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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Police said a woman driving a Mercedes-Benz was shot to death in her car in Beverly Hills early Tuesday morning. The victim has not yet been identified. Authorities responded to a 911 call on the 800 block of North Whittier Drive, near Sunset Boulevard, just before 12:30 a.m. Residents in the area had reported hearing several gunshots fired. Moments later, a second 911 call reported a solo car crash.

SINDELFINGEN, Germany — Thousands of workers at carmaker Daimler AG's Sinelfingen plant in southern Germany protested for a second day Tuesday against possible plans to move some production of the Mercedes C-Class line of cars to a plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A decision on the matter, which threatens about 3,000 jobs in Germany, could come later in the day. "We will not let our jobs vanish to Nirvana without a fight," Erich Klemm, the workers' council president told about 12,000 protesters. Daimler, based in Stuttgart, is considering the move to take advantage of lower production costs in the U.S. and...

Oh Allah, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? Hezbulah all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Fought hard in the Jihad, no help from bin Laden, So Allah, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? Oh Allah, won’t you buy me a UAV ? All the Special Forces are trying to find me. I hide in my cave with no way to see, So oh Allah, won’t you buy me a UAV ? Oh Allah, won’t you buy me a nuclear bomb ? I’m counting on you, Allah, please don’t let me down. Prove that you hate...

Excerpt - BREAKING NEWS: DaimlerChrysler will sell an 80.1% stake in Chrysler to private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Full article coming shortly.

For all the nonsense about the love affair between Americans and their cars, people seem to spend a whole lot of time and effort to avoid climbing into a car. Super Stop & Shop's Peapod provides home delivery of groceries. That eliminates one's weekly trip to the grocery store. Get the grocery list online, pick the items, and the food appears in the insulated box outside your house. People can go to Match, Jdate, EHarmony and Match.com to start dating without even heading to a bar. What happened to joining the ski club? What happened to taking night classes? Tennis,...

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan holds a sign while demonstrating for the end of U.S. military involvement and peace in Iraq in front of the White House in Washington November 6, 2006.

Eight years after being taken over by Daimler-Benz, Chrysler remains a company in need of restructuring. So much so, in fact, that executives at the German company are increasingly in favor of unloading the American subsidiary. Dieter Zetsche's stint as an advertising spokesman for Chrysler was a failure. Featured prominently in a Chrysler ad campaign, Zetsche, the CEO of DaimlerChrysler, was trying to convey a message. The ads, which were a blend of humor and irony, were meant to emphasize that Chrysler is not a purely American car company like General Motors or Ford. A Chrysler, according to Zetsche in...

VANCE - Tough times in the Texas oil patch put Don Barker on a path that led him straight to the sprawling $1 billion Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa County. The burly Barker, who left the oil fields near Fort Worth during an industry downturn in the 1980s, ended up a union man. During the past 20 years, he's been involved in dozens of organizing campaigns for the Maryland-based International Association of Machinists & Aeorospace Workers, one of the nation's biggest unions. He considers his current campaign - targeting 3,000 production and maintenance workers at Alabama's first auto plant, the Mercedes...

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler (DCXGn.DE) is leaning toward launching its Smart minicar in the United States, DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said in a newspaper interview on Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT [0] "At the moment, the tendency is clearly positive," Zetsche said in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. A final decision on whether to sell the car in the United States will be taken this month, he said. Zetsche repeated that he expected the loss-making Smart unit to turn a profit in 2007. Smart is focusing on building only a two-seat model after deciding to scrap its slow-selling four-seater earlier...

DETROIT -- For the first time in nine years, all of the top picks in Consumer Reports' annual vehicle guide are made by Japanese automakers. The Honda Civic is the magazine's top small sedan, while the Toyota Highlander Hybrid is the top mid-sized sport utility vehicle, according to results released Wednesday. Vehicles from Nissan Motor Co. and Subaru, a division of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., round out the top picks in 10 categories. Asian brands also fared best in the magazine's survey of vehicle reliability. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand was first, while Honda was second and the Toyota brand...

