The California legislature approved on Thursday a bill that prohibits texting while driving. Adult violators would be fined $20 for first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses. But it needs the signature of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier vowed not to sign any legislation until the state budget is approved.

Hundreds of fans and flight enthusiasts here at AirVenture 2008 were wowed on Tuesday as a New Zealand family debuted the Martin Jetpack, dubbed the "ultimate personal flying machine. "Inventor Glenn Martin said the device, which can fly a 280-pound passenger for 30 minutes, is "the world's first practical jetpack. " After spending 27 years developing the jetpack, the 48-year-old Glenn has involved his wife Vanessa and his two sons. Harrison, 16, test-flew the jetpack Tuesday at the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) AirVenture 2008.

Five young people have been killed by lightning in five different states in less than a week. On July 3, Landon Dillard, 16, of Macon, Ga. , was struck while riding a bicycle at a summer camp in Colorado.

An Olympics more to some men's tastes is brewing this weekend in this small Finnish town. The winner receives his wife's weight in beer. More than 50 couples from countries around Europe are registered for Saturday's 16th annual Wife Carrying World Championships. The rules are simple, even if the contest isn't necessarily easy. The wife-even a borrowed one- is carried by the man-piggyback, on his shoulders, or however he can manage-around a quarter-kilometer (. 15 miles) course made up of sand, asphalt and grass over logs and through three feet of water.

Three people are in U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on charges they stole ATM PIN numbers enabling them to grab at least $2 million from Citibank checking and savings accounts. Although the extent of the breach is unknown, the alleged crooks pilfered the PINs between October 2007 and March when bank customers used ATMS inside an unknown number of 7-Eleven stores. Around 5,700 Citibank ATMs are located in U. S. 7-Elevens. However, the bank neither owns or operates the automatic tellers.