"There's renewed impetus. And I think that most Americans are more ready," McCain, who went to Guantanamo last week with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, told CNN's "State of the Union" program.

McCain, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, are working with the Obama administration on plans that could relocate detainees to a maximum-security prison in Illinois.

"We're going to have to look at the whole issue, including giving them more periodic review of their cases," McCain, of Arizona, said.

President Barack Obama has pushed to close Guantanamo, saying in a speech in May it "has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law."

The camp holds 166 prisoners picked up in the war on terrorism, most of whom have been held without charges for more than a decade.

McCain and others who favor closing the prison have been unable to overcome opposition in Congress, where many Republicans say the administration has not offered satisfactory alternatives on what to do with the detainees.

Meanwhile, detainees have complained of abuse and torture, which the administration denies, while rights activists and international observers have criticized the government's use of the prison.

Obama, a Democrat who promised in his 2008 election campaign to close the prison, pledged last month to lift a ban imposed on transfers of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, one of the core obstacles to clearing out the detention camp.

Of the 86 detainees who have been cleared for transfer or release, 56 are from Yemen, where al Qaeda has a dangerous presence. An unknown number of the 80 other prisoners at the camp who are not cleared are Yemeni as well.

More than 100 prisoners in the camp have joined a hunger strike to protest the failure to resolve their fate after more than a decade of detention, and 41 are being force-fed through tubes inserted into their noses and down into their stomachs because they have lost so much weight.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Vicki Allen)

The Chihuahua and two terrier-poodle mixes were found at the Ohio house where Castro allegedly kept Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32,in captivity for more than a decade.

Knight's attorney, Kathryn Joseph, said she appreciates officials' giving the women time and the opportunity to decide whether they want the dogs.

"I think it's really nice that they're hanging on to them because I know they were meaningful, at least to my client," Joseph said today. "I don't know if she's interested, so it's something I have to talk to her about."

Knight is "doing very well" and has not had or needed facial reconstruction surgery, contrary to some reports, Joseph said.

"They're all doing pretty well, amazingly well. You'd be shocked," she said. "They're happy. They're optimistic. They're excited about their futures."

Another member of the legal team whose firm is working primarily with Berry and DeJesus declined to comment.

John Baird, chief animal control officer for Cleveland, said the dogs are at a foster home, pending a decision by the women.

"We're going to try to give them as much time as they need," Baird said.

He said all three dogs have since been sterilized and micro-chipped. Two of them had matted hair and have been groomed. He said they "seem to be great" and did not appear to have been abused or mistreated.

"We think that maybe one of these women, or all of the women, may have bonded with one or more of these dogs and we'd like to make sure they get a chance to get one of them, or whatever dog they bonded with, to maybe make things a little bit easier on them," Baird said.

All three women have kept a low profile since Berry escaped and the other two women were

Their attorneysearlier this week on behalf of their clients, thanking the public for their encouragement, as well as for respecting their requests for privacy.

"The outpouring of public support has been nothing short of remarkable," the letter said.

"To have complete strangers offer loving support in the form of money, goods and services, reaching out to help like a family member, is appreciated in ways that are impossible to put into words. Amanda, Gina and Michelle, who have asked for nothing, are frankly overwhelmed by it all."

Castro, 52, has been charged with kidnapping and rape. He is being help on an $8 million bond and has yet to enter a plea.

Unlike some other high-profile mob cases, jurors in the Bulger trial won't be sequestered and their identities will be made public after the verdict.

A judge told prospective jurors Tuesday that despite Bulger's notoriety, the approach to picking a jury remain the same.

Judge Denise Casper says people will not necessarily be excused from sitting on the jury simply because they have read or heard about Bulger. She says the "critical issue" is whether they can decide the case based only on evidence presented in court.

The 83-year-old Bulger is charged with a long list of crimes, including participating in 19 murders.

Employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Internal Revenue Service and the Office of Management and Budget stayed home on Friday.

The furlough affects about 5 percent of the federal workforce, according to Cory Bythrow, communications director at the National Federation of Federal Employees, a union representing government workers. Bythrow tracks workplace fallout from the budget cuts, known as sequestration.

Eighty-five percent of the workers who were furloughed on Friday are based outside Washington, Bythrow said by telephone. They include union and non-union employees, depending largely on where they are, he said.

The furloughs come as the United States heads into a holiday weekend, with Memorial Day celebrated on Monday, when government offices will be closed.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Friday found 37 percent of Americans feel sequestration has hurt them personally, up from 25 percent in March. About half of those affected say the harm to them has been "major."

