Meetings

As the capital of information technology, Silicon Valley may have more gadgets per capita than any other place on the planet. Yet, even here, "always on" can be a real turnoff. Frustrated by workers so plugged in that they tuned out in the middle of business meetings, a growing number of companies are going "topless," as in no laptops allowed. Also banned from some conference rooms: BlackBerrys, iPhones and other devices on which so many people have come to depend.

The Colombian government said Saturday that it had fired Mark Penn's public relations firm after Penn, the chief campaign strategist for presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton, apologized for meeting with Colombian officials pushing a trade deal with the U.S.

Former President Carter wrapped up his controversial Middle East tour Monday with an upbeat account of the militant Hamas movement's position on Israel, but with no apparent progress in promoting a cease-fire or bringing the Islamic group into peace efforts. Hamas turned down Carter's proposals for a one-month suspension of rocket attacks on Israel and a rapid prisoner exchange that would have transferred a captive Israeli soldier to Egypt. Israeli and U.S.

At the end of it all, Daphna Ziman and the Rev. Eric Lee were joking about the good cry they had together, pledging to work together to help children, and hugging each other goodbye Thursday. The two, who clenched hands at one point during the conversation at Ziman's Beverly Hills home, had clearly gotten over the controversy that erupted around a speech Lee made at a banquet April 4.

It looked like trouble. Or maybe it looked like the stuff that dreams were made of. The street was dark and the lighting was eerie as the hard-boiled book publishers from New York gathered outside an old factory building in downtown Los Angeles. They eyed the crowd that had massed inside. Some of the dames looked like femme fatales; some of the guys looked like saps.

"Recent substantial increases in the price of crude oil and other commodities have put considerable strain on American families, farmers and businesses," said Walter Lukken, acting commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. "We share public concerns about the need for the utmost transparency and integrity in the energy futures markets." It's a time-honored Washington ritual. When the price of oil goes up, so does the blood pressure of politicians.

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said insufficient oil production, not financial speculation, was driving soaring crude prices. His comments on the eve of an energy summit in the Saudi port city of Jidda set the stage for a showdown between the United States and conference host Saudi Arabia, which has largely blamed speculation in the oil markets for the record prices. Bodman said production had not kept pace with growing demand, especially from developing countries such as China and India.

Nearly a month after Charter Oak High School began investigating how fake names for members of the Black Student Union and other students were published in the yearbook, school officials are still looking for a way to resolve the controversy. Administrators at the Covina school will meet with BSU members and their families Monday to determine the best solution, said Principal Kathleen Wiard.

North Korean state news media say the country has rejected a proposal by South Korea's president to resume reconciliation talks. North Korea's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said today that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's proposal is not worth considering. Lee offered Friday to resume stalled talks with North Korea. Tension between the countries flared after Lee took office in February with a vow to take a tougher line toward North Korea.

After coming tantalizingly close to a historic trade deal, World Trade Organization talks collapsed Tuesday in a dismaying blow to seven years of efforts to open up the global economy. Once promised as a recipe for lifting millions of people out of poverty, the end to nine days of high-level talks left no new trade openings for farmers and manufacturers, no global economic boost and no grand deal for Third World development. It was by all accounts a disaster.