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Hasselbeck, 36, a conservative who often clashed with the show's other presenters, including former co-host and liberal Rosie O'Donnell, will wrap up her 10-year run on Wednesday, ABC said in a statement.

"She stood behind her political views even if they were not the most popular opinions at the table, never shying away from voicing a difficult question," ABC said in the statement.

Hasselbeck's departure comes after veteran TV journalist Barbara Walters said in May that she would retire in the summer of 2014. Co-host and comedian Joy Behar said she would leave the show after the current season concludes on August 9.

Reports emerged in March that Hasselbeck was leaving "The View" when the current season ends in August, but ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Co., responded by saying Hasselbeck was under a long-term contract.

Hasselbeck will replace Gretchen Carlson in mid-September on "Fox & Friends" and will join co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade.

"She has proven to be an excellent conversationalist and I am certain she will make a great addition to our already successful morning franchise," Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said.

Carlson, 47, will anchor a one-hour daytime show on News Corp-owned Fox News Channel in the fall.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Mary Milliken and Stacey Joyce)

A investigation carried out by the team in the wake of the Nuerburgring incident found that Webber's car was released prematurely because a 'go' signal was sent accidentally by the right rear wheel man.

The report, sent to all teams and the governing FIA, revealed that the right rear nut cross-threaded as the wheel went on during a German Grand Prix pitstop that lasted less than three seconds.

When the mechanic with the wheel gun removed the nut to put another on, the gun slipped in his hand and he accidentally depressed a trigger that sent a 'go' signal to the man on the front jack.

The car was then cleared to leave the pits even though the rear wheel was unattached.

Red Bull said they would revise the design of the wheelgun to ensure that, if it accidentally rotated in the mechanic's hands, the 'go' signal could not be sent by accident.

The front jack man would also be instructed to hold the car, in the event of any problem, until receiving a clear signal that all wheels had been changed.

British cameraman Paul Allen, working for Formula One Management, suffered a broken collarbone and fractured ribs after being hit in the back by the bouncing 10kg wheel.

The incident has led to a clampdown on access to the pit lane during the race weekend.

The International Automobile Federation decreed this week that media would be restricted to the pit wall and only authorised team personnel and event marshals would be allowed in the pitlane during qualifying and the race.

The BBC reported that FOM has subsequently told broadcasters the measures will also apply to all free practice sessions on safety grounds.

Starting with books, movies and TV shows video products, Amazon will include mobile phones and cameras in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Under the marketplace model, the U.S. company will offer a platform for third parties and consumers to sell and buy products. Foreign companies are currently not allowed to directly offer online retailing in India.

Amazon already runs a price comparison portal, junglee.com, in India.

(Writing by Ranjit Gangadharan in Mumbai; Editing by Anand Basu)

Obama's senior energy and climate adviser, Heather Zichal, said the plan would boost energy efficiency of appliances and buildings, plus expand renewable energy. She also said the Environmental Protection Agency was preparing to use its authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants.

"The EPA has been working very hard on rules that focus specifically on greenhouse gases from the coal sector," Zichal said.

Zichal, speaking at a forum hosted by The New Republic in Washington, said that none of the proposals would require new funding or action from Congress. It has shown no appetite for legislation that would put a price on carbon dioxide after a White House-backed bill to set up a market-based system died in Obama's first term with Democrats in charge.

The plan, with details expected to be made public in coming weeks, comes as Obama has been under increasing pressure from environmental groups and lawmakers from states harmed by Superstorm Sandy to cut pollution from existing power plants, the largest source of climate-altering gases. Several major environmental groups and states have threatened to sue the administration to force cuts to power plant emissions. And just last week, former Vice President Al Gore, a prominent climate activist and fellow Democrat, pointedly called on Obama to go beyond "great words" to "great actions."

It was unclear whether the White House's plans would include controls on existing power plants. An administration official, who wasn't authorized to comment on the plan by name, said the White House was still weighing it. But since the administration has already proposed action on future power plants, the law would likely compel it to eventually tackle the remaining plants, or it would be forced to through litigation.

Obama's remarks in Berlin echoed comments he made in his State of the Union and inaugural speeches this year.

"This is the global threat of our time," Obama said Wednesday. "And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work."

Some environmentalists who cheered those remarks when they were made months ago, criticized them Wednesday.

"President Obama deserves praise for including climate change among the long-term threats facing us all," said Ned Helme, president of the Center for Clear Air Policy, an environmentally friendly think tank. "But he should do more than talk about the problem. The president needs to put the full force of his office behind new regulations that will truly curb greenhouse gas emissions. For too long now, he has produced little action. I'm encouraged that he will finally act and not just ask."

Meanwhile, the environmental community is growing impatient.

