News Beast

Yemenia Airways is canceling all its flights between Yemen and the Comoros Islands after this week's crash on the same route, the airline said Saturday.

Ask people who they associate with the USO and most will say Bob Hope. As the country celebrates Independence Day, the organization that brings comfort and entertainment to America's men and women in uniform is trying to change that. Troops are now treated to high-tech entertainment options and a more varied lineup of entertainers -- including political satirists, rappers and NFL players.

AP - President Barack Obama sought to rally support for his domestic initiatives, while Sen. John McCain called for Americans to support Iranian election protesters. The one-time presidential rivals both cited the spirit of the nation's founders in their Fourth of July radio and Internet addresses.

North Korea fired seven short-range missiles in less than seven hours today, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said today. The recent firings come amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. The missiles were apparently Scud-type, estimated to have a range of about 310 miles, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

North Korea fired several short-range missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, an act that the U.S. watched closely and South Korea called provocative. The recent firings come amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May, fired test rockets and threatened U.S. and South Korean ships near its territorial waters.

Fans continued to register by the thousands early Saturday, hoping to be among the 8,750 people who will be randomly picked to attend the memorial service for singer Michael Jackson next week.

The head of the Organization of American States said Friday he has found no willingness among leaders of Honduras' interim government to return President Jose Manuel Zelaya to power.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office on Friday released a second sketch of a man believed to have fatally shot four people in less than a week near Gaffney, South Carolina. "Let me say that, under the FBI's definition of a serial killer, yes, we have a serial killer," Sheriff Bill Blanton said. In addition, Blanton said he did not know whether the shooter knew his victims or whether he may have chosen them at random.

Sarah Palin said Friday that she will step down as Alaska's governor by the end of the month. She will not seek election to a second gubernatorial term in 2010. As the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, Palin had been considered one of the front-runners for the GOP nomination in 2012.

Iranians worried about their loved ones detained in the protests that followed the presidential election got the ear of a former president, who wants the detainees released, an Iranian reformist party newspaper reported on Thursday.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon will wake up a lame duck Monday. How lame will depend largely on nationwide midterm elections Sunday.

While authorities do not yet know what killed Michael Jackson, the possibility that anesthetics -- particularly the drug Diprivan -- might be involved continues to swell. Sources close to Jackson told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta that the singer traveled with an anesthesiologist who would "take him down" at night and "bring him back up" during a tour in the mid-'90s.

A Long Island, New York, social worker is facing two misdemeanor charges after allegedly posting a sexually suggestive ad on Craigslist that gave interested parties the home phone number of a 9-year-old girl.

A former hospital employee may have exposed hundreds or thousands of surgical patients to hepatitis C when she replaced clean needles filled with the powerful painkiller fentanyl with her own dirty needles filled with saline solution.

A sailor found dead earlier this week at California's Camp Pendleton was shot while standing sentry, and a fire was set in an attempt to cover up evidence, the U.S. Navy said.

PC World - A U.S. court has rejected an IBM appeal to bar David Johnson, the company's former chief of mergers and acquisitions, from working at rival Dell over concerns regarding trade secrets.

Reuters - In the days following Michael Jackson's June 25 death, fans flocked to record stores and digital music outlets to purchase one last memory. And merchants say they expect the Jackson sales surge to last for weeks -- maybe even months.

AFP - Fans heading to Los Angeles for Michael Jackson's memorial extravaganza were urged to stay away on Friday as organizers said tickets for the event would be allocated by an online lottery.

AFP - Swedish mobile phone network supplier Ericsson won contracts to supply broadband Internet to millions of users in China by a deal with three operators there, it said Friday.

Honduran soldiers shot out the tires of buses headed for a demonstration in support of ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya, a video obtained by CNN shows.