After advising his yet-unnamed successor to grow "thick skin," Secretary-General Annan yesterday appeared to have thinned his own, lashing out at reporters who asked about United Nations and Annan family scandals. Mr. Annan refused to allow a London Times correspondent, James Bone, to ask a question, accusing him of being "an embarrassment" to his profession. The eruption...reflected frustrations...poor supervision of the oil-for-food program...failed to move on such world events as the Darfur genocide... none of the U.N. reform ideas championed by Mr. Annan were implemented beyond window-dressing. Mr. Annan's...remark that the Iraq war was illegal. The comment did not sit...

Marco Benz Descendant of First Gas Automobile Inventor Karl Benz of Mercedes-Benz Joins the U.S. Army Marco Allen Benz a descendant of Karl Benz (inventor of automobile Mercedes Benz) joins the United States Army to defend the United States against terrorism and to assist in a democratic Iraq and Afghanistan for the people of their nation. (PRWEB) December 11, 2005 -- Marco Allen Benz is a descendant of Karl Benz, the German automobile engineer that is regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile. Marco Allen Benz was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 20th 1986, to Douglas Benz...

<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For eight years, Pat Saltkill has struggled to do what has never been done before -- start a union at a foreign-owned auto factory in the South.</p> <p>Now, he's so burned out and so discouraged that he's retiring as president of the Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, a coalition of 47 unions.</p>

HAMPTON -- After driving 13,000 miles in three months in a hemp biodiesel-fueled Mercedes, crammed with three other people, Grayson Sigler still doesn't call himself an activist. At best, he said, he's a "reluctant spokesperson." Two years ago, the Hampton pianist and graphic designer set out on a round-the-country trip to promote biodiesel fuel made from hemp seed oil. The Daily Press featured his trip in August 2001, a month after he started.

Clara Harris dental practices to be sold 04/17/2003 Associated Press FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – A probate judge has cleared the way for executors of a slain orthodontist to sell the dental properties he owned with his wife, who was convicted in his death after she ran over him with a luxury car. Clara Harris and her husband, David L. Harris, had created eight limited liability partnerships which operated six Houston-area dental practices. Robert P. Blanchard, in a court filing, has said the sale was necessary to pay claims including $801,000 in federal estate taxes. Clara Harris, 45, is serving a 20-year...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Front page March 20, 2003, 12:12PM Clara Harris to fix computers, not teeth, in prison Associated Press RESOURCES Clara Harris was found guilty of murdering her husband by running over him in her Mercedes again and again. • The story of Clara Harris Video: Pre-trial interview with Harris (Video courtesy of KHOU, Ch. 11. Requires Real Player. ) THE TRIAL • The indictment:State of Texas vs. Clara Harris• Key testimony from the trial Video Jury delivers verdict Jury delivers sentence Interview with forewomanDay by day:• Day 1: Hotel employees tell what they saw• Day 2: Grainy videotape...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 17, 2003, 10:49PM Witness to Harris murder loses job Hotel worker was fired day after testifying By JO ANN ZUNIGA Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle A Clear Lake-area hotel official who saw Clara Harris run over and kill her husband with her Mercedes-Benz was unjustly fired the day after he testified in Harris' murder trial, his lawyer said Monday. Evangelos Smiros was fired from the Nassau Bay Hilton on Jan. 24 because the hotel fears possible legal action from the Harris family, said attorney Chip Lewis. The hotel's corporate lawyer, Debra Thomas, said Smiros'...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 14, 2003, 5:19PM Jury sentences Harris to 20 years in prison, $10,000 fine By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Clara Harris listens to the verdict with her lawyers. Webcast: Live coverage of sentencing, reaction, courtesy of KHOU-TV. • The story of Clara Harris THE TRIAL Video: The jury delivers its verdict • Key testimony from the trial• The indictment:The state of Texas vs. Clara Harris• What we know about them The testimony:• Day 1: Hotel employees tell what they saw• Day 2: Grainy videotape reveals little• Day 3: What the private...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 14, 2003, 12:32PM Jurors deciding Harris' punishment By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Clara Harris listens to the verdict with her lawyers. • The story of Clara Harris THE TRIAL Video: The jury delivers its verdict • Key testimony from the trial• The indictment:The state of Texas vs. Clara Harris• What we know about them The testimony:• Day 1: Hotel employees tell what they saw• Day 2: Grainy videotape reveals little• Day 3: What the private eye learned• Day 4: Defendant's sobs halt trial twice• Day 5: Stepdaughter says Clara Harris...