(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Eric Beech)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-winning film star Angelina Jolie revealed on Tuesday that she underwent a double mastectomy after learning she had inherited a high risk of breast cancer and said she hoped her story would inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease.

Jolie, an actress who has long embodied Hollywood glamour and has in recent years drawn nearly as much attention for her globe-trotting work on behalf of refugees as for her role as a celebrity mom, disclosed her choice in an op-ed column in the New York Times.

The 37-year-old performer, raising a family with fellow film star and fiance Brad Pitt, wrote that she went through with the operation in part to reassure her six children that she would not die young from cancer, as her own mother did at age 56.

"We often speak of 'Mommy's mommy,' and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me," wrote Jolie.

"I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a 'faulty' gene."

The actress, who won an Oscar as best supporting actress for her 1999 role in the film "Girl, Interrupted," said she opted for the surgery after her doctors had estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, due to an inherited genetic mutation.

"Once I knew this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy," she said. She said her breast cancer risk had dropped to under 5 percent as a result.

Celebrities, cancer survivors and doctors expressed admiration for her openness, saying she was an inspiration for other women.

"I commend Angelina Jolie for her courage and thoughtfulness in sharing her story today regarding her mastectomy. So brave!" tweeted singer Sheryl Crow, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.

Singer Kylie Minogue, another cancer survivor, thanked Jolie for helping women, as did television host Giuliana Rancic, who also had surgery after being diagnosed with the disease.

"Angelina Jolie reveals double mastectomy. Proud of her for using her incredible platform to educate women," Rancic said on Twitter.

PITT AT HER SIDE

Pitt was by Jolie's side through three months of treatment that ended late in April, she said. The two became engaged last year.

"Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie's choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic," Pitt told London's Evening Standard newspaper.

"All I want is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family."

Jolie opted for reconstruction with implants. Breast tissue was removed during surgery and temporary fillers were inserted in their place. Nine weeks later the surgery was completed with the implants.

"On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman," she wrote. "I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity."

The actress decided to be open about her surgery after finishing treatment to help women who might be living under the shadow of cancer.

"It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested," she said.

Breast cancer kills about 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization. It is estimated that one in 300 to one in 500 women carry a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene mutation, as Jolie does.

CNN anchor Zoraida Sambolin announced on Tuesday that she had breast cancer and was also getting a double mastectomy.

Sambolin, who anchors CNN's "Early Start" morning show, discussed her condition on the show while talking about Jolie's procedure.

"I struggled for weeks trying to figure out how to tell you that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was leaving to have surgery," Sambolin, 47, said on Facebook. "Then ... Angelina Jolie shares her story of a double mastectomy and gives me strength and an opening."

Dr Chet Nastala, a breast surgeon at PRMA Plastic Surgery in San Antonio, Texas, said Jolie's fame and openness about her treatment will have a big impact on women faced with the same decision.

"It is difficult to go public," he said in an interview. "It shows a lot of courage."

In past 10 years the PRMA practice has done about 5,000 reconstructive breast surgeries and about 20-30 percent have been for preventative mastectomies.

Dr. Kristi Funk, director of the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills where Jolie was treated, also applauded her choice.

"We hope that the awareness she is raising around the world will save countless lives," said Funk at a brief news conference outside the clinic.

Richard Francis, head of research at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity in Britain, said it demonstrated the importance of educating women with the gene fault.

"For women like Angelina it's important that they are made fully aware of all the options that are available, including risk-reducing surgery and extra breast screening," Francis told Reuters.

Jolie also lends her star power to a range of humanitarian causes, including serving more than 10 years as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

In April, she urged governments to step up efforts to bring wartime sex offenders to justice.

(Additional reporting by Paul Casciato, Eric Kelsey, Steve Gorman, Elaine Lies and Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Mary Milliken and Cynthia Osterman)

"I feel like this is going to be a good week," Alexis Wright wrote to her business partner, an insurance agent who monitored the sex acts on his office computer 100 miles away while providing security by checking out johns' license plates.

Her enterprise came to an abrupt halt on Valentine's Day 2012 when a police raid led to the seizure of detailed ledgers, client lists and other evidence indicating she routinely videotaped clients without their knowledge and kept detailed records indicating she made $150,000 over an 18-month period, while collecting more than $40,000 in public assistance.

On Friday, the 30-year-old Wright is due to be sentenced to 10 months in jail for 20 counts including prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception.

