Iraqi judge sentences teenage girl to 7½ years over suicide bombing attempt

BAGHDAD — A teenage Iraqi girl who claimed her husband’s female relatives strapped explosives on her has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for attempting to blow herself up at a checkpoint in northeastern Iraq, a provincial judge said Thursday.

Scientists use satellites to reduce CO2 emissions emitted by trucks

PARIS - Two German inventors have come up with an idea on how to use satellites to reduce the overall carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by the trucks, and improve the allocation of truck capacity.

Missing pilot Speicher’s family getting remains back after 18 year ordeal over his whereabouts

WASHINGTON — A spokeswoman for the family of Navy pilot Michael “Scott” Speicher (SPYK’-uhr) says it will continue seeking on its own to learn how he died, now that his remains have been found.

British MPs want UK to focus on single priority of security in Afghanistan

LONDON - A committee of British MPs has said that the country should focus on the single priority of security in Afghanistan instead of engaging in tasks such as counter-narcotics, human rights and state building.

GOP lawmakers line up against proposed health care reforms as Dems look forward to Sept. vote

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are looking ahead to a health care showdown on the House floor in September following a key committee’s passage of sweeping overhaul legislation.

Jury to decide damages after BU student admits ‘I did it’ in music-download trial

BOSTON — A federal judge has ruled that a Boston University student violated copyright laws when he swapped music online, paving the way for a jury to begin considering damages Friday.

Healthy secret of red wine uncorked

WASHINGTON - Resveratrol in red wine is known for controlling inflammation and promoting health. However, how the ingredient works was not known to scientists - up till now.

China dismisses Uighur activist’s claim that 10,000 are missing after riots in far west

BEIJING — China dismissed an exiled activist’s claim that 10,000 minority Uighurs disappeared during a recent crackdown after ethnic riots erupted in its far west, calling the figure “completely fabricated” on Thursday.

Expelled student leads attack on Indian priest in Nepal

KATHMANDU - A 40-year-old priest from India’s Jharkhand state, teaching underprivileged children in Nepal for almost a decade, has been attacked by a group led by an expelled student.

McLeod Russel eyeing plantations in Africa

KOLKATA - The world’s largest tea producer McLeod Russel India is eyeing plantations in Africa, a top company official said here Tuesday.

Regulators weigh limits on energy futures trading as price swings hurt industries, consumers

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are hearing from from consumers, businesses, traders and financial firms as they consider imposing limits on speculative trading of energy futures contracts — a move that would mark a major shift for the government.

Senate takes stand on concessions to Russia on nuclear reduction treaty

WASHINGTON — The Senate is making it clear to the Obama administration that it will look askance at concessions, particularly on missile defense, that the United States might make to conclude a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.

Sponsors of songbird competitions at NYC park face scrutiny as feds target finch smuggling

NEW YORK — The two black finches whistled songs at each other in fluttering voices as a group of men crowded around their cages.

Ericsson also bidding for Nortel’s wireless business

TORONTO - Sweden’s Ericsson has entered the bid to acquire the next-generation wireless business of Nortel.

BigBelly blitz: Philly completes world’s largest rollout of solar-powered trash compactors

PHILADELPHIA — Is it any surprise that a city known for its love of cheesesteaks, soft pretzels and cannolis would embrace a solar-powered trash compactor called a BigBelly?

Greyhound Lines, Texas in dispute over bus bills for hurricanes Ike, Gustav evacuations

AUSTIN, Texas — Greyhound Lines Inc. is still waiting for the state of Texas to pay it nearly $1 million for the bus company’s work evacuating people from hurricanes Ike and Gustav last year — even as another hurricane season is already under way.

Longest total solar eclipse of the century blankets parts of Asia in darkness

TOKYO — From the Ganges River in India to remote islands of the Pacific, the sun rose Wednesday only to vanish again, allowing the stars to twinkle into view in the longest total solar eclipse this century will see — a celestial show that inspired awe and fear in millions across Asia.

Want to see a light with no bulb? Philips sells DIY kits to tinkerers, designers

AACHEN, Germany — Someday, our ceilings and walls might radiate light, illuminating indoor spaces as brightly and evenly as natural daylight.

Stocks flat after rally; Bernanke says Fed will wean economy from aid but not right away

NEW YORK — Investors are making only modest moves following a weeklong rally as they question how quickly the economy can recover.

Bill Gates: Better data on student, teacher performance will raise achievement in US schools

PHILADELPHIA — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says the U.S. needs better ways to measure student and teacher performance to improve its schools.

Italy’s opposition challenging Berlusconi’s credibility amid sex scandal

ROME — Italy’s opposition charged Tuesday that Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s sex scandal has damaged the image of the Italian government, as a news weekly released more recordings of what appear to be conversations he had with a prostitute.

Limerick mourns death of ‘Angela’s Ashes’ author _ but debate over book smolders on

DUBLIN — Bitterness over Frank McCourt’s memoir “Angela’s Ashes” still smolders in his hometown of Limerick. Residents of the western Irish city have never agreed whether his Pulitzer-winning account of childhood survival amid soul-crushing poverty was more fact than fiction.

Sri Lankan diplomat who advocated power sharing is sacked

NEW DELHI - One of Sri Lanka’s most outspoken diplomats who consistently argued for devolution of power to the country’s minorities has been sacked by Colombo.

Hans Reiser leads cops to Nina Reiser’s Body (Video + Photos)

Convicted wife-killer Hans Reiser, a “brilliant” Linux developer, led police Monday to what he said was the body of his wife, Nina Reiser, in the Oakland hills just two days before he was to be sentenced for first-degree murder, authorities said.

Moon rocks still yielding secrets 40 years later

WASHINGTON - There are still many secrets waiting to be gleaned from moon rocks collected by Apollo 11 astronauts on their historic moonwalk 40 years ago.

It’s a boat? A car? A zippy ca’-boat! And it’s turning heads at Maine’s lobster boat races

LONG ISLAND, Maine — Maine lobstermen have been racing their boats competitively for more than 100 years. You can bet they’ve never seen a craft — half boat, half car — like the one Steve Johnson has been racing at this year’s speed contests.

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center: Quake off New Zealand causes potentially destructive tsunami

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says a potentially destructive tsunami has been generated after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off New Zealand’s west coast.

Gordon Brown’s military operation handling in Afghanistan is a big question mark

‘Brown neglected Afghanistan military operation’

Israeli official says Britain revokes 5 arms export licenses to Israel over Gaza war

JERUSALEM — Britain has revoked several licenses granted to British companies to sell weapons parts to Israel because of concerns over their use in Israel’s recent war in the Gaza Strip, British and Israeli officials said Monday.

Debate over state’s official name _ linked to slavery _ divides Rhode Islanders

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — George Lima is offended by his state’s full official name, and he wants it shortened.