Kids socialize in a virtual world as avatars (By Yinka Adegoke )

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Children have always enjoyed make-believe. Now, some new Web sites are letting them live out their fantasies in virtual worlds using self-designed avatars.
Unlike the often-violent world of videogames, virtual sites such as Stardoll, Doppelganger, Club Penguin and Gaia Online hark back to a more innocent time of tea parties and playing outdoors -- and they are winning young users in droves.

The success of Second Life, one of the most popular virtual lifestyle sites for adults, with even its own banks and real estate agents, has helped to raise interest in the genre.

At Stardoll, young girls can create their own online 'MeDoll' identities from a template that allows the user to choose everything from skin tone to eyebrow shapes.

Most important, it allows the user to dress-up their avatar in the latest teen fashion.

Stockholm-based Stardoll, which only started four years ago, has been a huge hit with girls aged seven to 17 years.

The founders say they have over 7 million users in dozens of countries, even though Stardoll only very recently became available in four languages other than English.

"Role-playing is a hugely important part of growing up, especially for girls," said Matteus Miksche, chief executive of Stardoll, whose backers include venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.

Like many new-generation Web sites popular with youngsters, the attraction is as much in the ease of use as it is the ability to interact with others.

Stardoll users can measure their popularity by the number of "friends" they accumulate on their page, just as they might do on MySpace or Facebook -- except the photos are not real.

And as in real life, popularity has its benefits.

One of the most obvious on Stardoll is that you can be a "cover girl" of the Stardoll fashion magazine by getting the most votes for your MeDoll.

Fashion is important for young girls who buy the latest clothes and accessories from the various virtual stores in Stardoll with made-up fashion brands.

VIRTUAL HOLLYWOOD

Another virtual life site, Doppelganger, was built to support music, media and fashion.

Aimed at a slightly older crowd than Stardoll, users can throw parties, attend live shows and recordings of talk shows.

Doppelganger has tied up with major fashion and entertainment names in the real world, including ex-model and talk show host Tyra Banks and youth fashion brands like Rocawear and Kitson, the Los Angeles brand made famous by Paris Hilton.

Acts like Maroon 5 and the Pussycat Dolls have also performed on Doppelganger and given virtual interviews.

"The fashion element is a big part of Doppelganger," said founder Tim Stevens. "It's like a virtual Hollywood."

Most of these sites also have virtual economies with their own currencies, which users can earn or buy with their parents' credit cards, other online payment systems or premium text messages widely available in Europe.

On Gaia Online, another rapidly growing site, users earn 'gold' to buy virtual goods -- usually clothes for their avatar. "Up to 99 percent of the experience online is free at Gaia," said Gaia Online Chief Executive Craig Sherman.

"In a world where teens are constantly packaging and branding themselves, whether it's on MySpace or in their high school, Gaia is a place for them to get away from it all to just hang out and be yourself," Sherman said.

Stardoll's Miksche agrees, saying the young visitors to his site are not in as much a hurry to grow up as adults might think. For his users, he says, it's more important to be who you want to be.

"Part of our success is that some users are maybe getting tired of having pages where they feel forced to look sexy or cool or write some outrageous stuff in order to stand out."

Poll: A fifth vacation with laptops (By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer )

WASHINGTON - Sun block. Beach umbrella. Laptop. One in five people toted laptop computers on their most recent vacations, an AP-Ipsos poll released Friday said. Along with the 80 percent who said they brought along their cell phones, the survey shows going on vacation no longer means being out of the electronic loop.
Sizable numbers are interrupting their unwinding time to check in at the office and, even more so, to keep up with the social buzz.

About one in five said they did some work while vacationing, and about the same number checked office messages or called in to see how things were going, the poll showed. Twice as many checked their e-mail, while 50 percent kept up with other personal messages like voice mail.

The credit — or culprit, depending on one's view — is in part today's array of devices that can easily keep people digitally tethered to workplaces, friends and family. The electronic gear was most commonly brought along by younger people — one in four below age 40 brought laptops, compared to 15 percent of those 50 to 64 and even less for older people.

Reasons vacationers performed work-related tasks include an expectation that they be available; a worry about missing important information; or in some cases the enjoyment of staying involved, according to analysts and some of those surveyed.

"I'm the final guy, so I make sure my customers are happy," said Don Schneider, 43, a plumbing contractor from Buena Park, Calif., who also runs an online business that supplies video equipment for plumbers.

Schneider says he limits his holiday check-ins to about a half-hour daily and tries to do it unobtrusively so he won't annoy family and friends, making calls from his hotel room or car.

Nineteen percent said they worked on their vacation even though they were technically off. Twenty percent said they checked work messages like voice mail, and another 15 percent said they called to check in.

"It's like a cloud hanging over my head until I get it done," Lee Ann Harrison, 37, a third-grade teacher from Halls, Tenn., said of the work she did on a family trip to Southaven, Miss., for her young son's baseball team. She said she found herself grading papers "between games, somewhere in the shade."

Men — particularly white men — were the likeliest to have checked for messages or worked while on vacation. Higher educated and higher-earning people were also likelier to do work-related tasks, in part reflecting the demands of professional or managerial jobs.

"Increasingly, especially when you're in a managerial sort of role, it's very difficult to walk away from the job totally given the communications technology we have today," said Suzanne Bianchi, who chairs the University of Maryland's sociology department and said she checks in about weekly while off.

Some, like attorney Barry Eisenson, 64, of Hollywood, Fla., said it would probably be more stressful not to check in while away. He said he stayed in touch with his office during a cruise to Alaska last year but had trouble getting through while sailing off the state's panhandle, "so I rested."

People under age 40 were likeliest to check their personal e-mails, voice mails or other messages from vacation spots. But people checking for work-related messages tended to be a bit older, perhaps reflecting the greater work responsibilities that can come with age.

"Men in their late 40s and early 50s, middle managers, feel they can't afford to miss something, and a vacation is secondary to them in terms of importance," said Geoffrey Godbey, professor of leisure studies at Penn State University.

The AP-Ipsos poll had not previously asked about people's work habits while on vacation. A Fox News-Opinion Dynamics poll in August 2005 had comparable figures to the AP's on those checking in from vacation.

