With the flick of Sidney Crosby’s wrist, Canada found Olympic redemption. From the pall of a luger’s death, from a series of embarrassing glitches, from a first half so disappointing that Canadian Olympic officials prematurely conceded the medals race, from the men’s hockey team losing to the upstart Americans in a preliminary game. All that [...]
It’s a 28-word law that federal prosecutors have used for more than two decades to send high-profile public officials and corporate executives, including former Enron Corp. CEO Jeff Skilling, to prison. But the law’s future could be in doubt as Skilling’s appeal of his criminal convictions — in which he challenges the statute’s constitutional validity [...]
He’s the most successful graffitist ever, the elusive outsider who has become the UK’s unlikeliest national treasure. Now we are about to glimpse him in ‘the world’s first street-art disaster movie’ Whether it is policemen kissing, a House of Commons full of chimpanzees, Princess Diana on a £10 note, or I Don’t Believe in Global [...]
When state health officials were sued last year for storing infant blood samples without parental consent, they said it was for medical research into birth defects, childhood cancer and environmental toxins. They never said they were turning over hundreds of dried blood samples to the federal government to help build a vast DNA database — [...]
With one more perfect run down sliding’s most intense track, Steven Holcomb drove USA-1 to the Olympic gold medal in four-man bobsledding on Saturday, ending a 62-year drought for the Americans in the event. It was the first gold medal for the U.S. in sliding’s signature race since Francis Tyler won one for the Americans [...]
A Baltimore inmate who bluffed his way out of prison probably wouldn’t have tricked guards if they had eye-scanners such as those being installed at dozens of jails nationwide. The federal government is paying for the scanners as part of an effort to build a nearly foolproof identification system to put a stop to such [...]
Lebanese Mahmoud Rafeh, center, a 60-year-old retired police officer, who was charged with spying for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and helping execute a bombing that killed Mahmoud Majzoub, a senior Islamic Jihad official and his brother outside their home in the southern city of Sidon, is seen as he listens to the court ruling, [...]
A huge wave reached a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast, said President Michele Bachelet. Tsunami warnings were issued over a wide area, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands. “It has been a devastating earthquake,” Interior [...]
One of Italy’s wealthiest men, Silvio Scaglia, was in police custody last night after he turned himself in to face allegations of involvement in a money laundering and tax fraud ring. Mr Scaglia, the founder of Italian broadband operator Fastweb, had returned voluntarily from a business trip to the Caribbean after a judge issued a [...]
A rare, uncut diamond has achieved a record sale price at an auction in South Africa. The Cullinan Heritage diamond, which was discovered last year, was sold for $35.3 Million (£23.1m) to a Hong Kong-based jewellery company. The 507-carat gem is one of the largest diamonds ever discovered. Petra, the mining company that discovered the [...]
A man who created a website trading in stolen financial information linked to tens of millions of dollars in losses has been jailed for nearly five years. Renukanth Subramaniam, 33, founded Darkmarket, a “Facebook for fraudsters” where criminals could buy and sell credit card details and bank log-ins. The site was shut down in 2009 [...]
There are long lines outside the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, where a landmark exhibition of paintings by Caravaggio (1571-1610) has opened to mark the 400th anniversary of the artist’s death. The show is billed as a first-time gathering of authenticated masterpieces by the Italian painter, whose deep emotionalism, naturalism and dramatic use of light helped [...]
Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, is single-handedly blocking Senate action needed to prevent an estimated 1.2 million American workers from prematurely losing their unemployment benefits next month. As Democratic senators asked again and again for unanimous consent for a vote on a 30-day extension Thursday night, Bunning refused to go along. And when Sen. [...]
Temporarily stopping blood flow in the arm prevents damage in people having a heart attack, a Danish study has shown. It is thought the procedure “kick-starts” natural mechanisms in the heart to counter the lack of oxygen. In a study of around 150 patients, those who were treated this way in the ambulance on the [...]
