BERLIN - An auctioneer says one of Apple's first computers — a functioning 1976 model — has been sold for a record 516,000 euros ($668,000).
German auction house Breker said Saturday an Asian client, who asked not to be named, bought the so-called Apple 1, which the tech company's founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built in a family garage.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - It seems that the impossible has occurred: The nation's most congested city has become a model for traffic control.
Yes, gridlock still prevails and drivers' blood pressure still spikes as LA's traffic arteries seize up during every morning and afternoon rush hour.
BERLIN - A German shipping company says four crew members from one of its vessels have been released a month after being kidnapped by pirates off Equatorial Guinea's coast.
Leonhardt and Blumberg says the container ship's crew members— including Ukrainian, Russian and Kiribati citizens — are in good spirits despite having spent 31 days in captivity.
OTTAWA - McDonald's golden arches on Parliament Hill? Tim Hortons billboards at the Governor General's residence?
Nothing quite so crass is in the works, but a cash-strapped federal agency is actively looking for corporate sponsors to fill gaping holes in its budget.
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Department of Justice lawyers filed court papers Friday again asking a federal appeals court to delay lifting age restrictions and prescription requirements on an emergency contraceptive popularly known as the morning-after pill.
The papers seek to delay implementation of a judge's April 5 ruling lifting restrictions on the drugs, including the medications sold under the brand name Plan B, setting the stage for another court showdown between President Barack Obama's administration and women's health activists over access to the contraceptive.
CLEVELAND - A man who put aside his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive in a Cleveland house says he's not endorsing a group of restaurants offering him free burgers for life.
The restaurant where Charles Ramsey worked as a dishwasher initially created a burger named in his honour. Then more than a dozen area eateries decided a larger tribute was due.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - News Corp. said its board of directors has approved plans to split its entertainment and publishing businesses into two separate companies. The company also adopted a shareholder-rights plan designed to prevent a hostile takeover in the volatile trading period after the split is complete.
The New York-based media conglomerate also said Friday that the target date for the split is June 28. The company holding its TV and movie properties will be 21st Century Fox. The new News Corp., a smaller entity, will be focused on newspapers and publishing. Both will be publicly traded, under separate ticker symbols.
Kinder Morgan Canada's proposal to increase the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline calls for 30 oil tankers a month to load up with Alberta crude at its terminal in Burnaby, B.C., — up from about one per week.
The information is part of a formal description of the proposed $5.4-billion, 1,150-kilometre-long pipeline project the company has filed with the National Energy Board.
The Justice Department is objecting to a proposed $20 million severance payment for American Airlines CEO Tom Horton, saying it's bigger than allowed by bankruptcy law.
Horton became CEO when American filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2011. The proposed merger of US Airways Group Inc. and American calls for Horton to lose that job and become chairman of the combined company. American has proposed giving him severance pay of almost $20 million and lifetime flight benefits.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Online video site Hulu is again up for sale, with Yahoo and pay TV operators DirecTV and Time Warner Cable among the seven bidders, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
The person wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke Friday on condition of anonymity, after several news outlets reported on the bidding.
WASHINGTON - Health officials are investigating cases involving patients who suffered complications after being injected with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy.
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday the problems involve seven patients who received steroid injections from Main Street Family Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy in Newbern, Tenn.
VANCOUVER - Catalyst Paper (TSX:CYT) says it has sold its Elk Falls industrial site and related assets to Calgary-based Quicksilver Resources Canada Inc. for $8.6 million.
Sale of the approximate 1,200-acre parcel includes a fully serviced, 400-acre industrial site and adjacent property near Campbell River, B.C.
SAN FRANCISCO - A California bill that would have required manufacturers to figure out how to keep the most common plastic junk out of state waterways died in the state Assembly without a vote Friday.
Assembly Bill 521 was before the chamber's Appropriations Committee, and the panel failed to act on it, effectively killing the legislation for the session. It had previously passed the Assembly Natural Resource Committee.
National Bank (TSX:NA) says it's interested in new acquisitions but will be very selective about which sectors it looks to.
"Wealth management does remain a priority for us," said president and chief executive Louis Vachon during a conference call Friday.
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. has agreed to sell its Allstream business telecommunications arm to an Egyptian investment group and use about half of the $405 million in proceeds to reduce its pension obligations and debt.
