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Family lost on Christmas tree hunt found alive

(CNN) — A father and his three teenage children have been found alive in the rugged hills of northern California, authorities said Wednesday.

The father and his children vanished after venturing into the snowy woods to cut down a Christmas tree on Sunday.

The family was found alive about 1 p.m. (4 p.m. ET), said Trina Wehle, dispatch supervisor for the Butte County Sheriff’s Department.

Earlier Wednesday, more than 80 searchers combed the rugged hills looking for Frederick Dominguez and his three teenage children.

Dominguez’s former wife, Lisa Sams, reported Dominguez and their three children missing on Monday evening, according to police in Paradise, California, a town of 27,000 that is roughly 90 miles north of Sacramento.

Searchers wearing gloves and heavy coats trudged over steep terrain Wednesday to look for the father and his three children - 18-year-old Christopher, 14-year-old Lexi and 12-year-old Joshua.

The search riveted people in the town of Paradise and beyond.

Mayor Alan White, whose son played soccer on the same team as Joshua last year, said he and many others in and around Paradise have cut Christmas trees in the same place where the family vanished. When winter weather sours there, he said, people in the woods can get lost quickly.

If you’re 50 feet from your car, you might not be able to find it, he said.

Students at Paradise High volunteered to help in the search, the principal, Mike Lerch, said Wednesday. Dominguez’s son, Christopher, graduated from the school a few months ago, Lerch said, and his daughter, Lexi, is a sophomore there.

Teachers and students at Paradise Intermediate School, where 12-year-old Joshua attends the seventh grade, also followed the day’s events.

Search crews found the family’s vehicle, police said, but it contained no clues to the family’s whereabouts.

The family vanished in a snow-covered landscape so inaccessible that it lacks cell-phone service, Rowe said.

Police vehicles equipped with snow chains rumbled up mountain roads to help conduct the search, which also involved a snowmobile and dogs.
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Report: Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister pregnant

NEW YORK (AP) — Another Spears baby is reportedly on the way — and it’s not Britney’s.

Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16-year-old Zoey 101 star and sister of Britney, told OK! magazine that she’s pregnant and that the father is her boyfriend, Casey Aldridge.

It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected, she said. I was in complete and total shock and so was he.

Spears is 12 weeks along and initially kept the news to herself when she learned of the pregnancy from an at-home test and subsequent doctor visit, she told the celebrity magazine, which hits stands in New York on Wednesday and the rest of the country by Friday.

What message does she want to send to other teens about premarital sex? I definitely don’t think it’s something you should do; it’s better to wait, she told the magazine. But I can’t be judgmental because it’s a position I put myself in.

After she found out from a doctor that she was pregnant, she said, I took two weeks to myself where I didn’t tell anybody. Watch how pregnancy could impact Spears’ career

Only one of my friends knew because I needed to work out what I would do for myself before I let anyone’s opinion affect my decision. Then I told my parents and my friends. I was scared, but I had to do what was right for me, she said.

Spears broke the news to her mother, Lynne, just before Thanksgiving, the magazine reported.

She was very upset because it wasn’t what she expected at all, Spears said. A week after, she had time to cope with it and became very supportive.

Lynne Spears, already grandmother to Britney’s young sons, told the magazine: I didn’t believe it because Jamie Lynn’s always been so conscientious. She’s never late for her curfew. I was in shock. I mean, this is my 16-year-old baby.

She said her actress daughter, the telegenic heroine of her popular Nickelodeon series, has known Aldridge for years and began dating him in high school.

But in a recent interview with The Associated Press, Spears said she had no steady boyfriend. I kind of just keep my options open, she said. I have a bunch of friends that I always hang out with, a bunch of guy friends. She declined to talk about her older sister.

Spears spoke to the AP shortly before Thanksgiving, the day she told OK! she informed her mother about the pregnancy.

Jamie Lynn plans to raise the baby in her home state of Louisiana — so it can have a normal family life.

Nickelodeon released a statement: We respect Jamie Lynn’s decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn’s well being.

