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R&B star Usher delivered a hit-heavy half-time show at Sunday's Super Bowl - with help from will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Ludacris... and a pair of roller skates. A disclaimer shown before the performance jokingly warned viewers it may cause "singing, dancing, sweating, gyrating, and possible relationship issues". It would go on to deliver on all fronts. Dressed in all-white and surrounded by a swarm of energetic dancers, Usher emerged on the stage at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and launched straight into one of his best-known songs, Caught Up. It kicked off a dynamic performance which took advantage of the...

One legitimate measurement of the readiness and capability of a candidate to be president is how he or she responds to a crisis. In a moment of crisis, the core of human beings is on display. Some people wither; others shine. Either way, it is always a peek into the foundation of the person — his or her value system. We had two examples of this recently, as both President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had the opportunity to respond to crises, in the wake of the devastating fire on Maui and Hurricane Idalia, respectively. How did they do?...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama is speaking out about the toll that gun violence is taking on young people, in a shift that shows the first lady's willingness to tackle new and polarizing issues as she shapes her second term. A meeting with high school students from a poor, gang-infested neighborhood in Chicago, her hometown, led Mrs. Obama to put a new spin on the stalled legislative debate over whether to ban firearms or impose new background checks on people who want to buy guns. A mother to a teen and a tween, Mrs. Obama argues that the debate also...

It was an award ceremony dedicated to honoring public servants and community heroes. The show was stolen, you could say, by a 90-pound dog named Courage.((snip)) These people and the dog are fine examples of California’s gold,” said Howser, with a nod to his longtime PBS program “California’s Gold.” And so it was the dog — the last honoree to take the stage — that got everyone’s undivided attention. In 10 months, Courage has become a poster pup for endurance and strength. Weighing 37 pounds and near death, the 3-year-old dog was surrendered by his owner, a Bellflower resident, on...

WASHINGTON - Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's CIA-leak inquiry is focusing attention on what long has been a Bush White House tactic: slash-and-burn assaults on its critics, particularly those opposed to the president's Iraq war policies. If top officials are indicted, it could seriously erode the administration's credibility and prove yet another embarrassment to President Bush on the larger issue of how he and his national security team marshaled information — much of it later shown to be inaccurate — to support their case for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The grand jury is concluding a 22-month investigation...

‘Scientific American’ shines spotlight on S.C. dig By DOUG NYETelevision Editor Posted on Tue, Jul. 20, 2004 About 12,000 years ago, the first people to journey to the American continents did so by crossing the Bering land bridge from Asia. At least, that’s what archaeologists have long believed. But tonight’s edition of “Scientific American Frontiers” examines five archaeological sites that could prove that humans walked this land much earlier. Among the digs spotlighted is USC’s Topper excavation site in Allendale County, supervised by archaeologist Albert C. Goodyear, director of the Allendale Paleo-Indian Expedition of the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and...

The website dailysummit.net has helped to turn some of the UN World Summit on the Information Society's focus to Iran's censorship of the Internet. According to the BBC, "hundreds" of Iranian Internet users have been posting comments on dailysummit.net complaining about Iranian government censorship of more than 10,000 websites. Pro-democracy Iranians and their supporters are hoping to pressure UN technology summit delegates into lobbying Iran's government to loosen its Net censorship. The BBC claims that in spite of government censorship, Iranian blogs were instrumental in rapidly spreading word about the UN summit and recent moves by the authorities to restrict...