Bethesda, Md.-based Host Hotels & Resorts is buying the Westin Kierland Resort, Spa and Villas on the Scottsdale-north Phoenix border for $393 million, more than twice what the previous owners spent to build it three years ago.

What began as a small film festival has evolved into one of Scottsdale's signature events, drawing tens of thousands of people each year to experience the Western lifestyle.

Western movies are regaining their place in the Valley of the Sun — at least for one night.

WASHINGTON - A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

JERUSALEM - Westerners fled by land, sea and air Monday as Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon briefly and Hezbollah rockets knocked down a three-story house in northern Israel. However, there were signs of movement on the diplomatic front to end the worst fighting in 24 years.

This town is no place for a cowboy. At least, that’s the impression one might get from the presence of decidedly urban trappings like boutique hotels, gourmet cupcake shops, tea lounges, film festivals, fashion weeks and wine bars.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - For Chandler National, good things came in twos. Kyle Pechloff, Luke Parrish and Seth Fretheim each hit a two-run homer Thursday night as Chandler National beat Waipio, Hawaii, 8-1 in the Little League West Regional semifinals at Al Houghton Stadium.

RENO, Nev. - New findings suggest the heavy metal tungsten is a common link in childhood leukemia cases in three Western states.

NBA commissioner David Stern dusted off an old photo at the last league owners’ meetings.

When Kimi Serna gives directions to her Gila Crossing house, she doesn’t use street names.

The economy may be starting to recover but the heady days of the 1990s, when travelers paid top dollar for rooms in pricey inns, are long gone, the CEO of the only major hotel company based in the Valley said Wednesday.

BEIJING - China appeared to be trying to rein in a growing nationalistic fervor, urging its citizens to be "calm" and "rational" in the face of anti-Western protests against French retailer Carrefour that spread Sunday to more cities across the country.

DALLAS - The theory that the Suns’ relentless fast pace can’t win in the playoffs now rests in peace. Lying in an adjacent grave is another theory: That the Suns paid too much to acquire Steve Nash.

Scottsdale. The horse on the city seal bucks because the town can be a wild ride.

Diamondbacks reliever Brian Bruney received a crash course in international baseball when he suited up for Team USA in the 2003 Americas Olympic Qualifier in Panama.

Diamondbacks reliever Brian Bruney received a crash course in international baseball when he suited up for Team USA in the 2003 Americas Olympic Qualifier in Panama.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Ahwatukee’s Shaun Chase pitched a complete-gameshutout and hit a solo homer in the first inning to power the Dawgs to a 1-0 victory over Lemont, Ill. in the Little League World Series Saturday.

LONDON -- The surviving pages of the world's oldest Christian Bible have been reunited - digitally.

Tyler Kem had a lot of fun helping the Chandler National Little League team win the West Regional tournament last week in California.

“You can always tell an Arabian horse,” says Carolyn McDonald, who watches beneath a paloverde tree as four chocolate brown Arabians spin their young riders, Western-style, around her Scottsdale corral. “I’ve trained horses for about 20 years,” she says. “Arabians . . . just stand out.