US rejects victory claim by Iran's Ahmadinejad

The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.

Any hopes by the Obama administration of gaining a result similar to Lebanon's recent election, won by a Western-backed moderate coalition, appeared to be in jeopardy.

"We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.

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NHL May Be On TV Via ESPN

NEW YORK The NHL might be close to striking a deal with ESPN forrights to its regular-season and Stanley Cup playoff games that couldearn the league from $12 million to $16 million a year.

In addition, a source close to the negotiations said anagreement might also include 4-6 games per season on ABC, which ownsESPN. The NHL probably would buy the time from ABC under anyagreement.

The New York Times reported the network and the NHL reached atentative agreement on a five-year deal worth $80 million, or $16million a year, during the NHL's one-day meeting Tuesday in St.Petersburg, Fla. The paper quoted unidentified sources in the NHL.

The package would …

Hambuechen not expected to do all-around at worlds

TOKYO (AP) — Fabian Hambuechen didn't do pommel horse during Wednesday's training session at the world gymnastics championships, and said afterward he is not expecting to do the all-around.

Pommel horse is the 2007 world silver medalist's weakest event, and he lost training time earlier this year after tearing his Achilles in …

Romanian Orthodox Church defrocks divorced priests

The Romanian Orthodox has decided to strip clergymen who divorce of their priestly duties.

Church spokesman Constantin Stoica says the decision to defrock priests who divorce will apply to all. But he says that those whose marriages broke up because their wives committed adultery will find other employment within the church.

Stoica said Friday that the …

MORNINGLINE

Results The question: Do you approve of the job President Clinton is doing,based on his first 100 days in office? Yes: 39% No: 61% Morningline is not a scientifically designed poll, and therefore noclaims are made as to the validity of its results. Today's Question: Parents of biracial …

ENTERTAINMENT IN THE SKY

AUSTRALIA-Henry Wu isn't an easy man to impress, particularly when it comes to airlines' attempts to keep him entertained, informed, or amused when he's aloft. Often, he finds a good book or a nap preferable to carriers' inferior offerings.

The Australian software engineer, an associate professor in the school of computer science and software engineering at Melbourne's Monash University, recently evaluated in-flight entertainment on a number of carriers. His main interest was the technical aspects of the product rather than its content.

Wu's verdict: "Airline passengers are being subjected to in-flight entertainment that is technically second-rate." What's more, he found …

Latam stocks plunge for 3rd day in a row

Latin American stocks fell Wednesday for the third day in a row on fears that a recession is gripping the planet and will hurt Latin America's largest economies.

Brazil's Ibovespa index plunged 5.1 percent when trading opened but then recovered most of the lost ground and was down 0.8 percent to 39,834 in late morning trading. The losses led Latin American markets and came on top of a 4.5 percent plunge Tuesday.

Chile's IPSA index …