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South Africans paused Tuesday to bid farewell to the country's first black president, but there was nothing somber about it. They sang and shouted and ululated, with some making themselves hoarse even before a memorial service at the country's biggest stadium.

Rudy Kurniawan, once considered one of the world's most formidable wine collectors, was convicted Wednesday of making cheap wine blends in his house and then passing them off as some of the rarest wines in the world, for thousands of dollars each, at auction.

The term "Rube Goldberg machine" has become shorthand for a convoluted contraption made up of a series of chain reactions. But Goldberg was also a real person, whose ideas for whimsical devices have captivated imaginations for decades.

The Hunger Games has been a huge success, and the film adaptation is only weeks away. Now, publishers are looking for the next big dystopian hit.

This week, a group of scientists sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency urging farmers to stop planting genetically engineered corn with a certain gene because it will no longer protect them from the corn rootworm. If the recommendations are put into practice, it could cause major changes in the way that seed companies like Monsanto do business.

The elite athletes who travel to London for this summer's Olympic Games will include petite gymnasts, huge wrestlers — and elite horses, which compete in dressage and other events. The man whose job it is to get 50-60 horses to England says, "It's quite a logistical feat."

European nations have pledged to cut off oil imports from Iran beginning Sunday, tightening the sanctions that target Iran's nuclear program. Iran is expected to feel the squeeze — but the move could also push up world oil prices.

The former head of the bank Bob Diamond apologized for "reprehensible behavior" in testimony before a British parliamentary committee Wednesday. But he complained the bank had been unfairly singled out for manipulating banking loan interest rates.

It's become a pattern: On the first Friday of the month, the Labor Department issues a disappointing economic report. Republicans cite it as proof of President Obama's failed policies. The White House urges everyone to focus on the glass half full. And both sides miss the broader picture.

Members of Congress have left town for their July 4 recess but Washington is still reacting to the Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama's health care law. Each party is looking for ways to use the decision to its advantage in the fall campaign.