"There are a lot of things about work that are very pleasurable," John Robinson, a University of Maryland sociologist who has studied time use, said of staying in touch with work during vacation. "The question is, is it something you want to do or feel obligated to do?"

Overall, about six in 10 in the AP-Ipsos poll said they were planning a vacation trip in the next year, with men a bit likelier than women to express that expectation. About half said they had taken one in the last year.

Seven in 10 women and half of men said they had read a book on their last vacation. About three in four men, and six in 10 women, said they had read a newspaper.

The AP-Ipsos poll was conducted from May 15 to 17 and included telephone interviews with 1,000 randomly chosen adults. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Google Unplugged: Why Its Offline Approach Is A Strategic Turning Point (By Thomas Claburn)

Offline's Business BenefitsArizona State University is one of the most aggressive enterprise adopters of Google apps, with more than 40,000 students and faculty using Gmail instead of campus-run e-mail, and a portal to provide access to calendar, and Docs & Spreadsheets. Adrian Sannier, ASU's technology officer, is eager for his team to deploy and develop using Google's online-offline framework, but he sees the risk for Google to mess up what makes the apps so appealing. Google's strength is making a light, browser-based client that makes adoption and upgrades easy, he says. "Depending on how heavy the offline client starts to become, that has the potential to dilute Google's advantage."
Prudential Preferred Properties CRE, a real estate firm affiliated with Prudential Financial, has about 80 employees using Gmail and Google Calendar. Offline access to Web apps hasn't been a high priority there; network uptime is so critical to doing business, if the network goes down, there are more serious problems than whether the calendar is available, IT director Cameron Daily says. Still, Daily would like to give agents on-the-go access to their Gmail archives and Calendar when they're not online. Aung Zayar Lwin, head of IT at building consultancy Drew George & Partners, sees similar potential for offline mail and calendar. Neither Daily nor Lwin sees Google Gears as any reason to stop using Microsoft Office. Prudential just bought new Office licenses, and Lwin expects Drew George eventually to deploy Office 2007. Offline access or not, Google Docs & Spreadsheets doesn't stack up on features. The only reason Lwin sees to even experiment with Google Docs & Spreadsheets now is for the online collaboration capability.
Google's not offering much help for IT planning. Google Docs & Spreadsheets is an obvious candidate for offline use, but it's not saying when it might offer offline options. Huber notes that apps from companies other than Google may be the most important uses for Gears, since the APIs can be used to develop any browser-based application for PCs or mobile phones.
Google expected about 5,000 developers across 10 cities worldwide for its Developer Day. In Beijing, about 800 programmers shook off the drizzling weather to attend one of two tracks, one for the Google product development platform and the other for Linux and open source. They heard Shiva Shivakumar, founder and director of Google's Seattle R&D Center, praise Chinese developers for their skills and potential to "develop world-class products." Zhou Jiahao, an R&D manager with a company that provides local mobile search, came away interested in using the improved map mashup features Google announced.
Compared with Microsoft's developer community, which includes more than a million professionals using Visual Studio 2005, Google's community doesn't seem like much--yet.
The measure of Google's success in attracting developers will be in whether they help move the company beyond being a Getting online apps to run well offline is certainly good for Internet users. Google's theory is that helping people unplug those apps will make the company all the more indispensible when they log back on.
-- with J. Nicholas Hoover, Richard Martin, and Ding Yaling of InformationWeek China
Google acknowledged last week that, sometimes, people aren't connected to the Internet. It was a strategic turning point for the Web's highest-flying company.
At Google's first Developer Day, the company introduced free, Nonetheless, Google Gears makes browser-based apps more of a threat to Microsoft's business model of getting people to pay for software. Google is first applying it only to its Reader, which checks a person's favorite Web sites and stores updates. Google's mail, calendar, and Docs & Spreadsheets applications are likely next candidates. And any developer can use the platform to offline-enable their apps. By opening up more ways for developers to build on Google data and infrastructure, the company's making it easier for others to tap into the source of its wealth--the half a billion people who visit Google's network of sites every month.
But Google's offline approach also is a recognition that Microsoft's right in insisting that not all computing will take place in the Internet cloud. Microsoft's been touting a vision of "software plus services" that relies on Internet-connected desktop apps, and more enterprise software-as-a-service companies, such as CRM vendor RightNow, recognize the need for some client software.
Google's get-together last week shows it's paying more attention to developers. Google presented its vision of software development by piling TV-sized blocks, painted in Google red, yellow, green, and blue, on the conference stage. If that's too subtle, the keynote address was titled "Building blocks for better Web applications." In addition to Gears, it introduced Mashup Editor for creating map mashups with less than 10 lines of code and Mapplets for combining Maps and Google Gadgets, and it updated its Web developer toolkit, which lets coders write Ajax apps in Java and translate them into browser-compliant JavaScript and HTML.
View the Image Gallery:Google Developer's DayGoogle's pitch is that it takes a lot less code to engage and amass an online audience than it does to craft a standalone desktop app. And that audience can be substantial--like the 6.7 million pages views that the creator of the PacMan widget, which can be installed on iGoogle pages, got last week. "By being able to leverage these building blocks, you're able to create amazing applications in probably a tenth the time it would have taken you previously," says Jeff Huber, Google's VP of engineering.
Gears is typical of how Google's trying to build a developer ecosystem with APIs. The growing portfolio includes APIs for Maps, Ajax Search and Ajax Feed, AdWords and AdSense, Google Base Data, GData, and Google Calendar Data. These schemes for accessing Google data and services help developers help themselves while making computing without Google increasingly awkward. Google hopes Gears will become the standard for adding offline capabilities such as data storage, application caching, and multithreading to online applications.
Kevin Lynch, chief software architect at Adobe, welcomed the addition of "a standard cross-platform, cross-browser local storage capability" and said the Gears API would work with Apollo, Adobe's new Web application development platform. Yet Gears could weaken the case for rich apps that exist outside the browser, says Gartner analyst David Mitchell Smith. "Rich clients become less compelling the more the Web applications continue to grow," says Smith.

