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Prince Albert of Monaco has been forced to issue a public statement after claims that his fiancée tried to leave him days before their wedding after learning of his third illegitimate child. The royal family dismissed reports that Charlene Wittstock had tried to flee to South Africa, where she grew up. The claims appear to have originated in the French news magazine L'Express. In an article headlined “Albert-Charlene: Marriage in Peril” and published on its website, the magazine claimed Miss Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer, had been upset to hear a new revelation about her future husband. A lawyer for...

For four years, Charlene Wittstock lived mostly in the shadows, waiting for Prince Albert II of Monaco to propose. With no job, no college degree and no knowledge of French, she was installed by him in a small apartment in the center of the tiny Mediterranean principality, far away from home in South Africa. With no official status, she appeared at the side of the prince when summoned, to smile a lot but to say little. She endured the nastiness of the locals, who gossiped about Prince Albert’s love affairs and predicted that he would never marry her. "snip" But...

In Greece earlier this month, Al Gore made a startling admission: "First-generation ethanol, I think, was a mistake." Unfortunately, Americans have Gore to thank for ethanol subsidies. In 1994, then-Vice President Al Gore ended a 50-50 tie in the Senate by voting in favor of an ethanol tax credit that added almost $5 billion to the federal deficit last year. And that number doesn't factor the many ways in which corn-based ethanol mandates drive up the price of food and livestock feed. Sure, he meant well, but as Reuters reported, Gore also said, "One of the reasons I made that...

If she takes up swimming again, she won't be able to wear her engagement ring in the pool - she'd surely sink. Prince Albert of Monaco has proposed to South African former swimmer Charlene Wittstock - giving her a ring that more than makes up for his reputation as an eternal playboy. The royal palace said in a statement that the engagement was announced today between the 52-year-old prince and 32-year-old Wittstock.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Albert Pujols has a daughter with Down Syndrome, and the St. Louis Cardinals' annual "buddy walk" game always seems to bring out his best. Children with Down Syndrome circled the field in pre-game ceremonies, and then stood with players at their positions during "The Star-Spangled Banner." More than a few asked him to hit a home run for them. He then homered in his first three at-bats, honoring Isabella Pujols and all special needs children in a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. "It's always good to do something special for those kids, but...

PARIS - Monaco's Prince Albert II has acknowledged he is the father of a second illegitimate child, a 14-year-old girl living in California, his lawyer said in an interview published Thursday. Albert, ruler of the tiny Mediterranean principality, "officially recognizes a paternity that was legally established a few weeks ago," lawyer Thierry Lacoste was quoted as saying in France's Le Figaro newspaper. Albert had initially planned to keep his parentage of Jazmin Grace Rotolo secret until she reached adulthood, but "the situation had become untenable for her" in recent weeks amid increasing speculation about her father, Lacoste said.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Albert Pujols won his first National League MVP award, beating Andruw Jones in a close vote Tuesday. The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman ended Barry Bonds' four-year winning streak, receiving 18 first-place votes and 14 seconds for 378 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Jones, the Atlanta Braves center fielder, got 13 first-place votes, 17 seconds and two thirds for 351 points.

MONACO - Prince Albert II of Monaco, a quiet and secretive bachelor, was proclaimed ruler of the glitzy Riviera enclave of Monaco Tuesday at a solemn Mass in a cliff-top cathedral where his father was buried three months ago after a 56-year reign.

MONACO, April 8 - While the television here plays vintage clips of the late Prince Rainier's storybook marriage to the American actress Grace Kelly, the unspoken question hanging in this tiny principality's crisp Mediterranean air is who the next princess will be. Prince Rainier's enigmatic son, Albert, who assumed Monaco's throne upon his father's death on Wednesday, is unmarried and has shown no public inclination to produce a royal heir. Choosing a bride to replace his mother, who died in a car crash 23 years ago, is an almost insurmountable task, people in the principality say. "People will be very...

What is meant by "the miracle of the Gaderene Swine"?

It's not much bigger than a thumbtack, but if 17-year-old Matthew McKay shows up at school wearing it, he could be suspended. "It's unfair and I think very, very hypocritical," said McKay, who like all students at Denis Morris High School in St. Catharines, has been told to remove eyebrow or lip piercings by Feb. 4. Those who do not comply can be kicked out of school until they do. "The students are outraged. I'm outraged," said McKay, who has a small eyebrow piercing. "I was planning on coming back next year for extra credits. Now, I do not know...

Filed at 3:36 p.m. ET MONACO (AP) -- Below the gilded dome of the Cathedral of Monaco lies the body of Princess Grace. Flowers are arranged over the marble slab of her tomb, and a wooden plaque instructs visitors: ``Silence and Respect.'' In the two decades since her death on Sept. 14, 1982 -- she died at 52 of injuries suffered in a car crash -- silence and respect have been hard to come by. Monaco, once a sleepy resort favored by European royalty, is now a popular tax haven with celebrities, bankers and sports figures. Streets once known for...