WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy. Democrats said they were glad the rebate checks were about to go out, but suggested that multinational oil companies were not among the businesses the stimulus package was originally designed to help.

SHANGHAI (AFP) - China will join up with the US Chicago Climate Exchange to establish a carbon emission market in the city of Tianjin near Beijing, state media reported Friday.

Tianjin authorities, oil giant PetroChina and the Chicago Climate Exchange will sign an agreement for the exchange, the first in the nation, as early as this month, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing unnamed sources.

The exchange, part of government plan to develop the Binhai New Area in Tianjin, will trade permits for emissions of greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide, a source told the newspaper.

Some developing nations like India and China, among the world’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, do not have exchanges to trade carbon permits, as they are not bound to slash emissions under the UN climate change framework.

Yvo de Boer, the UN’s top official on climate change said in Beijing Thursday that developed nations must put forward more equitable positions if talks for a new pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol can be finalised by next year.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Foxy Brown is out of jail. Family and fans greeted Brown Friday outside Rikers Island as she was released from the jail after serving an eight-month sentence.

“The first place I want to go is church. I’ve got to get on my knees,” said Brown.

Instead, Brown went shopping in Harlem, had some soul food and was driven to her childhood home in Brooklyn in a white Rolls Royce Phantom.

Her mother, Judith Marchand, presented her with smiley-face balloons and the two hugged outside the family’s home in the Prospect Heights neighborhood. A VH1 crew captured the reunion for an upcoming reality show.

“I did almost a year in prison, a year in prison, just because my name is Foxy Brown,” she said.

Brown, whose real name is Ingrid Marchand, was sentenced in September 2007 to a year in jail for violating the terms of her probation after she was accused of hitting a woman with a cell phone. She was on probation for an August 2004 attack on two manicurists at a Manhattan nail salon. She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in the 2004 incident.

Known for her saucy outfits and racy lyrics, the 29-year-old rapper has a handful of albums, including “Ill Na Na” and “Chyna Doll.”

SEOUL, South Korea - Special prosecutors said Thursday they indicted Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee on charges of tax evasion and breach of trust, though cleared the conglomerate of allegations it kept a slush fund used for bribery.

The announcement concludes a three-month probe into a slew of alleged wrongdoing at South Korea’s biggest industrial conglomerate. Lee and close family members have been summoned for hours of questioning during the investigation.

The prosecutors said in a statement that they would not arrest Lee as it would “cause enormous disruptions” in Samsung corporate management. The “negative repercussions on our economy would be very big amid the extremely competitive global economic situation,” they said.

The investigation began in January and was spurred by accusations made late last year by former top Samsung attorney Kim Yong-chul. The conglomerate has denied the allegations, including claims that it bribed prosecutors and other officials.

Cho Joon-woong, who led the investigation, told reporters that prosecutors found “no trace” of systemic bribery.

The probe has also examined long-simmering allegations by civic groups that South Korea’s biggest family-run conglomerate has used dubious financial transactions to ensure corporate control passes from Samsung Chairman Lee to his son.

The investigation essentially agreed with that view.

“Samsung Group has a lot of structural problems, such as illicit transfer of management control,” the prosecutors’ statement said.

“It is the hope of our investigation team that this probe would serve as an opportunity for Samsung to shed these problems and be reborn as an undisputed ultra first-class global company.”

The conglomerate vowed to act on that advice.

“Samsung is preparing reform plans, based on advice from various sectors of our society,” Lee Soon-dong, president of Samsung’s strategic planning office, said in a statement. He also said Samsung “would like to apologize for causing concerns.”

Prosecutors said that they found 4.5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) of Chairman Lee’s personal assets in bank accounts under borrowed names and that he evaded taxes worth 112.8 billion won ($114 million).

If found guilty Lee could face a sentence of between five years to life in prison, though judges also have leeway to issue a sentence in which no jail time would be done.

Prosecutors said the breach of trust charge resulted from Lee having been briefed by aides about dubious financial transactions, including the sale of bonds convertible to shares to Lee’s children. He was also charged with violating the nation’s stock exchange law.

Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo, regarded as Lee’s closest confidante, and two other executives were also indicted on breach of trust charges. In total, 10 Samsung executives were charged.

The 66-year-old Lee, one of South Korea’s richest people and its most influential business executive, was called in twice by investigators for questioning about the allegations.

After the second round last Friday, Lee said that he assumed responsibility for the scandal, adding that he would consider a major revamp at Samsung and hinted at even possibly stepping down as chairman.

Investors have largely shrugged off the allegations and ensuing investigation. Shares in Samsung Electronics, for example, have jumped 25 percent since Kim, the former Samsung lawyer, came forward in early November.

They rose 1.5 percent Thursday to close at 661,000 won ($666).

The scandal, however, has struck a nerve in broader society, where pride in the conglomerate’s success as South Korea’s top business group meets concerns that it has too much power and influence.

Founded 70 years ago, the nearly 60-company strong conglomerate also has interests in shipbuilding, insurance, apparel and other industries. By some estimates, group companies account for as much as one-fifth of South Korea’s total exports.

The space agency announced the extension Tuesday. Since 2004, the unmanned probe has beamed back about 140,000 images. Its prime mission is slated to end in July.

The agency says the $160 million extension will allow Cassini to make 60 more revolutions around the ringed planet and fly by its largest moon, Titan, and four other satellites.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is funded by NASA and the European and Italian space agencies. Its original cost was $3.3 billion including $2.6 billion from the United States.

The space agency announced the extension Tuesday. Since 2004, the unmanned probe has beamed back about 140,000 images. Its prime mission is slated to end in July.

The agency says the $160 million extension will allow Cassini to make 60 more revolutions around the ringed planet and fly by its largest moon, Titan, and four other satellites.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is funded by NASA and the European and Italian space agencies. Its original cost was $3.3 billion including $2.6 billion from the United States.