At least 12 people, including three suicide bombers, were killed with three others wounded in an attack in Afghan capital Kabul on Friday morning, police said. Two explosions blew up nearby City Center, a nine-story shopping building in downtown Kabul, about 6:40 a.m. Friday morning, police said. A group of militants then entered the shopping [...]
Operation Aquarium took place under the cover of darkness, at a suburban Vancouver arena, even while the women’s Olympic hockey tournament was in mid-stream. Canada’s team, which beat the United States 2-0 last night for its third straight Olympic gold medal, had played nearly 60 games before Gretzky and friends lit the cauldrons, most of [...]
The only known painting from life showing Admiral Lord Nelson in the company of his mistress, Lady Emma Hamilton, has surfaced at auction after 210 years. The newly-discovered watercolor depicts the couple sitting side by side in a barge on the fringes of the Mediterranean in 1800 – five years before Nelson’s death in glorious [...]
Software company had forced closure of Cryptome.org website for publishing guide that explains how to access millions of pieces of private data Microsoft has been forced to backtrack after it closed down a whistleblowing website after it published a leaked version of the company’s “spy guide”. The American software giant took action on Wednesday against [...]
Kim Yu-na put one hand to her mouth and let the tears flow. All that pressure, so many expectations. The “Queen” took it all on and delivered royally. The South Korean won the Olympic gold medal Thursday night, soaring to a world-record 228.56 points and shattering her previous mark by more than 18 points. It [...]
A killer whale which drowned its trainer will be spared after colleagues said her ponytail was to blame for the tragedy. Witnesses described seeing the 30-year-old, 12,300-pound bull orca, named Tilikum, grabbing veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau’s long hair in its mouth before dragging her underwater at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. Chuck Tompkins, head of animal [...]
District Attorney Steve Cooley has been promising for months to get tough with some of the pot shops in Los Angeles County — and this week, he made good on his word. Cooley charged Jeff Joseph, the prominent operator of a medical marijuana dispensary in Culver City, with 24 felonies, including selling and transporting cannabis, [...]
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas commander assassinated in Dubai, used the same tradecraft — fraudulent passports and disguises — as his killers during secret missions to procure arms for the group, a confidant said on Thursday. From shooting at a car that drove repeatedly past his home in Syria — he later discovered it belonged to [...]
Thailand has seized two tons of elephant tusks from Africa hidden in pallets labeled as mobile phone parts in the country’s largest ivory seizure. Thai Customs officials valued Wednesday night’s haul at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 120 million baht ($3.6 million). It is further sign that Thailand is emerging as a hub for the illicit [...]
A jury convicted an amateur photographer Thursday of murdering a 12-year-old girl and four women in the late 1970s, setting the stage for a possible death penalty in a legal saga that has dragged on 30 years. Jurors took less than two days to reach guilty verdicts against Rodney Alcala after six weeks of testimony. [...]
Microsoft has won court approval to shut down a global network of computers which it says is responsible for more than 1.5 Billion spam messages every day. A US judge granted the firm’s request to shut down 277 internet domains, which it said were used to “command and control” the so-called Waledac botnet. A botnet [...]
A senior executive who worked for Bernard L. Madoff for more than 30 years was arrested Thursday on federal fraud and conspiracy charges, including claims that he helped Mr. Madoff survive a cash crisis that almost derailed the gigantic Ponzi scheme five years ago, The New York Times’s Diana B. Henriques reports. The executive, Daniel [...]
Eta Eckstein’s furniture sits haphazardly outside the apartment where she has lived for 40 years. The red notice on the door claims that the 92-year-old Holocaust survivor does not live there anymore, but her family is fighting to prove that her eviction was unlawful. Eckstein was forced to leave her rent-stabilized apartment 18 months ago [...]
The chief of Algeria’s national police, Ali Tounsi, was shot dead in his office on Thursday shortly before noon, an Algerian daily reported. Witnesses quoted by Echorouk said Tounsi was killed by a 64-year-old retired army colonel who was hired by the national security agency to oversee the police helicopters unit. According to the report, [...]
