Apple has indicated it would open its iTunes store to other portable players besides its ubiquitous iPod if the world’s major record labels abandoned the anti-piracy technology that serves as the industry’s security blanket.

President George Bush and first lady Laura Bush briefly paid their respects Gerald Ford today, joining thousands of ordinary Americans in saying goodbye to the former president.

At least eight people, including a three-year-old, were injured in the US when a toy store roof collapsed following a week of heavy snow and rain.