U2

TOP 40 SINGLES 1. Kelly Clarkson, "Breakaway" 2. Maroon 5, "She Will Be Loved" 3. Nelly featuring Tim McGraw, "Over And Over" 4. Avril Lavigne, "My Happy Ending" 5. Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, "Goodies" URBAN SINGLES 1. Usher featuring Alicia Keys, "My Boo" 2. Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell, "Drop It Like It's Hot" 3. Lil' Wayne, "Go DJ" 4. Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, "Goodies" 5. Anthony Hamilton, "Charlene" ROCK SINGLES 1. Velvet Revolver,...

WASHINGTON - Accompanied by a phalanx of religious leaders, rock star Bono got a little testy Tuesday at a news conference urging President Bush to make good on promised AIDS funding for Africa. Wearing wrap-around blue-tinted sunglasses and dressed all in black, the lead singer for U2 said he was trying to take a calm approach in convincing Bush and Congress to appropriate promised funds. "If you want me to do angry, I can do angry," Bono said, standing in front of a poster that read "Keep America's Promise to Africa."

William Otto Schmidbauer, who devised a property flipping and mortgage fraud scheme that ultimately cost the federal government $2.5 million, was sentenced yesterday to a year and a day in federal prison. Schmidbauer, a former Perry Hall real estate broker, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in April to a single count of conspiracy to make false statements, admitting that he used falsified documents to get federally insured mortgages for buyers. He obtained at least 58 government-insured mortgages, and 48 went into default, according to his plea agreement.

GENEVA - The World Trade Organization agreed to rule whether a European Union ban on new genetically engineered crops is illegal, after a complaint by the United States, Canada and Argentina. The world's three biggest growers of gene-modified seeds asked the trade arbiter to order the EU to lift a ban on approving crop varieties that a French-led group of six countries put up in 1998. The EU says the barrier will disappear with new laws requiring that products with so-called genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, be labeled and traced through the food chain.

When Meghan Moore and Michael Rizzo met as students at Loyola College, sparks flew. Passionate, lively, fiery sparks. But they weren't the kind of which marriages are typically made. "We pretty much couldn't stand each other," said Meghan. Although Meghan and Michael lived in the same apartment building and were in some of the same social circles, their story is not one of classic college sweethearts. "I thought he was a loudmouthed, obnoxious New Yorker," said Meghan, who was born and raised in Maryland.

SOWETO, South Africa - Walking the muddy streets of this poor black township, they make the most unlikely duo. Irish rocker Bono, the Grammy Award-winning lead singer of U2, looks like he has slept in his clothes. He's unshaven, his hair a black mop, his eyes hidden behind his blue wraparound sunglasses. By his side, the no-nonsense Republican Paul H. O'Neill, a former corporate executive turned U.S. Treasury secretary, is decked out in a well-pressed gray suit as if he were about to step into a board meeting.

The CanoScan D1250U2F ($200) may have too many numbers in its name, but that's about its only fault. While the scanner is a solid performer with pictures, colorful graphic images and text documents, what makes it a standout is the speed with which you can scan. The D1250U2F is one of the handful of devices exploiting the new Universal Serial Bus 2.0 port standard that allows for 480 Mbps transfers of data. (It works with USB 1.1 ports found on most computers, but it's actually slower than other scanners in its class when used with the old USB standard.

The Grammy sales bounce had special spring this year. The biggest winners at the Feb. 27 show experienced between 100 percent and almost 400 percent sales increases, according to SoundScan. O Brother, Where Art Thou? made the most hay. Thanks to its five prizes, including Album of the Year, O Brother nearly quadrupled sales, from 58,331 to 209,227 going from No. 15 on the charts to No. 2 (behind Alanis Morissette's Under Rug Swept). Alicia Keys more than doubled her take, based on her five wins, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year.

For veteran Grammy watchers, this is a great year. The annual awards presentation has often been disappointing in the past, because sales seemed to be the deciding factor, rather than art or craft. Challenging, creative artists were often ignored while one-hit wonders and flavors-of-the-month walked away with the trophies. Not so this year, as least in the major pop categories. None of the formula, business-as-usual megastars -- the Britneys, the Backstreet Boys, the 'N Syncs and the like -- were nominated for the top spots, and neither were any of the multimillion-selling, morally bankrupt rappers, or angry, macho rockers like Linkin Park, whose Hybrid Theory was the best-selling album of 2001.

List of nominees in key categories announcedyesterday for the 44th annual Grammy Awards, to be presented Feb. 27 in Los Angeles: 1. Record of the Year: "Video," India.Arie; "Fallin'," Alicia Keys; "Ms. Jackson," OutKast; "Drops of Jupiter," Train; "Walk On," U2. 2. Album of the Year: Love and Theft, Bob Dylan; Acoustic Soul, India.Arie; Stankonia, OutKast; All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2; O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Soundtrack, Various Artists. 3. Song of the Year: "Drops of Jupiter," Charlie Colin, Rob Hotchkiss, Pat Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood (Train)