The former Cuban leader Fidel Castro hosted an “emotional” meeting with the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, yesterday, reaffirming the close relationship between the countries, Cuban media reported. Lula is on his last official trip to the island before his term as president expires. He told reporters that Castro, who ruled Cuba for [...]
Martin Aircraft Company, in Christchurch, New Zealand, aims to make 500 packs a year which will sell for around $75,000 (£50,000). The 200 horsepower dual-propeller packs are the brainchild of inventor Glenn Martin who unveiled his machine for the first time in July last year. Because it weighs less than 254 pounds (115kg) the jet [...]
When Dirk Hannema declared he had discovered a previously unknown Van Gogh painting in 1975, he became the laughing stock of the art world. The museum curator was well-known for his tall tales in the Dutch art community and was widely mocked for filling his personal collection with forgeries. “This discovery is not an attribution [...]
A dominating Canada ended 50 years of Olympic hockey frustration against Russia. The Canadians got a goal and two assists from Dan Boyle during a take-charge first period to beat the world champions 7-3 Wednesday and surge into the Olympic semifinals. A superpower showdown — one that may have been better suited for the gold-medal [...]
A woman who fabricated a gang rape accusation was sentenced Tuesday to up to three years behind bars herself, saying she was riven with remorse for sending an innocent man to prison. Biurny Peguero, 27, pleaded guilty in December to perjury, admitting she made up the September 2005 incident that unjustly put construction worker William [...]
The gunman who wounded two middle school students in a city still haunted by the Columbine massacre was allowed to enter and leave the building hours before he opened fire in the parking lot, investigators said Wednesday. A math teacher who tackled the 32-year-old gunman and stopped the rampage Tuesday was hailed as a hero, [...]
A SeaWorld killer whale seized a trainer in its jaws Wednesday and thrashed the woman around underwater, killing her in front of a horrified audience. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death. Distraught audience members were hustled out of the stadium immediately, and the park was closed. Trainer [...]
General Motors’ deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese automaker fell through Wednesday and the company said it now plans to shut down the brand. GM did not give any details about why the agreement to sell Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. Ltd. could not be completed, saying only that [...]
Security agents detained dissidents across Cuba Wednesday to prevent protests at the funeral of a leading dissident whose death in a prison hunger strike has sparked international outrage, an activist said. Orlando Zapata, 42, was to be buried in his hometown of Banes, 830 kilometers (500 miles) east of Havana, after a wake at the [...]
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua has flown back to the capital Abuja, three months after he left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Two planes landed at the presidential wing of Abuja airport, just hours after government sources said Mr Yar’Adua was due to return from a hospital in Saudi Arabia. An ambulance and several SUVs [...]
The son of one of Hamas’s founding members was a spy in the service of Israel for more than a decade, helping prevent dozens of Islamist suicide bombers from finding their targets, it emerged today. Codenamed the Green Prince by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh [...]
Latin American and Caribbean leaders have agreed to create a new regional bloc that excludes the US and Canada. The announcement came at the close of a two-day summit of 32 leaders in Cancun, Mexico on Tuesday. The new bloc “must as a priority push for regional integration … and promote the regional agenda in [...]
Day 12 at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games will not be a day that Sven Kramer’s coach will remember fondly, after the biggest blunder of his coaching career cost the speedskater a second Olympic title. The Dutch world champion was disqualified despite posting the fastest time in the 10,000 metres after failing to switch lanes [...]
Much of Greece ground to a halt today as a general strike gripped the country, with more than 20,000 people taking to the streets of Athens to protest against the Government’s austerity measures. It began as a peaceful but vocal demonstration at midday, although there were soon clashes between protesters and police. More than two [...]
