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We were able to get cheeseburgers and other various and sundry delights for good grades while growing up in the McD's homeland, but they never actually printed Ronald McDonald on our report card envelope.

Health advocates are setting their outrage phasers on kill over a McDonald's ad appearing on the report cards of Seminole County, Florida elementary schools. The ad promises free Happy Meals to kids with good grades, despite promises by McDonald's that they would " ban advertising to children under 12 or limit them to food and snacks that meet certain nutritional guidelines."

The Seminole County district said it has created such partnerships for years. Pizza Hut had been a partner for a decade and opted not to participate for the 2007-08 school year. McDonald's took its place. Under the terms of the deal, McDonald's fronted the bill ($1,600) for the printing costs associated with produced report cards for 27,000 students.

Scientists at a small biotech company in California say they have cloned five human embryos in a technological feat they claim will one day provide a source of viable embryonic stem cells.

The coveted primordial cells that scientists theorize may one day be used to treat a range of human afflictions were not generated in the experiment. And the five clones, created in the laboratories of Stemagen Corp., in La Jolla, were destroyed.

Dr. Samuel Wood, a medical doctor and chief executive of the company, along with a colleague, donated skin cells to begin the process of making human clones. DNA from those cells was transferred to human eggs. Creating human clones is not considered groundbreaking. But the next step, which could have been a landmark -- generating viable stem cells from human clones -- did not occur.

Sausage shortage looms for Swiss

Swiss butchers have raised the alarm over a shortage of the Brazilian cows' intestines used to wrap the nation's favourite sausage, the Cervelat.

The Swiss Meat Association says dwindling stocks may run out by the summer, when football fans descend for the Euro 2008 championship.

McDonald's has decided to stop branding report card envelopes in a program that gave kids in Florida free food as a reward for good grades after a backlash from parents concerned about exploitive marketing.

it's really about training a future army of consumers.

Netflix enters internet TV race

US DVD rental firm Netflix is to release a set-top box which will let subscribers download movies and other programmes over the net.

The box will be built by LG and is the latest move in the battle among content providers and hardware manufacturers to dominate the digital living room.

China unveils healthcare scheme

China's health minister has announced an ambitious programme to provide basic healthcare for every citizen in the world's most populous nation.

Chen Zhu said the Healthy China 2020 programme would provide a universal national health service and promote equal access to public services.

Switchgrass shows promise for ethanol production: study

A five year trial of the native North American prairie grass on farmland in the Midwestern United States revealed that the crop produces 540 percent more renewable energy than energy consumed in its production.

Previous estimates, based on small scale research plots, suggested the grass would yield a net energy production of about 343 percent. Net energy production is considered an important measure of sustainability.

Gift cards, the gift that keeps on taking

Now that Christmas celebrations are over and the dust has settled, millions of people around the world are holding the number one gift for this holiday season.

A plastic gift card is once again the top gift that will be purchased for loved ones and friends.

Will The iPod Kill Blockbuster?

Forget the cavernous big box stores that laid waste to the retail landscape a decade ago. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs' tiny iPod has turned his company into a category killer for the digital era--first wiping out music stores and now, potentially, the corner video store.

Starting in mid-January, the Cupertino, Calif., computer and gadget maker will take on Blockbuster (nyse: BBI - news - people ) and Netflix (nasdaq: NFLX - news - people ) by renting movies from Fox on its iTunes digital media store, according to a report first published in the Financial Times earlier this week.

San Fran. Zoo could face penalties, charges in tiger attack

The deadly tiger escape at the San Francisco Zoo could prove to be a costly blow to an institution that has come under fire repeatedly in just the past few years over the deaths of two elephants and the mauling of a zookeeper.

The zoo could face heavy fines from regulators. It could be stripped of its exhibitor license.

Fidel Castro to retire?

Fidel Castro, Cuba's dictator since 1959, hinted yesterday that he may be willing to hand over power to younger Cuban leaders.

In a letter discussing the Bali summit on global warming, Castro wrote, "My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, or even less to obstruct the path of younger people, but to share experiences and ideas whose modest worth comes from the exceptional era in which I lived."

China city bans Christmas trees

A Chinese city has beaten the Grinch at his own game, banning Christmas trees from shopping malls, restaurants and other public places because they pose a fire hazard, a newspaper reported.

Chen Ying, deputy mayor of Zhuhai, a city of 1.3 million people in southern China, said restaurants, malls, grocery stores and other entertainment venues had to remove trees and other "flammable decorations" immediately.

1. Play the part 100%

2. Learn your ho’s

3. Control your beard

Santa Delivers 37,000+ Copies of Constitution to Bush

Santa Claus (in the person of noted constitutional lawyer Bill Goodman) drove his sleigh to the White House to deliver thousands of copies of the U.S. Constitution to President Bush.

Americans from all over the country - more than 37,000 of them - asked that a copy of the Constitution be delivered to the President in their name and cordially requested that he make time in his busy schedule to read it.

Christmas is a Good Time to Catch a Cheating Mate

People don't usually associate Christmas with infidelity and extramarital affairs. But according to infidelity expert Ruth Houston, the Christmas season is a good time to catch a cheating mate.

"Christmas offers two prime opportunities to confirm that your spouse or significant other is cheating on you, or to get tangible evidence of an existing extramarital affair."

roughly 43 miles per gallon for cars and some light trucks and about 27 miles per gallon for heavier trucks and sport utility vehicles.

new federal law will require automakers to meet a 35-mile-per-gallon fleetwide standard for cars and trucks sold in the United States by 2020

farm bill which passed the Senate Friday includes provisions that would help sugar growers and dairy farmers

increase of 6 percent to 7 percent in the guaranteed government minimum price for sugar growers

federal government to buy surplus sugar and sell it to ethanol producers

China has joined the ranks of Singapore, Norway and the United Arab Emirates as nations that have purchased big chunks of Wall Street.

accepted a $5 billion investment from the Chinese government’s investment company China Investment Corporation (CIC). The investment gives CIC a 9.9% stake in the firm.

less than four days left until Christmas, the nation's retailers are in a lather to attract last-minute shoppers to salvage what has been a mediocre December.

At stake are retailers' profits for the year and perhaps even the strength of the economy.

biggest disappointment comes from women's apparel, extending a downturn that's grown deeper in recent months and serving as an ominous sign for the health of retailing in general.

first bullet train designed and manufactured in China with a speed of 300 kilometers per hour rolled off the production line on Saturday

Japan, France and Germany to become the fourth country capable of turning out such high speed trains