AMERICAN IS FREED

American is freed
JERUSALEM -- Palestinian gunmen abducted three foreign church volunteers, including an American, in the West Bank city of Nablus late Friday, releasing them several hours later under pressure from Palestinian authorities and other militants, Palestinian security officials said.
The reason for the abduction was not known, but it came two weeks after militants in Gaza snatched four French charity workers amid a political crisis that shook the authority of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The four French were also quickly released.
In the abductions, five gunmen seized an American, a Briton and an Irishman around midnight Friday as they were returning to the home where they were staying in Nablus, the Palestinian officials said. The three were taken to the nearby Balata refugee camp.
Airport art removed
DENVER -- Two pieces of art, including a suitcase with a handle made from a box cutter, were removed from Denver International Airport after employees complained.
The art was part of an exhibit called "The Luggage Project" in which artists from around the world were asked to turn suitcases into art.
The other piece removed from the airport was a suitcase with an attached bumper sticker reading "Blood for oil. Billionaires for Bush," a reference to a satirical group critical of President Bush.
Madeleine Hatz, who created the second suitcase, said she was trying to link the spilling of blood and oil. She complained that she was being censored.
Aviation co-manager Vicki Braunagel said she removed the pieces July 9, the day from the 43-piece, glass-enclosed exhibit opened on a walkway that comes before the security screening area.
Six employees complained, and Braunagel said the art was "inappropriate." The terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks took control of the flights after threatening passengers with box cutters.
Neverland accident
LOS OLIVOS, Calif. -- A 15-year-old boy riding an all-terrain vehicle at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch was injured when the vehicle flipped, a Jackson attorney said Friday.
The boy, a guest at the ranch, was injured Thursday and flown by helicopter to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he was listed in good condition, said the attorney, Brian Oxman.
The boy "is just fine, no broken bones, no internal injuries, he's doing just fine," Oxman said.
Jackson was not at the ranch at the time, the attorney said. He did not identify the boy.
A nursing supervisor confirmed the boy was in good condition.
A security guard at the ranch directed paramedics to the boy, who was at or near the main house, county officials told the Santa Barbara News-Press.
'Girls Gone Wild' settles
WASHINGTON -- The marketers of the sexually explicit "Girls Gone Wild" videos and DVDs agreed Friday to pay nearly $1.1 million to settle government claims that the company shipped unordered products and then charged customers.
As part of the settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, California-based Mantra Films Inc. will pay more than $548,000 to people who received the videos or DVDs and returned them but did not get a refund for shipping costs.
The FTC said about 84,000 customers would receive refunds of at least $6.
Mantra also will pay a civil penalty of more than $541,000.
The videos and DVDs feature young women at college campuses or spring break trips who bare their breasts and perform sexually suggestive acts. Millions of copies have been sold.
The FTC alleged that Mantra enrolled customers who responded to Internet and TV advertising for a single video or DVD in a "continuity" program. Once customers were enrolled, they received additional, unordered videos, and weren't given an effective means to cancel the program. Customers' checking accounts were debited without their consent, the FTC said.
Boy impaled by arrow
WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. -- A 7-year-old boy fell on an arrow and was impaled in the neck, narrowly missing his jugular vein, officials said.
The father of the boy, whose name was not released, drove him 30 miles to a fire station for help. The boy was hospitalized in stable condition after Thursday's accident and was expected to survive, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said.
The boy fell while holding the arrow and playing in his backyard in rural central Florida, his father told paramedics.
After piercing his neck near the jugular vein, the arrow nearly passed all the way through to the boy's spine, said Lt. Dave Hover of the Brevard County Fire Rescue's Station where the boy went for emergency treatment.
Firefighters cut about 6 inches off the arrow so he could be flown to an Orlando hospital.
Associated Press