That's right, even if Internet retailers don't collect sales tax at the time of the purchase, you're required by law to pay it in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

Here's the problem for states: hardly anyone pays the tax, and there's not much states can do about it.

The Senate is expected to pass a bill Monday making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases. Some of the nation's largest retailers are rejoicing. But small-business owners who make their living selling products on the Internet worry they will be swamped by new requirements from faraway states.

"It's a huge burden for a company like ours," said Sarah Davis, co-owner of Fashionphile.com, a California-based company that sells high-end pre-owned handbags and purses. "We don't have an accounting department, we've got my father-in-law."

Davis started the company in 1999 and now runs it with her brother-in-law. They have 26 workers and three stores, in Beverly Hills, San Diego and San Francisco. Last year, Fashionphile.com did $10 million in sales, the vast majority of it online, Davis said.

Fashionphile.com sells bags directly from its website and on eBay. The company collects sales taxes from customers who live in California, but not from people who live in other states, Davis said. Under the law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state.

That means big retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target, with stores all over the country collect sales taxes when they sell goods over the Internet. But eBay, Amazon and other online retailers don't have to collect sales taxes, except in states where they have offices or distribution centers.

As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

But the purchases aren't really tax free under the law.

In states with sales taxes, if you buy something from an out-of-state retailer and don't pay taxes, you are supposed to pay those taxes when you file your state tax return, said Neal Osten, director the Washington office of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Only Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no sales tax. Alaska has no state sales tax but does have local ones.

Unpaid sales taxes are usually referred to as "use taxes" on state income tax returns. Use taxes apply to purchases made over Internet, from catalogs, television and radio ads and purchases made directly from out-of-state companies. State officials, however, complain that few people pay these taxes, Olsten said.

"I do know about three people that comply with that," says Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the main sponsor of the Senate bill.

Enzi's bill would empower states to require businesses to collect taxes for products they sell on the Internet, in catalogs and through radio and TV ads. Under the bill, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.

Businesses with less than $1 million a year in out-of-state sales would be exempt.

The Senate is expected to pass Enzi's bill Monday. Already, the measure has survived three procedural votes. President Barack Obama supports it, but the bill faces an uncertain fate in the House where some Republicans consider it a tax increase.

Supporters say the bill is about fairness for local businesses that already collect sales taxes, and lost revenue for states. Many governors, both Republicans and Democrats, have lobbied the federal government for years for the authority to collect sales taxes from online sales.

The issue is getting bigger for states as more people make purchases online. Last year, Internet sales in the U.S. totaled $226 billion, nearly 16 percent more than the previous year, according to Commerce Department estimates.

States lost a total of $23 billion last year because they couldn't collect taxes on out-of-state sales, according to a study by three business professors at the University of Tennessee. About $11.4 billion was lost from Internet sales; the rest came from purchases made through catalogs, mail orders and telephone orders, the study said.

The study was done for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"This is a sales and use tax which is on the books," said Michael Kercheval, president and CEO of the International Council of Shopping Centers. "This isn't a tax issue. It's a tax collection issue."

Kercheval's group is part of a broad coalition of retailers that supports Enzi's bill, including Internet giant Amazon, which says it wants a uniform national policy for collecting taxes on Internet sales.

Supporters say the bill makes it relatively easy for Internet retailers to comply. States must provide free computer software to help retailers calculate sales taxes, based on where shoppers live. States also must establish a single entity to receive Internet sales tax revenue, so retailers don't have to send them to individual counties or cities.

"The same software that allows people to figure out shipping costs by ZIP code can figure out what the taxes are," Kercheval said.

Opponents say the bill doesn't do enough to protect small businesses. EBay wants to exempt businesses with less than $10 million in sales or fewer than 50 employees.

"Complying and living under the tax laws of 50 states is a major undertaking because the process of complying with tax law goes far beyond just filling out the right forms," said Brian Bieron, eBay's senior director of global public policy. "You have to deal with the fact that all of these government agencies can audit you and can question you and can actually take you into court and sue you if they think you are doing something wrong."

Davis, the co-owner of Fashionphile.com, said even with free computer software, her business doesn't have the manpower to separate sales taxes for each state and meet each state's deadline to send in the money.

"We collect and pay sales tax here in California and we're happy to do that. We receive benefit from that. We can influence lawmakers locally on how those taxes are spent and how much those are and how they're collected," Davis said.

