Stocks fall back

NEW YORK Stocks fell today as poor earnings reports and a big dropin consumer confidence weighed on investors.

Investors were torn between their newfound optimism that earningsand the economy are headed for recovery and fears that it will bemuch longer before the business environment improves.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 77.89 to close at 10,454.34.Investors became more cautious as the session progressed, pullingback after sending the Dow up as much as 106.83 earlier.

Wall Street's broader indicators were even lower. The Nasdaqcomposite index dropped 2.1 percent while the Standard & Poor's 500slipped 1.2 percent.

Investors were wondering whether …

Palin to decide on White House bid by late summer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin says she'll announce her intentions for the White House in late August or early September.

Palin told Fox News' Sean Hannity Wednesday night that she thinks she could win a campaign against President Barack Obama, a sentiment first reported in a Newsweek cover story.

Palin says she would campaign for a candidate with "good executive …

Sergio Garcia wins Castello Masters by 11 strokes

CASTELLON, Spain (AP) — Sergio Garcia dominated a third straight day to win the Castello Masters on Sunday by 11 strokes, finishing at 27-under 257 to equal the third largest margin of victory in European Tour history.

The 31-year old Garcia, playing on a course where he was club champion at the age of 12, ended an almost three-year title drought with a final round 8-under 63.

Garcia had already shot his best ever back-to-back rounds of 63 and 64 to lead the field since Friday, and he did not let up on the final day, hitting nine birdies while bogeying for just the fourth time in the event.

"It's hard to say that you expect to fire like I did, but I was feeling good and …

Radical Islam, Human Rights, Free Speech

MARK STEYN'S AMERICA ALONE: THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT IS A doomsday book on the Islamic takeover of Europe. It's a witty read - you'll laugh even as you learn about Europe's demise. In Canada, Macleans magazine printed an excerpt in which Steyn quotes European Muslims verbatim. Norway's Mullah Krekar said, among other things, that "within Europe ... the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes." That's not the funny part.

Steyn and Macleans now face complaints filed with human rights commissions across Canada. The real complainant, Steyn wrote in a sarcastic National Post column on Feb. 5, is the Canadian Islamic Congress, headed by Mohamed Elmasry, who claims that …

Tribe Move Ahead of Tigs in AL Central

DETROIT - Paul Byrd is throwing so well that he's worried he's getting too much of the plate. Byrd won his fourth straight decision, Casey Blake and Victor Martinez hit first-inning homers and the Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4 on Friday night.

Byrd (5-1) threw 60 strikes in 73 pitches, a ratio that he thought was too good. He allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings to improve to 4-0 in his last six starts. He struck out four, and didn't issue a walk for the fifth straight start.

"Normally, throwing strikes isn't a problem," Byrd said. "But I was throwing hittable pitches when I was already ahead in the count. Against a team like Detroit, that's …

NHL Scoring Leaders

GP G A PTS

Malkin, Pit 72 32 70 102

Ovechkin, Was 70 50 43 93

Crosby, Pit 67 27 65 92

Datsyuk, Det 70 28 59 87

Parise, NJ 70 41 44 85

Iginla, Cal 70 31 50 81

Kovalchuk, Atl 68 36 42 78

Thornton, SJ 70 22 56 …

U.S. revenue, spending cuts vex legislators from Illinois

WASHINGTON Illinois lawmakers, already faced with pendingfederal decisions that could cut state tax revenues, added proposalsfor spending cuts to their list of worries Tuesday.

A White House-backed plan to cut Medicare spending by $5.5billion in fiscal 1991 would force Illinois to cough up $276 millionin payments to providers of Medicare services, said Illinois HouseMinority Leader Lee A. Daniels (R-Elmhurst).

He said efforts to cut federal spending seem inevitable ascongressional and White House negotiators try to slice $50 billionfrom a projected federal budget deficit of $170 billion in fiscal1991.

Daniels and Illinois Senate President Philip J. Rock …