(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Gossip pages everywhere, David Beckham is all yours for the next six weeks. The stud soccer player won't be in the sports section for a while.
According to The AP's Beth Harris (who actually reports on entertainment and sports with equal aplomb), Beckham has a sprained right knee and won't be playing for the L.A. Galaxy until at least mid-October.
Check out Harris' entire story here.
-- Otis Hart
(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
The ongoing subprime mortgage dilemma can be tough to understand at times. But here's what happened on Friday at the White House.
The AP's Martin Crutsinger reports that President Bush is opening up the Federal Housing Administration's coffers to help homeowners hurt by adjustable (read: rising) mortgage rates.
Crutsinger writes:
Under the Bush proposal, which FHA officials said would take effect immediately, an estimated 60,000 homeowners who have fallen behind on payments because their mortgages have reset would be able to refinance with FHA-insured loans. That marks a significant change because FHA does not now insure refinanced loans from borrowers who are currently delinquent.
"This means that many families who are struggling now will be able to refinance their loans, meet their monthly payments and keep their homes," Bush said.
Check out Crutsinger's entire report here.
-- Otis Hart
(AP Photo/Gerry Broome, FILE)
The disgraced former district attorney in the Duke lacrosse rape case has been held in criminal contempt for lying to a judge.
Mike Nifong, the former district attorney in Durham County, was sentenced to a day in jail by Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith on Friday for willfully making false statements while pursuing rape charges against three falsely-accused players on the Duke lacrosse team.
Smith said Nifong lied to the court in September when he insisted he had given defense attorneys all results from a critical DNA test.
Nifong, who has already been stripped of his law license and resigned from his post, had faced up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Read more about the case here.
-- John Marshall
Sen. Larry Craig is calling it quits.
That's the word today from GOP officials speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
Craig, R-Idaho, will announce at a news conference in Boise Saturday morning that he will resign effective Sept. 30, the officials told The AP.
The announcement follows by just five days the disclosure that he had pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to a reduced misdemeanor charge stemming from his June 11 arrest on suspicion of soliciting sex in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis airport.
To hear an AP audio report detailing what Craig told police investigators, listen to AP Correspondent Ed Donahue's report here.
--Chelsea J. Carter
(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Britney Spears circa November 2006.
Is Britney Spears back in the music game? Her new single "Gimme More" debuted today and her label Jive Records promises an album in November. AP writer Erin Carlson has the story here. Meanwhile, the legal back and forth continues between Spears and ex husband Kevin Federline.
Give her new song a listen: Gimme More from Britney Spears
-- Caryn Rousseau
AP economics writer Jeannine Aversa was in Jackson, Wyo., today where she reports in this story that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke promised to protect the nation's economy from the recent credit crunch.
And AP writer Deb Riechmann reports from Washington in this story that President Bush said homeowners who find themselves with money troubles can get help from the federal government. Bush is pictured at right with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, right, and Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson in a shot by AP photographer Ron Edmonds.
-- Caryn Rousseau
A train crash in Brazil and a new arrangement between YouTube and Thailand are among the stories getting attention from contributors to NowPublic, the "crowd-powered media" site The Associated Press recently started working with to selectively incorporate citizen journalism -– especially photos and video -– into its news report.
There's also some sort of dispute about ninjas and Shaolin monks playing out on the site.
Listen to this audio clip
to get an explanation from NowPublic's Brian Kennedy.
-- Eric Carvin
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
It's not every day that I get to interview a writer of a computer virus -- let alone the very first one. After all, virus writers tend to stay under the radar. They aren't exactly popular with computer users -- or with law enforcement.
Given that this year is the 25-year anniversary of the first personal computer virus, I tracked down its author, Rich Skrenta, who wrote it in the ninth grade for the Apple II as a prank on his friends.
I've spoken with Skrenta before, when he was head of an online news business called Topix, which aggregates news from thousands of traditional news sites and blogs. I didn't know about his past then, and I had to do some research to confirm that he is indeed the same person I had spoken to before.
Not surprisingly, Skrenta, now 40, has matured over 25 years, and his recollections from ninth grade came across like a trip down memory lane. He talked at length about what he did and how he did it and openly acknowledged his participation in the software piracy circles that were common at the time.
I got a sense he was somewhat annoyed that he was being remembered for this rather than for all his professional accomplishments since then. But he remained composed and went through the interview with the type of sense of humor I would expect from someone who spent so much time over a winter break crafting this prank on friends.
