WASHINGTON – Star light, star bright. The first star grew fast, but began slight. The first cosmological object formed in the universe was a tiny protostar with a mass of about 1 percent of our sun, according to U.S. and Japanese researchers who spent years developing a complex computer simulation …

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A member of the infamous “Texas 7” gang of escaped fugitives was executed Thursday for killing a Dallas-area police officer during their weeks on the run. Michael Rodriguez, who had dropped all appeals and volunteered for lethal injection, apologized profusely to the officer’s widow and his own …

Real news from the virtual world: — RIDE THE LIGHTNING: Activision’s “Guitar Hero World Tour” is one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated games, but the company has big news for fans who can’t wait for that: Metallica will be releasing its next album, “Death Magnetic,” as a “Guitar Hero …

JERUSALEM – When Barack Obama comes to Israel this week, he’s going to find plenty of skeptics wondering whether such a foreign policy neophyte has what it takes to finally nail down a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Democratic presidential hopeful has already gotten himself into hot water over …

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Authorities questioned witnesses yesterday in the killing of a U.S. diplomat shot in a drive-by attack as he returned from a New Year’s Eve party in the Sudanese capital. The United States sent its own investigators to the country. One woman said she rushed to help the …

LONDON – Scotland Yard started an investigation Wednesday into a video that allegedly shows troubled British singer Amy Winehouse smoking crack. The British tabloid, The Sun, released grainy footage showing Grammy-nominated Winehouse, 24, inhaling fumes from a pipe. The video was reportedly shot hours before she attended a court hearing …

This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” February 22, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: International singing sensation Shakira is here. She has sold more than 50 million CDs. She is one of the …

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a con man police call “The Honeymoon Bandit” is back to working his magic — wooing women and swindling them out of their money, MyFoxDetroit.com reported. His real name is Clifford Garrison. But to the nine wives and countless other girlfriends he’s romanced over …

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. – A 17-mile stretch of Interstate 70 has been closed in western Colorado after a rock slide punched gaping holes in a bridge and left huge boulders on the highway. The slide struck around midnight Sunday near the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon, a deep and …

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 12-year-old Haitian boy is in Fort Lauderdale to get treatment for a massive cancerous tumor on his neck. It’s the first time Esthelhomme Peterson and mother Denise Artiste have ever left their impoverished homeland. The trip was arranged by Broward General Medical Center nurse, Lauren …