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Draw Manga, my latest book was released today. A couple of reviews are already on the Net. My sincere thanks to all of you out there who encouraged and otherwise helped me write it. I couldn't have done it without you.

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - NASA's Mars rover Spirit looks out over red slopes, valleys, plains and its own wheel tracks in a new 360-degree panorama released by Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Friday. The view from a point dubbed "Larry's Lookout" includes the summit of "Husband Hill," which Spirit has been climbing. The rover is about halfway up the hill and the summit is about 150 feet higher. "Spirit and the rover team worked hard over many weeks to get to this vantage point along the flanks of Husband Hill," said Jim Bell, the lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on...

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Republicans have released 1,135 names of alleged felons who they say illegally cast ballots in the governor's race that Democrat Christine Gregoire won by 129 votes. The list turned over to Democratic Party lawyers on Thursday contained the names and addresses of the alleged felons, along with 45 people who Republicans say died before the Nov. 2 election but who were listed as having voted. "It's one more significant piece of evidence that this past election was not only deeply flawed but that we don't know who won," said Mary Lane, a spokeswoman for Republican opponent...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) late on Wednesday rolled out a new version of its database software aimed at users of Linux (news - web sites) and Unix (news - web sites) operating systems that it hopes will help the company take away market share from market leader Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq:ORCL - news). IBM said the latest version of its DB2 software that runs on Linux and Unix automatically self-manages databases, allowing companies to better manage, process and retrieve data such as product pricing. Armonk, New York-based IBM said that the latest database software,...

frame grab taken from web site video footage May 11, 2004, shows a man, who identified himself as Nick Berg of Philadelphia (C) seated in front of his five masked captors moments before he was executed. Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq beheaded an American civilian and vowed more killings in revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, an Islamist Web site said on Tuesday. After one of the masked men read out a statement, they pushed Berg to the floor and shouted 'God is greatest' above his screams as one of them sawed his head off with a large knife...

MI5 releases terror advice (Filed: 30/04/2004) MI5 has for the first time issued a list of 10 good practice points as part of a move to help businesses protect themselves against terrorism. The advice, published on a new website, calls on employers to have "security awareness" and train staff in emergency procedures. It even warns that dense shrubbery around offices and public buildings could be used to conceal bombs or other devices. In a message to launch the website, Eliza Manningham-Butler, MI5's director general, said: "For the most part details of our operations must and should remain secret. "But stopping...

WASHINGTON - Amid questions about his military records, John Kerry (news - web sites)'s campaign on Tuesday provided certification of his medals from the Vietnam War, including three Purple Hearts for combat injuries. Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said the campaign was in the process of compiling the rest of Kerry's naval record and planned to begin posting it on the Internet by day's end. Kerry said all his military records are available to the public during an appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Meehan said the Massachusetts senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee requested a copy of his record...

Karzai Releases More Taliban Prisoners Sunday January 18, 2004 9:16 PM By STEPHEN GRAHAM Associated Press Writer KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - President Hamid Karzai ordered the release Sunday of more former Taliban fighters, a highly symbolic move that could boost his standing and undermine holdouts from the ousted hardline Islamic regime. Karzai issued a decree saying all Afghans detained at the northern Sheberghan prison and not considered dangerous should be set free immediately. It was unclear how many inmates were affected. Local officials said the jail holds more than 400 suspected Afghan Taliban. The government hopes the move, like the...

Egyptian Government Releases Prisoners Tuesday October 7, 2003 1:16 AM CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Egypt released nearly 3,000 prisoners, including about 1,000 former Islamic militants, as the country on Monday commemorated the 30th anniversary of its war against Israel. Relatives who had heard reports of the release flocked to Egypt's prisons Monday, hoping their loved ones would be released. Egypt sometimes pardons prisoners as an act of goodwill on special holidays. The former militants, most of them members of al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, or the Islamic Group, were released after they promised to renounce violence and expressed regret for their bloody past....

(SACRAMENTO) – Attorney General Bill Lockyer today unveiled data that show California oil refiners' price markup between the barrel and gas pump increased 152 percent from January 2003 to March 2003 – with virtually all of the rise representing profit – and in March 2003 outstripped the margin in the rest of the country by 127 percent. "Californians have been afflicted with chronically exorbitant gas prices," said Lockyer. "These numbers raise legitimate questions about whether this state's drivers and businesses are getting gouged. But the data also show how important it is, for consumers' sake, that policymakers address the deep-seated...

The PA reports that it thwarted an actual suicide attack in the making. The report states that an 18-year-old girl left a parting note to her family, saying that she was on her way to perpetrate a suicide attack against Israelis. The family then called the PA police, the account continues, which found the girl at the Karni Checkpoint after a hunt of a few hours, as well as her explosives belt. Israel relates "with caution" to the story, but says that it "appears accurate." Barely had the IDF given the above evaluation when Reuters reported that the PA had...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration released its annual review of the trade barriers U.S. exporters face in trying to sell their products around the world, singling out 56 trading partners for erecting unfair barriers to American products. "Bringing down barriers to trade promotes growth and prosperity," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said Tuesday in releasing the 2003 edition of the National Trade Estimate Report. "The Bush administration is committed to identifying unfair barriers to U.S. exports and to working aggressively with our trading partners to eliminate those barriers," Zoellick said. The annual report is used by the administration to identify...

Nasa releases new images of Jupiter Images of Jupiter captured by a Nasa craft on its way to Saturn have been made public for the first time. The pictures, beamed to Earth from the Cassini spacecraft, are being analysed by scientists at the Astronomy Unit at Queen Mary, University of London. As well as providing new views of Jupiter and its moons, they have turned at least one scientific assumption about the giant planet upside down. The new evidence, published in the journal Science, revises long held beliefs about Jupiter's dark belts and lighter zones. It had long been thought...