Perhaps four years from now, on the anniversary of the first virus to hit PCs running a Microsoft operating system, the Pakistani brothers who wrote that one will be as forthcoming.
-- Anick Jesdanun
Wildfires in two spots on the globe -- Greece and Idaho -- were among the images that AP Photos Supervisor Susan Plageman highlighted at this morning's AP global news meeting.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Above, flames and smoke -- a combination of a back-burn and the main fire -- fill the hills above the Warm Springs area of Ketchum, Idaho. Below, Green spikes of reed sprouts rise from the ashes in the Kaiafas forest, near Pyrgos in southern Greece's Peloponnese peninsula.
AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris
Plageman said of AP photographer Petros Giannakouris' photo, "This is one of the most interesting fire photos I've seen in a long time."
Plageman also highlighted the coverage of a memorial service for Princess Diana, showing this photo of princes Charles, Harry and William. This is the 10-year anniversary of Diana's death.
AP Photo/Leon Neal, Pool
For another photo Plageman highlighted at the meeting, see below.
-- Donald King
(AP Photo/Leon Neal, Pool)
The family of the late Princess Diana marked the 10th anniversary of her death today with a memorial service in London. Her son, Prince Harry, gave the eulogy. He was 12 when his mother died. AP writer Robert Barr covered the event in this AP story. Meanwhile, admirers left flowers and notes at a shrine in Paris.
Prince Harry delivers a eulogy for his late mother. Prince William reads from the Bible. The congregation sings at the service.
-- Caryn Rousseau
"I reached with my fingers ... as gently as I could and popped out his left shoulder and then his right ... But then the little guy was stuck by his head, being strangled. So I did the only thing I could -- I waited for a contraction and then slid my fingers in around the top of his head and scooped him out."
Ed Kiesel is no doctor, but when the cook on his shrimp boat went into labor 30 miles offshore, the captain grabbed a roll of paper towels and a first aid handbook and did the best he could.
As if that wasn't enough, after the delivery, Kiesel noticed the baby boy wasn't breathing so he gently administered CPR.
Kiesel used net twine, sterilized in boiling water, to tie off the umbilical cord and cut the newborn free from his mother.
The mother, Cindy Preisel, named the baby Brian Edward Mawhorr, after his father and the captain who delivered him.
For more, read this AP story.
-- Jaime Holguin
Iowa's decade-old gay marriage ban is no more.
And it didn't take long -- less than two hours after it was struck down -- for two Des Moines men to apply for a marriage license as bride and groom.
AP's David Pitt reports a state law allowing marriage only between a man and woman was deemed unconstitutional Thursday by Polk County Judge Robert Hanson.
Hanson ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for six gay couples who sued in 2005. With the ruling, gay couples across the state can now apply for a marriage license in the central-Iowa county.
County attorney John Sarcone said the county would appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Read Pitt's story here.
-- Jaime Holguin
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Bush to hear military concerns about troop deployments in Iraq
Officer who arrested senator accused him of lying during 'embarrassing' episode
Bush to outline proposals to help homeowners with risky mortgages from losing homes
10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death marked
K-Fed's attorney to Spears: Pay up
-- Jaime Holguin
(AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Finally, the last of the South Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan are free, as Taliban militants released the last seven hostages on Thursday under a deal with the government in Seoul. The released ended a six-week drama that the insurgents claimed as a "great victory for our holy warriors."
Read the whole story by
-- Jenni Sohn
(AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
MACAWS: This beautiful bird is part of a circus in Allahabad, India. Circuses there ain't what they used to be. In the first half of the 20th century, there were as many as 50 touring the country. Now, there are only ten active groups.
DOGS: Guess what our football players and Ireland's footballers (well, at least one of each) have in common?
EAGLES: Karl Rove's car is covered in eagles. Very funny, Mr. Colbert.
DOLPHINS: It's either a really rare dolphin, thought to be extinct, or ... the Loch Ness monster looking for some Lo Mein.
-- Hillary Rhodes
(AP Photo/Troy Maben)
"You're not being truthful with me. I'm kind of disappointed in you, senator."
That's what the officer who arrested Sen. Larry Craig told him during an interrogation after his arrest in an airport men's room.
The Republican senator accused the officer of entrapment and they argued over whether he put his hand underneath the stall to advance a potential sexual encounter, or to pick up a piece of toilet paper. The audio tape was released today by the airport police.
