Washington -- U.S. George Bush designated "three beautiful and biologically diverse areas" in the Pacific as marine national monuments Tuesday.

Bush signed proclamations creating the Marianas Trench, the Pacific Remote Islands and the Rose Atoll marine national monuments.

"Taken together, these three new national monuments cover nearly 200,000 square miles, and they will now receive our nation's highest level of environmental recognition and conservation," Bush said in remarks at the White House before signing the proclamations.

Bush set aside the areas as national monuments under authority granted him by the Antiquities Act that President Theodore Roosevelt signed in 1906. The designations bar resource destruction or extraction, waste dumping and commercial fishing.

Salt Lake City -- U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says he helped John Forte earn his freedom from prison because of the rapper's plans for a new life.

The Salt Lake City Tribune said Wednesday the former Fugees star was released from prison Dec. 22 after U.S. President George W. Bush supported Hatch's plea by commuting Forte's seven remaining years in prison.

Forte had been in prison as part of a 2001 conviction on charges he received 31 pounds of liquid cocaine as part of drug ring.

But Hatch wrote in a 2006 letter that Forte changed his life once incarcerated and began helping his fellow inmates through music.

The senator even pledged his own time to help the rapper adapt his prison good deeds to the outside world.

"John will make a difference if allowed the freedom to do so and I am personally committed to helping make sure that he keeps his promises once he is released," Hatch wrote in his letter.

New York -- The mayor of New York said former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will push the button to drop the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the former president and his wife, who has been named secretary of state in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, will press the button that signals the ball to begin lowering at 11:59 Thursday night, WCBS-TV, New York, reported Tuesday.

"I can't think of anyone I would rather stand at the crossroads of the world at the beginning of this new year than Bill and Hillary Clinton," Bloomberg said. "Both together and as individuals, Senator and President Clinton have brought hope and opportunity to New York, to the nation and to the world."

The nearly 12,000-pound ball is twice the size of previous balls, measuring 12 feet in diameter. The ball, which is covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals, is also 20 percent more energy efficient than last year's ball, officials said.

London -- The British government says more than 3,000 of its computer devices have been lost or stolen since 2002.

An estimated 1,774 laptops, 1,035 desktop computers, 202 hard drives, 195 memory sticks and 676 cell phones have gone missing from the government during the last seven years, The Sun reported Monday.

The Ministry of Defense and the Department for Work and Pensions -- each of which handles sensitive and confidential information -- had the worst records, the Sun said.

"It demonstrates a culture of carelessness that ministers have done nothing to curtail," said Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Paul Holmes, calling the loss "staggering."

The missing computer equipment proves the government "can't be trusted with our personal information," Holmes said.

Seoul -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday his country will suffer its first period of negative economic growth in a decade.

Lee blamed the situation on the global financial problem, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"On an annual basis, Korea may attain some economic growth, but may undergo economic contraction in the first and second quarters," Lee said. "Few countries worldwide will attain economic growth between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The Korean economy will also hit rock bottom in the first half."

Seoul's Finance Ministry had reported last week that the South Korean economy would grow about 3 percent next year despite the global economic downturn, Yonhap reported.

Copyri

Los Angeles -- A 2009 calendar focused on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the top office product supply item being sold on Amazon.com, figures indicate.

The Los Angeles Times reported Friday the calendar produced by a former deputy mayor of Wasilla, the Alaskan city where Palin previously served as mayor, has edged out a pair of scissors for the company's top office sales spot.

Exact sales numbers were not reported.
Former Wasilla official Judy Patrick created the Palin calendar for the new year using photographs she had of the former Republican vice presidential candidate, the Times said.

Among the more than 50 photographs featured of the Alaska politician in the calendar are images of Palin with her family and at public events. The calendar cover evens shows Palin in relaxed clothing with a shotgun resting on her shoulder.

London -- British Culture Secretary Andy Burnham says his country and the world should employ a ratings system for Internet sites akin to movie ratings.

The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday that Burnham intends to hold talks with the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama about the proposal of an online decency crackdown.

Burnham said an international ratings effort would help contain instances of indecency online, along with copyright and libel incidents.

"If you look back at the people who created the Internet, they talked very deliberately about creating a space that governments couldn't reach. I think we are having to revisit that stuff seriously now," he said. "It's true across the board in terms of content, harmful content and copyright. Libel is (also) an emerging issue.

Tokyo -- Japan's Cabinet Wednesday approved a record-high 2009 budget to fight the nation's economic downturn, officials said.

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso will submit the 88,548 billion yen budget to the ordinary Diet session around Jan. 19 after presenting the already approved 4.79 trillion yen second extra budget for fiscal 2008.

Aso said the budget is "a bold measure to protect people's livelihoods." Kyodo reported.

"When we face abnormal economic conditions, we need an extraordinary step,'' he said.

Speaking to reporters, Aso warned the opposition that controls the House of Councilors, the upper house of the bicameral Diet, against blocking the budget's passage.

''I am aware of calls for an election or political realignment but we cannot waste time in tackling the crisis,'' he said.

Beijing -- The Chinese government says it will take measures to stimulate consumption and support foreign trade, including encouraging investment.

A document distributed after a meeting of China's State Council, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, outlined the plan, Xinhua reported.

The paper said to stimulate domestic consumption, efforts should be made to improve the rural circulation network, increase products available in rural markets, improve urban community service facilities, promote upgrades of durable goods, support development of circulation companies, stimulate consumption in holidays and through exhibitions, and step up supervision over product quality and safety.

The news agency said in fiscal year 2009, China's central government would increase its financial support for development of the rural circulation network and the service industry.

New York -- A councilman in New York says he wants to protect a group of wild South American parrots that for some reason are at home in the busy city.

Queens Councilman Tony Avella said he wants approval to have the typically warm-weather animals and their nests transferred if deemed necessary to ensure their safety from possible poachers of vandals, the New York Daily News said Monday.

The creator of pro-parrot legislation said by protecting the wild parrots living in New York's Brooklyn borough, area politicians would be helping nature.

"No matter what the economy is doing one way or the other, we should be mindful of the animals that share this planet with us," Avella said.

The parrots' nests have been blamed for causing power outages in the city, as well as delaying area construction projects.