"I really can't understand why they haven't moved forward on this more quickly, and we hope that turns around," said Nathan Wilcox of Environment America.

An orchestrated and well-publicized campaign to persuade Obama to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would carry oil extracted from tar sands in western Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast, appears to be an uphill battle.

Opponents call the $7 billion project a "carbon bomb" that would carry "dirty oil" and exacerbate global warming. But the State Department in an environmental evaluation concluded that other means of transporting the oil would be worse from a climate perspective.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

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Follow Dina Cappiello on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dinacappiello and Josh Lederman at www.twitter.com/joshledermanAP

THE NUMBERS: Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average 30-year loan rate dipped to 3.31 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1971. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage dropped to 2.63 percent, also a record.

HOUSING RECOVERY: Home sales and construction are rising, providing a much-needed boost to the economy. Lower rates have also persuaded more people to refinance. That usually leads to lower monthly mortgage payments and more consumer spending.

LONDON (Reuters) - After killing off Batman's Robin and re-inventing the X-Men, Scottish comic book writer Grant Morrison is looking for other superhuman legends to transform with his pen.

Morrison - who has also taken on Spiderman and Superman in a 25-year career - has decided to leave the caped crusader in the hands of other writers after the final issue of his "BATMAN, INCORPORATED" DC Comics series comes out this month.

"The seven years has exhausted everything I ever had to say about the character," Morrison told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Morrison, 53, said his final iteration of Batman had used ideas from the character's entire journey from the crime fighter created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane in 1939 through his slapstick portrayal in the 1960s US TV series to director Christopher Nolan's brooding 2008 "Dark Knight" film.

"Batman seems to be endlessly pliable and malleable in that he can assume all kinds of guises from the comedy pop-up Batman of the 60s to the very militaristic, realistic, trending Batman of Christopher Nolan," Morrison said.

In his latest guise, the writer created a Robin character who was the son of Batman by the daughter of a master criminal.

Raised by a criminal gang to rule the world, Robin discovered his true father was Batman, decided to become a superhero but died saving the planet at the tender age of 10.

"The story was always going to be about this little kid's journey from being trained by assassins and raised by an evil cabal of people finding out that he is the son of Batman and trying to live up to that legacy," he said. "The story for that character was always that he would die in the end."

Morrison likened his efforts to reinvent the pantheon of superheroes to the evolution of the King Arthur and Robin Hood legends passed down through oral tradition.

"I think it's important to basically find what was the core of the character and then to see how that applies to the way we think in the real world and see if it can be updated and matched to interests and ideas that people have in a contemporary setting," he said.

His next projects include a re-working of Wonder Woman and a series called "MULTIVERSITY", where superheroes exist in parallel universes. In one alternative scenario, Hitler won the war and Superman is a Nazi. In another, superheroes have vanquished evil and their gifted children have nothing to do.

Morrison, whose popularity is so vast he had his own comic book convention last year in Las Vegas, said his interest in American comics came out of a childhood spent near a naval base, which once had a huge American presence.

"We were getting comics and records and a very strong American influence for a long time, for the entire postwar period right into the 80s," he said.

"Once you consider that, it's not much of a surprise that I grew up with American culture and American superheroes looming very large in my life."

His favorite childhood character was The Flash.

"The whole notion of super speed and that beautiful red costume that he wore really appealed. But the character that gave me the most joy to write has been Superman and the character that has given me the most intellectual pleasure to write has been Batman."

So why are comic books so dark these days?

Morrison says it is partly older readers looking for more mature story lines, partly the darker movies in cinemas and partly the profusion of apocalyptic videogames.

"I wouldn't say it's only comics," he said. "To be honest our whole entertainment system seems to be obsessed with the end of the world."

(Corrects name of series to MULTIVERSITY)

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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To figure that out, we first had to define what we meant by reform. We came up with three options, dealing with the two laws that enable the surveillance. The first law is the Patriot Act, passed in October 2001 and revised in 2006 to allow the collection of phone records. The second is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was amended in 2008 to approve the government's surveillance of online activity.

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So how do both chambers of Congress break down? Overall, not well. In the graphs below, the red slices show the number of members of Congress opposed to the reform. The blue slices are those in support.

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LONDON (Reuters) - When Andy Murray lost his first three grand slam finals without winning a set, it seemed he was destined to join a long line of 'Brave Brits' whose career would be defined by near misses.

Many predicted that when he finally hung up his racket, he would simply tag on the end of the queue which was already heaving with such tennis luminaries as Bunny Austin, Roger Taylor, John Lloyd, Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman.

Fred Perry's standing as the last British player to win a grand slam title, in 1936, looked like it would stretch on to another generation.

But just when British fans were starting to despair, Murray decided to seek out a new coach and dialed the number of a tennis great who had barely been seen around a court in 18 years.

