New York  - US stocks posted strong gains on Wednesday as most companies that reported profits for the first quarter beat estimates on the day, drowning out reports of a sharp contraction in the US economy over the first three months.

Time Warner Inc, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc and Hess Corp all beat analysts' expectations, offering some hope that the worst may be over and driving all major US stock indices up by more than 2 per cent.

Los Angeles  - Actress Christina Applegate, 37, on Wednesday topped People magazine's Most Beautiful People list.

The Samantha Who? star was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and had a double mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery. "It's a decision that you make to save your life," she told the magazine.

She noted one positive effect: "You have to get through the physical transformations, then buck up, go to work and try to be the normal, happy Christina for everyone around you."

San Francisco  - Test flights for the much-delayed Boeing Dreamliner are due to start in June and the first customers are on schedule to receive the plane in the first quarter of 2010, the US aviation company said Wednesday.

Test flights for the aircraft have been delayed for more than two years, but Boeing has now filed 60 per cent of the paperwork needed for certification of the 787, Mike Delaney, chief project engineer of the 787 programme, said at a press conference.

San Francisco  - An iPhone Lite? Or perhaps an iPad? Whatever new device Apple has up its sleeve, the US technology press is wasting no time in speculating on its identity.

From the heights of the Wall Street Journal to the unending chatter of a thousand blog-postings, the speculation reached a crescendo Wednesday after a BusinessWeek article that the company was in talks with US cell phone giant Verizon to provide "a smaller cheaper version of the iPhone" and a second device described as a "media pad that would let users listen to music, view photos, and watch high-definition videos."

Tehran - Iran's attorney general suggested Wednesday that Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi could apply for amnesty, ISNA news agency reported.

Ghorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi said that Saberi could apply for amnesty from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to the Iranian constitution, Khamenei has the final say on all state affairs and is even authorized to declare amnesty for prisoners not convicted of heavy crimes.

Washington  - The US economy appears to be contracting at a slower rate than in previous weeks in a sign that it is beginning to stabilize, the US Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

But the Federal Reserve warned that economic activity is likely to remain "weak for a time" and decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 0-0.25 per cent from its last meeting in March.

The Federal Reserve meeting came hours after the US Commerce Department issued its quarterly report showing the economy continued to shrink during the first three months of the year.