National News

Lydon Batty suffers from polycystic kidney disease, which weakens his immune system to the extent that he can’t attend school with the other children. But now a four-foot-tall mobile telepresence system allows the high-school freshman from Knox City, TX., to be right in the classroom with his peers.

A 10-year-old walking on a subway platform in Milan, Italy while playing his handheld PSP became so engrossed in his game that he wandered right onto the train tracks. The youngster took quite a tumble, but Alessandro Micalizz, an off-duty cop, immediately jumped down onto the track and pulled the boy to safety. The next train was less than a minute away. No word on what game the boy was playing.

On Wednesday, News Corporation announced the launch of The Daily — the first-ever newspaper designed exclusively for the Apple iPad.

The American Kennel Club has released its annual list of the most popular dog breeds in the U.S., based on registration statistics, and the Labrador Retriever has topped the list for the 20th year in the row. Click through to see the rest of the top 10, as well as photos from the announcement event at the Kennel Club offices...

Like over-the-top outfits and gushing acceptance speeches, shocking nomination snubs are part of the tradition of the Oscars. This year, fans are crowing about the exclusions of Mark Whalbergh for "The Fighter" and "Ryan Gosling" for "Blue Valentine." We've rounded up some of the best performances that never even made it to the big show below.

Construction is well underway in New York City's Ground Zero area, site of the September 11th terrorist attacks, on 1 World Trade Center. It will be the tallest building in the US when finished, measuring 1,776 feet (a nod to the year the Declaration of Independence was signed)...

In separate TV appearances this week, actor Alec Baldwin and comedienne Roseanne Barr both revealed their political ambitions.