Three Google executives were today convicted in Milan of “violating privacy” by allowing a video of an autistic Italian schoolboy being physically and verbally abused to be posted online. The charges were brought by Vivi Down, an advocacy group for people with Down’s syndrome, following the hosting of a video clip in 2006 showing the [...]
It will be a fortress, but there’s not a fence in sight. U.S. officials announced Tuesday that a light-filled cube by Philadelphia-based architecture firm Kieran Timberlake has won the competition to design the United States’ high-security new embassy in London – billed as the greenest and one of the most expensive U.S. diplomatic buildings in [...]
The United States has renewed a travel alert to Mexico, citing increased violence in the country. The alert, issued Sunday by the State Department, is in effect until August 20 and supersedes an alert issued August 20, 2009. “Recent violent attacks have caused the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to [...]
Police on Wednesday announced 15 new suspects in the January slaying of a Hamas leader at a Dubai hotel, bringing to 26 the number of people suspected of involvement in his death. Authorities previously had released a list of 11 suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a founding member of Hamas’ military wing. Al-Mabhouh [...]
Two U.S. missionaries still held in Haiti on child kidnapping charges are expected to be freed this week, the judge hearing their case said on Tuesday. “We haven’t found anything that could suggest wrongdoing on the part of the Americans,” the investigative judge, Bernard Sainvil, told reporters. “I think they could be released this week,” [...]
Cuban political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo has died in hospital after 85 days on hunger strike, hospital and opposition sources say. Mr Zapata, 42, had been admitted to Havana’s Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital after his condition deteriorated. Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience after his arrest in March 2003. He had been involved in [...]
Roll out the felony? A cable TV producer in suburban Detroit has been charged with using publicly owned equipment to make polka DVDs and sell them to an undercover officer. Police say Fred DeChausse was caught selling 11 DVDs for $150. He’s the producer of Polka Party on Warren’s public cable channel. A court hearing [...]
CSIS agents wrote to and travelled secretly to Egypt to interrogate a jailed Toronto man and “likely contributed indirectly” to his torture ordeal there, new information revealed Tuesday. The damning details were contained in a supplemental report released by former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci after federal objections to disclosures about Ahmad Elmaati’s fate were [...]
He was a former Toronto councillor turned immigration judge and she was a Korean refugee claimant. They met at a coffee shop to discuss her case and, in a conversation she secretly recorded, he said he wanted to be her “good friend,” court was told Monday. “You’ve got a boyfriend. I’ve got a wife,” Steve [...]
Australia intends to impose tougher visa checks on people from countries considered at high risk for terrorism as part of a 69 million Australian dollar ($62 million) counterterrorism plan released Tuesday. The new visa requirements, which include mandatory collection of fingerprints and facial imaging data for visa applicants from 10 countries, would help keep terrorists [...]
Disgruntled would-be passengers are complaining about hundreds of canceled or delayed flights as air traffic controllers begin a four-day strike across France. France’s civil aviation agency has ordered airlines to cut back half of the flights in and out of Paris’ Orly aiport and one in four at Charles de Gaulle amid staffing shortages caused [...]
A former Nigerian state governor who serves as ranking member of the nation’s ruling party was arrested for allegedly embezzling $100 million of government money meant for public projects, an anti-corruption official said Tuesday. Agents from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested Abdullahi Adamu on Monday after a more than yearlong investigation, agency spokesman [...]
There are mounting concerns in Haiti’s earthquake-hit capital over the welfare of thousands of orphans suffering amid the devastation. The plight of orphaned children in Haiti has led to calls for international adoption processes to be sped up, but fears over human trafficking have complicated the process. Over the weekend two Americans, who were escorting [...]
The working group set up by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has proposed allowing a limited return to commercial whale hunts, in exchange for a reduction in the number of whales killed annually. The proposal would allow Japan to continue its hunt of the mammals on a quota basis, while suspending its hunts for the [...]
A massive car bomb has exploded outside a courthouse in Northern Ireland, the first such attack in the province for over a decade. Police have said it was a “sheer miracle” that no-one was killed when a bomb weighing 100kg exploded in the city of Newry on Monday night. No group has claimed responsibility for [...]
