AP Update. I’m Ed Donahue.
Any minute now, the jury will deliver its verdict in the penalty phase of the Scott Peterson double murder trial. Correspondent Jan Sluizer is live in Redwood City, California.
--- When it was announced that the verdict is in, a crowd began to form outside the courthouse. Not as large as when the verdict was read in the guilt phase, but there are people here to want to know immediately if convicted killer Scott Peterson gets life or death. Whatever the verdict, all six men and six women on this jury have reached it unanimously. Ed?
Correspondent Jan Sluizer live in Redwood City, California.
The White House is denying a charge by Ukraine’s prime minister that the United States has been meddling in his country’s presidential election. Viktor Yanukovich says it’s obvious that the US funds have gone to his rival’s campaign, but White House press secretary Scott McClellan says America does not support, and has not supported, any particular candidate. As for Viktor Yushchenko, the challenger with the suddenly scarred face, Danista Kerker reports he seems confident the truth will come out about who poisoned him with dioxin.
--- There is going to be, parallel to this parliamentary investigation, a criminal investigation of this case, and Yushchenko himself said last night that eventually that someone will figure out who did it.
A Hamas activist has survived a bombing in Syria that destroyed his vehicle on a Damascus street right after he and his family stepped out. The Palestinian militant group and the Syrian government blame Israeli intelligence agents for the blast that slightly injured three passersby and shattered windows of several nearby apartments.
The Sopranos didn’t steal the show with this morning’s announcements of the Golden Globe nominees, but the HBO hit is in there.
--- For the best television series drama category, 24, Deadwood, Lost, Nip/Tuck and The Sopranos.
That’s actress Mia Sorvino. The buzz this year is all about Desperate Housewives, up for several awards including best actress or best supporting actress for all of its stars.
This is AP Network News.
It took 18 months, but a merger deal announced between rivals Oracle and PeopleSoft is pushing up the stock of both business software makers today. Oracle raised its takeover bid for PeopleSoft by 10% to seal a $10.3 billion deal that will create the world’s second-largest maker of business applications. Oracle president Charles Phillips says it eventually cost some people their jobs.
--- Any reductions, they will come from both PeopleSoft and Oracle employees, and we’ll make those decisions as we evaluate the people, but everyone will be treated fairly and with dignity, yeah, it’s the main objective here.
He seemed like a happy go-lucky guy less than two years ago, and that’s when Jack Whittaker won the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in American history, a lump sum of $113 million after taxes in Powerball. Now Whittaker has more problems than he can shake a case of beer at. The West Virginian is on the run. He’s been arrested twice for drunken driving in the past year, and is ordered to go into rehab by January 2nd. He also faces charges of attacking a bar manager. The guy who sells ‘Where’s Jack?’ T-shirts says this is the unfortunate situation of having too much money.