SEATTLE – Raffaele Sollecito, whose budding love affair with American exchange student Amanda Knox helped land him in an Italian prison for four years, maintains the couple’s innocence in a new book but acknowledges that their sometimes bizarre behavior after her roommate’s killing gave police reason for suspicion.

The pair was imprisoned for the November 2007 death of Meredith Kercher at Knox’s apartment in Perugia, north of Rome. An appeals court overturned their conviction and freed them last fall, issuing a 143-page opinion that blasted the utter lack of evidence against them. Rudy Guede, a petty criminal who was convicted separately, remains imprisoned and is serving a 16-year sentence.

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Raffaele Sollecito, right, admits he and Amanda Knox, left, behaved oddly after Knox’s roommate’s murder. The Associated Press

Dylan: Slavery still a stigma.

Glenn Beck The Associated Press

Sollecito’s book, “Honor Bound,” is due out Sept. 18. The Associated Press purchased a copy Tuesday.

In it, he describes how the early days of their relationship became a nightmare: the horror of Kercher’s slaying; the misunderstandings that swept them up in the case; their tabloid portrayals as two suspects unrecognizable to themselves.

Knox became “Foxy Knoxy” and received most of the attention as she shopped for underwear after the killing and turned cartwheels in front of investigators.

Later at the police station she climbed in his lap and draped her arms over him, making Sollecito uneasy, he said.

Police found their behavior “odd” and he acknowledged they had no “real alibi the night of Nov. 1 except each other.”

Knox is also writing a book, due out next spring. Her deal, with HarperCollins, is reportedly worth $4 million.

The couple were arrested several days after Kercher’s death and later convicted in proceedings that made headlines around the world. Prosecutors portrayed the case as a drug-fueled sexual assault, and Knox and Sollecito were sentenced to 26 years and 25 years, respectively.

The appeals court found the prosecution’s theory to be unsupported by any evidence. Prosecutors have appealed the acquittal.

Sollecito frequently criticizes the police for ignoring the possibility that Guede had on his own committed a bungled burglary.

Slavery doomed U.S., Dylan laments

NEW YORK – Bob Dylan says the stigma of slavery ruined America and he doubts the country can get rid of the shame because it was “founded on the backs of slaves.”

The veteran musician tells Rolling Stone that in America “people (are) at each other’s throats just because they are of a different color,” adding that “it will hold any nation back.” He also says blacks know that some whites “didn’t want to give up slavery.”

Said Dylan, 71, “If slavery had been given up in a more peaceful way, America would be far ahead today.”

Asked if President Obama was helping to turn the tide, Dylan says: “I don’t have any opinion on that. You have to change your heart if you want to change.”

Dish Network to air Beck’s online show

NEW YORK – Barely a year after leaving Fox News, Glenn Beck is back on the airwaves. On Wednesday, satellite broadcaster Dish Network announced that The Blaze, Beck’s 24-hour online news and opinion network, would be available to its subscribers starting at 5 p.m. EDT.

Beck departed Fox News in June 2011 amid declining ratings for his eponymous program and allegations that he was becoming increasingly extreme in his viewpoints. A year ago exactly, he launched GBTV, an online video channel that has attracted some 300,000 paid subscribers. In June, GBTV merged with TheBlaze.com, the right-leaning news site Beck founded in 2010.

Beck will continue to host his daily talk show on The Blaze; programming also includes other news and opinion shows, a reality series and even a kids’ program.

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