterior and interior colours. Then, when it is delivered, retrieve the complimentary bottle of Dom Perignon and two glasses from the glove box and toast your new life of adventure. For more details, go to www. exclusivemotorcars.ca/spypackage.html .

Prostitute flags down elderly driver, tries to strike deal April 2, 2009 - 7:06 AM Daily News FORT WALTON BEACH -- An Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputy patrolling an area known for prostitution and narcotic sales stopped a car driven by an elderly white male on March 25. There was a middle-aged female in the passenger seat. The driver, who was 77, said he was driving down Lovejoy Road when the woman flagged him down and used a slang term to offer to give him oral sex for $30, according to her arrest report. The driver said he was not sure what she meant so he asked her to clarify. She used a different slang term. He declined, according to the report. The woman, who was 32, was charged with prostitution.

America’s Most Expensive House March 28, 2009 “The widow of producer Aaron Spelling is placing ‘The Manor’ in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood on the market for a jaw-dropping $150 million, making it by far the most expensive home for sale in the United States . The French chateau-style mansion has 56,500 square feet of space on more than 4.6 acres, and is the largest home in Los Angeles County. Neighbors include the Los Angeles Country Club and the Playboy Mansion.”

Marisa Miller Harley Davidson 2009 Calendar | March 26, 2009 | Oh look, it’s Marisa Miller, and she’s straddling a big, hard object that’s obviously way too big for her. I wonder how this is gonna turn out? Probably very sexy. I’m talking about a Harley Davidson motorcycle , of course . What did you think I was talking about? Perverts.