letter being auctioned in London

written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish."

expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000.

Bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics

Indian Olympic Association has proclaimed it plans a pitch for New Delhi.

yoga in the Olympics.

It now costs more than a penny to make a penny

cost of a nickel is more than 7½ cents.

Copper and nickel prices have tripled since 2003 and the price of zinc has quadrupled

Two years ago, scientists had high hopes for new pills that would help people quit smoking, lose weight and maybe kick other tough addictions like alcohol and cocaine.

by blocking pleasure centers in the brain that provide the feel-good response from smoking or eating.

pills worked

Many deported migrants give up after one try

U.S. crackdown is causing the longest and most significant drop in illegal migration from Mexico since the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. economic downturn, tighter security and a more perilous and expensive journey are persuading many who try to sneak into the U.S. to give up sooner.

Three humans skulls being sent to Britain were seized at Indonesia's international airport,

sponge-wrapped skulls were packed in separate boxes and labeled as handicrafts

Two were intricately carved

Los Angeles embarked on one of its most ambitious projects to combat global warming

becoming the biggest city in the nation to impose "green" building rules that would potentially cut millions of tons of pollution

passed an ordinance requiring builders of large commercial and residential developments to adopt such measures as planting drought-resistant landscaping and using recycled materials and energy-efficient heating, cooling and lighting.

A group of passengers duct-taped a man to his seat after he attacked a United Airlines flight attendant during a trip from Hong Kong to Los Angeles

Orange County man, apparently drunk, was wrestled to his seat by passengers after he attacked an attendant

arrested when the plane landed in Los Angeles

Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on tax charges

U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges said Snipes exhibited a "history of contempt over a period of time" for U.S. tax laws,

one year for each of Snipes' convictions of willfully failing to file a tax return.

mayor wants the FBI to investigate whether the local county sheriff has violated any civil rights laws with his recent high-profile crackdowns on illegal immigrants.

drawn protests from civil rights and immigrant-rights advocates, but they have drawn support from backers of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and from people who believe the government hasn't done enough against illegal immigration.

"saturation patrols"

Fewer U.S. teens got pregnant in 2004 but more women in their 20s had out-of-wedlock pregnancies, according to new federal statistics

more women are keeping their babies even if they are not married, with the exception of black women.

45 percent of all pregnancies are among women who are not married,

A Michigan woman who advertised online for a hitman to kill her lover's wife pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire scheme

Anne Marie Linscott, 49, faces 10 years in prison for each of three federal charges,

intent to commit murder

toll from fierce fighting in Baghdad’s Sadr City has risen to at least 200 dead and more than 1,000 injured, according to doctors in the besieged suburb.

reports from Sadr City hospitals suggest far higher casualty figures than previously reported, although they cannot be independently verified

doctors claimed only a minority of the dead appeared to be militants.

9-year-old Hannah Poling of Athens, Ga.,

fueled the controversy about childhood vaccines

Hannah was 19 months old and developing normally until 2000, when she received five shots against nine infectious diseases. She became sick and later was given a diagnosis of autism.

American doctors inject more than 3 million doses of Botox to temporarily smooth their patients' wrinkles and frown lines. But before each batch is shipped, the manufacturer puts it through one of the oldest and most controversial animal tests available.

check the potency

injects mice with Botox until it finds a dose at which half of the animals die

Communist Cuba is opening up unused land to private farmers and cooperatives as part of a sweeping effort to step up agricultural production.

Raul Castro, who vowed when he took over from his brother Fidel to remove some of the more irksome limitations on the daily lives of Cubans

Cubans snapped up DVD players, motorbikes and pressure cookers for the first time since the new government loosened controls on consumer goods.

former Pentagon official pleaded guilty in court Monday to an espionage charge over the disclosure of secret data to an alleged Chinese agent in the US. Gregg Bergersen said he was unaware that the Taiwan-born businessman was passing the information to China.

Pentagon revealed that it had sent nuclear fuses to Taiwan by mistake in 2006

raised eyebrows over US safeguards on nuclear-related technology

In February 2007, he asked when exactly the company intended to begin delivering the ZAP-X. "Gary Starr told me, Well, it may be two years out, it may be four years out, it may never happen.'

ZAP has taken millions from investors and dealers eager to see the company's line of green cars hit the road. But that line has never materialized. Of nearly a dozen groundbreaking eco-vehicles ZAP has promised in public announcements and on its Web site, only the Xebra and its sibling, a truck version, have ever made it to market. As a result, fans of electric cars have grown disillusioned, while individuals like Youssef have been financially devastated. What's more, investment firms around the country have become cautious about financing electric vehicles after being repeatedly misled by one of the industry's most visible companies.

Jack Kevorkian

he will run for the U.S. Congress.

announced his bid to run as an independent less than a year after being released from prison

Sydney’s iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge went dark

as the world’s first major city turned off its lights for this year’s Earth Hour

Most businesses and homes were already dark as Sydney residents embraced their second annual Earth Hour with candlelight dinners, beach bonfires and even a green-powered outdoor movie.