"I don't feel the same about Indiana."

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Shares of the online professional networking service fell $21.67, or 10.8 percent, to $180 after hours. The stock had closed above $200 for the first time after hitting a record high of $202.91 earlier in the day in anticipation of the results.

LinkedIn Corp. earned $22.6 million, or 20 cents per share, in the first quarter. That's up from $5 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 45 cents per share in the latest quarter, well above analysts' expectations of 30 cents.

Revenue grew 72 percent to $324.7 million from $188.5 million. Analysts, on average, had expected revenue of $317.6 million, according to a poll by FactSet.

LinkedIn went public in May 2011 at a share price of $45. Its stock has soared since as the company has consistently beat expectations with its results. As of Thursday's closing, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's stock was up 75.6 percent year to date, compared with a 12 percent increase for the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

LinkedIn has thrived by establishing itself as the go-to place for employers to find talented workers and for people to get job tips and other advice to manage their careers. It doesn't cost anything for people to set up a professional profile on the site the company makes most of its money by charging employers and headhunters for analytical tools and additional access to LinkedIn profiles and the site, such as the ability to send messages to users.

LinkedIn's forecast for the current quarter and the full year implied that its winning streak could end. The company said it expects revenue between $342 million and $347 million for the April-June period. Analysts had forecast $360 million.

For the full year, LinkedIn expects revenue of $1.43 billion to $1.46 billion, an increase of its previous guidance range by $20 million but still below analysts' forecast of $1.5 billion.

Another figure that likely gave investors pause is LinkedIn's EBITDA forecast, said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. The company expects this figure earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be $330 million to $345 million for the full year, below analysts' expectations of $363 million.

LinkedIn said it has 225 million members, up from 202 million at the end of last year.

The owner of the Sno Cone Joe franchisetelling the man, You dont have a chance! This is my town!

The Gloversville, N.Y., police arrested Malatino after they spotted him tailgating the rival driver. They then charged him with harassment and misdemeanor stalking. He could face three months in prison if convicted.

So, was this a low-level mob ice cream operation attempting to enforce its turf, or just one mans sugary meltdown? Police arent saying, but they do acknowledge Malatino has been in trouble with authorities in the past.

Malatino, 34, and his 21-year-old girlfriend, Amanda Scott, reportedly had shadowed the rival ice cream truck driver and attempted to block his sales.

Police said Malatino and Scott would yell out Free ice cream! to potential customers making their way to the rival Mr. Ding-a-ling truck.

Malatino allegedly even called Mr. Ding-a-Ling headquarters, yelling, I own this town, and insisting that his business controls the ice cream sales market in the city of Gloversville."

According to the , Mr. Ding-a-Ling has been operating ice cream trucks in the New York area for more than 30 years, with 66 trucks currently in action.

"We warned him before that this type of behavior would not be tolerated," Capt. John Sira told the paper. "This is a pretty open market here in Gloversville as long as you have a permit."

As strange as this tale may be, its not the only case of an ice cream rivalry gone too far. In 2012,over their respective turfs, resulting in several arrests.

Only 10 percent of those surveyed in the online poll said the United States should become involved in the fighting. Sixty-one percent opposed getting involved.

The figure favoring intervention rose to 27 percent when respondents were asked what the United States should do if President Bashar al-Assad's forces used chemical weapons. Forty-four percent would be opposed.

"Particularly given Afghanistan and the 10th anniversary of Iraq, there is just not an appetite for intervention," said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark.

The rebellion against Assad's government has resulted in 70,000 dead and created more than 1.2 million refugees since it erupted in 2011.

President Barack Obama has shied away from deep U.S. involvement, although he declared last year that the use or deployment of chemical weapons by Assad's government would cross a "red line."

Obama said on Tuesday there was evidence those weapons had been used, but too much is still unknown for Washington to do more than provide the non-lethal aid it is already sending to the Syrian rebels.

Obama did not rule out action - military or otherwise - against Assad's government. But he repeatedly stressed he would not allow himself to be pressured prematurely into deeper intervention in Syria's two-year-old civil war.

Many Americans are still oblivious to events in Syria. The poll found that about one-third, or 36 percent, had neither heard nor read anything about the civil war there.

Only 8 percent said they had heard or read a great deal and 19 percent said they had heard or read a "fair amount."