Fighting continues in Lebanon camp(By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer )

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Heavy gunfire rang out from inside a bombed out Palestinian refugee camp Sunday as the Lebanese army pounded Islamic militants holed up inside during the third day of a military offensive aimed at crushing the al-Qaida-inspired group.
Plumes of white and gray smoke rose from the Nahr el-Bared camp as the army bombarded
Fatah' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Fatah Islam militants with heavy artillery shelling. The militants appeared to be retreating deeper inside the camp, but one of their leaders vowed the group would not surrender.
Tanks and artillery pounded Fatah Islam positions on the northern edge of Nahr el-Bared, located on the outskirts of this northern Lebanese port city, in a wide area concentrated around 10 buildings.
According to an Associated Press photographer near the camp, a Fatah Islam sniper could be seen moving from one destroyed building to another, as Lebanese troops bombarded the damaged structures from where he was shooting.
Lebanese security officials said a Fatah Islam militant was firing rocket-propelled grenades at army positions from the minaret of a mosque. It was not clear if the army was going to strike the minaret.
The Lebanese government has demanded the group surrender, saying it's the only way to end the attack. But Abu Hureira, Fatah Islam's deputy commander, rejected the government calls.
"This is not only impossible, this is unthinkable. Our blood is cheaper than handing over our weapons and surrendering," said Abu Hureira, a Lebanese whose real name is Shehab al-Qaddour, in a telephone interview with the AP.
The refusal to surrender came as militants said one of their top leaders had been killed in the fighting.
The Fatah Islam leader killed, Naim Deeb Ghali, who is also known as Abu Riad, was the third-in-command of the group, Lebanese security officials said.
Abu Hureira confirmed that Ghali was killed Friday, but would not say whether he was a senior Fatah Islam official, referring to him only as "a brother."
Sunday's army artillery fire appeared directed at militant positions deep inside the camp, indicating the military was advancing further inside.
There was no way to tell exactly how deep the army had advanced, because the area had been sealed off and journalists were kept away.
But as part of the intensifying assault, the army on Saturday added air power to the battle. A helicopter gunship was deployed for the first time since fighting began May 20, firing two missiles and strafing militant positions. The air attack was an apparent attempt to block an escape route to the Mediterranean Sea.
Four soldiers were killed and 10 wounded Saturday in the offensive aimed at uprooting the militant gunmen barricaded inside the camp on the outskirts of this Lebanese port city. Abu Hureira said six militants have been wounded since the offensive began Friday.
The casualties raised the army's deaths to 38 in two weeks. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants have been killed, but casualties in the camp in the last two days were unknown because relief organizations were banned from entering.
In other the developments, the main road linking Tripoli with the province of Akkar and the Syrian border reopened Sunday for the first time since Friday. Vehicles were seen passing on the road that was closed for two days by Lebanese troops over fears of snipers.
A wounded Palestinian civilian also was seen being evacuated from the camp in a Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance. The man, in his 50s, suffered head and shoulder injury, according to reporters on the scene.
Meanwhile, about 30 Palestinian and Lebanese women who came from the nearby Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp demonstrated at the southern entrance Nahr el-Bared to protest the army's shelling.
Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make statements to media, have said Nahr el-Bared had been strategically divided into three zones. The army was controlling one zone, the militants held another, while Palestinian civilians and guerrillas controlled the third and were refusing the militants sanctuary, they said.
The army alleged the armed militants had taken up positions in the camp mosques and humanitarian centers, holding civilians as "human shields." It was not clear how the military knew this or how many Palestinians were used as human shields. The militants have denied the accusation.

Canadian police find rare Austrian jewel

TORONTO - Police have found a rare pendant that belonged to a 19th century Austrian queen and was stolen from a castle there in 1998.
The pendant, known as the Koechert Diamond Pearl, was found at a home in a Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the investigation of a crime network accused of committing fraud and bank robberies in Canada, Europe and Africa.
The jewel was made for Austrian Queen Elisabeth, known as "Sissi," who died 100 years ago at the age of 60 after being stabbed by an anarchist.
"When you look at the history of (the pendant), I was impressed by the value for the country that it must hold," Winnipeg police Sgt. Mitch McCormick said. Austrian authorities have been alerted to the discovery, he said.

China rejects U.S. warning on toothpaste (By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer )

BEIJING - China rejected a warning issued by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Food and Drug Administration urging consumers to avoid using Chinese toothpaste because it may contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze.
Calling the FDA warning "unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory," China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement posted on its Web site late Saturday that low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption.
The FDA increased its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China because of reports that the products may contain diethylene glycol, a thickening agent used as a low-cost — but frequently deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.
The agency was not aware of any poisoning but found toothpaste with the chemical in a shipment at the U.S. border and at two bargain retail stores, a Dollar Plus in Miami and a Todo A Peso in Puerto Rico.
China's main food safety regulator said in its statement that the ingredients of toothpaste exported to the U.S. is offered to the FDA, showing the amount of diethylene glycol. Also, the toothpaste's labeling has already been registered with the FDA, allowing it to be sold in the U.S, the statement said.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said experts from the Health Ministry had deemed diethylene glycol a "low-level" poison that does not accumulate in the body and found no evidence the substance caused cancer or deformities.
It also said
European Union' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> European Union standards allow for a certain amount of the chemical and cited a 2000 Chinese study that found toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent diethylene glycol was not harmful. The Chinese toothpaste the FDA is concerned about contains between 3 percent to 4 percent of the drug, according to the FDA.
"Therefore the warning issued by the FDA ... is unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory," the agency said.
The agency "requests the U.S. clarify the facts in a scientific manner as soon as possible and properly handle the issue."
The FDA alert Friday said the agency found diethylene glycol, or DEG, in three products manufactured by Goldcredit International Trading in China: Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent Spearmint and Cooldent ICE.
The agency also found the chemical in one product manufactured by Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemical Co. Analysis of that product, Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste, found it contained about 1 percent DEG.
Phones at both companies rang unanswered Sunday.
Companies that make brands previously found with DEG will have to prove the toothpaste is free of the chemical before it's allowed into the U.S., the FDA said. Meanwhile, all other brands of Chinese-made toothpaste will be stopped for testing, something the FDA has been doing since May 23.
A slew of Chinese exports have recently been banned or turned away by U.S. inspectors including, wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine that has been blamed for dog and cat deaths in North America, monkfish that turned out to be toxic pufferfish, drug-laced frozen eel, and juice made with unsafe color additives.
DEG was blamed for the deaths of 51 people in Panama after they took tainted cold medicine. China has admitted it was the source of the deadly chemical but insists it was originally labeled as for industrial use only.
Officials in Panama and several other Latin American countries have removed tens of thousands of tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste from stores amid concerns that they contain DEG.

