Former Chicago Bears quarterback Bob Avellini has been acquitted of driving under the influence of alcohol by a DuPage County judge.
It's the third time since 2005 the 55-year-old Avellini has been found not guilty of drunken driving charges in the suburban Chicago county. He was convicted in 2002.
Judge Robert Kleeman said Wednesday there wasn't enough evidence to convict in the June …
SEOUL, South Korea The prediction echoed in many quarters hereis: Sometime soon, Kim Il Sung, the reclusive dictator who has ruledcommunist North Korea for nearly five decades, will meet with Roh TaeWoo, the former general who presides over capitalist South Korea.And with that meeting, one of the last vestiges of the Cold War - therivalry of the two Koreas - will be headed for history.
The prediction seemed an understandable response to the dramaticnews that Seoul and Pyongyang had signed a nonaggression andreconciliation accord Friday, a pact that involves pledges ofcooperation and exchange in economic, cultural and other areasbetween two formerly implacable enemies. …
NEW YORK (AP) — One of the top U.S. modern art collectors has died. Roy Neuberger was 107.
Neuberger Berman investment firm spokesman Rich Chimberg says Neuberger died Friday at his home in New York City's Pierre Hotel.
Neuberger survived Wall Street's three major crises with enough money to build one of the nation's largest collections of major contemporary art, including hundreds of works by the likes of …
Twins closer Joe Nathan is headed back to Minnesota to get his surgically repaired right elbow checked out.
Nathan says he felt fine while he was working out before spring training games. But there was some soreness when he threw 20 pitches against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Nathan was expected to fly …
NEW YORK (AP) — Following in the footsteps of rival AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. on Friday said it is changing its accounting in a way that effectively moves $20.2 billion worth of future losses into the past.
The New York phone company said it will recognize losses and gains in its plans that fund pensions and other retirement benefits, like the health care, in the same year they occur rather than amortizing them over time, as is standard practice.
That allows Verizon to reduce previous years' results by $20.2 billion, an amount that will then not weigh on future results.
AT&T Inc. last week became the first company to announce similar accounting changes. Analysts expect the maneuver will be copied by other companies seeking to put the effect on their pension plans of the 2008 financial crash behind them, and out of future financial statements.
"We believe this change results in a better way to account for the impact of benefit plans on our results. It's more straightforward, aligns with fair-value accounting concepts, and it's more transparent," said Francis Shammo, Verizon's chief financial officer.
The adjustments mean that Verizon lost $8.6 billion in 2008, rather than the reported net income of $6.4 billion, as the financial meltdown hammered the value of pension-plan assets like stocks. On the other hand, the 2009 result improved, to $5.1 billion from $3.7 billion.
For 2010, Verizon will recognize a charge of $600 million when it reports fourth-quarter results on Tuesday.
The accounting change does not affect Verizon cash flow or pension funding requirements. Its pension and post-retirement benefit obligations totaled $59 billion at the end of 2009, the latest figure reported. The plan assets are $27 billion less. The accounting change means that some of that shortfall won't weigh on future results, though Verizon will still have to contribute cash to pay for benefits.
Verizon shares rose 21 cents to $34.82 when the market opened.
European stock markets rebounded Monday, and the euro pushed back up above near four-year lows against the dollar, despite ongoing worries about the continent's sovereign debt crisis. U.S. stocks were flat after a soft manufacturing survey for the New York region.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 28.35 points, or 0.5 percent, at 5,291.20, while Germany's DAX rose 32.32 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,089.03. The CAC-40 in France was 8.43 points, or 0.2 percent, higher at 3,568.79.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up about 3 points at 10,623.11 soon after the open, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.64 points, or 0.1 percent, at 1,137.32.
Most attention continued to center on the European debt crisis as investors fretted that efforts to cut deficits and debt will kill growth by withdrawing government stimulus from economies in Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Last week's EU-led euro750 billion rescue package may have eased near-term concerns that a eurozone country will default on its debt but has done little to assuage worries that the fiscal stringency being planned will work. In an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel on Monday, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Europe's economy "is in its most difficult situation since World War II or perhaps even since World War I."
Those worries had weighed on expectations before the open in Europe, but stocks have proved resilient _ for now.
"These pressures are likely to weigh as the week goes on and although stock markets look overdue for some sort of rally, the risk is that any resurgence could be short-lived as investors keep a wary eye on government debt," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.
The biggest casualty from the eurozone debt crisis has been the euro, which was up 0.2 percent on the day at $1.2373. Earlier it had fallen to a four-year low of $1.2237.