The online poll of 519 Americans aged 18 and over was conducted from April 26-May 1. The survey has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Alistair Bell and Philip Barbara)

By now, the trend lines are clear. In 1998, we found 164 swing seatsdistricts within 5 points of the national partisan average, with scores between R+5 and D+5 (a score of R+5 means the districts vote for the Republican presidential nominees was 5 percentage points above the national average). The data 15 years ago showed just 148 solidly Republican districts and 123 solidly Democratic seats. Today, only 90 swing seats remaina 45 percent declinewhile the number of solidly Republican districts has risen to 186 and the count of solidly Democratic districts is up to 159.

In 1998, the median Democratic-held district had a PVI score of D+7, and the median Republican-held district had a PVI score of R+7pretty partisan, but far from monolithic. Today, those median numbers are D+12 and R+10, and that 22-point gulf is the main structural driver of the political paralysis we lament today. Not coincidentally, the most Democratic and the most Republican House districts have never been further apartDemocratic Rep. Jose Serranos Bronx seat in New York City is D+43 on our scale, and Republican Rep. Mac Thornberrys Texas Panhandle district is R+32a 75-point chasm.

How did we get here as a country? Debates rage at political-science conferences: Are voters aligning in like-minded areas, or is blatant partisan gerrymandering to blame? Our newest index points mostly to the former, which has in turn amplified the power of the latter. In 2011 and 2012, redistricting diminished the number of swing seats from 103 to 99. But when we factored in the 2012 election results, the count fell more sharply, from 99 to 90.

In fact, setting aside redistricting, we found that 76 percent of Democratic-held House seats had grown even more Democratic in the past four years and 60 percent of GOP-held seats had grown even more Republican. Some districts swung dramatically, mostly along racial lines. Republican Rep. Hal Rogerss 96 percent white district in eastern Kentucky jumped from R+16 to R+25, and Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchezs 82 percent nonwhite district in Orange County, Calif., moved from D+3 to D+9.

Theres no question this phenomenon has benefited Republicans. Observing Democrats trying to win a House majority today is akin to watching a soccer team play a comparably skilled opponent with the field slanted 25 degrees against them. Thanks to the concentrated nature of the Democratic vote, Republicans have always occupied at least two dozen more solidly partisan districts than Democrats. But the rise in ironclad districts forces Democrats to win a near-impossible share of whats left just to even the score.

For Democrats, the additional bad news is that the range of what ought to be called a true swing seat might be shrinking. In 1998, Democrats held 15 of the 53 districts rated between R+2 and R+5, and Republicans held nine of 43 districts rated between D+2 and D+5. In other words, candidates on the wrong side of the lean of these leaning districts used to win a quarter of the time. But in 2013, Democrats hold just four of the 36 districts between R+2 and R+5, and Republicans hold zero of the 19 seats between D+2 and D+5just a 7 percent crossover success rate.

By any measure, the House is now more sorted along partisan lines than ever. Using 2012 presidential results, only 17 Republicans represent districts carried by President Obama, and only nine Democrats represent districts carried by Mitt Romney. Using PVI scores, 18 Democrats hold districts that are more Republican than the national average, and only five Republicans hold seats that are more Democratica level of exposure that should sober Democrats who want to focus all of their partys energies on offense in 2014.

Why arent voters splitting their tickets like they used to? Many theories, backed with compelling arguments, are floating around. But heres one: As local print-news readership has declined precipitously in the Internet age, fewer voters are gaining exposure to individual candidates backgrounds and qualifications, and party labels have become an even-more-salient cue at the ballot box. To win on GOP terrain in 2014, Democrats need to localize a lot of races, but that has become much more difficult than it was just 10 years ago.

Our survey found one silver lining for Democrats in the new batch of PVI data: At the statewide level, 272 Electoral College votesa majorityare now in Democratic-leaning states, to just 253 in Republican-leaning states, because Colorado shifted from Even to D+1 and Virginia moved from R+2 to Even. But at the congressional-district level, the tightening vise around swing seats is mostly squeezing Democrats.

The Pittsburgh Penguins' captain has learned to deal with the dull ache left by multiple dental procedures. The cumbersome mask he'll be forced to wear whenever he returns is another matter entirely.

Crosby participated in non-contact drills Friday, his first practice with his teammates since breaking his jaw on March 30. Yet Crosby remains vague on when he'll be cleared to play and his status for next week's playoff opener remains uncertain.

