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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – When the one-man, publicity-generating whirlwind that is Diddy met the well-oiled hype machine of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, sparks were bound to fly. Sean Combs received a star Friday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an event most honorees mark by turning up at the …

Denise Richards said Wednesday that an e-mail in which she purportedly requested sperm from her ex-husband Charlie Sheen is a fake. “That e-mail is not legitimate,” Richards, 37, said on the “Today” show, of the correspondence she purportedly sent to Sheen’s then-girlfriend and now-fiancée, Brooke Mueller. “It’s a doctored e-mail. …

VIENNA, Austria – An Austrian judge ruled Friday that a man suspected of keeping his daughter captive in a dungeon for more than two decades should remain in custody, an official said. The decision extends Josef Fritzl’s pretrial detention by a month, St. Poelten provincial court spokesman Franz Cutka said. …

ARLINGTON, Va. – Peter T. Nguyen has lived for five years in a brick house with a manicured lawn in Arlington County’s idyllic Madison Manor neighborhood. A collection of exotic and deadly snakes has lived there too. The serpents, stacked neatly in clear plastic containers under warming lights in his …

For 18 years Jamie Livingston kept a record of every day of his life, but this was no ordinary journal. Livingston, a New York City-based cinematographer, amassed thousands of Polaroid photos, taken each day of his life during those years, and a collection of the photos has been posted online …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The seven astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery will deliver and install Japan’s massive lab, Kibo, or Hope, at the international space station. A look at the six men and one woman who will tackle the job: Commander Mark Kelly is probably best known for looking …

ATLANTA – A federal judge says a gay rights Web site sanctioned by the Georgia Institute of Technology cannot use language that discriminates against religions that condemn homosexuality. The Safe Space site, a campus resource for gay and lesbian students, gave an overview of various religions’ views toward homosexuality. For …

WASHINGTON – The debate on Capitol Hill is raging over a gas tax holiday, with bipartisan coalitions forming both for and against the idea. Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain was the first presidential candidate to propose the 18.5 cent break through the summer and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a …

TOPEKA, Kan. – Abortion provider Dr. George Tiller bought his way into a reception with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius last year at her official residence while he remained under investigation by the attorney general’s office. Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said Wednesday that Tiller attended an April, 9, 2007, event at Cedar …

MANITOWOC, Wis. – A 14-year-old boy suffered burns to more than a quarter of his body after playing what authorities describe as a blowtorch game. Manitowoc Fire Captain Mark Rusboldt says the boy and another teen were using spray cans as blowtorches. The 14-year-old was burned on his back, head, …