Spain’s debt-laden Socialist government has witnessed the first mass protests by unions in its six years in power as anger over a plan to raise the retirement age spilled onto the streets. The UGT and the CCOO, the country’s two largest unions, called for Tuesday’s demonstrations against the reform in several major cities, including Madrid, [...]
The UAE has identified four more suspects who carried fraudulent British and Irish passports in the Dubai killing of a Hamas commander, a source familiar with the investigation said on Tuesday. The use of passports from European Union countries by the killers of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh has drawn censure from the bloc. Dubai has accused [...]
More than 700 banks, or nearly one out of every 11, are at risk of going under, according to a government report published Tuesday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said that the number of banks on its so-called “problem list” climbed to 702, its highest level since June 1993. The number of banks under scrutiny [...]
A rare copy of the first comic book featuring Superman has sold for $1 million, smashing a record set just last year. The issue sold Monday morning is a 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1, widely considered the Holy Grail of comic books. It features Superman lifting a car on its cover and originally [...]
Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States. In an appearance before a federal judge, Zazi, a native of Afghanistan who lived in Colorado, admitted his role in the conspiracy, saying, “In spring 2008, I conspired with others to join the Taliban, to fight along with the [...]
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said more than 40 people had been detained in a probe into an alleged coup plot against Turkey’s ruling political party. Erdogan, speaking at a news conference during an official visit to Spain, gave no further details on the Monday arrests and said it would not be [...]
Another senior Afghan Taliban leader has been arrested in Pakistan, two Pakistani intelligence officials told reporters on Monday. Security forces arrested Mullah Abdul Kabir last week from a religious school in the district of Nowshera, 54 miles (88 km) northwest of Islamabad, the officials said. Nowshera is located in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. The [...]
Aghanistan government officials say at least 33 civilians have been killed in a NATO attack on a convoy of vehicles in Uruzgan, a province in the country’s south. NATO confirmed that it fired on Sunday on a group of vehicles that it believed contained fighters, only to discover later that women and children were in [...]
Two men were charged Sunday morning with setting fire to a church in east Texas and federal authorities said the men may face charges in nine other church fires. The men, Jason Robert Bourque, 19, of Lindale, Tex., and Daniel George McAllister, 21, of Ben Wheeler, Tex., were arrested and charged with arson of a [...]
Space shuttle Endeavour is home after two weeks in space, having delivered the final U.S. module and a “room with a view” to the International Space Station. STS-130 Commander George Zamka guided Endeavour to a landing at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility at 10:20 p.m. EST, to wrap up a 5.7 million mile [...]
The pilots’ union of Lufthansa began a strike Monday after a last-ditch effort at negotiations over pay and job security failed, a spokeswoman for the airline told reporters. The four-day work stoppage by the pilots’ union of one of the world’s largest airlines threatened to disrupt travel on more than two dozen partner airlines later [...]
Bode Miller fulfilled his Olympic dream at last with a gold medal in the men’s super-combined at Whistler Creekside on Sunday. The flamboyant U.S star has been in superb form at the Vancouver Winter Games and his victory completes a full set of medals, after he claimed silver in the super-G and bronze in the [...]
While not quite the caliber of 1980′s “Miracle on Ice,” the United States pulled off a big upset Sunday when it defeated Canada 5-3 in a preliminary-round game of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Brian Rafalski had two goals and assist, Jamie Langenbrunner added a goal and assist and Ryan Miller was strong [...]
At least 32 people have died in mudslides on the Portuguese island of Madeira, which was hit by heavy downpours overnight, an official told reporters on Saturday. Pedro Barbosa, the vice president of the Civil Protection Agency in Madeira, told reporters that an unknown number of people were missing — perhaps dozens, he said. The [...]