2,000 gather for Amsterdam nude photo (By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer )

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Dozens of women posed naked on their bicycles on a bridge over one of Amsterdam's historic canals Sunday — a unique sight even in a city famed for its relaxed attitude toward nudity and sex
They were among 2,000 men and women who participated in a series of four nude group photos in the city in the early hours of the morning as part of the latest project of U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick.
The first and largest composition was in a decidedly prosaic location: a parking garage on the outer ring of the city.
But what the location lacked in romance, it made up for in style. Participants lined the railings of the garage's twin circular towers, creating a pattern of multicolor stripes against the white building and an overcast sky.
The women on bikes were selected from the larger group and posed with their chins pointed triumphantly upward toward the sky.
Other compositions included a group of men posing together near the parking garage and a mixed group of men and women on another bridge.
Tunick, from Brooklyn, N.Y., has become famous for photographing thousands of naked people in public settings worldwide, from London and Vienna to Buenos Aires and Buffalo. He set a record for naked photography with a photo of 18,000 people in the buff in Mexico City last month.
Photos from Sunday's session were to be exhibited at an Amsterdam club later Sunday

Mahdi militia hit by U.S., Iraqi troops (By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Writer )

BAGHDAD - As U.S. jets roared overhead, Mahdi Army militiamen on Sunday battled with Iraqi troops and local police searching for two militia leaders in the southern city of Diwaniyah. At least three people were killed and 24 wounded, official Iraqi sources reported.
The southern clashes came just hours after American helicopter gunships attacked targets in Mahdi Army-dominated Shiite east Baghdad, killing four suspected militants, the U.S. military reported, as the radical Shiite militia faced growing pressure to bow to central government authority.
In unrelated action, the U.S. military reported six American soldiers killed and six wounded in attacks Friday and Saturday. In one, southwest of Baghdad on Friday, a soldier on a foot patrol was killed after approaching two suspicious men outside a mosque, one of whom blew himself up.
Two other Americans were killed Saturday by a makeshift bomb while on patrol in the northern province of Nineveh, bombs killed one in western Baghdad and one in the volatile Diyala province northeast of the capital. Another soldier was killed by small arms fire south of Baghdad.
In another of
Iraq' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Iraq's unending terror bombings, meanwhile, a car parked near a police station and an open-air market exploded Sunday in Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad, killing nine civilians and one policeman and wounding 25 other people, police said.
The latest round of bloodshed came as private talks were reported between al-Sadr's Mahdi militia and Iraqi government officials to win the release of five Britons kidnapped last Tuesday from Baghdad's Finance Ministry, an abduction believed carried out by the Shiite militia.
Recent American and Iraqi military operations in east Baghdad are believed aimed at finding and freeing those hostages.
London's Sunday Times, quoting an unidentified senior Iraqi government official, said al-Sadr's representatives were demanding an end to assassination attempts against militia leaders, an end to British army patrols in the southern Shiite city of Basra, and the release of nine Mahdi officials from British and U.S. custody.
Al-Sadr's office denies involvement in the kidnappings — of four security guards and a computer consultant. But the Times reported a al-Sadr official visited Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to tell him the men were "safe and sound" but would not be free until the demands were met.
The clashes in Diwaniyah erupted Saturday evening after Iraqi soldiers and police cordoned off a market in search of two senior Mahdi Army figures wanted by U.S.-led coalition forces in connection with sectarian killings.
Maj. Gen. Othman Ali, commander of the Iraq army's 8th Division, said his forces captured one of the men, but he escaped when fellow militiamen came to his aid.
The fighting on the east side of the city, 80 miles south of Baghdad, resumed about 9 a.m. Sunday with the support of U.S. fighter jets and helicopter gunships skimming over Diwaniyah's rooftops, police said.
Ali said his forces raided two locations in "fierce" fighting that lasted three hours. They failed to find their target suspects, but did uncover weapons caches, he said.
Police and medical sources said 20 wounded Iraqis, including two policemen, were brought to the local hospital from Sunday morning's fighting. The clashes erupted anew around 1:30 p.m, and one soldier and two other people were killed, and three civilians wounded, an army officer said on condition of anonymity, since he was not authorized to speak with the media.
It could not immediately be determined how many of the reported casualties may have been Mahdi Army militiamen. The U.S. military had no immediate report on the action.
The Mahdi Army, under the stridently anti-American al-Sadr, has emerged as one of the strongest autonomous forces in U.S.-occupied Iraq, and has been implicated in the wave of sectarian killings — of Sunni Muslims by Shiites and Shiites by Sunni groups — that has bloodied Iraq.
American and Iraqi forces launched "Operation Black Eagle" about two months ago in Diwaniyah, in search of five wanted senior Mahdi Army figures. About 180 suspected members were rounded up, but none of the five, said Ali.
The two sides had agreed on a truce two weeks ago, an accord that broke down with this weekend's clashes.
In the U.S. air attack late Saturday in east Baghdad, the U.S. command said an Apache helicopter team was alerted to men setting up multiple rocket firing positions aimed at the Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices.
Four men were killed and one vehicle and 10 rockets destroyed by the Apache fire, the military said, and six other suspects were captured by ground forces of the 82nd Airborne Division. State-run Iraqiya television said the attack occurred in Habibiyah, a Shiite area on the edge of the Mahdi Army's Sadr City stronghold, five miles northeast of the Green Zone.
A recent increase in mortar and rocket attacks on the U.S.-controlled area has raised concern, especially since they are occurring during the U.S.-led crackdown in Baghdad.
In other violence Sunday:
• Gunmen at a fake checkpoint in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Baghdad, killed two passengers and wounded eight others when they opened fire on three minibuses that sought to flee from the highway trap.
• Police found eight unidentified bodies in an industrial area of the western city of Fallujah.

