Oil futures climb higher; retail gas prices lower

Oil futures climb higher; retail gas prices lower

NEW YORK — Oil futures climbed to a new record near $143 a barrel Friday as the dollar weakened against the euro, confirming expectations that the falling greenback, a major factor in crude’s stratospheric rise, will extend its decline and add to oil’s appeal.

Retail gas prices inched lower overnight, but are likely to resume their own trek into record territory now that oil futures have broken out of the trading range where they had been for nearly three weeks.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose as high as $142.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before pulling back sharply in a spate of late-day profit-taking to settle up 57 cents at a record $140.21.

Taliban makes comeback

WASHINGTON — The Taliban has regrouped after its initial fall from power in Afghanistan and the pace of its attacks is likely to increase this year, according to a Pentagon report that offers a dim view of progress in the nearly seven-year-old war.

Noting that insurgent violence has climbed, the report said that despite U.S. and coalition efforts to capture and kill key leaders, the Taliban is likely to “maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings in 2008.”

Firefighters on defensive

BIG SUR, Calif. — Firefighters bulked up their defenses Friday against a wildfire that threatened parts of this storied tourist town and prepared for more lightning strikes that could ignite new fires across Northern California.

More than 1,000 fires, mostly caused by lightning, burned across Northern California, including two gigantic blazes in the Los Padres National Forest.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President Bush on Friday for a federal emergency declaration to free up more aid.

Millionaire sentenced

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A millionaire convicted of helping his wife keep two Indonesian housekeepers as virtual slaves was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison, ending a trial that shed light on the often little-seen exploitation and abuse of domestic workers.

International perfume maker Mahender Sabhnani, 51, was sentenced to 31‚Ñ3 years and fined $12,500. He was convicted in December on a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens.

The victims testified that they were beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives, and forced to climb stairs and take cold showers for misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from the trash because they were poorly fed.

Troyer sues over sex tape

LOS ANGELES — Verne Troyer has sued TMZ and a pornography distributor, seeking the return of a sex tape he says was stolen and more than $20 million in damages.

Troyer, who starred as “Mini Me” in two of the “Austin Powers” films, also wants the video to be removed from the celebrity gossip site.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, says the tape he made with a former girlfriend was stolen months ago.

Snippets surfaced Wednesday on TMZ.com, which reported that the video could fetch $100,000 from a porn distributor.

Single mom selling heart

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — She’s tried night clubs and online dating sites, but now a 42-year-old single mother is looking for love where everyone else’s heart is breaking — the real estate market.

After a year of trying to sell her four-bedroom home and eight years of singledom, Deven Trabosh is offering her South Florida home and a shot at marrying her on the Internet.

“I figured let’s combine the ad because I’m looking for love and I’m looking to sell the house,” said Trabosh, a Barbie-esque blonde who teeters around the nearly 2,000 square-foot house in patent leather heels.

“Marry a Princess Lost in America,” Trabosh wrote in the ads she posted on eBay and Craigslist last week. She describes a life of romance and travel and a home decorated with vaulted ceilings, upgraded tile and a soaking tub in a gated community with a pool and tennis courts.

Trabosh, a licensed real estate agent who hasn’t practiced in years, knew she would struggle to sell the home in the troubled real estate market, but insists her fairytale ad isn’t just a sales gimmick.

Associated Press