The fact that that man happened to be Ivan Lendl - a player whose love-hate relationship with Wimbledon went to extremes - certainly raised eyebrows within the tennis fraternity.

What had initially seemed like a crazy idea has turned out to be a masterstroke because over the course of 18 months, the Czech-turned-American plotted Murray's path to glory in arguably the greatest ever era for men's tennis.

First came the Olympic gold amid joyful scenes at the All England Club last August, then the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows and finally on Sunday Murray got his hands on the ultimate prize in tennis - the Wimbledon men's trophy.

"He believed in me when a lot of people didn't," said Murray whose calm demeanor on Sunday was in stark contrast to 12 months ago when he ended up being a tearful wreck after finishing runner-up to Roger Federer.

"He stuck by me through... obviously some tough losses the last couple of years. He's been very patient with me. I'm just happy I managed to do it for him. He would have loved to have won here... but I think this was the next best thing for him."

When Murray lost to Federer in the final last July, his career path seemed to be mirroring Lendl's who also lost his first four major finals.

FAMOUSLY BOYCOTTED

Lendl famously boycotted Wimbledon in 1982 after declaring "grass is for cows" but a decade later winning Wimbledon became an all-encompassing, yet ultimately futile, obsession for him.

The lessons Lendl learnt from his own failures, however, fuelled his desire to help Murray succeed and end Britain's marathon wait for a men's champion at Wimbledon.

"He's made me learn more from the losses that I've had than maybe I did in the past," explained the 26-year-old following his win over Novak Djokovic.

"He's always told me exactly what he thought. And in tennis, it's not always that easy to do in a player/coach relationship.

"The player is sometimes the one in charge. But he's been extremely honest with me. If I work hard, he's happy. If I don't, he's disappointed and he'll tell me."

When Lendl came on board, it was not as if he had to tinker too much with Murray's arsenal. The weapons were all there and his fitness regime was already bordering on the extreme - with Murray famously training on Christmas Day in the Miami heat.

However, Lendl has left an indelible mark on Murray's on-court demeanor, which used to swing to extremes.

Whereas Murray used to become 'Mr Desperate' or 'Mr Angry' when things were not going his way - often drawing blood from his knuckles as he bashed his fist against his racket strings - Lendl has taught him how to stay 'Mr Cool' even when the going gets tough.

That approach means that under Lendl, Murray has finally fulfilled the promise he showed when he won the boy's title at the U.S. Open in 2004 as a 17-year-old tyro.

After single-handedly shouldering the hopes of 60 million Britons for almost a decade, Murray now hopes it will not take another lifetime for Britain to find a worthy Wimbledon successor.

"With the amount of money that's invested in the sport in this country, then it shouldn't take another 70 odd years. I would hope that it wouldn't be that long again," he added before heading off to the Wimbledon champions' ball.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

One of Anthony Weiners rivals in the New York City mayoral race is trying to make an issue of the former congressmans dating history, suggesting that Weiner would lose political support if his ex-girlfriends were to speak out publicly.

Republican Joe Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and close adviser to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, speculated about Weiners romantic past during a Monday radio interview with The Andrea Tantaros Show.

I hope (women) will come to the right conclusion after enough women come out and talk about what it was like to be with him and date him and things like that, Lhota said on the show, . New York women have to decide for themselves if this is someone who has the character to be mayor.

Lhotas attack comes barely a week after , arguing in an email to supporters that the ex-lawmaker lacks the ethics to be the citys chief executive.

Like me, Im sure that you had hoped to have seen the last of Anthony Weiner when he resigned from Congress following an illicit sexual Twitter scandal and botched cover up, but hes back and desperate for political redemption, Lhota wrote. But its the same old story with Anthony Weiner. First, he lies to the public, the press and his family. And then he makes up his own facts. This is a pattern that is simply unacceptable.

A spokeswoman for Weiner did not respond to a request for comment, but Weiner had previously dismissed Lhotas attacks by insisting hes focused on more pressing issues.

So far only two of Weiner's rivalsLhota and Democrat Sal Albanese, a former City Council member who registers at just 1 percenthave brought up the sexting scandal that forced Weiner out of Congress in 2011. The former lawmaker, who was caught sending salacious messages to women who were not his wife, has repeatedly apologized. He launched his mayoral bid in May byand asking the public for a second chance.

Weiner is married to Huma Abedin, a top aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The couple wed in July 2010, a year before the sexting scandal broke. Abedin is an active supporter of her husband's mayoral run.

But an open question remains over when or if Weiners other rivals will bring up the sexting controversyespecially as he continues to move up in the polls ahead of the Sept. 10 Democratic primary. A spokesman for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who had been the front-runner before Weiner entered the race, declined to say whether she thinks its a relevant issue, while the other campaigns have not returned repeated calls seeking comment.