--Ryan Pearson
(AP Photo / Ray Zablocki)
Four months after the Virgina Tech shootings, fingers are still being pointed and blame thrown around.
The news for some time has been no news; however, a new report offers some interesting new details surrounding the causes and repercussions of the tragic events that befell the university in April.
AP reporter Kristen Gelineau, who covered the release of the report, talked with asap about what new information came out -- and what's likely to happen next.
Listen to what she had to say here.
Also check out the full AP story by Gelineau.
(AP Photo / Ray Zablocki)
-- Ray Zablocki
(AP Photo/John Russell)
So can we please be over this Fred Thompson anticipation thing now?
Today he announced a date (Sept. 6) that he'll make an announcement in which he'll say he's going to do what everybody already knows he's going to do (run for president).
He'll make the announcement here. Now, no more talking about him until he makes it official.
(If you're wondering, above is the red pickup truck he used to campaign for Senate in 1994.)
--Ryan Pearson
A fire in Boston, protests in Chile and a hip-hop video made at the A&P.
Those are just some of the stories getting attention from contributors to NowPublic, the "crowd-powered media" site The Associated Press recently started working with to selectively incorporate citizen journalism -– especially photos and video -– into its news report.
Listen to this audio clip
to get details from NowPublic's Brian Kennedy.
-- Eric Carvin
(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
George Strait, Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney are among the top nominees released today for the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 7 in Nashville, Tenn.
Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland announce the nominees for the Entertainer of the Year award on "Good Morning America" this morning in this audio clip. For more, check out AP writer Kristin M. Hall's story out of Nashville.
The big categories, after the jump.
(AP Photo/Greg Gibson, FILE)
It was a little over 10 years ago that I sat down with Richard Jewell for an interview about the one-year anniversary of the bombing at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. In that year, he had gone from hero security guard to bombing suspect to, well, angry citizen.
With news of his death this week, asap takes a minute to reflect on the legacy of man who once told me that he was just trying to do the right thing -- first with the suspicious package that later exploded killing one and injuring 111 others, and then with his lawsuits to clear his name.
"I'm angry, yes. And I'm going to stay angry until I make sure they don't do this to someone else," he said in July 1997.
To read more about Jewell in the year following the bombing, read the story on the jump from the AP archive.
--Chelsea J. Carter.
(AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)
What's going on here? Has our new, helmeted alien overlord taken control of the airwaves to deliver a message of doom to the graveyard shift at NORAD?
Probably not. But to make sure, see below, where you'll find out just what you're looking at here -- the latest mystery in Far and Wide's occasional series, "What the @#!% is that?"
-- Eric Carvin
"It's gross."
That's Rep. Pam Adcock, a Little Rock Democrat, talking about the fact that lawmakers are allowed to keep a cup of spittle with a day's worth of tobacco juice inside the House and Senate chambers.
Adcock has had enough and plans to file legislation that would ban all tobacco products, not just cigarettes, from the the chambers.
A law banning smoking in nearly all indoor workplaces in Arkansas went into effect last year, but as AP's Andrew DeMillo reports, it does not cover chewing tobacco.
For more, check out this AP story.
-- Jaime Holguin
It's a bad time to be a Republican, what with all the scandals rife with money, sex and gay sex.
No doubt, none of this has been good for what some Republicans like to call "the brand."
In this news analysis, David Espo, AP's chief congressional correspondent, says that when it comes to scandal, Democrats could be forgiven for thinking they hit the political jackpot this summer. At Republican expense.
-- Jaime Holguin
(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks with media during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday.
Congressional auditors see little progress on Iraq goals
Report: Va. Tech could have saved lives by notifying students, faculty sooner
Iran's cooperation in nuclear probe a 'significant step forward,' U.N. report says
Sen. Craig finding himself a man alone as GOP lawmakers call for his resignation
Elementary school in Colorado bans tag on its playground
-- Jaime Holguin
(AP Photo/Iraqi Government, HO)
So much for those benchmarks.
The AP's Matthew Lee and Robert Burns have learned that Iraq's government has failed to meet the vast majority of goals set out by lawmakers to assess President Bush's Iraq war strategy.
Bush initially set a Sept. 15 deadline to deliver a thorough assessment on the war. So far, at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks are unfulfilled, according to three officials familiar with the matter.
