AP – Spc. Marco Reininger started the year on the dusty streets of Afghanistan. He’ll end it on the campus of Columbia University with the government picking up a large chunk of the $100,000 tab for tuition.

AP – Alpha Natural Resources completed the takeover of rival Foundation Coal Holdings on Friday, winning shareholder approval of a deal that creates a national power out of two regional players even as the recession hammers energy demand.

AP – Eastman Kodak moved to a second-quarter loss as the global economic downturn hurt sales of digital cameras and other photography products.

AP – In her online profile, Paula Jones says she is 42, “nonjudgmental” and likes fishing, gardening and cuddling. There’s a catch, though. Jones’ picture shows her in her blue Florida prison uniform. She won’t be out until at least 2010.

AP – Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods plunged in June by the largest amount in five months, reflecting the continuing troubles in the auto industry and a steep drop in demand for commercial aircraft.

AP – Swine flu has been hitting pregnant women unusually hard, so they are likely to be among the first group advised to get a new swine flu shot this fall.

AP – The Obama administration on Tuesday announced $1 billion in grants to help keep police officers on the beat during the economic downturn ? and tried to assure cities not getting aid that they won’t be stiffed.

AP – A Cambridge, Mass., police sergeant who responded to a 911 call about a possible break-in at the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. can be heard calling Gates uncooperative during a radio communication with a police dispatcher.