A publicist for the network did not immediately respond to phone and e-mail requests for additional comment.

Zoey 101 is scheduled to conclude its third season January 4 with a cliffhanger episode in which Spears’ character must decide whether to leave her fictional Pacific Coast Academy boarding school in California to join her parents in London.

The show is scheduled to resume in February, and its producer, Dan Schneider, has said filming on the fourth season has already been completed.
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Kosovo deadlock talks reportedly fail

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council was unable to break an impasse over the future of Kosovo, according to U.S. and European sources. Immediate details of how talks broke down were not available.

Serbia and Kosovo squared off Wednesday before the Security Council, with the Kosovars demanding quick independence and the Serbs insisting the province stay part of its territory.

Both sides have supporters in the council — the U.S. and key European Union nations back Kosovo’s call for independence, and Russia supports its close ally Serbia and wants more negotiations.

The council meeting focused on a recent report by U.S., EU and Russian mediators on two years of talks between Serbia and Kosovo on resolving the province’s status. A four-month extension of the talks ended last month without an agreement.

After lengthy discussions, the council’s 15 members decided the meeting would be closed and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica would speak as the representative of his country, while Kosovo’s president, Fatmir Sejdiu, would speak in his private capacity as a party to the negotiations.

Although Kosovo formally remains part of Serbia, the province has been run by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when the military alliance ended former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic’s crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

Kostunica told the council that it holds Serbia’s fate in its hands, saying the country’s future depends on how members reply to the question of whether the sovereignty and borders of a U.N. member state are truly respected.

The answer, he said, will have far reaching consequences for the entire world as well.

Will for the first time in the U.N.’s history a decision be taken — contrary to the will of a democratic state and, what is more, of a U.N. founding member — to redraw its internationally recognized borders, to abolish its sovereignty and to amputate 15 percent of its territory? he said in prepared remarks.

Kostunica called for negotiations on autonomy for Kosovo within Serbia, warning that the country will not accept any unilateral declaration of independence by the Kosovars, which he said would be a dangerous development.

Hashim Thaci, Kosovo’s prime minister-elect, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Kosovo is ready for independence.

We have no time to lose, to waste, he said. We need a decision … for independence and qualitative recognition of (the) democratic world. … We wasted a hundred years. We fight for our independence. We deserve our freedom.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has introduced elements for a council statement that would back additional negotiations, but Britain, France, the U.S. and others have said talks have been exhausted and it is time to resolve Kosovo’s status.

At an EU summit Friday, leaders rejected immediate, unilateral recognition of an independent Kosovo. They agreed instead to try to coordinate a phased-in recognition of Kosovo’s independence and also left the door open for a negotiated settlement between Serb and ethnic Albanian leaders.

Thaci, a former rebel leader who won last month’s general elections, said Kosovo would take no unilateral action, but would coordinate action with the EU and the U.S.

Earlier this year, Russia blocked Security Council approval of a plan drawn up by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari that proposed internationally supervised statehood. The four-month diplomatic effort that ended recently was aimed at ending the deadlock.

Kostunica told the council the talks failed because of the explicit promise to the Kosovo Albanians that they will get an independent Kosovo.

He urged the council to call for the resumption of negotiations without such a promise, saying he is certain the new talks would then bear fruit and lead in a fairly short while to a compromise.

But Thaci, the U.S., and key European members of the council, including Britain and France, say there is no prospect of a compromise. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Poll: Clinton recaptures lead in New Hampshire

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hillary Clinton appears to have recaptured the lead among Democratic candidates in New Hampshire, according to results of a new CNN/WMUR poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire.

Clinton was virtually tied with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in last week’s New Hampshire poll, along with several other recent surveys.

But in the Wednesday poll, the New York senator now has a 12-point lead over Obama — 38 percent to 26 percent.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is in third place with 14 percent, with the remaining Democratic hopefuls in single digits, according to the poll.