Lee and Burns report that the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been made public, also said the administration is preparing to spin the case to play down the poor results, arguing that Congress ordered the Government Accountability Office to use unfair, "all or nothing" standards when compiling the document.
Read the entire report here.
-- Otis Hart
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Looks like Batman is back.
The photo above shows the Brachs Candy building, left, and parking building imploding today in Chicago during the filming of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight."
The film features Christian Bale, who reprises his role as Batman, and Heath Ledger, who is playing his nemesis, The Joker. Michael Caine also will portray butler Alfred Pennyworth and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, also has a smalll role.
The Dark Night is scheduled to be released next summer.
In case you missed it, here's a look at the new "batcycle" that will be in the upcoming movie.
--Paul Chavez
(AP Photo/Greg Gibson, FILE)
Richard Jewell, whose name became shorthand for a person wrongly accused by the media based on scanty information, has died. He was 44.
Jewell, shown above in a 1997 file photo, was found dead today in his west Georgia home and an autopsy was scheduled for tomorrow. The county coroner said foul play was not suspected and that Jewell had been sick at home since February with kidney illness.
FLASHBACK: Jewell was a security guard in 1996 at the Olympics in Atlanta and was initially hailed as a hero for spotting a suspicious backpack in a park and moving people out of harm's way before a bomb exploded during a concert. Three days after the bombing, an unattributed report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described him as "the focus" of the investigation. Other news outlets, to varying degrees, also linked him to the probe and portrayed him as a loser and wannabe cop, insinuating he planted the bomb to look like a hero when he discovered it later.
THE TRUTH: Jewell was never arrested or charged, although he was questioned and was a subject of search warrants. U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander later issued a statement saying that Jewell "is not a target." The bomber turned out to be anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph, who also planted three other bombs in the Atlanta area and in Birmingham, Ala.
For more on Jewell, read this obituary filed today from Atlanta by Harry R. Weber.
--Paul Chavez
(AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
1077: Number of words devoted to the women's clothes and fashion in AP's reporting from yesterday's action at the U.S. Open.
0: Number of words devoted to the men's clothes and fashion in AP's reporting from yesterday's action at the U.S. Open.
For a look at all those words (including, to be fair, a 600-word sidebar on fashion by AP Fashion Writer Samantha Critchell), read past the jump.
-- Josh L. Dickey
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Former Southern Cal quarterback Todd Marinovich, whose NFL career ended amid his drug abuse problems, was arrested over the weekend in Orange County and faces a possible prison term.
Marinovich, 38, remained jailed today on no-bail warrants for probation violation pending a Sept. 6 pretrial hearing. He is shown above in a 2000 file photo.
WHAT HAPPENED: Police said he was skateboarding in a prohibited area near the Newport Pier boardwalk shortly before 1:30 a.m. Sunday and ran away when officers tried to stop him. He was found hiding in a carport about six blocks away with a guitar case. Officers found about a gram of powdered methamphetamine, a metal spoon and a hypodermic needle in the case, Sgt. Evan Sailor said.
Marinovich, dubbed "Marijuanavich" over his past drug arrests, was arrested and pleaded not guilty yesterday to felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor counts of unauthorized possession of a hypodermic and resisting a police officer.
For more details, read this AP report.
--Paul Chavez
Tomato, tomahhto -- however you say it, it's all over the place in the Spanish town of Bunol, where revelers trek down for the annual tomato fight every summer. AP photographers Bernat Armangue and Fernando Bustamante were on hand for today's festivities.
-- Bernadette Tuazon
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
(AP Photo/Fernando Bustamante)
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
(AP Photo/Fernando Bustamante)
The anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is one of several stories getting attention from contributors to NowPublic, the "crowd-powered media" site The Associated Press recently started working with to selectively incorporate citizen journalism -– especially photos and video -– into its news report.
There's also a lot of buzz about the death of the founder of the
CBGB's rock club -- and about some ahead-of-schedule flames at Burning
Man.
Listen to this audio clip
to learn more from NowPublic's Brian Kennedy.
-- Eric Carvin
"They could leave. There are lots of reasons that people might not want to come back to New Orleans, but New Orleans is one of those places that is sort of a magnet."
Those are the words today -- the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina -- from Brian Schwaner, news editor for The Associated Press in New Orleans. In this audio clip, Schwaner notes what Aug. 29 means for his city. He also wrote this piece to offer a view of what he calls the crisis of the Gulf Coast.