Author looks for Lincoln in road trip-By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press Writer

"Land of Lincoln" (Atlantic Monthly Press. 272 pages. $24) — Andrew Ferguson: Everyone knows about Abraham Lincoln: 16th president of the United States, saved the Union, freed the slaves. And, oh yes, war criminal, depressive, secular saint, homosexual and business management guru.
Not only is Lincoln one of the most looming figures in U.S. history, he likely has been analyzed and interpreted more than any other American. Thousands of books have been written about the man. Over generations, he has become sort of a national Rorschach blot. People see in him in different lights, depending on their point of view.
Ferguson, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, takes a look at what Lincoln means to Americans in the 21st century in this road-trip book. With stops in Gettysburg, Va., Beverly Hills, Calif., and a lot of places in between, Ferguson rubs shoulders with latter-day Confederates, collectors, historians, Lincoln look-alikes and buffs galore.
Like any road trip, some stretches are better than others. Especially fun is the Lincoln-themed business workshop where pre-Civil War America is translated into PowerPoint bullets ("USA as a fast-growth company") and a convention of Lincoln presenters, where a roomful of black-clad guys with beards and top hats earnestly trade tips on how to land school gigs.
Ferguson clearly has his own views on Lincoln. The author doesn't show much charity for the liberal crop of contemporary historians or museum types inspired by the Disney Co. He writes how designers of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., briefly considered a Lincoln roller-coaster.
"Lincoln had a lot of highs and lows in his life," the chief designer explains. "He was bipolar, right?"
Ferguson first fell in love with Lincoln when he was a boy, and the author's enduring esteem saves the book from being merely snarky or ironic. Particularly poignant is Ferguson's effort to re-create a childhood family trip among Midwest Lincoln landmarks with his own wife and kids. Every parent knows how that one turns out.
So who was the real Lincoln?
Ferguson wisely leaves the question aside as he focuses on other people's interpretations. By the book's end, the reader is left with the impression that this private, complex man is unknowable to us 142 years after his assassination — no matter how many books are written about him.

British geriatrics take to the rock star life-By Luke Baker

LONDON (Reuters) - They may have an average age of 78, but these rockers can tear up the stage with the best of them and are determined to take the music charts by storm.The Zimmers, a rock band made up of 40 old-age pensioners, including one who's 99 and another who's 100, have released a single they hope will draw attention to the problems faced by senior citizens in Britain and the world over.
Their rendition of The Who's "My Generation," sung by 90-year-old Alf Carretta with backing vocals by a choir of beaming pensioners on zimmer frames, has been viewed more than two million times on YouTube.
They've also appeared on a prime-time British chat programme, when Carretta obligingly smashed up a guitar, been the subject of a film and are scheduled to visit the United States next week to sing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
The publicity is set to give a big boost to their single, released on Monday, when the new charts are announced.
Brought together by a documentary filmmaker who was concerned about the plight of senior citizens, The Zimmers recorded "My Generation" at the legendary Abbey Road studios and have received support from top international producers.
While they hope their performances will draw attention to the isolation and abandonment faced by many elderly people, they're also determined to have a good time.
"I love having a good laugh and a bit of entertainment," Buster Martin, at 100 the oldest member of the group, told Reuters by phone as he got ready for a photo shoot.
"I may no longer be an oil painting, but I can still be a rock star."
Asked how long he planned his rock career to go on for, Martin was defiant:
"I'll carry on until I don't wake up in the morning and my days are finally up."
Several of The Zimmers have been friends for 30 years -- they used to play bingo in London together every week until the company that ran it shut down, leaving them without a hobby to bring them together.
At 69, Avis Lewinson is one of the youngest of the group. While she has sung and performed all her life, she said she'd never had so much a thrill as The Zimmers in all her years.
"It's been fantastic," she said. "I never did anything like this in my younger days. It's just out of this world."
While the performing schedule is pretty tiring for some of the older members of the band, she said there were very few downsides to the stardom and quite a few benefits.
"We have lots of fans," she said with a giggle, "and even some groupies."
Reuters

Lohan's dad: Lindsay hooked on OxyContin - By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES -
Lindsay Lindsay Lohan's estranged father says she suffers from multiple addictions, including alcohol and the painkiller OxyContin, the Web site E! Online reported Wednesday.
The 20-year-old actress checked into rehab Monday following a weekend that included crashing her Mercedes, being arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and being photographed slumped in the passenger seat of a friend's car. This is her second rehab stint this year.
"I spoke to the people treating Lindsay, because I wanted to make sure she was getting the right care," Michael Lohan told E! Online. "And I'm satisfied they are doing the right thing for her, helping her detox from the painkillers and things. That's a very important step."
Lindsay Lohan's publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, did not immediately return an after-hours call and e-mail from The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Michael Lohan was released from a New York state prison in March after serving almost two years for driving while intoxicated and other charges. He said he is studying to become a drug-rehab counselor with the faith-based organization Teen Challenge.
Before entering rehab, the actress was scheduled to start work this week on "Poor Things," a comedy featuring
Shirley MacLaine' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Shirley MacLaine, who is also a producer on the movie. MacLaine and co-producer Rob Hickman said in a statement Wednesday that Lohan still wants to work on the project.
"We are trying to rearrange the shooting schedule to facilitate her working at the end of the shoot to coincide with the completion of her rehabilitation," the statement said.
In other events swirling around Lohan, who turns 21 on July 2, authorities who have been conducting undercover operations at trendy celebrity watering holes in recent weeks are seeking to find out if she was served alcohol before her weekend car crash.
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control investigators also want to know if Lohan or others were served after hours, agency spokesman John Carr said.
Videos show Lohan leaving Hollywood's Les Deux club at 3:30 a.m.
Alcohol cannot be served in California after 2 a.m.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control told the Beverly Hills Police Department it wants to review witness reports and other evidence to determine if a formal investigation is warranted, Carr said.
Les Deux owner Lonnie Moore said in a statement that Lohan stayed late having dinner and waiting for friends, and wasn't drinking.
___
Associated Press Writer Jeff Wilson contributed to this report.

Blogging for business: 7 tips for getting started (By Jeff Wuorio)

ere are seven tips to get your Web log up and blogging.

1.


Identify your audience. A basic precept of any business is just as essential with your blog. It's critical to pinpoint your audience and, in the process, decide what you're going to say that will make them read what you write. "It's really a process of elimination —what's not being covered by someone else?" says Scott Allen, co-author of the upcoming book "The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Using Online Social Networks." "What's your unique spin? If you don't have an original voice, why is anybody going to read it?"

2.


