MADRID (AFP) –
Real Madrid's new 'Galactico' signing Kaka received a triumphant welcome from tens of thousands of fans as he was presented at the club's stadium on Tuesday.

"I want to write my name into the history of this club," the Brazilian midfielder told the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital.

Kaka showed off his new "number eight" shirt, which he took over from Argentinian Fernando Gago, who now takes the "number five."

The Brazilian, whose full name is Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, was signed for 65 million euros from AC Milan in early June.

Real president Florentino Perez praised Kaka as "one of the best players in the world", for his "impeccable behaviour" and as "one of the icons of our time."

The 80,000-capacity stadium appeared mostly full for the presentation, with many of the fans waving Brazilians flags.

The 27-year-old Kaka signed a six-year contract worth nine million euros a year.

He arrived in Madrid earlier on Tuesday with his father from South Africa, where he won the Confederations Cup with Brazil. He later passed a medical exam at the club.

Another of the so-called "new Galacticos" at the club, Cristiano Ronaldo, was signed from Manchester United for a world record 93 million euros, and will be presented to the supporters on July 6.

"It will be a privilege to play with Ronaldo, there will be no rivalry," Kaka told a news conference.

Perez, who returned as president of Real last month, said he wants Real "to one day be elected the best in history."

He first led Real from 2000 to 2006, when it earned the nickname "Los Galacticos", winning the Primera Liga twice and European Champions League with such stars as Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, David Beckham and Michael Owen.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Democrat Al Franken should be certified the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian to be seated after an almost eight-month fight.
The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining his Senate seat are dwindling, saying Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office.
"We affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under (Minnesota law) to receive the certificate of election as United States senator from the state of Minnesota," the court wrote in its 5-0 ruling.
Franken's presence in the Senate would give the Democrats control of 60 seats, enough to overcome any Republican filibuster if they stay united.
Coleman, whose appeal hinged largely on whether thousands of absentee votes had been unfairly rejected by local election officials around the state, hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention. He has 10 days before the ruling takes effect in which to point out any errors related to the court's interpretation of law, facts or material questions in the case.
The court wrote that "because the legislature established absentee voting as an optional method of voting, voters choosing to use that method are required to comply with the statutory provisions."
They went on to say that "because strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting is, and always has been required, there is no basis on which voters could have reasonably believed that anything less than strict compliance would suffice."
The earliest Franken would be seated is next week because the Senate is out of session for the July 4 holiday, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose signature is needed on the election certificate, has said repeatedly he would sign it if ordered to do so by the court, most recently in an interview Sunday with CNN. But the governor has been less clear on what he would do if the order was vague, and the court's ruling Tuesday said only that Franken was "entitled" to the certificate.
Reid said Pawlenty should respect the votes of his constituents and the court and seat Franken.
The election certificate also requires the signature of Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Ritchie, a Democrat, said he views Tuesday's ruling as a direction to sign the certificate, and that he would do so "as soon as the governor issues it." He said he hasn't spoken with Pawlenty and wasn't aware that the governor was out of the state at a conference in Washington.
Coleman could bring a new lawsuit in federal court or petition the U.S. Supreme Court to examine the case. And he also could ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.
But it's highly doubtful Coleman would be able to convince a federal court to overturn the Minnesota court's ruling, said Ohio State University election law expert Ned Foley.
"This is essentially, as a practical matter, the end of the road," Foley said.
Both Coleman and Franken, a former Saturday Night Live star making the leap from life as a liberal author and radio talker to the Senate, planned news conferences in Minnesota later Tuesday to address the ruling.
A spokesman for Pawlenty said he would issue a statement after Coleman's news conference.
Franken declared his candidacy more than two years ago, and he and Coleman have combined to spend $50 million in pursuit of the seat. That's more than double what it cost candidates in 2002, when Coleman won the seat that had been held by the late Paul Wellstone.
In the months since Election Day, both men have kept comparatively low profiles. After Coleman's term expired in January, he took a job as a consultant and strategic adviser to the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group that advocates in Washington on Jewish issues.

But Coleman also frequently appeared at the lower-court proceeding that handled his legal challenge, in contrast to Franken, who stayed away. Aside from some trips to Washington to meet with Reid and other Senate leaders, Franken has spent his time in private, saying he was studying issues to be prepared if seated.

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. – A boy was arrested over the weekend on charges of stealing from an ambulance while paramedics were treating his mother. The Johnson City Press reported the boy, who was not named because he is a juvenile, was charged with stealing $5,000 in medical supplies. That includes an oxygen tank and an oxygen sensor machine.
He is also accused of stealing a purse belonging to one of the rescue workers and of breaking into a car several hours earlier and stealing credit cards, a cellular phone and a PlayStation portable video game.
The boy was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Johnson City.
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Information from: Johnson City Press, http://www.johnsoncitypress.com

BARCELONA (Reuters) –
Irish rock group U2 kick off their first tour in three years on Tuesday, playing to 90,000 fans in Barcelona on one of the biggest concert stages ever built.

Over the next four months U2 will perform to an estimated three million fans in 31 cities across Europe and North America, with more dates expected to be announced next year.

The " U2 360 Tour" lives up to its name with a round stage which fans will surround inside FC Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium.

Around 500 ticket holders slept outside the venue on Monday night hoping to grab a spot right by the stage when the doors open, local media reported.

That will be easier this time around, organizers say, with the new stage concept giving more fans a clearer view as well as allowing for more people, meaning lower ticket prices during the recession.

The U2 360 Tour is reported to be the group's most expensive to date, costing an estimated $100 million, but industry experts suggest it could be money well spent.

Live performance is becoming an increasingly important source of revenue for major acts like U2 as sales of physical CDs declines sharply and online piracy remains rampant.

Billboard, an authoritative music industry publication, believes the U2 360 Tour could become one of the highest grossing ever, possibly eclipsing its 2005-6 Vertigo tour which earned the band $389 million.

GRAND STATEMENT

The stage, which takes 120 trucks to transport, is another grand statement from the four rockers who have won more Grammy awards than any other band.

On the Zoo TV tour, huge video screens overloaded fans with flashing images of pop culture. On the PopMart tour lead singer Bono appeared from inside a 12 meter glitterball shaped like a lemon.

The abiding visual memory on this tour is sure to be the "Claw," a four-legged "monster" that towers 50 meters over the band's heads and on which the sound system is mounted.

Bono, plus guitarists The Edge and Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr on drums will be showcasing their 12th studio album, "No Line on the Horizon."

Reviews of the record, which mixes trademark atmospheric guitars with more eclectic sounds from Morocco where it was partly recorded, were generally good, and it went straight to No. 1 in 30 countries including the United States and Britain.

Early sales in the United States, however, were sharply down on those for U2's previous album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," released in 2004.

(Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paul Casciato)