MTS, which operates Manitoba's largest telecommunications business, said Friday that the money it receives will be used to bolster its already strong position in its home province and tap growth opportunities.
MONTREAL - Valeant Pharmaceuticals shares hit an all-time high Friday amid reports that it is in talks to expand its eye-care business by buying Bausch and Lomb.
The stock hit $90.17 before closing at $87.02, up $10.18 or 13.25 per cent Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
TORONTO - The Royal Bank (TSX:RY), which faced a fierce backlash earlier this year over an outsourcing arrangement involving the use of temporary foreign workers, said Friday it won't send work offshore just to save on salaries.
The bank, which released a new supplier code of conduct, said it will only send work to offshore suppliers when their scale, technology or knowledge provides capabilities the bank cannot duplicate.
MONTREAL - The weak demand and prices that prompted Rio Tinto's titanium subsidiary to abandon a $4-billion expansion is now threatening hundreds of jobs at its Quebec plant.
After meeting with company officials, the union representing workers at Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium said it fears between 230 and 400 jobs are at risk.
PARIS - After two days of intense questioning from French magistrates, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Friday a court named her as a key witness in an investigation into a controversial payoff to an outspoken businessman that was arranged while she was France's finance minister — stopping short of charging her outright.
Lagarde, seemingly relieved and insisting it's time to return to work, said the Paris court handed her the status of "assisting witness" in its probe of her role in a 400 million euro ($520 million) pay-off to a flamboyant tycoon, Bernard Tapie. Under French law, that status means she still could be later charged in the case, but can have legal representation and access to court files as the probe continues — a process that could take months or even years.
OTTAWA - McDonald's golden arches on Parliament Hill? Tim Hortons billboards at the Governor General's residence?
Nothing quite so crass is in the works, but a cash-strapped federal agency is actively looking for corporate sponsors to fill gaping holes in its budget.
MONTREAL - Space-industry watchers expressed concern this week that the emerging space tourism sector is not being candid enough about the safety risks for travellers.
They voiced some of those concerns during a conference of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, which held three days of meetings in Montreal.
HALIFAX - The Canadian Hurricane Centre is backing U.S. predictions of an active season this year, telling residents in the Atlantic provinces to brace themselves for a handful of major hurricanes.
But Chris Fogarty, the centre's program supervisor, said Friday there's no way of predicting how many of those storms will make land.
EDMONTON - An Edmonton judge, unwavered by screaming and expletives from an angry crowd, granted bail to an accused drunk driver whose SUV plowed into a restaurant patio and killed a toddler.
Two-year-old Geo Mounsef was pinned to a wall in the crash last weekend and later died in hospital.
Kinder Morgan Canada's proposal to increase the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline calls for 30 oil tankers a month to load up with Alberta crude at its terminal in Burnaby, B.C., — up from about one per week.
The information is part of a formal description of the proposed $5.4-billion, 1,150-kilometre-long pipeline project the company has filed with the National Energy Board.
SASKATOON - Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, once a staunch supporter of a reformed federal Senate, has given up the fight.
Wall says he now believes it would be easier to scrap Parliament's chamber of sober second thought than try to change it.
National Bank (TSX:NA) says it's interested in new acquisitions but will be very selective about which sectors it looks to.
"Wealth management does remain a priority for us," said president and chief executive Louis Vachon during a conference call Friday.
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. has agreed to sell its Allstream business telecommunications arm to an Egyptian investment group and use about half of the $405 million in proceeds to reduce its pension obligations and debt.
MTS, which operates Manitoba's largest telecommunications business, said Friday that the money it receives will be used to bolster its already strong position in its home province and tap growth opportunities.
NELSON, B.C. - A so-called act of God is allowing the province of B.C. to cut off compensation for residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the Johnsons Landing landslide.
An avalanche of mud and debris rolled over the tiny community of about 35 residents in southeast B.C. last July, wiping out five homes and killing four people.
TORONTO - The Department of National Defence says it's still in talks to help move the Toronto Zoo's three resident elephants to California, but says the animals will have to stay put until the fall.
Animal welfare activists had previously said the zoo was in talks to borrow a Canadian Forces plane to transport the pachyderms to an elephant sanctuary in California.
A retired Canadian police officer slain in Mexico is being remembered as a generous and loving woman who dedicated a lot of her time to helping animals.
News reports in Mexico say Lynn Earle, 60, was found stabbed to death in her home in Playa del Carmen earlier this week.