"It's not really up to me to be honest with you," Crosby said. "It's something the (doctors) have to feel comfortable with the healing and that kind of thing. As soon as they say the word I'll be ready to go."

The Penguins have survived just fine despite missing Crosby for the final quarter of the season.

Pittsburgh heads into Saturday's regular season finale against Carolina with the NHL's Eastern Conference top seed already secure. Fueled by newcomers Brenden Morrow, Jossi Jokinen and Jarome Iginla all acquired at the trade deadline the Penguins have gone 7-4 in Crosby's absence, including losses this week to Buffalo and New Jersey in relatively meaningless games.

Watching his team thrive while he's relegated to wearing a suit and peering down on the ice from the box has been difficult. Yet it's also been a revelation of sorts. As vital as the NHL's second-leading scorer is to Pittsburgh's fortunes, Crosby knows the Penguins no longer need Crosby on the ice to be competitive.

"I think it's been a great transition," Crosby said. "I think we're playing good hockey when we want to be and I think we should be happy and know that we're ready to head into the playoffs."

Crosby managed to keep his weight up despite the layoff and the limitations on his diet brought on by the jaw problems. He appeared just fine while buzzing around with his teammates, particularly on the power play unit. Yet he was sure to avoid grinding things out in the corner or putting himself in a vulnerable position. He's currently sporting a large plastic shield over the jaw, and the unwieldy nature of his new gear has proven troublesome.

"You're definitely trying to find something that is going to protect you but at the same time you want to be able to see the puck and that kind of thing," Crosby said. "That's what I'm using right now but that might change depending on being able to adjust to it."

Coach Dan Bylsma, like Crosby, declined to pinpoint a target date for Crosby's familiar No. 87 to get back on the ice.

"It's good to have him in practice and a step to have him in practice in a non-contact way and have him out there with the group but there's not a timeline," Bylsma said.

The Penguins can afford to wait a little while longer. A scheduling conflict at Consol Energy Center means the team won't likely open the playoffs until Wednesday. That additional 24 hours could give Crosby's jaw another 24 hours to heal convince the doctors that he's out of any danger.

Though Crosby isn't quite ready to go, defenseman Paul Martin (hand) and forward James Neal (concussion) will play on Saturday against the Hurricanes. Martin has missed 12 games while Neal hasn't played since April 5 after taking an elbow to the head from New York Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto.

"Any time you miss time due to injury you want to get your feel back as quickly as possible when you start playing again," Neal said.

Crosby's absence will allow Bylsma to continue to tinker with Pittsburgh's lines trying to find the right combination. Crosby anchored the most productive line in hockey alongside Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis before getting hurt and the addition of so many new faces has forced Bylsma to get creative.

The only group that appears to be set is the third line, where Brandon Sutter, Matt Cooke and Morrow will give the Penguins some thump. The first, second and fourth lines remain very much a work in progress.

Yet there are worse problems to have. Though Crosby will sit out the regular season finale, barring a setback he's almost certain to play in the opening round. The Penguins will enter the postseason as the overwhelming favorite in the East. The pressure will only mount whenever Crosby laces up his skates. That's OK with the Penguins. That's the way they prefer it.

"I've never been in a dressing room that didn't expect to win a Cup," Murray said. "I think we know what lays ahead and when Sid's ready, we'll be ready to have him."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton, already the front-runner in the minds of many Democrats for the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is writing a memoir about world affairs and her time as secretary of state that will likely fuel more speculation about her political future.

The presidential prospects of Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, are a subject of feverish speculation in Washington and elsewhere as Democrats look to see over the horizon past President Barack Obama.

The book, her fifth, is to be published next year, and a tour to promote the memoir in 2014 would serve only to generate more guessing about her plans for 2016.

Her inner circle insists Clinton has made no decision one way or the other. This has not stopped the formation of a "Ready for Hillary" political action committee to promote her potential candidacy and seek volunteers and monetary contributions.

Among the subjects Clinton will explore are the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the overthrow of the Qaddafi regime in Libya, the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, diplomacy pertaining to Iran and North Korea and relations with U.S. allies.

"Hillary Clinton's extraordinary public service has given her a unique perspective on recent history and the challenges we face," said Jonathan Karp, president and publisher of the Simon & Schuster Publishing Group who will edit Clinton's as-yet untitled book.

