AFP - It started with a golden bed and African drummers and led to Russia's latest, surprising, political duel pitting tenacious bloggers against bureaucrats whose excesses went a step too far.

AP - Kristie McNealy blogs from her suburban Denver home about raising four children and health issues. Her husband, Rob, a floor installer, runs another Web site offering product reviews and advice on hardwood floors.

AFP - Internet giant Google on Thursday joined a top journalists' rights group in rewarding a collective of Iranian women bloggers for their reporting on last year's post-election unrest.

AP - One of Vincent van Gogh's most famous paintings, "The Bedroom," has been taken away for restoration, but art lovers don't have to miss it. They can follow the cleanup on a blog, the Van Gogh Museum said Thursday.

AFP - Mao Zedong may have used paintbrush and ink to write classic poems in calligraphy, but his grandson is firmly in the 21st century -- micro-blogging by laptop from China's annual session of parliament.