For more AP coverage of today's anniversary see AP reporter Cain Burdeau's reports on vigils and memorials in this story. asap offers a look at the Katrina diaspora in this interactive presentation, and Schwaner offers a tour of New Orleans in the AP video below.
-- Caryn Rousseau
(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
"Karl Rove's car got shrink-wrapped last night."
That's how AP Photos Supervisor Susan Plageman introduced this photo at this morning's AP global news meeting, as she was showcasing some of the best AP photos from today.
In case you're wondering: This was apparently a light-hearted prank to say goodbye to Rove, who's retiring in two days from his job one of President Bush's leading political strategists.
For a few more photos Plageman highlighted at the meeting, see below.
-- Eric Carvin
(AP Photo/Ed Reinke)
He has praised the work of unions, upheld Israel to Jewish groups and decried President Bush's spending
So it's clear that Democrat Barack Obama has no issues telling interest groups what they don't want to hear. But the Illinois senator has also uttered words not often heard, such as when he told the National Education Association that performance-based merit pay ought to be considered in public schools.
The presidential candidate also disagreed with leaders who want a full embargo against Fidel Castro's government and called for allowing travel and money to the island.
Obama's approach is a signature of chief rival Hillary Rodham
Clinton's husband in the 1992 presidential campaign. The strategy is
known in modern politics as a "Sister Souljah."
But Obama says he isn't dishing out hard truths for shock value.
"There may be people who chose not to support me because I'm not telling them what they want to hear or reinforcing their preconceptions," he told The Associated Press. "I want to be elected to the presidency not by having pretended I was one thing and then surprise people with an agenda, but to get the agenda elected, to get a mandate for change. And you can't do that if you're not doing some truth telling."
Keep reading for more campaign headlines
(AP Photo/Jan Pitman)
Keith Richards is demanding an apology from two Swedish newspapers -- Tabloids Expressen and Aftonbladet -- for their scathing reviews of the Rolling Stones' performance in the country earlier this month.
Here's some of what he had to say in a letter published by Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter.
-- "Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review. But this time ... I have to stand up ... for our fans all over Sweden ... to say that you owe them, and us, an apology."
-- "How dare you cheapen the experience for them - and for the hundreds of thousands of other people across Sweden who weren't at Ullevi and have only your 'review' to go on. Write the truth. It was a good show."
But Aftonbladet's music writer Markus Larsson shot back Wednesday, telling the paper's Web edition:
-- "I am not going to apologize for my subjective opinion. It is Keith who should apologize. After all it costs around $145 to see a rock star who can hardly handle the (guitar) riff to 'Brown Sugar' any more."
Smack!
Swedish papers 1, Keith Richards 0.
For more, read this story by AP's Karl Ritter.
-- Jaime Holguin
(AP Photo/via Metropolitan Airports Commission Police Department)
Taliban militants release eight South Korean captives
Are Idaho voters in any mood to forgive Sen. Craig?
Amid criticism, Bush set to tour New Orleans
Helmsley leaves dog $12 million in will
Keith Richards demands apology from Swedish papers for scathing reviews
-- Jaime Holguin
It took Maria Sharapova only 50 minutes to get into the second round of the U.S. Open. Sharapova, right, easily beat 51st-ranked Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-0, 5-1. Sharapova won her second Grand Slam title here a year ago.
Past champion Martina Hingis also got past the first round today, beating Mathilde Johansson of France 6-0, 6-3.
Other past champions who won today included 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt and 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Others winning today included a man many consider a likely future Grand Slam champion, No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic, and No. 6 James Blake.
For more on the U.S. open, read this report from New York by AP tennis writer Howard Fendrich.
Caption: Maria Sharapova reacts to a point during her match today with Roberta Vinci. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
--Paul Chavez
AP entertainment writer Jake Coyle filed this story today that takes a look at how Web designers are pushing the limits of art with some intriguing online visuals.
There's one page by German artist Jens Meiert that claims to be the world's highest Web site. Then there's the site by Belgian comic duo Circoripopolo that shrinks your browser and then shows the pair struggling to expand it. There's also a digital version of the Lite Brite game.
--Paul Chavez
(AP Photo/Fort Hood PIO, file)
A military map-reading exercise under the hot Texas sun turned horribly wrong when Army Sgt. Lawrence Sprader died, despite having a cell phone in case he got lost or sick.
