Far and Wide

Hubble captures two galaxies interacting

(AP Photo/NASA-ESA)

A pair of interacting galaxies known as Arp 87 are shown in this photo released today by NASA and the European Space Agency. The Hubble Telescope captured the image of stars, gas and dust from the larger spiral galaxy on the right wrapping an arm around its smaller companion.

Arp 87 is located in the constellation of Leo, the Lion, and is about 300 million light-years away from Earth.  Arp 87 was first cataloged in the 1960s.

The images were taken in February 2007 with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 with an exposure time of 6.3 hours. This image is roughly 2.3 arcminutes (203,000 light-years or 62 kiloparsecs) wide.

--Paul Chavez

INSIDER INSIGHT: The buzz at NowPublic

A tropical storm, a college basketball program and some angry Chinese farmers are dominating the attention of contributors to NowPublic, the "crowd-powered media" site The Associated Press is 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

Listen to this audio clip to learn more from NowPublic's Brian Kennedy.

-- Eric Carvin

-- Eric Carvin

-- Eric Carvin

INSIDER INSIGHT: The world in focus

(AP Photo/EyePress)
"No, this is not RoboCop."

That's how Michael Feldman, the AP's international photo editor, introduced this photo of a law enforcement officer in Zhengzhou, China. The officer was showing off body armor and a gun that shoots a net to catch dogs.

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles up the road, baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. has some fun during a clinic he's conducting for kids in Beijing.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
See below for more of Feldman's top photo picks.

-- Eric Carvin

Indian police lock landless protesters in fairgrounds

(AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

Police in India chained the gates to vast fairgrounds today where some 27,000 landless demonstrators had gathered in New Delhi, barricading the protesters inside and preventing them from marching to the nation's capital.

Today was supposed to be the end of an 185-mile march north from the city of Gwalior to the nation's capital to highlight the plight of the masses who have been largely untouched by India's economic boom.

DID YOU KNOW?: Of India's 1.1 billion people about 450 million live on less than $1 a day, according to the World Bank.

For more on the demonstrations by the landless, read this report filed today from New Delhi by Gavin Rabinowitz.

--Paul Chavez

Yankees offer manager's job to Joe Girardi

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Looks like former Yankees star and bench coach Don Mattingly won't be in pinstripes next year. The popular, early favorite to replace longtime manager Joe Torre has been passed over in favor of Joe Girardi, who spent the past season as a Yankees TV announcer after being fired last year by the Florida Marlins.

"Don was extremely disappointed to learn today that he wasn't the organization's choice to fill the managerial vacancy," Mattingly's agent, Ray Schulte, said today in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Instead, he was informed the organization offered the position to Joe Girardi."

Girardi, 43, beat out Mattingly and first-base coach Tony Pena for the job. Mattingly told the Yankees he isn't interested in a coaching position next year and he also extended congratulations to Girardi and offered his best wishes, Schulte said.

Girardi, shown above before Saturday's World Series game, was the first person to interview to replace Torre, who managed the team to the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons.

For more on the Yankees, who also lost star player Alex Rodriguez to free agency, read this report by AP baseball writer Ronald Blum.

--Paul Chavez

INSIDER INSIGHT: The buzz at NowPublic

Baseball, cardboard tubes and the anniversary of a journalist's death are dominating the attention of contributors to NowPublic, the "crowd-powered media" site The Associated Press is 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

Listen to this audio clip to learn more from NowPublic's Brian Kennedy.

-- Eric Carvin

-- Eric Carvin

-- Eric Carvin

Israeli PM Olmert discloses treatable prostate cancer

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israelis today that he has a treatable form of prostate cancer. Watch the above AP video report for details and for the latest developments, read this story from Jerusalem by Matti Friedman.

--Paul Chavez

Fast Focus: Cristina Fernandez vs. Hillary Clinton

(AP Photos/Eduardo Di Baia/Charles Dharapak)

It's not an episode of "Wife Swap." It's Argentina's presidential election. Partial election results indicate that President Nestor Kirchner and first lady Cristina Fernandez will switch roles in December. That would make Fernandez the country's first elected female president. Sound sorta familiar?

In this audio clip, the AP's Niko Price discusses the comparisons between Fernandez and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Read Price's story about the election here.

-- Derrik J. Lang

Court to hear Exxon Valdez case

(AP Photo/John Gaps III, File)

Should Exxon Mobil Corp. have to pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages for the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill? 

The Supreme Court will decide.

Nearly 20 years after the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound and affected 1,200 miles of coastline, the nation's highest court will finally decide if the penalty is fair. In 1994, a federal court cut the $5 billion award in half.

AP Writer Mark Sherman reports the justices will consider if Exxon has to pay any punitive damages at all. The company is arguing that $2.5 billion is excessive under laws governing shipping. Exxon said it should not have to pay any further fines because it already has paid $3.4 billion in clean-up costs and other penalties resulting from the oil spill in 1989.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the damages awarded is "barely more than three weeks of Exxon's net profits."

-- Howie Rumberg

Yankees win! Wait, Yankees win?

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Is there a reason to feel happy for these guys anymore?

When the Boston Red Sox won the World Series back in 2004, there was cause to celebrate outside of New England, too. Who doesn't want to see decades of misery washed away by a scruffy group of self-proclaimed "idiots," including one in blood-soaked hose?

But is the bloom off that rose, now that the high-priced Red Sox are looking less like an underdog and more like, well ... the Yankees? (And let's not forget that just about every team in Boston -- heck, even the Bruins have a winning record -- is enjoying a preposterous level of success right now.)

For some outside perspective, check out AP Sports Columnist Tim Dahlberg's take (below).
--Josh L. Dickey