Analysts say that much of the bounce back involves largely technical factors as traders stock buy euros to meet previous trading obligations, but that the currency will continue to be pressured until such a time as the markets think that cogent budgetary actions are in place for all the highly indebted countries.
In a note Monday, Fitch Ratings said investors are deeply skeptical about the ability of governments to get a handle on their huge debt burdens.
"Investors now perceive record government borrowing as the principal risk to market stability and economic recovery," said David Riley, a managing director at Fitch.
Fitch estimates that European governments will need to borrow euro2.2 trillion in 2010 to finance large deficits and roll over existing debt _ up marginally on 2009, which was the largest borrowing requirement for decades.
"While the package of measures announced last weekend will moderate euro area governments' vulnerability to 'confidence shocks' and extreme market volatility, investor confidence will remain fragile until European governments, including the UK, are seen to be delivering on fiscal consolidation and the economic recovery is secured," Riley said.
Though the European debt crisis remains the focal point in the markets, U.S. economic figures still have the potential to move markets. That was clear in the reaction to a weak manufacturing survey: futures markets were anticipating a much stronger opening than emerged.
The under performance on Wall Street came after the Empire State manufacturing index, which gauges activity in and around New York, slid to a four-month low of 19.1 in May from 31.9 the month before.
Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the drop could be the first signal that the rebound in the factory sector is fading and cautioned that the turmoil in Europe could be cutting into orders.
"Disconcerting news but, without corroborating evidence, we would be careful about reading too much into it," said Ashworth.
Earlier in Asia, stocks slid as investors responded to the sharp falls in Europe and the U.S. Friday.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 226.75 points, or 2.2 percent, to 10,235.76, while South Korea's Kospi lost 2.6 percent to 1,651.51 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was down 3.1 percent at 4,467.20.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 2.1 percent, while Thailand sank 2.1 percent.
Oil prices oscillated all day in line with changes in share prices. Benchmark crude for June delivery was down 61 cents to $71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June contract lost $2.79, almost 4 percent, to settle at $71.61 on Friday.
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Associated Press Writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.
Bernard Shaw
leaves anchor desk
LOS ANGELES - It was a fitting farewell for a newsman: A CNNtribute to departing anchor Bernard Shaw was bumped by coverage ofthe Seattle earthquake. "As you've always said, Bernie, the newscomes first at CNN," colleague Judy Woodruff told him on the airWednesday.
Shaw was to return for what Woodruff called "a more full andappropriate goodbye" at 5 p.m. Friday during "Inside Politics."
With the focus Wednesday on the magnitude-6.8 quake that hit thePacific Northwest, Shaw said only a brief goodbye after serving aschief anchor for most major stories during CNN's two-decade history.
Woodruff, who shared anchor duties with Shaw on "InsidePolitics," will work solo on the program. "CNN World View," will bereplaced in April by a new program with CNN senior analyst JeffGreenfield.
Chris Rock flick
succeeds after all
NEW YORK - Chris Rock shrugged off the so-so reviews of his newmovie when it came out.
"What can you do?" he told The Associated Press in an interview.
But in the two weeks since then, "Down to Earth" has been a solidsecond to "Hannibal" at the box office.
"You gotta take the good with the bad," said Rock, who plays astandup comic who's accidentally killed and then returns in the bodyof an aging, rich white guy.
The film is a remake of Warren Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait" (1978)and that film's 1941 predecessor, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan."
Rock said reviewers should only expound on what they have anaffinity and affection for.
"It's weird with the critics," he said. "I believe you can onlycriticize things you're a fan of. For instance, I love Prince. I'mhis audience. So the fans of his audience could criticize him.
"I don't really listen to country music. If it's something Iwouldn't see, listen to in the first place, I am not qualified tocriticize it."
'Sopranos' son
wants normal role
NEW YORK - Will A.J. wind up in the family business on "TheSopranos"?
After all, he's the son of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano.
For now, Robert Iler, who plays Anthony Soprano Jr., hopes he'llget to be more of a normal kid on the show, which has its third-season premiere Sunday night on HBO.
Iler, 16, is into skateboarding and listening to music, and he'dlike viewers to see A.J. doing some of that, too.
He told reporters recently that when fans see him on the street,they either try to pump him for information or sell him a scriptidea.
"People always get mad at me when something happens in the showbut I don't write the episodes so it's not up to me what happens,"Iler said.
"People every day just walking down the street try to give meideas for a script."
