The Christian Science Monitor - The toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime was supposed to usher in a new era for the Middle East, according to the architects of the invasion, one in which Islamic extremism would be rooted out and budding democracies would replace stifling dictatorships.

Voting begins in the second round of Benin's presidential elections, heralding a new era in the state's history.

Playbill - Village Theatre, the Seattle area company committed to developing new musicals, presents the West Coast premiere of Girl of My Dreams, billed as "an entirely new 1940s book musical featuring original songs inspired by USO acts of the era."

AP - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia railed against the era of the "judge-moralist," saying judges are no better qualified than "Joe Sixpack" to decide moral questions such as abortion and gay marriage.

AP - Culpepper to Moss was supposed to be the 21st century version of Montana to Rice, only faster and more fun to watch.

Reuters - Modern medicine is redefining old age and may soon allow people to live regularly beyond the current upper limit of 120 years, experts said on Wednesday.

AFP - Socialist single mother Michelle Bachelet is set to be sworn in as Chile's first female president, ushering in a new era in the socially conservative country which is moving aggressively to shed the legacy of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.

AP - When it comes to a difficult position to predict, nothing comes close to closers. There's significant turnover each year and seemingly inexplicable surprises. A good strategy is to draft backups for your closers if you have room on your bench for them. Stats are wins, saves, strikeouts, ERA and WHIP.

AFP - Japan's economy is on a sound recovery path, its central bank chief said, a day after he effectively declared deflation dead and moved to end an era of virtually free credit.

AP - If the NHL wanted to cut down deadline dealing, it didn't work. With goaltenders and defensemen drawing the most attention, 25 trades involving 40 players were completed Thursday before the league cutoff. It didn't matter that clubs faced their first deadline in the salary cap era or that the end of trading was moved up two weeks to keep teams from giving up hope on the playoffs.

The BBC's Mike Baker explains why the education bill is designed to end the era of the "bog-standard comp".

SPACE.com / LiveScience.com - OK, imagine winding back the clock three-score and ten. Picture a return to that singular time in human history when knowledge of the continents and oceans was sophisticated and extensive, but not yet complete. By going back only a generation, before aircraft and spacecraft pixelated the Earth, you arrive at an era when nature still held a few surprise cards; when major discoveries could still be made.

Reuters - Indonesia, which emerged from a long era of military dominated government only eight years ago, has told Myanmar's ruling generals they must move toward democracy and offered to help, officials said on Thursday.

Reuters - Convergence -- a catch phrase during the dot-com boom that became the butt of jokes in the ensuing crash -- is making a comeback in the new era of cutting-edge gadgets and communications.

A former Afghan spy chief is sentenced to death for ordering hundreds of killings during the communist era.

AFP - A former intelligence chief was sentenced to death after a court found him guilty of systematic killings and other human rights violations during Afghanistan's communist era.

The Philippines marks 20 years of freedom from President Ferdinand Marcos - under a state of emergency.

AP - The Steve Francis era got off to a slow start in New York. The Knicks allowed the first 10 points, trailed the rest of the way, and were frequently booed during the second half of a 94-90 loss to the New Jersey Nets on Friday night.

AP - The discovery of a furry, beaver-like animal that lived at the time of dinosaurs has overturned more than a century of scientific thinking about Jurassic mammals.

Reuters - China issued another volley of rhetoric against Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Thursday, branding his plan to scrap a council advising on eventual unification with the mainland as a "dangerous provocation."