LSU Still Alive After Win Over Alabama

BATON ROUGE, La. - With a shake of one of his tree-trunk legs, JaMarcus Russell left an Alabama pass rusher flat on his face, turning a would-be sack into another chance to showcase his powerful right arm. The 6-foot-6, 257-pound Russell foiled the upset-minded Crimson Tide all night with his fancy footwork and three TD passes, helping No. 12 LSU keep its slim hopes for an SEC West title alive with a 28-14 victory Saturday night.

"He's incredible. He's the best quarterback I've faced and this team has faced all year," Alabama defensive end Wallace Gilberry said. "He makes perfect throws. He's big. ... On film he looks slow, but he's very deceiving. He gets those long strides and …

Veteran actor Richard Jenkins shares Oscar's glow

You've seen Richard Jenkins. He was the dead patriarch on HBO's "Six Feet Under" and the beleaguered gym director in 2008's "Burn After Reading." He's played lots of dads ("Step Brothers," "Rumor Has It," "North Country"), cops ("The Mod Squad," "Me, Myself and Irene") and scores of other supporting characters during his 25 years in film.

Now, with his first leading role, Jenkins is an Oscar nominee.

"It's unbelievable," said the 61-year-old actor, sitting in the lobby of his favorite hotel. "This happens to other people, not to me."

Jenkins caught the eye …

Lake Geneva pleasure parlay: Hike plus cruise

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. It is possible to hike the entire 21-mileperimeter of Lake Geneva, thanks to a Wisconsin law requiringlakeside property owners to maintain easement for public use. Aslong as you stay on the three-foot-wide path, you are not trespassingon private property.

It's the intrepid hiker who is willing to take on the fullcircumference of the lake. But this fall brings an excellent chanceto combine an eight-mile hike from the town of Lake Geneva toWilliams Bay with a luncheon cruise.

On weekdays from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, Geneva Lake Cruise Line'sBelle of the Lake will put out from Williams Bay Municipal Pier at12:30 p.m. for a narrated 1 1/2-hour luncheon …

WCup champion Gimpl skips snowboard season

VIENNA (AP) — Four-time World Cup big air champion Stefan Gimpl of Austria won't compete in the new freestyle snowboarding season, which starts in London on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Gimpl told Austria Press Agency on …

France grants political asylum to Georgia's former defense minister

France has granted political asylum to a former Georgian defense minister who was convicted last month of extortion in his home country, his lawyers said Wednesday.

Supporters of Irakli Okruashvili, who was dismissed from the Cabinet in 2006, say Georgian authorities targeted him because he has been critical of President Mikhail Saakashvili since the dismissal.

Okruashvili's lawyers welcomed Tuesday's decision of the French agency for political refugees to grant him asylum in France.

"It's a very good decision, good news," lawyer Christine Martineau told The Associated Press.

The French Foreign Ministry would not comment on …

'Pitch game for him'; Cubs 5 Nats 4; With 11-year-old nephew

Carlos Zambrano pitched the Cubs to victory with his longest, sharpest start of the season Tuesday on a night his heart was back home in Venezuela.

After the Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 5-4, Zambrano -- who allowed one run and five hits and struck out eight in 7� innings -- hurried to the airport for a late flight to Caracas to join his family at a hospital where his nephew is fighting a deadly bacterial infection.

''It's bad,'' a red-eyed Zambrano said softly. ''He's only 11 years old. And being close to death. ... Sometimes you say people should live till they're old, but when God has something in mind and calls us to heaven, what can we do? It's pretty …

chocolate passion

FIVE REASONS TO GET ALL STEAMED UP ABOUT CHOCOLATE-FOLLOWED BY DECADENT RECIPES WITH NO GLUTEN AND ALL-NATURAL SWEETENERS

You know by now that chocolate is good for you. But all those stats and scientific findings - it reduces the risk of stroke and heart disease, protects against cancer, boosts brain power, improves skin tone, and lowers inflammation - speak to the head, not the heart. And we all know that chocolate is all about love, excitement, and passion.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MORE EMOTIONAL REASONS TO GET SO WORKED UP RBOUT CHOCOLATE? HERE ARE THE TOP FIVE:

1 Chocolate makes the brain release opioids, chemicals found in morphine and heroin, that promote a …