With their celebrity friends, fleet of fast cars and yachts and homes in London and Monaco, Nick and Christian Candy were the brothers who had it all. Now, though, Britain’s most extravagant property developers may finally be feeling the pinch. The Candys – through Christian Candy’s company CPC – are being forced to hand back [...]
Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market. The reports say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and [...]
This extraordinary image of an ant carrying 100 times its own body weight has scooped first prize in a science photography competition. The photo shows an Asian weaver ant hanging upside down on a glass-like surface and holding a 500mg weight in its jaws. It was captured by Dr Thomas Endlein of Zoology department at [...]
In California, it’s been seven months since some 3 million poor and disabled adults lost their dental coverage to budget cuts. And in thousands of dentist’s offices and community clinics — from the rocky north coast to the Mexican border — it’s the receptionists who are left to counsel and console patients who have lost [...]
A family heirloom stolen nearly half a century ago finds its way back to the owner. It’s all thanks to a good samaritan. “I was just doing my job,” said Piero Ramos. 18 year old Piero Ramos was working at Publix in North Fort Myers on Tuesday when he found it. “I see something gold [...]
Dulles Airport and Customs officials have confirmed a Customs and Border Protection K-9 in training attacked a 4-year-old girl just after 12 p.m. Thursday at Dulles International Airport. The child was there with her mother and a younger sibling picking up a friend coming from Argentina. Officials have not yet confirmed why the dog attacked [...]
Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, a four-star general who served as a top adviser to three presidents and had presidential ambitions of his own, died Saturday of complications from an infection, his family said. He was 85. Mr. Haig’s long and decorated military career launched the Washington career for which he is better known, [...]
After a fierce gunfight, U.S. Marines seized a strongly defended compound yesterday that appears to have been a Taliban headquarters – complete with photos of fighters posing with their weapons, dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and graduation diplomas from a training camp in Pakistan. Insurgents who had been using the field office just south of [...]
A Kenyan police official says a Canadian citizen has been kidnapped after dropping his child off at school in Kenya’s capital. The officer said Friday the man works for an aid organization and was taken Wednesday near the International School. He says the family have received ransom demands. He asked for anonymity as he is [...]
At least 41 people died when a centuries-old minaret collapsed at a mosque in Morocco on Friday, the country’s official news agency reported on Saturday. The incident took place during Friday prayers at the Bab al-Baradeen mosque in Meknes, a town in northern Morocco located 140 km (87 miles) southeast of Rabat. At least 75 [...]
All 64 students and crew on a Canadian ship that sank 300 miles from the Brazilian coast have been rescued, a Canadian air force officer said Friday afternoon. The Canadians were aboard the West Island College Class Afloat school ship Concordia as part of a 10-month accredited high school and university program. The ship was [...]
In a high-profile court case, a Moscow police officer was sentenced to life in prison Friday for killing two people and injuring seven in a drunken shooting rampage at a supermarket last year. The verdict comes at a time when the Russian government has launched a crackdown on out-of-control police departments throughout Russia. The dramatic [...]
Ex-New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was sentenced to 48 months in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to charges of lying to Bush administration officials who vetted his unsuccessful 2004 nomination for homeland security secretary. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Stephen Robinson, exceeded the 27- to 33-month prison term recommended by federal [...]
A federal judge has ruled that McGuireWoods won’t get any attorney fees in a $49 million antitrust settlement with BAR/BRI parent company West Publishing Corp. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ruled earlier this month that the law firm is not entitled to $12 million in fees because of a conflict of interest that violated ethics [...]
A Chicago law student who took his 3-year-old daughter to Holy Name Cathedral as a television news crew recorded the event has been arraigned on charges of violating a court order. The unusual order, issued in a bitter custody battle, barred 35-year-old Joseph Reyes from exposing his daughter to any religion other than Judaism, ABC [...]
In a tightly controlled televised statement, golfer Tiger Woods gave an apology Friday for his “irresponsible and selfish” behavior, which he said included infidelity. “I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you,” said the golfer, dressed in a blue shirt and a blazer. “For all that I have done, I am so sorry. … [...]