Decide where your blog should live. Next up is determining where to locate your blog. There are numerous software packages that let you add a blog section to an existing Web site. A more automated and perhaps easier option is a blog hosting site (with a link from your Web site bringing visitors over). Here, the setup is easy, as the site usually provides preformatted designs and other options from which you can choose. In particular, watch for features that may be helpful in building traffic, such as trackers that identify recent posts and the most popular message threads. (See sites such as Businessblogconsulting.com for reviews of various publishing platforms. One easy place to create a blog is on Windows Live Spaces.)

3.


Start talking. At this point, bringing your blog live will mean little more than placing your thoughts, observations and insights into the blog for others to read. But to really kick start your blogging traffic, don't just vent marketing-speak about how great your business is, or chatter about news and current events for which you offer no expertise. Instead, aim for a fresh, unique take. Provide a perspective that is heartfelt, compelling, and has the potential to help you market yourself and your business.

One way to get up to speed on what to say is to read other blogs and, in turn, offer your own viewpoint on an industry or business topic for which you know something about. "It's not a matter of competing with other blogs," Allen notes. "But one way to attract other bloggers to your site is to start reading other blogs and commenting on what they're writing about."
4.


Get into the practice of "blogrolling." Getting regular visitors to your site isn't just a matter of fresh, insightful commentary. Building traffic between blogs is another central element to luring repeat visitors. Here, "blogrolling" is an effective tool. This, in essence, is a set of links on your blog site that identifies other sites on the Internet --- related to your business, industry or expertise --- which you find valuable. Developed in conjunction with a fresh voice, blogrolling encourages a steady back and forth between various sites, including other blogs. "Write commentary about what other bloggers have written, then link to them," Allen says. "That really gets you into the overall bloggers' pool."

5.


Emphasize keywords. Search engine hits are another element of generating traffic. One strategy to attract search engine interest is through careful use of keywords in both your headlines and blog copy. For instance, if your topic focuses on marketing a business overseas, use of the words "marketing" and "overseas" as often as possible and in varied permutations can help push your blog site toward the head of the search engine line. "Stay on one topic, so your content is focused on keywords," advises Sally Falkow, a Pasadena, Calif., brand strategist who uses a blog in her business. "That, and link to other blogs on the subject."

6.


Keep it fresh. One cardinal snafu that can bring down even the best intentioned of blogs is stale content. Nothing is more discouraging to prospective readers than returning to a blog site to find old or outdated material. So, be prepared to work at keeping your blog as fresh and current as possible.

That doesn't necessarily mean regular entries as lengthy as a Michener novel — indeed, many engaging blogs are built of short, concise messages. But make a commitment to update your blog on as regular basis as your schedule reasonably permits. “You need to develop what I describe as a ruthless persistence toward posting, particularly if you disseminate the blog's address, and customers or suppliers come to depend on the information," says Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. "People view blogs as daily information vehicles, not once in a while musings on a stray issue. Think of blogs as a conversation, and that will help with the daily focus."

7.


Watch your traffic closely. Don't make the mistake of feeling locked into your blog's initial topic. Monitor the amount and quality of the traffic you receive. If things seem slow or stagnant, don't be gun-shy about varying your themes or subjects to boost interest. But don't stray too far from your business or expertise. Also, advises Falkow, "Investigate how effective the [publishing] platform you choose to blog in is. I have tried several that did nothing for my search visibility."
( BY Jeff Wuorio)

Make money from your blog: 5 tips(By Jeff Wuorio)

Many of the people who write blogs today simply want to share their opinion on something. But then there are the business-minded folks, who have found a way to use blogs, or Web logs, to bring in a little extra cash too.

If you're interested in taking it further — blogging for bucks, if you will — here are five strategies that could turn your blog into a moneymaker.

1.	Sell advertising. This is likely the most common means of leveraging a blog to generate income. If yours happens to become a well-known blog, or one that is well-received in a particular niche, it's always possible to sell ad space on your own. For lesser-known blogs, services such as Google's AdSense or BlogAds enable bloggers to establish ad programs. AdSense's — which lets you select several ads that are consistent with the content of your blog — pays you based on how many readers click on the ads for further information. Even better, it's free. BlogAds, on the other hand, hooks bloggers up with would-be advertisers and levies a commission in return for any ad placements that result. "The nice thing, too, is that the ads are relatively unobtrusive," says Scott Allen, co-author of "The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online."
2.	Help sell others' products. Here is another click-through opportunity. Affiliate programs enable your blog to serve as a conduit between readers and online sites offering various goods and services. One popular choice is Amazon.com. If, for instance, you offer book reviews or even just mention a book in passing in your blog, an affiliate program provides a means for your readers to click directly from your blog to Amazon to obtain further information about the book. If they break out the checkbook or charge card, you get paid as well.
3.	Solicit contributions. Not every blog-related income opportunity involves hawking goods or services. As Blanche DuBois did in "A Streetcar Named Desire," consider relying on the kindness of strangers. Ask for contributions. If, for instance, your small-business blog supports a cause or issue in some fashion — say you repeatedly mention tax reform, health care or some other topic — you can always ask for reader support.

Even if you've attracted a group of regular followers who simply enjoy reading what you have to say, they may be willing to underwrite their loyalty with a little financial help. Programs such as PayPal make it easy to establish a simple on-site contribution collection button. "There are lots of worthy 'cause' blogs that would qualify for donations from grateful members of the blog community," says Las Vegas communications consultant Ned Barnett.
4.	Market your services in your blog. Many people associate blogs exclusively with a cyberspace-based soapbox — a place to shout your opinions and little more than that. Granted, blogs are an ideal venue to share your thoughts with others, but don't overlook their capacity to generate new business as well. When appropriate, work in references to what you do and, in turn, what you may be able to offer any would-be client or customer who may be reading your blog. That can spread your opinion and your business moxie at the same time. "Instead of short commentaries that begin a dialogue with readers, as many blogs do, I write the equivalent of journal articles that demonstrate my abilities, strategies and perspectives on specific issues," Barnett says. "When it resonates, it means money. Since starting this approach, I have generated three new paying clients and brought in about $10,000 on revenue — directly attributable to specific blogs."
5.	Use a blog to deepen your existing customer relationships. Nor does any marketing material inserted in blog content have to be limited to bringing in completely new business. By using a blog to regularly communicate with existing clients as well as other readers, you can take advantage of the opportunity to fully inform them about everything your business does. That may expand your readers' understanding of the full scope of your products or services. "My blog has helped existing clients determine the range of my skills and services," says Ted Demopoulos of Demopoulos Associates, a Durham, N.H. consulting and training concern. "One client who had only used me for training in the past was surprised at my range of expertise and is now using me for a consulting project. Another who only used me on technical projects is now considering me for a more business-oriented project."

