PUBLIC MARKS from dariusdog with tag news

AP - Tony La Russa tended to his many pets on the West Coast for a week or so, and made up his mind: He wanted to keep managing. Now, he's hoping the St. Louis Cardinals can make an equally quick decision on hiring a general manager. La Russa agreed Monday to a two-year contract to stay in St. Louis, confident that the Cardinals can still be contenders.

AP - A team of students from Germany's Technische Universitat Darmstadt won a weeklong competition Friday on the National Mall for the best, most efficient and well-designed and -engineered solar home.

AFP - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday chastised the United States over its policy in Iraq and Iran, and announced "grandiose" military plans, including development of a new nuclear weapon.

Reuters - With 15 months to go in office, President George W. Bush wants the U.S. Congress to know he has no plans to fade quietly away.

AP - Vladimir Putin issued a veiled warning Tuesday against any attack on Iran as he began the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Tehran in six decades — a mission reflecting Russian-Iranian efforts to curb U.S. influence.

AP - Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Monday to negotiate with Iran on behalf of the international community in their nuclear standoff, although he didn't come to Tehran as scheduled amid warnings of a possible assassination plot.

Reuters - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pushed on Monday for core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be addressed in a document setting parameters for a Middle East conference.

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared on Monday that Britain "will not turn away" from Myanmar as he outlined measures his government will be taking to press for a return to democracy there.

AFP - Myanmar's military rulers are still rounding up activists, rights groups said Sunday, even as UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Bangkok for an Asian tour aimed at piling pressure on the generals.

Reuters - Cuba released two photographs of Fidel Castro on Sunday in which the ailing leader looked alert as he stood and chatted with visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

AP - Trot Nixon spent 13 years in the Red Sox organization trying to prove he could hit lefties. That ought to be pretty clear to everyone now. The longtime Boston outfielder snapped an extra-inning tie with a pinch-hit single, and the Cleveland Indians scored a record-setting seven runs in the 11th to beat the Red Sox 13-6 early Sunday and even the AL championship series at a game apiece.

E! Online - Fox's legal department saw the light and now the Buffy the Vampire Slayer sing-along has turned to dust.

AP - House Democrats want an official rebuke next week of the State Department because of its unwillingness to talk publicly about whether the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad is corrupt.

AP - Ron Carpenter and his fellow air traffic controllers were busy keeping more than 200 airplanes on course over seven states when their communication system crashed. Suddenly they couldn't talk to pilots or call for help.

A prize-winning poodle has become the latest victim of online identity theft after details about the poodle were posted on the internet by its proud owner