Emmerich's prehistoric '10,000 B.C.' promises a savage spectacle and a chart-topping take..

It could be the day after tomorrow, Independence Day or 10,000 BC, but one thing is certain: Filmmaker Roland Emmerich has the calendar marked for mayhem. Although critics dismiss the director as a master of vapid disaster, he delivers where it counts for Hollywood studios -- at the box office. Emmerich's last four movies, "Independence Day," "Godzilla," "The Patriot" and "The Day After Tomorrow," racked up almost $2 billion combined in worldwide ticket sales. His prehistoric adventure "10,000 B.C.," opening today at 3,400 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, will top this weekend's box-office charts, but the question is: How epic will it be? read more -latimes.com

Letters after Times Square bombing claim:

'We did it' .

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Letters claiming responsibility for the bombing of a military recruiting station in New York's Times Square arrived in the Washington offices of several members of Congress on Thursday, just hours after the blast, authorities said. Police are searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance tape just before an early morning bombing at the office, according to the FBI. The letters sent to Capitol Hill contained at least one picture of the station, apparently before the attack, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN. read more - cnn.com

Satellite shows Saturn moon might have rings .

PASADENA, California (AP) -- New observations by a spacecraft suggest Saturn's second-largest moon may be surrounded by rings. If confirmed, it would the first time a ring system has been found around a moon. The international Cassini spacecraft detected what appeared to be a large debris disk around the 950-mile-wide moon Rhea during a flyby in 2005. Scientists proposed that the halo likely contained particles ranging from the size of grains to boulders. The finding was described in a study published in the March 7 issue of the journal Science. read more - cnn.com

Buffett named world's richest man.

(CNN) -- Forbes' list of the world's wealthy has named Warren Buffett the richest person on the planet, surpassing his friend and philanthropic partner Bill Gates who had held the title for 13 consecutive years. The American investor and philanthropist is worth an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago thanks to surging prices of Berkshire Hathaway stock, according to Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's billionaires. Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is now ranked as the world's third richest person. At $58 billion, his net worth is up $2 billion from a year ago. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu was named the world's second richest man, with a net worth of around $60 billion, up $11 billion since last March. read more -cnn.com

Patrick Swayze Faces Tough Cancer Battle, Doctors Say.

Patrick Swayze will likely face an uphill battle in his fight against pancreatic cancer, physicians say. The actor's publicists released a statement Wednesday, after reports in the National Enquirer and other publications said doctors had told the "Dirty Dancing" star he had only five weeks left to live. "Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far, " George Fisher, Swayze's physician, said in the statement. "All of the reports stating the time frame of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic." read more -abcnews.com.

Florida Fisherman Nails Himself Enormous, 1,000-Pound Hammerhead.

A Florida fisherman has made the catch of a lifetime, reeling in a 13-foot, 1,000-pound hammerhead shark off the state’s eastern coast, MyFOXTampaBay reports. Fritz Van Der Grifd was fishing off of Singer Island in Palm Beach County when he snagged the shark, which he says he never intended to kill. He just wanted to get its picture, MyFOXTampaBay reports, but the shark died during the struggle. read more -foxnews.com

4-Year-Old Shows Up to Elementary School Drunk .

THE VILLAGE, Okla. — A 4-year-old girl was taken from an elementary school in The Village after teachers reported that she was acting strangely and had an alcohol smell on her breath The Village police say the child was taken from Andrew Johnson Elementary School in the Oklahoma City suburb Wednesday by paramedics and was in good condition. Police say the girl will be placed in state custody. Deputy Police Chief Steve Jagosh says it's believed the girl got the alcohol before she got to school. Investigators are still trying to determine where she got the alcohol. read more -foxnews.com

Father Retains Control of Britney Spears' Estate for Another 5 Months.

LOS ANGELES — A court commissioner ruled Wednesday that Britney Spears' father will retain control of the troubled pop star's finances and estate for another five months.
Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz extended Jamie Spears' control until July 31, said court spokesman Alan Parachini. Parachini wasn't immediately able to provide more information. James Spears was named co-conservator of the pop star's estate after she was hospitalized twice in January. His temporary authority to handle her affairs was to expire March 10. read more -foxnews.com

Charlotte Lindstrom jailed for witness death plot.

SWEDISH-BORN model and waitress Charlotte Lindstrom has been jailed for at least two years for soliciting an undercover police officer to murder two witnesses in her boyfriend's Sydney drug case. In the NSW Supreme Court today, the 23-year-old wiped away tears as Justice Steven Rothman today set a maximum term of three years 10 months. He referred to the "rare, exceptional and perhaps unique" assistance she had given to authorities, in the face of death threats. He said she would spend the rest of her life "looking over her shoulders". She had pleaded guilty to soliciting a murder and asked the judge to take a similar charge into account. read more -news.com.au

Gunman kills 8 at Jewish seminary.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The library of the rabbinical seminary was crowded for a nighttime study session when the Palestinian gunman opened fire. Students scrambled to flee the attack, jumping out of windows. Holy books drenched in blood littered the floor. The attacker killed eight students and wounded nine before he was shot dead Thursday night. It was the first major attack in Jerusalem in four years. Afterward, the Jewish seminarians gathered outside the library and screamed for revenge, shouting, "Death to Arabs," while in Hamas-controlled Gaza thousands of jubilant Palestinians took to the streets to celebrate. Funeral processions for the dead students — one of them 26 years old and the rest teenagers between ages 15 and 19 — were to depart from the seminary Friday morning. read more -usatoday.com

North Carolina student president killed .

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina student body president was found shot to death on a city street in what police said Thursday appeared to be a random crime, stunning the campus community who knew her well. Thousands of students gathered silently on campus to mourn Eve Marie Carson, whose body was discovered about a mile away early Wednesday. The 22-year-old senior from Athens, Ga., had been shot several times, including at least once in the head, police said. Officials said there are no suspects and no arrests have been made. ...read more yahoo.com

10 men charged with raping girl, 17, in Brisbane.

TEN men have been charged with the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Brisbane following an intensive eight-month investigation, police say. Police today said the teenager was raped in an inner-city apartment building in the early hours of July 8 last year. She had earlier met a group of men in the city and accompanied one of them back to the apartment. It is alleged the other men - aged between 18 and 22 - then arrived at the unit and sexually assaulted her. Eight men have been charged with one count of rape and two charged with two counts of rape. read more -news.com.au

Lesbian killers of Stacey Mitchell jailed for life.

TWO young women who brutally killed a teenage girl and dumped her body in a wheelie bin have each been handed a strict security life sentence, with a minimum of 24 years in jail. The pair bludgeoned 16-year-old Stacey Mitchell with a concrete block, strangled her with a chain and then videoed her blood-splattered bedroom and semi-naked body. Jessica Ellen Stasinowsky, 21, and her girlfriend Valerie Paige Parashumti, 19, were today sentenced in the West Australian Supreme Court today after pleading guilty to Stacey's wilful murder at a Perth house in December 2006. read more - news.com.au

A Canyon-Size Age Difference .

Park rangers are instructed to tell them that the canyon has been carved by the Colorado River for the past 5 or 6 million years. The park's Web site, under Frequently Asked Questions, notes that the rocks exposed by the canyon are up to 2 billion years old, and then adds: "The Canyon itself -- an erosional feature -- has formed only in the past five or six million years. Geologically speaking, Grand Canyon is very young." That might need revision. The canyon is more like 17 million years old, according to a study published today in the journal Science. read more - washingtonpost.com