Reuters - Tim Russert, who became a household name in American political discourse as host of NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday talk show, died on the job of a heart attack on Friday, the television network said. He was 58.

Reuters - When Yahoo Inc turned down the latest offer from Microsoft Corp this week, it walked away from $9 billion in cash and $1 billion a year in additional operating profit, Microsoft said on Friday.

Reuters - Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has accepted a year-long position as a theater professor at Oxford University, the institution said in a posting on its Web site on Friday.

AP - For the first time, Verizon Communications Inc. is set to give discounts to wireless customers who don't have landlines but order Internet or TV service from the phone company.

AP - Microsoft Corp.'s abandoned takeover bid for Yahoo Inc. appears to have culminated with a disheartening thud for those two companies but amounted to yet another coup for online search leader Google Inc.

AP - Miami real estate agent Lucas Lechuga began blogging to share his knowledge of the local market. He didn't bargain for a $25 million defamation lawsuit when he wrote that a Miami developer had gone bankrupt decades ago.

AFP - Democrat Barack Obama has shown the stunning power of the Internet for political fundraising. Now he is fighting its darker side as a vehicle for "smears" against his bid for the White House.

AP - Yahoo Inc. became Microsoft Corp.'s takeover prey largely because Google Inc. established such a commanding lead in the Internet's lucrative search advertising market.

AFP - The head of the US Senate's antitrust panel has pledged a "careful review" of the joint venture on online search advertising announced by Yahoo and Google.