Canadian Press - (CP) - Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion said he invented the slapshot as a youngster, swiping at pucks on a rink in a churchyard near his home in Montreal.

AP - Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion died Saturday after a battle with stomach cancer. He was 75.

Strong economic growth worldwide is yielding a record number of billionaires, Forbes' new rich list suggests.

AP - The five-year housing boom is indeed over, judging from growing statistical evidence and the performance of some of the nation's leading builders, and the slowdown is already rippling through the economy.

AP - China's government is trying to boost public interest in its figurehead parliament and its companion advisory body by setting up Web logs for members as they meet this week.

Reuters - Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on Thursday said preparations for Hurricane Katrina were as good as they could have been, waving off doubts raised by a video showing U.S. President George W. Bush being warned of the severity of the storm the day before it hit.

A State Department report issued Wednesday voices concerns about the heightened political influence of coca-growing associations in Bolivia and Peru, resulting in an increase in coca cultivation in those countries. Bolivia -- with a new president who was a former coca farmer and is ambivalent at best to U.S.-sponsored drug-eradication efforts -- saw coca cultivation rise by 8 percent last year with "no signs of [it] being reversible in the short run." The report said cocaine seizures set record highs last year, but it did praise Colombia for its seizure and eradication efforts.

AP - For months, Chinese leaders have been trying to quell tensions in the restive countryside with promises of more schools, health care and other aid to people who have missed out on the country's economic boom.

Andrea Moore - All Headline News Staff Reporter New York, New York (AHN) - Pioneering artists Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Fab 5 Freddy and other hip-hop stars plan to turn over their vinyl records, turntables, microphones and boom boxes to National Museum...

Denise Royal - All Headline News Staff Writer Washington (AHN) - The National Museum of American History says it will start collecting items like vinyl records, turntables and boom boxes. They will be included in an exhibit called "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: the Beat, the Rhymes, the Life." The...

Reuters - Late last year Zheng Jianhua pushed open the gilded doors of a pawn shop in Beijing and got what her bank had refused: a $125,000 loan to tide her textile company over a cash crunch.

Reuters - Louisiana, struggling to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina, now faces a potential scourge of mosquitoes as insects hatch in storm-created breeding grounds, scientists said on Monday.

AP - For nearly three decades, hip-hop relics such as vinyl records, turntables, microphones and boom boxes have collected dust in boxes and attics.

AP - For nearly three decades, hip-hop relics such as vinyl records, turntables, microphones and boom boxes have collected dust in boxes and attics.

Reuters - Louisiana, struggling to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina, now faces a potential scourge of mosquitoes as insects hatch in storm-created breeding grounds, scientists said on Monday.

Canadian Press - EDMONTON (CP) - Alberta's continuing energy boom is pushing the province towards a record budget surplus of $7.4 billion.

AP - Sales of new homes fell for the second time in three months in January, providing further evidence that the nation's five-year housing boom is slowing.

AP - India's economy will continue to grow at an 8 percent rate in coming years, but the government is worried about the sharp rise in unemployment over the past decade of the boom, an official report said Monday.

Reuters - Convergence -- a catch phrase during the dot-com boom that became the butt of jokes in the ensuing crash -- is making a comeback in the new era of cutting-edge gadgets and communications.