Clinton gained some 7 percentage points over last week’s poll, with Obama losing 4 percentage points. Watch what the new numbers mean

Nearly all of Clinton’s gains come among older voters. She also is ranked higher than Obama on every issue tested, with health care and the economy her strongest suits, says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

On the Republican side, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is in first place for the Granite State’s GOP voters, with 34 percent. Arizona Sen. John McCain has 22 percent, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has 16 percent. Since last week’s poll, McCain has gained 3 percentage points and Giuliani has slipped the same amount. See how the candidates measure up

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is in fourth place with 10 percent. The remaining Republican candidates are in single digits.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Since last week, McCain has won the endorsement of two newspapers circulated in New Hampshire — the Union-Leader of Manchester and the Boston Globe. He also grabbed the backing of Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-Independent senior senator from Connecticut and 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Unlike the Democrats, GOP primary voters don’t think that one candidate can do the best job on every issue. Romney gets the nod on domestic issues such as the economy, taxes, immigration and abortion. Giuliani is seen as the candidate who would best handle terrorism, and McCain is seen as best able to handle the war in Iraq, said Holland.

A whopping 65 percent of poll respondents who identify themselves as likely Democratic voters, however, said they have not made a definite decision on their vote — and say the January 3 Iowa caucuses will not affect that decision. And even more likely GOP primary voters — 74 percent — said the same.

New Hampshire holds its primary on January 8.

Republican primary voters were evenly split on which issue was the most important to them — 15 percent each said the economy, immigration and terrorism, with 13 saying Iraq was most important. Among Democratic primary voters, 31 percent each said health care and Iraq were the most important issues, with only 12 percent naming the economy.

Clinton, however, was named across the board as the candidate who could do the best job on every issue.

Although Romney leads in most New Hampshire polls, he has lost the lead in Iowa to Huckabee. Giuliani and Huckabee top the list in most national polls.

Wednesday’s poll surveyed 411 New Hampshire residents who say they will vote in the Republican primary and 469 New Hampshire residents who say they will vote in the Democratic primary. Interviews were conducted by telephone between December 13 and 17.
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Tips for using cell phones overseas

(Travel + Leisure) — If you’re among those frequent travelers whose growing gadgetry collections occasionally make you suspect that technology does not, in fact, simplify your life, you’re not alone. Take recent reports by new ATT iPhone customers of roaming charges in the thousands of dollars and novel-length bills in the mail (customer Justine Ezarik posted a YouTube video of herself opening a 300-page bill that ATT sent to her in a box).

What’s the problem? It turns out that the iPhone automatically checks e-mail and performs other Internet data updates, even when the phone function is off. Not a problem in the U.S., where the ATT Wireless plan for the iPhone includes unlimited call time and data transfers. But that’s not true abroad — and roaming rates add up quickly.

Verizon charges from $1.49 per minute in many countries to $2.49 on cruise ships. T-Mobile international rates vary, and roaming can be as expensive as $4.99 per minute. Make a 20-minute call from Russia on ATT, and you’re looking at a $100 charge.

Fortunately, staying connected on the road internationally can be easier — and less expensive — than your provider might have you believe. One solution to that problem is voicemail, available with an upgraded Skype account. Skype, of course, launched back in 2003 and picked up speed and market share after its purchase by eBay. Its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology allows you to avoid costly phone frequencies; just log on to the Net and you can make calls for a few cents a minute — and add voicemail for $20 per year.

Or, you can find a hotel that’s using VoIP: JW Marriott’s Wired for Business program in the U.S. and Canada lets you make all the domestic calls you want and get online for $9.95 a day. Select international JW Marriotts have it, too, though it’s not a brand-wide initiative.

Of course, the competition for international wireless callers is heated, and that means innovation can’t be far behind. One option is the new phone from Cubic Telecom, a phone that, unlike most phones from Verizon or Sprint, works in 160 countries, and whose service plan, MaxRoam.com, cuts costs up to 75 percent of many carriers by letting you set up local phone numbers in several different countries. You pay varying but lower costs between countries, though the service benefits those who want to call you from the U.S. more than it benefits you while traveling abroad.

Need some more solutions? Click here for nine tips from Travel + Leisure for cutting communication costs while traveling abroad. E-mail to a friend

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