The book will also address trends in economics, energy and climate change, democracy and human rights, the critical role of women and girls, technology and innovation and health and human development, Simon & Schuster said on Thursday.

When she left the State Department February 1, Clinton, 66, had been suffering from a blood clot near her brain. She said she needed some time to rest and to settle on ways she can help women and children in the United States and around the world.

She is now re-emerging. Last month she announced that she now supports marriage rights for gay Americans. Back when she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 she had backed civil unions for gay couples.

On Tuesday night in Washington, she spoke about global women's rights at an event held by the non-governmental organization Vital Voices, sharing the stage with a potential 2016 rival, Vice President Joe Biden.

She will give her first paid speech in Dallas on April 24, the day before she attends ceremonies there marking the opening of George W. Bush's presidential library.

Polls show Clinton as the runaway frontrunner at this stage among Democrats for their party's 2016 presidential nomination and that she leads all potential Republican contenders, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

(Additional reporting by Chris Michaud in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by Jackie Frank)

There hasn't been a loss yet. It sure is a joyous time to be a Cardinal.

The women got a pep talk from men's coach Rick Pitino after they lost to Notre Dame in the Big East tournament and they haven't lost since, beating Cal 64-57 on Sunday night to advance to the school's second NCAA championship game.

The women's players gathered at a New Orleans restaurant to watch the men beat Wichita State on Saturday and will be watching again Monday night when the men play Michigan for the title.

"The way I look at it, I think the men are trying to feed off of our success," women's coach Jeff Walz said with a smirk before adding on a serious note that he'd received word from Atlanta that the Louisville men "were in the hotel lobby, jumping up and down and cheering for us."

Pitino texted Walz after their victory "congratulating us and telling me to tell the players what an unbelievable job they did."

And so they have.

Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma is well aware of what Louisville is going through right now.

Back in 2004, the men's and women's teams at UConn were playing for the national title and both came away victorious, the only time one school won both titles in the same season.

Now Louisville can do it again.

"If it were easy, it would have been done a lot of times, but the fact it's only been done once shows you how difficult it is to do," said Auriemma after his team routed Notre Dame 83-65 to reach the final. "At the same time, this has been a magical year for Louisville. ... It's just amazing what they've been able to do, so I think we're playing against Louisville and we're playing against a certain karma, maybe."

Auriemma's Huskies were finally able to shake off the Fighting Irish, thanks to an incredible effort by star freshman Breanna Stewart. She scored a career-high 29 points to go with four blocks and was seemingly everywhere.

"Given the stage, and what was at stake, I don't know that I've seen any bigger performance," said Auriemma. "I know there's been NCAA tournament games that we've had certain individuals play great, but I don't remember a player having a better game in this environment."

UConn will be going for its eighth championship Tuesday night, which would match Tennessee for the most in the women's college game.

No team has dominated the Huskies under Auriemma the way the Irish had over the past few seasons. UConn (34-4) had lost the previous two national semifinals to Notre Dame and dropped three thrilling games this season to their conference rival.

Stewart and her teammates wouldn't let it happen again, ending the brilliant career of Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins with a thud. Diggins finished with 10 points, going a dismal 3 for 15 from the field.

"Once you get here you're only going to beat great teams. And the reason Notre Dame has beaten us seven of the last eight times is because they're really, really good," Auriemma said. "For one night, that's what's great about the NCAA tournament, for one night, for just this night, we just needed to be better than them, and we were."

The Huskies built a 10-point halftime lead and Notre Dame (35-2) could only get within six in the second half as its school-record winning streak came to an end at 30 games.

UConn and Notre Dame have developed the best rivalry in women's basketball over the past few seasons, and this game might have been the final chapter between the two with the Irish heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

Two years ago, the Huskies won the first three meetings before Notre Dame shocked them in the national semifinals. The Irish had won seven of the previous eight meetings before Sunday night and this one, for once, started slowly. Notre Dame went nearly 7 minutes without a field goal, missing 14 consecutive shots, and neither team led by more than four over the first 16 minutes.

But trailing 26-25 with 3:44 left in the half, UConn started to take over. Bria Hartley, who has struggled all season while recovering from an ankle injury she suffered over the summer, was the spark. The junior guard started the spurt with a 3-pointer and added a nifty pull-up moments later to make it 32-26.