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Without Me-eminem

"Obie Trice, Real Name No Gimmicks..."

Two trailer park girls go round the outside,
round the outside, round the outside.
Two trailer park girls go round the outside,
round the outside, round the outside.

"Ooooohhhhh!"

Guess who's back, back again
Shady's back, tell a friend
Guess who's back, guess who's back,
guess who's back, guess who's back,
guess who's back, guess who's back,
guess who's back...


I've created a monster, cuz nobody wants to
See Marshall no more they want Shady
I'm chopped liver
Well if you want Shady, then this is what I'll give ya
A little bit of me mixed with some hard liquor
Some vodka that will jumpstart my heart quicker
Then a shock when I get shocked at the hospital
By the Dr. when I'm not cooperating
When I'm rocking the table while he's operating "Hey"
You waited this long to stop debating
Cuz I'm back, I'm on the rag and ovulating
I know you got a job Ms. Cheney
But your husbands heart problem is complicated
So the FCC won't let me be
Or let me be me so let me see
They tried to shut me down on MTV
But it feels so empty without me
So come on dip, bum on your lips
jump back, jiggle her hip and wiggle a bit
And get ready cuz this is about to get heavy
I just settled all my lawsuits, "_uck you Debbie!"


Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

I said this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me


Little hellions, kids feeling rebellious
Embarrassed, their parents still listen to Elvis
They start feeling like prison is helpless,
Til someone comes along on a mission and yells "b*tch"
A visionary, vision is scary, could start a revolution,
Pollutin' the air waves a rebel
So let me just revel and bask,
In the fact that I got everyone kissing my ass
And it's a disaster such a catastrophe
For you to see so damn much of my ass you ask for me?
Well I'm back (*Batman Noise*) fix your bent antenna
Tune it in and then I'm gonna enter
Into the front of your skin like a splinter
The center of attention back for the winter
I'm interesting, the best thing since wrestling
Infesting in your kids ears and nesting
Testing "Attention Please"
Feel the tension soon as someone mentions me
Here's my 10 cents my 2 cents is free
A nuisance, who sent, you sent for me?


Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

I said this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

I said this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me


A tisk-it a task-it,
I go tit for tat with anybody who's talking this & that sh_t
Chris Kirkpatrick, you can get your ass kicked
Worse than them little Limp Bizkit bastards,
And Moby, you can get stomped by Obie,
You 36 year old bald headed scared ____ me
You don't know me, you're too old
Let go, it's over, nobody listens to techno
Now lets go, just give me the signal
I will be there with a whole list full of new insults
I've been dope, suspenseful with a pencil
Ever since Prince turned himself into a symbol
But sometimes man it just seems,
Everybody only wants to discuss me
So this means I'm disgusting,
But its just me I'm just obscene
Though I'm not the first king of controversy
I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley,
To do Black Music so selfishly
And use it to get myself wealthy (Hey)
There's a concept that works
20 million other white rappers emerge
But no matter how many fish in the sea
It'll be so empty without me

Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

I said this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

I said this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy,
Cuz it feels so empty without me

Hum dei la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la
Hum dei la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la

"Kids!"

lyric of When I'm Gone-eminem

[Introduction]
Yeah...
It's my life...
My own words I guess...

[Verse 1]
Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?
When they know they're your heart
And you know you were their armour
And you will destroy anyone who would try to harm 'em
But what happens when karma, turns right around and bites you?
And everything you stand for, turns on you, despite you?
What happens when you become the main source of a pain?
"Daddy look what I made", Dad's gotta go catch a plane
"Daddy where's Mommy? I can't find Mommy where is she?"
I don't know go play Hailie, baby, your Daddy's busy
Daddy's writing this song, this song ain't gonna write itself
I'll give you one underdog then you gotta swing by yourself
Then turn right around on that song and tell her you love her
And put hands on her mother, who's a spitting image of her
That's Slim Shady, yeah baby, Slim Shady's crazy
Shady made me, but tonight Shady's rocka-by-baby...

[Chorus]
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back...

[Verse 2]
I keep having this dream, I'm pushin' Hailie on the swing
She keeps screaming, she don't want me to sing
"You're making Mommy cry, why? Why is Mommy crying?"
Baby, Daddy ain't leaving no more, "Daddy you're lying
"You always say that, you always say this is the last time
"But you ain't leaving no more, Daddy you're mine"
She's piling boxes in front of the door trying to block it
"Daddy please, Daddy don't leave, Daddy - no stop it!"
Goes in her pocket, pulls out a tiny necklace locket
It's got a picture, "this'll keep you safe Daddy, take it withcha'"
I look up, it's just me standing in the mirror
These stinkin' walls must be talking, cuz man I can hear 'em
They're saying "You've got one more chance to do right" - and it's tonight
Now go out there and show that you love 'em before it's too late
And just as I go to walk out of my bedroom door
It's turns to a stage, they're gone, and this spotlight is on
And I'm singing...

[Chorus]
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back...

[Verse 3]
Sixty thousand people, all jumping out their seat
The curtain closes, they're throwing roses at my feet
I take a bow and thank you all for coming out
They're screaming so loud, I take one last look at the crowd
I glance down, I don't believe what I'm seeing
"Daddy it's me, help Mommy, her wrists are bleeding,"
But baby we're in Sweden, how did you get to Sweden?
"I followed you Daddy, you told me that you weren't leavin'
"You lied to me Dad, and now you make Mommy sad
"And I bought you this coin, it says 'Number One Dad'
"That's all I wanted, I just want to give you this coin
"I get the point - fine, me and Mommy are gone"
But baby wait, "it's too late Dad, you made the choice
"Now go up there and show 'em that you love 'em more than us"
That's what they want, they want you Marshall, they keep.. screamin' your name
It's no wonder you can't go to sleep, just take another pill
Yeah, I bet you you will. You rap about it, yeah, word, k-keep it real
I hear applause, all this time I couldn't see
How could it be, that the curtain is closing on me
I turn around, find a gun on the ground, cock it
Put it to my brain and scream "die Shady" and pump it
The sky darkens, my life flashes, the plane that I was supposed to be on crashes and burns to ashes
That's when I wake up, alarm clock's ringin', there's birds singin'
It's Spring and Hailie's outside swinging, I walk up to Kim and kiss her
Tell her I miss her, Hailie just smiles and winks at her little sister
Almost as if to say..

