NEW ORLEANS (AP) — They call him a Louis Armstrong for a reason. The voice of hoodoo rocker and piano professor Dr. John is deep and groggy — just like Satchmo’s. Both were child prodigies. Both loved New Orleans food and showed it. Satchmo also had range, charisma and a penchant for showmanship. Likewise, the…

NEW YORK (AP) — The MTV Video Music Awards have been defined by stirring performances, shocking surprises and sexual shenanigans. Now the network has booked an act that might provide all three elements in one performance — R. Kelly. The chart-topping R&B singer was named Tuesday as one of the performers at Sunday’s awards show…

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — If the draft constitution becomes reality, the new Iraq would be a vastly different place: a multicultural, democratic oasis where torture victims can sue their oppressors, free speech is protected and women gain a big role in government. But Iraq also would become a decentralized, even fragmented, land in a volatile…

DENVER (AP) — The nation’s No. 2 satellite television provider wants to dish out free service to any town willing to rename itself “Dish.” EchoStar Communications Corp., which operates the Dish Network, said Tuesday it will provide 10 years’ worth of free satellite television service for every household in a U.S. town that legally makes…

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — More than 12,000 people came to the Museum of Science and Industry in the first four days of a controversial exhibit featuring preserved human cadavers and body parts, shattering previous attendance records. Museum officials said “BODIES, the Exhibition,” showcasing human bodies preserved and posed so visitors can see their inner workings,…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Global population growth is ensured for many decades, with most of it in developing countries, a private group said Tuesday. The rapid growth in developing countries, combined with declining birth rates in some industrialized nations could affect the ability of the wealthy to aid the poor, said a demographer who prepared the…

NEW YORK (AP) — For the second episode of her new talk show, Elizabeth Birch welcomed a guest she knew much of her audience would have preferred shouting at instead of listening to. That was precisely the point. Birch, a veteran gay and lesbian rights activist, had frequently been matched against Pat Buchanan on the…

CHICAGO (AP) — A review of medical evidence has found that fetuses likely don’t feel pain until the final months of pregnancy, a powerful challenge to abortion opponents who hope that discussions about fetal pain will make women think twice about ending pregnancies. Critics angrily disputed the findings and claimed the report is biased. “They…

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The federal government has cut off funding to a nationwide program that promotes abstinence to teens through skits and music videos, saying the group in charge of the campaign did not adequately separate religion from its message. The Silver Ring Thing program, related to a Christian ministry based in the Pittsburgh suburbs,…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Back in 52 B.C., Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo were bit players in Julius Caesar’s sweeping account of the Gallic Wars. Now these two soldiers assigned to the conquerer’s 13th Legion have leading roles in HBO’s lavish new series “Rome,” about historic events as seen through the eyes of ordinary men.…