Diggins was 0 for 6 from the field in the first half as the Huskies harassed her all over the court. She scored the Irish's first two points on free throws and didn't have another point until getting a steal early in the second half and converting it for the easy layup to make it 42-35.

The two-time All-American tried to do everything she could to rally her team, twice chasing down Hartley on the break for a block, but her shots weren't falling and her team was falling behind.

UConn led 50-43 with 12:22 left before Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Stewart hit back-to-back 3s to give the Huskies their biggest lead. Notre Dame wasn't done, with star freshman Jewell Loyd scoring five points during a 9-2 run to get the Irish within 61-55.

But that was as close as they could get.

Stewart was the most heralded freshman coming into the season, but struggled through the middle part of the year. But ever since the Big East tournament she's been on a roll.

"Every player, especially young players, deal with things differently," Auriemma said. "And I think when the season ended, it just let the air out of the balloon and she said, 'Now I just want to play basketball.' My God, she was amazing tonight."

Now Stewart and the rest of the Huskies will get ready for the Cardinals, who have beaten Baylor, Tennessee and Cal their last three games to make it to the championship.

But that can wait until after Monday night when the Cardinals will watch the men's team try to win their own title.

___

Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fans of "Nurse Jackie," "Weeds," and "The Big C" will recognize the quirky lead of "The English Teacher" as she steps out of her straight-laced life to encounter unexpected consequences, the movie's director said in an interview.

In "The English Teacher," which has its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday, lead character Linda Sinclair, played by Julianne Moore, tries to mount a high school production of a play written by a former student (Michael Angarano) who has returned to his small hometown in Pennsylvania.

With the help of Nathan Lane as the high school's drama teacher and Greg Kinnear as the playwright's father, putting on the production leads almost everyone involved into trouble.

Directing the tale is Craig Zisk, who has dozens of well-regarded television series under his belt as producer or director, including "Parks and Recreation," "The Big C," "Nip/Tuck," "Weeds" and "Scrubs."

"Most of the shows that I either produced or directed feature very strong female leads," Zisk said in an interview with Reuters, ticking off the names of Mary-Louise Parker in "Weeds," Laura Linney in "The Big C," Toni Collette in "United States of Tara" and Edie Falco in "Nurse Jackie."

"With these incredibly talented strong women, I was really attracted to that when I read the script," he said.

"They are all very flawed characters," he added. "In the case of Linda, she's actually someone trying to do the right thing ... even though every time she tries to do something nice for somebody, it backfires and blows up in her face."

"The English Teacher" is Zisk's first feature film, an undertaking he said he weighed for five years before finding the right movie to make. Zisk is a four-time primetime Emmy nominee.

"I know how important the first feature is, especially for someone coming from television, because in the past there's kind of been a knock on television directors and people getting one shot," he said.

But apart from the obvious appeal of branching out, he said that making a film rather than a television show gave him the unprecedented luxury of time to prepare and an autonomy he enjoyed.

"The producers pretty much left me on my own, which was really great," Zisk said. "I feel like I made the movie I wanted to make."

Being distributed domestically by Cinedigm Entertainment Group and Tribeca Film, "The English Teacher" opens in theaters on May 17. It also can be found on-demand on television.

(Editing by Chris Michaud and Vicki Allen)

Faltskog, who has come out of retirement to release a solo album called "A", was asked by German's Die Zeit Magazine if she would be open to an ABBA reunion and she responded positively.

"Maybe a charity concert? I would not say 'No' right away," she said.

Her former husband Bjorn Ulvaeus and his fellow ABBA songwriter Benny Andersson vowed in 2008 not to reform the group that broke up in 1982 after nine British No.1 hits.

The fourth member of the group whose hits included "Mamma Mia", "Super Trouper", and "Dancing Queen", was Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

But speculation about ABBA reforming has mounted in the lead-up to the opening of a ABBA museum in Stockholm in May.

British bookmakers Paddy Power seized on the speculation to offer odds of 14/1 for ABBA to perform together in 2013.

The bookmaker was offering 16/1 on ABBA opening the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, on May 16 as this was the show that propelled ABBA to fame following their 1974 win with the song "Waterloo".

"ABBA fans will be spitting out their meatballs in excitement at prospect of a reunion. Given home turf, plus the 40th anniversary of their Eurovision triumph, Paddy Power's 16/1 to open the show looks to be worth a pound of anybody's money," said a spokesman for the bookmaker.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)