[Chorus/Outro]
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back...

[Curtains closing and sounds of footsteps]

Lennon ruled out of England squad

AFPMay 27, 2007
LONDON (AFP) - Knee-victim Aaron Lennon will not appear in forthcoming England matches against Brazil and Estonia following the results of a scan.
The Tottenham winger suffered the injury during Friday's 3-1 England B win over Albania at Turf Moor.
Lennon was sent for a scan and the results confirmed he will miss the Wembley meeting with Brazil on Friday and the Euro 2008 qualifying trip to Tallinn on Wednesday week.
Lennon's withdrawal from the England squad makes it even more likely that recalled former England skipper David Beckham will play against both teams.

Beckham returns to England squad for Brazil, Estonia games

By ROBERT MILLWARD, AP Soccer WriterMay 26, 2007
AP - May 25, 4:15 pm EDTMore Photos
LONDON (AP) -- David Beckham's quality performances for Real Madrid have forced England coach Steve McClaren to recall him. Now the former World Cup captain hopes he won't be left on the bench.
Beckham, who will move to the MLS with the Los Angeles Galaxy next month, was selected in England's 26-man squad Saturday for the first time since last year's World Cup in Germany.
After being overlooked for England's last nine games, Beckham could play in the exhibition with Brazil at Wembley on June 1 and a 2008 European Championship qualifier at Estonia five days later.
"We've got a very big game in Estonia coming up that we have to win and I've got to pick a squad capable of doing that," England coach Steve McClaren said. "That's why I've picked David.
"Since Christmas his form has been very good, I think he can help us win in Estonia and that's why I picked him. I feel at this moment, that for the Estonia game, we need experience and David certainly provides that. He is in very, very good form. The team needs that."
That suggests Beckham will go straight into the starting lineup for the Group E game, which England needs to win to stay in touch with Croatia, Israel and Russia in the race to the 2008 European Championships. Only two teams qualify from each group.
McClaren's other option for the right-wing position is Aaron Lennon. The 20-year-old Tottenham star went off after only 10 minutes of Friday's England "B" victory over Albania with a twisted knee, but has made the squad.
Since McClaren took over from Sven-Goran Eriksson after the World Cup, he said he wanted younger stars rather than established players such as Beckham, who is chasing his 95th appearance for England. If Lennon is fit, he is likely to play and Beckham could end up watching the matches from the bench.
McClaren also stressed John Terry would be the captain, rather than Beckham, who led the team 57 times.
"David comes back as David Beckham the player, that's what we want on the field, doing what we know he can do," McClaren said. "There will be debate and opinion about it, but it's my decision and a decision I think is best for England to produce a winning team that the fans can be proud of. I think David can be part of that. He's been picked in the squad and what the team is will be apparent nearer the time."
The 32-year-old Beckham played the last of his 94 internationals in the World Cup quarterfinals against Portugal on July 1, watching from the sideline with an injured leg as his team lost a penalty shootout.
McClaren is without the injured Gary Neville, Micah Richards, Ashley Cole, Andrew Johnson, Owen Hargreaves and Ben Foster. Wayne Rooney is suspended against Estonia and been left out of the exhibition against Brazil.
Like Beckham, Michael Owen could make his first appearance since the World Cup.
The Newcastle striker broke down with a serious knee injury after four minutes of England's 2-2 draw with Sweden and has only returned to play in the last three weeks. He played the full 90 minutes of Friday's 3-1 victory over Albania.
England Squad:
Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson, (Tottenham), Scott Carson (Liverpool), Robert Green (West Ham).
Defenders: Phil Neville (Everton), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea, captain), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Ledley King (Tottenham), Nicky Shorey (Reading).
Midfielders: David Beckham (Real Madrid), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), David Bentley (Blackburn), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle).
Forwards: Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Alan Smith (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham).

Jazz rout Spurs to get back in series

SALT LAKE CITY - Tenacious from the start, Utah's Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer gave the home fans exactly what they expected in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. Once their teammates got into the act, the Jazz gave the crowd what it really wanted, a 109-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night that drastically changes the outlook of the series

U.S. deaths near grim Memorial Day mark

Day a year ago. The figure is telling — and expected to rise in coming months.
"It could be a bloody — it could be a very difficult August," he said last week.
U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus on Saturday acknowledged the increase in casualties as a result of the American surge in forces to regain control of Baghdad.
"We're doing heavy fighting. This is a fight. There's a war on out there," he told reporters at al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq.
Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst with the Brookings Institution and a consultant to the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, said the increased casualties were a result of the security operation.
Thousands more American soldiers are patrolling the streets and living in isolated outposts across Baghdad, leaving them more vulnerable to attack. He also said the increase in raids on extremist Shiite militiamen had brought a wave of retaliatory attacks.
"We're out there on the streets a lot more. There are more patrols going on every day, so we're more open to attacks," O'Hanlon said.
Stephen Biddle, a military expert at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of a group that spent weeks in Iraq assessing the situation for Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, agreed that more American deaths were likely.
"The biggest change in their (insurgent and militia) tactics is that they've changed to exploit the vulnerabilities we've opened ourselves up to. They see a new, small American base in their neighborhood, three blocks away, and they're going to car bomb it," said Biddle.
"We're going to see a spike in the short term," said Biddle. "But the likelihood is that in six months we'll see a drop in casualties as these areas become more secure. The problem is, what about the rest of the country?"
By the end of Saturday at least 100 American troops had died in the first 26 days of May, an average of 3.85 deaths a day. At that pace, 119 troops will have died by the end of the month, the most since 137 soldiers were killed in November 2004, when U.S. troops were fighting insurgents in Fallujah.
As of Saturday, May 26, 2007, at least 3,451 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,817 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military.