By Joel Greenberg Chicago Tribune (MCT) JERUSALEM _ Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is getting a cool reception in Israel, where he arrived on Sunday at the start of a nine-day Middle East tour that he said would likely include a meeting with Hamas leaders in Syria. Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who brokered the first Arab-Israeli peace accord, ...

By Hannah Allam McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) BAGHDAD _ Iraqi forces who were conducting raids on militants Monday in the southern port city of Basra freed a British journalist who’d been held hostage for two months, the Iraqi military announced.

By Tim Johnson McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) BEIJING _ Bristling at criticism in the run-up to the Summer Olympics, China is lashing back at its foreign critics _ by name. Earlier this week, the state Xinhua news agency called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “disgusting.” And on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu lambasted a CNN commentator, Jack Cafferty, for his “vicious” ...

Jessie Milligan McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) Physicians Formula is taking a big step toward “greener” cosmetics with its new line, Organic wear, the first certified organic makeup from a mass market retailer.

Diane Evans DelMio.com (MCT) When your 18-year-old wants to spend spring break in Disney World with Mom, well … fairy tales do come true.

Scott Fowler McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) SAN ANTONIO: What a game. What a night. And what an incredible collapse. The specter of 2008 will now join the ghost of Elvis in permanent residence in Memphis. And Elvis will be looked upon much more fondly there than the ghost of this nutty 2008 national championship game, in which Memphis blew a nine-point ...

Chicago Tribune MCT Campus Nicolas Cage starred in a preposterous thriller a few years back that included a secret clue to riches, the “National Treasure” of the title, embedded on U.S. money. Turns out riches are embedded in U.S. money, specifically nickels and pennies, and there’s nothing secret about it.

By Howard Cohen McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) Due in stores Tuesday: The Beatles, “LOVE” (Capitol). Original producer George Martin and son Giles reimagine the Beatles music for a Cirque du Soleil production by “mashing-up” numerous tracks. Read story and a CD review Saturday in The Miami Herald. David Crosby, “If I Could Only Remember My Name …,” “Voyage” (Atlantic/Rhino). Crosby’s 1971 ...