OTTAWA - As the federal ethics commissioner readies for a third look at Stephen Harper's former right-hand man, Mary Dawson is reminding Canadians her office can only look so far.
The commissioner is examining whether Harper's chief of staff Nigel Wright violated the Conflict of Interest Act when he gave Tory Sen. Mike Duffy more than $90,000 to repay his housing expenses.
CALGARY - A former Canadian Football League all-star completed his spectacular fall from grace Friday when he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for assaulting his one-time girlfriend.
Joffrey Reynolds, 33, will serve his time on weekends and faces two years of probation once he has completed his sentence.
MONTREAL - The spirits of Canadian politicians were soaring Friday with news that the country's only UN agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, will not be flying the coop.
Qatar had aggressively courted a move of the agency to Doha, going so far as saying diplomats were fed up with Montreal's bone-chilling winter weather.
TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford broke his week-long silence Friday to deny he smokes crack cocaine and to lambaste the media for judging him, but his assertions seemed unlikely to douse the raging flames of scandal that have engulfed him.
In a carefully-worded statement at city hall, the embattled mayor fought back against reports that he was caught on cellphone video appearing to be smoking crack.
TORONTO - Twenty-two years after a nine-year-old girl was lured from her apartment building lobby and sexually assaulted, a suspect has been arrested, police announced Friday.
Investigators said that after being stalled for more than two decades, the break in the case came by using forensic DNA evidence collected at the time of the incident.
TORONTO - Here is the full text of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's statement Friday afternoon in which he denied he uses crack cocaine. Ford also addressed the players of the football team at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School, where he was dropped Thursday as coach.
Well, good afternoon everyone. I'd like to take this opportunity to address a number of issues that have circulated in the media over the last few days. There has been a serious accusation from the Toronto Star that I use crack cocaine. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine. As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist. It is most unfortunate, very unfortunate, that my colleagues and the great people of this city have been exposed to the fact that I have been judged by the media without any evidence. This past week has not been an easy one. It has taken a great toll on my family and my friends and the great people of Toronto. For the past week, on the advice of my solicitor, I was advised not to say a word. I want to thank the people of this great city for their outpouring of support.
MONTREAL - The NDP has suspended a member from its shadow cabinet because of his chronic, long-term failure to pay taxes.
Tyrone Benskin has been stripped of his role as official-languages critic until he pays the $58,000 he owes to the Quebec revenue agency.
IQALUIT, Nunavut - An investigation into a fatal fire at an apartment complex in the Nunavut capital has concluded the blaze was deliberately set.
Iqaluit RCMP say the arsonist was one of two people who died.
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - This year's commercial seal hunt off Newfoundland is being called a success despite relatively low yields, ongoing protest by animal welfare groups and international product bans.
Frank Pinhorn, executive director of the Canadian Sealers Association, says about 91,000 harp seals were landed this spring. That's far short of the federal quota of 400,000 but an increase over 69,000 last year and 38,000 in 2011.
LONDON - Thousands of German football fans gathered at Wembley Stadium early Saturday and packed into central London ahead of the Champions League final.
In the first all-German final, Borussia Dortmund is playing Bayern Munich later Saturday in European football's showpiece match.
TRE CIME DI LAVAREDO, Italy - Vincenzo Nibali virtually wrapped up the Giro d'Italia title with a dominating solo performance to win the penultimate stage Saturday, leaving behind his rivals under a blizzard of snow on the race's final climb.
Nibali attacked with three kilometres to go on the steep ascent to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the three-week race's highest point at an altitude of 2,304 metres.
MONACO, Monaco - Nico Rosberg put himself in position to win the Monaco Grand Prix and emulate his father's achievement of 30 years ago.
Rosberg clinched his third consecutive pole and a fourth straight for Mercedes in Saturday's qualifying, finishing ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and defending champion Sebastian Vettel.
MIAMI - Chris Bosh stood up in a relatively quiet Miami Heat locker room and offered a concise, blunt and accurate assessment of where things stand so far in the Eastern Conference finals.
"Our backs are against the wall," Bosh said.
PARIS - David Beckham's football career is now officially over.
The veteran midfielder was not included in Paris Saint-Germain's squad to play Lorient in Sunday's season-ending game, meaning his tearful farewell at the Parc des Princes last Saturday was Beckham's final match before retiring.