States may be forced to reduce benefits, raise taxes or slash government services to address a $1 trillion funding shortfall in public sector retirement benefits, according to a new study that warns of even more debilitating costs if immediate action isn’t taken. The Pew Center on the States released a survey Thursday of state-administered pension [...]
The pilot of a small plane that slammed into a building Thursday morning in Austin, Texas, set his $230,000 house on fire beforehand and then intentionally crashed the aircraft, a federal official told reporters. Federal officials told reporters that the plane was a Piper Cherokee PA-28 they believe belonged to Joseph Andrew Stack. Two F-16 [...]
A bomb blast at a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt killed 29 people including some militants Thursday, underscoring the security threat here even as Pakistani-U.S. cooperation against extremism appears on the upswing. The attack in Khyber tribal region came as U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke met with Pakistan’s prime minister in Islamabad, the capital. [...]
The U.S. Olympic team came into the day with high expectations and surpassed those lofty goals, marking their best day ever in Winter Games history with six medals – half of them gold. The six medals were the most in one day by the U.S. at a Winter Olympics, topping the five earned Feb. 20, [...]
Eight U.S. missionaries who were detained for almost three weeks in Haiti on child kidnapping charges arrived in Miami, Florida, late Wednesday night after a judge ordered them freed. The group arrived at Miami International Airport on a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane from the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. “It feels great for him to [...]
U.S. snowboarder Shaun White’s Double McTwist 1260 won an Olympic Gold Medal with 48.4 points in the halfpipe competition. Another American, Louie Vito, with a score of 39.4 after the 2nd run, was also a contender for a medal. Scotty Lago, another American won the bronze medal. View the vancouver2010.com medals’ table
His dramatic creations dazzled the catwalks for a decade, but the legacy of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen could be decided on the basis of a balance sheet. An indication of the future of his fashion label will be given this morning — a week after the designer’s apparent suicide — by the French luxury [...]
Glam pop artist Lady Gaga dominated the 30th BRITs on Tuesday, winning a trio of awards at the British pop music industry’s flagship ceremony, the first international act to do so for five years. Gaga, dressed in a ghostly carnival headdress and skimpy lace outfit, picked up awards for International Female Solo Artist, International Breakthrough [...]
Lindsey Vonn lived up to expectations and won the Olympic downhill Wednesday, and childhood rival and American teammate Julia Mancuso took a surprise silver medal. In a race characterized by several crashes – including one to Swedish standout Anja Paerson — Vonn’s bruised right shin proved to be no problem as she sped down Franz’s [...]
A Haitian judge said 8 of the 10 U.S. missionaries arrested on charges of child kidnapping three weeks ago would be released Wednesday, while the other two will face additional questioning. Only Laura Silsby, the leader of the group, and Charisa Coulter, will be held for further investigation, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil told reporters. Those released [...]
Fred Aldrich, a mob associate who was targeted in one of the most notorious attempted gangland hits in Philadelphia history, died Monday, seconds before crashing his car into a Subway sandwich shop in Glenolden. Aldrich, 64, apparently suffered a massive heart attack while pulling into the parking lot off Chester Pike around 12:30 p.m., his [...]
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy made a landmark visit to Haiti Wednesday, announcing $136 Million of additional aid to the former French colony where 212,000 people were killed by an earthquake five weeks ago. Sarkozy is the first French president ever to visit the country which has in the past demanded huge reparations from France to [...]
Chile’s Chaiten volcano has been placed under red alert due to an increase in seismic activity for three weeks, the Chilean government said. The volcano in southern Chile became active in May 2008 after being dormant for more than 9,000 years. Volcanic activity was on the decline in the past few months until picking back [...]
To the list of instructions you hear at airport checkpoints, add this: “Put your palms forward, please.” The Transportation Security Administration soon will begin randomly swabbing passengers’ hands at checkpoints and airport gates to test them for traces of explosives. Previously, screeners swabbed some carry-on luggage and other objects as they searched for the needle [...]
