■Online music
Apple may play the Eagles
Apple Computer Inc's chief executive officer, Steve Jobs, appealed to the Eagles rock group and their manager, Irving Azoff, to allow their music to be used in a new digital online music service, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Azoff. Previous efforts by other digital music operations to persuade the Eagles to allow their catalog to be used have failed, the newspaper said. Jobs called Azoff and asked him to allow some of the Eagles' songs, which date back to the band's formation in 1972, to be used in Apple's service, which starts next Monday; Azoff told the Journal he'd given permission for Apple to use some of the songs because he liked the product. The Eagles broke up to pursue solo careers in 1982 after recording hits such as "Hotel California," "Tequila Sunrise," "Take it Easy" and "Desperado." They re-formed in 1994 and will start what their official Web site calls the Farewell I tour on May 9.
■ US election
Economy important in vote
More than half of Americans say the country is now in a recession and feel the economy will be more important to their vote in the 2004 presidential election than the nation's security. The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll released Thursday indicated that 53 percent chose the economy as the top issue, while 36 percent opted for the nation's security. Nearly two-thirds in this poll, 65 percent, said the US and its allies are winning the war against terrorism, up from a third in early March. President George W. Bush's job approval rating was at 70 percent, about where it has been since the start of the war with Iraq. But people are evenly split on the question of whether the president is in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives. More than half in the poll said the president is not paying enough attention to the economy.
Agencies
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