DETROIT - Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Minnesota's Joe Mauer broke it up with a one-out single, and that was the only hit the Detroit right-hander allowed in the Tigers' 6-0 victory over the Twins on Friday night.
Sanchez fell two outs shy of his second career no-hitter, but thanks to Mauer it was just another near miss this season. There have already been five one-hitters this year, according to STATS.
WASHINGTON - Jordan Zimmermann became the National League's first eight-game winner, and the Washington Nationals followed a calamitous road trip with a winning start to a homestand, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 Friday night.
Zimmermann (8-2) allowed two runs and six hits with no walks over seven innings — actually raising his ERA to 1.71 — on an unseasonably chilly and windy night in the nation's capital. There was at least a bit of heat from the Nationals' bats, which have been going through such a cold spell that manager Davey Johnson said before the game he wouldn't shave again until his lineup started hitting.
SASKATOON - The London Knights had a flair for the dramatic all season, but fell one goal short in the MasterCard Memorial Cup semifinal.
Ty Rattie scored the winner in the third period and Mac Carruth made 34 saves Friday as the Portland Winterhawks survived a furious comeback attempt to defeat London 2-1.
MIAMI - David West punched two passes from LeBron James away in the final minute, then punched the air.
He had plenty of reason to celebrate.
TORONTO - Brett Lawrie maintained he had done nothing wrong. But the brash Jays third baseman was bounced by umpire Dan Bellino on Friday night after striking out to end the third inning in a 10-6 loss to Baltimore.
"I didn't do anything. I didn't say one word to him. Not one," Lawrie told reporters later. "Didn't look at him one time. And I'm trouble for that."
TORONTO - It was a night Sean Nolin won't soon forget. And sadly for the 23-year-old left-hander plucked from double-A ball, it was a major-league debut that will go down in the Toronto Blue Jays' record book.
Nolin managed just four outs before exiting with Baltimore leading 6-1. The Orioles went on win 10-6 in a free-swinging game Friday night that saw the teams combine for 33 hits and seven home runs.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Ottawa offered no answer for the surging Penguins. The way Pittsburgh is playing now, with offence up and down a lineup that isn't being dominated by stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Senators couldn't help but wonder if any team does.
James Neal scored a hat trick as the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference final for the third time in six seasons by closing out the Senators 6-2 in Game 5 on Friday night.
DETROIT - Add another near miss in this 2013 baseball season — this time it was Detroit's Anibal Sanchez falling just short of a no-hitter.
Sanchez's bid was broken up with one out in the ninth inning Friday night when Minnesota's Joe Mauer hit a clean single up the middle. That was the only hit the right-hander allowed in the Tigers' 6-0 victory over the Twins. It was the fourth one-hitter of Sanchez's career, to go along a no-hitter he threw as a rookie back in 2006.
VANCOUVER - Kenny Miller's future with the Vancouver Whitecaps has been in doubt this week, but his appearance in one game is virtually certain.
Miller will return to action in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship against Montreal after missing about two months with a nagging hamstring injury.
FORT WORTH, Texas - Matt Kuchar was hoping he would be able to finish his second round Friday night at Colonial. He ended up with the lead — and a very early wakeup call.
Kuchar had only three holes to complete in what so far was a bogey-free round, with his ball already on the 16th green. He was at 10 under and described the conditions as "just perfect right now."
A pediatric nurse said Friday she was in the right place at the right time to revive a 14-year-old girl who collapsed while dancing in the upper deck during a Kansas City Royals game.
Sam Sapenaro, 26, was working her second job as a member of Kauffman Stadium's K-Crew on Thursday night when a nearby fan yelled for help. Sapenaro said she rushed over and found the girl unresponsive and with no pulse.
VANCOUVER - After being unwanted in Winnipeg, Joey Elliott did what many other veteran CFL free agent quarterbacks would not do.
He attended a B.C. Lions open tryout camp in Las Vegas in early May. The move paid Friday off as the Lions agreed to terms with him on a three-year contract.
TORONTO - As anyone who has ever tried cleaning a basement or garage filled with junk knows, things get worse before they get better.
Toronto FC is at that messy stage of the clean-up.
TORONTO - John Bostock's brief tenure with Toronto FC ended Friday when the former teen soccer sensation was put on waivers.
The MLS club announced his departure in a two-paragraph release, saying it had "ended the loan agreement with Tottenham Hotspur."
