Reuters - The "Lord of the Rings" musical, touted as the most expensive stage production yet, met mixed reviews on Friday as critics applauded its leaping orcs and menacing dark riders, but got lost in the tangled plots of Middle Earth.

Reuters - Russia provided intelligence to Iraq's government in the opening days of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, including information that fed Iraqi suspicions that the main U.S. invasion force coming from Kuwait was actually a diversion, a Pentagon report released on Friday stated.

Reuters - Telecommunications providers like AT&T Inc. intensified their efforts this week to persuade US policymakers to avoid imposing regulations on the Internet for services like streaming movies and unfettered Web access.

AP - The United Nations appealed Tuesday for nearly $327 million in aid to help starving people in southern Somalia, which is suffering its worst drought in a decade.

Reuters - NASA lifted its ban on spacewalks from the International Space Station following ground tests of suspect safety equipment, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

Reuters - Provider recommendations play an important role in pneumonia and influenza vaccination of older Americans, according to a survey of 4577 Medicare beneficiaries.

Reuters - People in Houston welcomed tens of thousands of New Orleans evacuees in the days after Hurricane Katrina but now sound as if they would like to see the newcomers go home, according to a poll published on Friday.

Reuters - Universal Music on Friday unveiled new concerts for sale that aim to return live orchestral performances to the wide audiences they once enjoyed and usher classical music further into the digital age.

Reuters - There is growing evidence of a link between global warming and natural disasters such as droughts and flooding, the head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.

Reuters - A hominid skull discovered in Ethiopia could fill the gap in the search for the origins of the human race, a scientist said on Friday.

Reuters - Google Inc.'s planned addition to the influential Standard & Poor's 500 index boosted its stock 8 percent on Friday, but raised fresh concerns over the stock's volatility and an uneven flow of information from its executives.

Reuters - Sales of new U.S. homes plunged 10.5 percent in February, the biggest drop in nearly nine years, while prices fell and the number of homes on the market hit a record high, the government said on Friday in a report signaling significant slowing in the housing market.

Reuters - Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning could be sidelined for up to a month with a partial tear of his right calf muscle, the team has announced.

Reuters - Pakistan's military airdropped pamphlets this week over towns in restive tribal regions near the Afghan border urging tribesmen to shun "foreign terrorists," saying they were part of a Hindu and Jewish plot.

Reuters - Car dealership group AutoNation Inc. on Friday forecast a first-quarter profit that was lower than Wall Street expectations.

Reuters - Warner Music Group Corp. said on Friday it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ryko Corp., an independent, integrated music and entertainment company, from an investment group led by JPMorgan Partners for $67.5 million.

Reuters - Video game players are tiring of sequels and the industry needs to move to new games to broaden the market, Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS) President Satoru Iwata said on Thursday.

Reuters - New orders for U.S.-made durable goods rose 2.6 percent in February, twice market expectations, as civilian aircraft orders bounced back from a January decline, a government report showed on Friday.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. on Friday said it will complete work on the new version of its Microsoft Office software package this October and make it available to business customers at that time.

Reuters - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi pledged support for Palestinian militant group Hamas, which faces cuts in Western funding over its refusal to denounce violence against Israel, state news agency Jana said on Friday.