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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- A key test of a daring yet wobbly spacewalking technique that could be used someday to repair space shuttle heat shields worked well Saturday and got good reviews from two of Discovery's astronauts who may have to put it to work for real on Wednesday. The repair simulation put them at the end of an oscillating, 100-foot combination of a robotic arm and an extension pole that astronaut Piers Sellers said made him feel "like a bug on the end of a fishing rod  ...

By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched rapid-fire air strikes against Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip on Sunday after rebuffing a proposed cease-fire by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. Israel is threatening to expand its offensive unless militants release Corporal Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier abducted in a cross-border raid on June 25, and halt rocket fire on Israeli cities. At least three militants were injured in an early morning air strike near the Ka ...

Dolls and teddy bears can help people with Alzheimer's disease interact and communicate with others, researchers have found. The team from Newcastle General Hospital studied the benefits of dolls after seeing how one patient bonded with a teddy bear from her son. Patients bond with and care for the dolls, and staff found the toys gave them something to talk about. The research was presented to a British Psychological Society Conference.  ...

By Andrew Gray BERLIN (Reuters) - Hosts Germany bowed out of the World Cup on a high on Saturday, defeating Portugal 3-1 in the third place match with two goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger. Schweinsteiger, 21, scored with two spectacular long-range efforts and hit a powerful free kick which was deflected into his own net by Portugal midfielder Petit. Nuno Gomes got a late consolation goal for Portugal, heading home from close range two minutes from time. Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said h ...

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- An aspiring Iranian-American filmmaker who spent nearly two months in a prison in Iraq without being charged has sued Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other military officials, calling the government's detention policies unconstitutional. Cyrus Kar, 45, of Los Angeles seeks unspecified damages and sweeping changes in the government's detention policies overseas. The suit was filed this week in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Calif ...

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- More than 100,000 defiant supporters of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took to the streets Saturday in a bid to overturn his narrow election defeat, launching protests that threatened to widen Mexico's regional and class divisions. Lopez Obrador called for protests across Mexico, saying last Sunday's elections were more fraudulent than those held during 71 years of one-party rule. European Union election observers have said they had found  ...

Manchester United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo says he wants to leave Old Trafford. The 21-year-old has been criticised in England for his role in the sending off of team-mate Wayne Rooney when Portugal beat England in the World Cup. "I think I should get out of Manchester as the circumstances are not right to keep playing there," said Ronaldo. "Nobody stood up for me, although I did not do anybody any harm. In two or three days I'll decide where to go." Highli ...