The scandal in the seaside town of Kennebunk, known for its sea captain's mansions, beaches and New England charm, became a sensation following reports that she had at least 150 clients, some of them prominent. So far, those who have been charged include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.

Wright was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the agreement were misdemeanors, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.

Under the agreement, prosecutors will seek restitution of $57,280.54. Prosecutors say Wright cooperated with them and spared the state an expensive trial.

Her partner, Mark Strong, 57, of Thomaston, was convicted of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and was sentenced to 20 days in jail. The married father of two was originally charged with 59 counts.

It's no surprise that Wright opted to avoid standing trial because evidence against her in Strong's trial was overwhelming, with jurors watching a video shown of her engaging in sex with a client who left $250, which she pocketed.

Prosecutors say paid sex happened in her studio, apartment and an office, where tenants complained about moaning and groaning.

There was plenty of electronic evidence because the two kept in touch via text, email and Skype, which Wright used to send a live video stream of sex acts to Strong. Videos also showed them speaking openly of ledgers, payments and scheduling.

Evidence unsealed after the trial indicated electronic exchanges in which Wright talked about the business goals: Nine clients a week, 45 clients a month. They also openly discussed scheduling, insurance payments, her outfits and clients' preferences. She even asked Strong for advice after encountering an unhappy client.

During Strong's trial, defense lawyer Daniel Lilley suggested that there was a relationship that went beyond business, and the electronic exchanges backed it up, with Wright saying she loved him and missed him.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year low stayed at 3.53 percent. That's near the 3.31 percent reached in November, which was the lowest on record going back to 1971.

The rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage stayed at 2.77 percent for a second week. The record low is 2.63 percent.

The one-year adjustable mortgage was the only rate to change this week. It averaged 2.61 percent, up from 2.53 percent last week.

Cheap mortgages are giving a boost to the slowly improving housing market.

Increased sales have helped to push home prices up, which makes consumers feel wealthier and helps to boost consumer spending. In addition, the increased housing demand is boosting new home construction.

Still, housing has a long way to go to achieve a full recovery. And many people are unable to take advantage of the low rates, either because they can't qualify under stricter lending rules or they lack the money to meet larger down payment requirements.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.8 point, the same as last week. The fee for 15-year mortgages was 0.8 point, up from 0.7 point last week. The fee for one-year adjustable rate mortgages was 0.3 point, down from 0.4 point last week.

Freddie Mac said that the average rate on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages edged up to 2.64 percent this week from 2.63 percent last week. The fee stayed the same at 0.6 point.

This isn't the first time that Dell has sold PCs witha free computer operating system based on Linux. Not too long after it bought out Alienware, then an independent maker of gaming PCs, it started selling Ubuntu-powered desktop and laptop PCs, but only online, and only on a limited selection of models.

Recently, Dell launched itsa MacBook Air-style ultrabook that's preloaded with Ubuntu and tools for developers. Its latest offering, however, is a little less "work" and a little more "play."

Pre-empting "Steambox" PCs like the Piston by several months, the Alienware X51 is a box roughly the size of a game console, but with actual PC hardware and a PC operating system inside. It comes in a variety of price points, depending on how powerful that hardware is, but the least expensive one-- $100 less than the

What kind of specs does it have?

An Intel Core i3 processor clocked at 3.3 GHz, 6 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM, a 1 TB 7200 RPM hard drive, and a 1 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 645 are the highlights. More expensive configurations have more powerful hardware, and don't match the available Windows configurations 1:1, possibly due to driver issues.

Does it count as a Steambox?

Dell isn't advertising it as being such, although the promo shots show it running Valve's Steam digital distribution service. Since the grand opening of Steam on Linux, it's gotten "over 165" titles, including some of Valve's finest like Team Fortress 2. Most Humble Bundle games and many indie titles also run on Linux.

What about Windows-only games?

One option is to put Windows on the X51 after buying it. You'd need to buy your own copy, though, and you might have to pay the full retail price since a PC manufactured by Alienware might not qualify for OEM licensing (and the price discount that you get by foregoing Microsoft technical support).

Another option is thewhich can let you run some Windows games like World of Warcraft and StarCraft 2. This is unofficial, however, and may require some troubleshooting.

What other options are there for Linux gaming systems?

System76, a small PC vendor which has been making Ubuntu PCs for more than five years now, sells thegaming laptop for $1,499. Home-built gaming rigs can also be made to support Linux by checking sites likefor benchmarks and compatibility of hardware components.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

(Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch tried to convince Wall Street on Tuesday that there is still money to be made in newspapers, reminding investors that he had defied skeptics over the past 60 years to build one of the world's biggest media empires.

