Top stories of the week: Kobe Bryant, Amazon, baseball's amazing finish
News of the week
Here are the top news stories from the past week:
- "We have reached a financial agreement." - Virtus Bologna basketball team president Claudio Sabatini, talking about an agreement with Kobe Bryant to play in the Italian league for at least 10 games. The NBA lockout is ongoing, freeing up players to play elsewhere. Bryant grew up in Italy because his father played basketball there.
- Amazon on Wednesday unveiled its tablet computer, the Kindle Fire. The Fire runs on a version of Google's Android system and is geared toward media consumption. The Fire is priced at $199 and will begin shipping in November.
- Apple said Tuesday that it is planning a press event on Oct. 4, and speculation is that the long-awaited iPhone 5 will be revealed. No one is exactly sure what the new iPhone will feature, but rumors have been swirling about a better camera and a faster processor. The iPhone 4 was released in 2007.
- An American-born al-Qaida leader was killed Friday in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen, officials confirmed. The leader, cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, was a top terrorist recruiter. President Barack Obama said the death is another "major blow" to al-Qaida.
- Congress approved a short-term spending measure Thursday that avoids a government shutdown. The plan only provides funding through Oct. 4, however, so lawmakers plan to work on a new plan next week.
- "What happened over the next three hours almost defies description, turning the fates of four teams and creating heroes and goats whose names will be repeated the way prior generations talked about Fred Merkle and Christy Mathewson, about Grover Cleveland and Sam Rice, about Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca, about Bucky Dent and Doyle Alexander. For three hours, baseball reminded us that no matter what we think we know, we just don't know anything -- and we love the game for it." - Sports Illustrated's Joe Sheehan, writing about the incredible end to the Major League Baseball season, which saw the Red Sox and Braves collapse at the last minute, paving the way for the Cardinals and Rays to make the postseason.
- "(Conrad Murray) repeatedly acted with gross negligence, repeatedly denied care, appropriate care, to his patient, Michael Jackson, and it was Dr. Murray's repeated incompetent and unskilled acts that led to Michael Jackson's death." - Prosecutor David Walgren during opening statements Tuesday in the trial of Murray, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Jackson.
Video of the week
In case you missed the cutest video of the week - wrestling bear cubs - here it is!
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GateHouse News Service