USA

The next iteration of the $100 bill will include a new thread intended to make the currency harder to counterfeit. When the bill is moved from side to side, Ben FrankLin's image will appear to slide up and down, and vice versa. Designers used 650,000 tiny lenses to create the unusual visual effect on the bill, which is slated to go into circulation in late 2008.

A US appellate court has cleared the way for organic retailer Whole Foods Market to take over rival Wild Oats in a $565 million deal. The Federal Trade Commission had called for the deal to be blocked, saying it would hamper competition in the organic food sector. The federal appeals court denied the FTC's request.

The selection of a Chinese sculptor to carve a three-story monument to Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. has ignited opposition from a loose-knit but growing group of critics who say a black artist – or at least an American – should have been chosen. Human rights advocates, who say King would have been appalled by the Chinese government's record on civil liberties, echo the criticism.

In an effort to draw more young voters to the polls, Connecticut is going high tech. Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz is posting a 90-second instructional video on how to use the state's recently acquired optical scan voting machines. People will be able to download the video onto their iPods and other personal recording devices.

A student at West Virginia University, who lost his state-funded scholarship because he left college to join a two-year church mission, is getting some backing from the US Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union. David Haws, a Mormon, is suing a state scholarship board, alleging it violated his First Amendment right to freely exercise his religion. His lawyer says the board, through a state program, forced Haws to choose between his religion and his scholarship.