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Rabih Abou-Khalil might be considered a bit blasphemous for playing the oud — a pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument native to the Middle East — as if he were a jazz guitarist.

French president Jacques Chirac tells the nation that he will sign a controversial new youths-job law, but that the time period in which an employee younger than 26 could be fired would be reduced to one year. Also an employer would be obligated to give a reason for any dismissal.

Facing mounting losses, General Motors has offered buyouts to its union employees in the United States. Now GM workers must decide whether to take company buyouts or stay on, betting that the automaker can recover and avoid bankruptcy.

The Democratic base -- the blogosphere and liberal activists -- want President Bush censured. The Democrats in the Senate, except for two co-sponsors of Russell Feingold's censure resolution, are running from it.

FEMA and Congress are trying to figure out what to do with more than 10,000 mobile homes hastily stockpiled in Hope, Ark., after Hurricane Katrina. Federal regulations forbid them from being placed in a floodplain, so few were ever sent to the Gulf Coast. A move is on to change the law.

To boycott or not to boycott? That's the question in the Latin community as Monday approaches. As Rob Schmitz of member station KQED reports, many are trying to discourage this particular form of protest.

The Supreme Court rules that one-time stripper and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith can pursue part of her late husband's oil fortune. Justices gave new legal life to Smith's bid to collect millions of dollars from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II. His estate has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.

With crude-oil prices hovering at or above $70 a barrel, more people are looking for alternative sources of energy. Others are asking how long existing sources will last.

Sudan's government and rebel groups are extending peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria. Rebels have rejected draft peace agreements concerning Sudan's Darfur region, but agreed to continue negotiating with the government under pressure from the United States.

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, 58, faces 11 counts of war crimes at a U.N.-backed tribunal hearing crimes associated with Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war. Charges against Taylor include mutilations and sexual slavery.