WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sean “Diddy” Combs has reached a settlement with a North Carolina man who said the bodyguards hired by the rap mogul beat him after a concert in 1995. Details of the confidential settlement reached Monday were not released. “We amicably settled, and that’s all we can say,” …

NEW YORK – Coming from the radio speakers, Bob Dylan sounds as craggy and weather-beaten as he looks — and quite playful, too. As he reaches his 65th birthday Wednesday, the rock ‘n’ roll poet is carving out a new role as a part-time radio disc jockey. His weekly “Theme …

NEW YORK – Top-selling rappers Kanye West and Ludacris won a copyright infringement trial Thursday when a jury concluded their 2003 hit “Stand Up” did not copy a tune by New Jersey musicians. “I hope the plaintiffs enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame,” Ludacris said after the verdict was announced. …

SAN DIEGO – If you missed my column in the Weekend Wall Street Journal: From the “for what it’s worth” file: For all of its terrific marketing, superb products and highflying stock, there’s another side to the revival of Apple Computer (AAPL) that gets less airplay: Its lack of a …

LONDON – A takeover battle erupted for Associated British Ports Holdings PLC on Thursday as a consortium led by investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) raised its offer and a rival group led by Australia’s Macquarie Bank Ltd. made a bid at the same level. Both consortiums announced offers …

TOO Crazy! Did you see the video of the convenience store clerk who ripped the pants AND shirt off a would-be robber? The thief ran out of the store with only $3… then returned and gave it back in exchange for the clothes! Here’s the more incredible part: This is …

AMONA OUTPOST, West Bank – Club-wielding riot troops dragged away thousands of stone-throwing Jewish settlers from rooftops and behind barbed wire Wednesday, evacuating this illegal West Bank outpost in the fiercest clash over settlements since Israel’s Gaza pullout. The demolition of nine houses at Amona, a hilltop enclave in the …

BARCELONA, Spain – Motorola (MOT) said on Monday it had signed a deal to use Windows Media technology from Microsoft (MSFT) in a new range of music phones that would sell alongside its iTunes phone developed with Apple (AAPL). Motorola Inc., the world’s second biggest mobile phone maker behind Nokia …

HEBRON, West Bank – Hundreds of Palestinians attacked an international observer mission in this volatile city Wednesday, throwing stones and smashing windows as dozens of foreigners were trapped inside — the most violent West Bank protest yet against Danish cartoons seen as insulting to Islam. At one point, rioters forced …

ATLANTA – The drug nevirapine prevents the spread of the AIDS virus from mother to child time after time, a new study suggests, challenging earlier findings. The new research presented Wednesday at a scientific meeting in Denver found that in Ugandan women who received the drug during a first pregnancy, …