Sprader, shown above, used his phone for more than an hour to repeatedly call superiors during the June exercise and still didn't make it out alive.
His decomposing body was found four days later.
In this AP Impact report by Angela K. Brown, The Associated Press provides details from a 1,700-page Army investigative report that showed a multitude of procedural violations, errors in judgment and alleged acts of misconduct by Army trainers contributed to Sprader's death and also put some 300 other soldiers in danger.
--Paul Chavez
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
It'll be all wood for high school baseball teams in New York.
A judge on Tuesday upheld a ruling that bans metal bats from high school games, saying it wasn't his place to overturn a law that a local government put in place with the public's safety in mind.
U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl agreed with opponents of the ban that there was no clear evidence that metal bats were more dangerous than wooden ones, but added that the City Council has the authority to determine whether the risk is too great.
The ban had been opposed by a group representing national high school baseball coaches, bat manufacturers and parents and coaches within the league.
Read more about the ruling here.
-- John Marshall
The Census Bureau released poverty statistics today, reporting that nationally the poverty rate was 12.3 percent last year -- down from 12.6 percent in 2005. Read more in AP writer Stephen Ohlemacher's story.
Some figures and facts:
-- Caryn Rousseau
From Sen. Larry Craig to the deadly fires in Greece, some serious news stories are getting attention from contributors to NowPublic, the "crowd-powered media" site The Associated Press recently started working with to selectively incorporate citizen journalism -– especially photos and video -– into its news report.
Listen to this audio clip
to learn more from NowPublic's Brian Kennedy.
-- Eric Carvin
(AP Photo/Files)
Today marks the 44th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and the march on Washington that drew 200,000 people for a peaceful civil rights rally. King delivered the unforgettable speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
-- Bernadette Tuazon
Antonio Puerta, a 22-year-old midfielder for the Sevilla soccer club, died today -- three days after collapsing on the field during a match.
Puerta died in Seville, Spain, of "multiple organ failure stemming from prolonged cardiac arrest" and subsequent coronary problems, a hospital director said in a statement.
"This is one of the saddest days in the history of FC Sevilla," said a tearful team president, Jose Maria del Nido.
Puerta was able to walk off the field, but doctors said he had a heart attack in the locker room and at least one more in the emergency room of a Seville hospital.
For more details, read this AP story filed today from Spain.
Caption: Antonio Puerta is shown above in a February 2006 file photo after scoring a goal for Sevilla against Lokomotiv Moscow in a UEFA Cup soccer match in his hometown of Seville, Spain. (AP Photo/Javier Barbancho)
--Paul Chavez
(AP Photo / Nikolas Giakoumidis)
Towering walls of flames have killed 64 people while ravaging swaths of forest and farmland in Greece's worst wildfire disaster in memory.
For four days, blazes have devastated homes and villages, from the northern border with Albania to the southern island of Crete.
In this podcast produced by asap, AP Deputy International Editor Nicolas B. Tatro speaks with one of the AP's reporters on the scene, John F.L. Ross.
-- Ray Kugler
(AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle)
Not touching the ground appears to be the order of the day at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, according to a handful of pictures from track and field events that AP Photos Supervisor Susan Plageman highlighted at this morning's AP global news meeting.
The image above shows Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva -- ultimately, the gold medal winner -- making an attempt during the finals of the competition.
"Apparently the Russian team can levitate," Plageman joked when she showed the photo on the right, of a trio of Russian long jumpers celebrating after they swept the event -- gold, silver and bronze.
And below, competitors in the men's 3000 m steeplechase final clear a water jump.
All three pictures, like many other standouts images from the event, were taken by AP photographer Thomas Kienzle.
(AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle)
See below for more of Plageman's picks for the top AP photos of the moment.
-- Eric Carvin
(AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari)
"What's up with elected officials like Senator Craig? They stand for so-called family values and fight basic protections for gay people while furtively seeking other men for sex."
That's Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, an advocacy group, calling Idaho Sen. Larry Craig a hypocrite.
In case you're late to this story, Craig's political future is in doubt after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis airport.
In the past, the conservative three-term senator has voted against gay marriage, and he opposes extending special protections to gay and lesbian crime victims.
The married Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s. Last fall, Craig called allegations from a gay-rights activist that he's had homosexual relationships "completely ridiculous."
For more, check out this AP story by Matthew Daly.
-- Jaime Holguin