As News Corp prepares to separate its publishing business from its entertainment assets, Murdoch said that while some brands face individual challenges, as a whole the publishing portfolio is "undervalued and underdeveloped."

"I am not saying I didn't make many mistakes along the way even some spectacular ones," Murdoch said at a meeting in Manhattan to sell investors on the new publishing company.

"You may be wondering why I want to do it all over again," the 82-year-old media mogul said. "The simple answer is: there is opportunity everywhere."

The new publishing company, which will retain the News Corp name, officially kicks off on June 28 with properties such as: The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, The Times of London, Australian pay-TV services, book publisher HarperCollins and fledgling education unit, Amplify.

The spin-off comes as newspapers face plunging advertising revenue and readers who increasingly prefer to get news for free on their smartphones and tablets. Shares of newspaper companies - once considered blue-chip investments - have tumbled over the past decade as investors fear a permanent drain in ad sales.

Against this backdrop, the publishing company's new chief executive, Robert Thomson, said there will be "relentless" cost cuts in store for the business. He gave no specifics.

News Corp executives took pains to note almost half of the publishing company's revenue comes from sources other than advertising. One revenue source is Dow Jones, which sells news and information to financial institutions and competes with Thomson Reuters Corp and Bloomberg LP.

Dow Jones CEO Lex Fenwick highlighted the introduction of a new platform, code-named DJ X. He emphasized one product, one price and one standard contract.

"If we can take a little more of institutional spend with DJ X - if we deliver that product with real value, there's a real opportunity to increase our market share," he said.

Fenwick also said Dow Jones is working on a messaging platform to compete with Bloomberg's vaunted product.

CLEAN BALANCE SHEET

Thomson, a close confidant of Murdoch, ensured the new publishing company would start out with a clean balance sheet, no debt and $2 billion in cash to buffer operations and attract investors. News Corp intends to pay a dividend, but the board has yet to determine the details. It said it has authorized a share buyback of $500 million.

Still, analysts wanted to know if Murdoch intended to go shopping with his coffer of cash especially where newspapers assets are concerned - including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune that are on the market.

Murdoch said if the "price is right" News Corp could be interested in newspapers. But he said that cross-ownership rules that prevent companies from owning top TV stations and newspapers in the same market made it "pretty unlikely."

News Corp said last Friday that it would write down the value of its Australian and U.S. publishing assets by up to $1.4 billion, potentially wiping out the company's estimated profit for the quarter ending June 30.

Thomson said the company will have "a permanent start-up sensibility." He added, "We will be relentless in our cost-cutting and in our pursuit of profits."

The new News Corp also unveiled its logo - written in a cursive script based on the handwriting of Murdoch and his father, Keith, whose Australian newspapers were the seeds of the media empire.

The Fox network, the movie studio and a set of lucrative cable properties will become a separately traded company called 21st Century Fox.

"I have been given an extraordinary opportunity most people never get in their lifetime: the chance to do it all over again," said Murdoch.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Tiffany Wu)

1. Zach Sobiech, "Clouds" (Rock the Cause)

2. Falling in Reverse, "Fashionably Late" (Epitaph)

3. Robin Thicke, "Blurred Lines" (Star Trak LLC)

4. Five Finger Death Punch, "Lift Me Up" (Prospect Park)

5. Daft Punk, "Doin' It Right" (Columbia Records)

6. Lorde, "Royals" (Lava Music/Republic Records)

7. Daft Punk, "Instant Crush" (Columbia Records)

8. B.o.B., "HeadBand" (Rebel Rock/Grand Hustle/Atlantic)

9. Sleeping with Sirens, "Alone" (Rise Records)

10. Skillet, "Rise" (Atlantic Records)

UNITED KINGDOM

1. Naughty Boy, "La La La" (Naughty Boy Recordings Ltd.)

2. Zach Sobiech, "Clouds" (Rock the Cause)

3. Daft Punk, "Giorgio By Moroder" (Columbia Records)

4. Half Moon Run, "Call Me in the Afternoon" (Glassnote Entertainment Group)

5. Robin Thicke, "Blurred Lines" (Star Trak LLC)

6. Daft Punk, "Lose Yourself to Dance" (Columbia Records)

7. The Weeknd, "Kiss Land" (XO & Co. Inc.)

8. Passenger, "Let Her Go" (Sony Music Entertainment)

9. Queens of the Stone Age, "My God is the Sun" (Matador)

10. Daft Punk, "Instant Crush" (Columbia Records)