President Barack Obama said Tuesday he would nominate career diplomat Robert Ford to become the United States’ first ambassador to Damascus since 2005, a sign that U.S.-Syrian relations are thawing as Obama enters his second year in power. If confirmed by the Senate, Ford would represent the United States’ interests as it moves toward restored [...]
Sadie the Scottish terrier won America’s top dog show Tuesday night, and that was pretty predictable. What happened moments before she took the title at Westminster was far more startling. Two women walked into the center ring at Madison Square Garden and held up signs that said “Mutts Rule” and “Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs’ Chances,” [...]
American Airlines announced Tuesday it will resume commercial flights into Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday, making it the first airline to do so. Commercial flights ended on January 12, when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed more than 200,000 people and damaged many of the country’s buildings, including some at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in the capital. The [...]
Egypt’s most famous pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, was a frail boy who suffered from a cleft palate and club foot. He died of complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria and his parents were most likely brother and sister. Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on Tut’s 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others are [...]
Secret love letters written by John F Kennedy to a Swedish lover before and during his marriage have been revealed for the first time after she put them up for sale. The correspondence – 11 handwritten letters and three telegrams – to Gunilla von Post strike a romantic tone that presaged a life of aggressive [...]
It won’t make up for almost a decade of imprisonment, but a $4.1 million settlement is a “good start,” one of Tim Masters’ attorneys said Tuesday. The Larimer County, Colorado, Board of Commissioners voted earlier Tuesday to settle a lawsuit that Masters filed after a judge exonerated him on a murder charge that put him [...]
President Obama announced $8.3 Billion in loan guarantees Tuesday for two nuclear reactors to be built in Burke County, Georgia. No new nuclear power plants have been built in the United States in three decades. The new reactors are to be part of an expansion of an existing nuclear facility near Augusta, Georgia, operated by [...]
North Korea has hailed its “peerlessly brilliant” leader, Kim Jong-il, as the country marks his 68th birthday in a festive atmosphere complete with parades, flower shows and goodie-bag handouts for children. Kim’s birthday on Tuesday is the second biggest annual holiday in North Korea and comes amid persistent questions about his health and the future [...]
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior Taliban military commander, has been captured in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, US officials have reported. According to officials, Mullah Baradar, the Taliban’s number two, was captured in a secret raid by US and Pakistani intelligence forces several days ago. Citing US government officials, reporters said Mullah Baradar had been [...]
Dubai’s police chief said Monday an 11-member hit squad carrying European passports and disguised in wigs, fake beards and tennis clothes was behind the mysterious killing of a Hamas commander in his hotel room last month. Authorities also released photos of the 11. Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim did not directly implicate Israel, as the [...]
It’s not just famous directors who are getting kicked off planes for bizarre reasons. A New York doctor claims that he was booted from a Spirit Airlines flight for asking for water for his pregnant wife on Sunday. Mitchell Roslin, the Chief of Obesity Surgery at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital, says that after being grounded [...]
As more people seek dismissal for financial hardship, their claims face much tighter scrutiny. In one case the jury pool was so rebellious and ‘scary’ that both sides agreed to let the judge decide. Spurned in his effort to get out of jury duty, salesman Tony Prados turned his attention to the case that could [...]
At the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, “Renoir in the 20th Century” seeks to overturn conventional wisdom. Here’s the contested rap on Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Following success at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, when he was 33, plus another decade’s worth of heady achievement, his paintings went steadily downhill. After his death in 1919, [...]
The daughter of the mayor of Kiev has been the victim of a robbery in Paris. Kristina Chernovetskaya said she had $6 Million (£4m) of jewels stolen as she drove into the city from Charles de Gaulle airport. She was being driven along the motorway in a luxury rental car when the thief struck, she [...]
At least 20 people are believed to have been killed in a train crash outside Brussels, the Belgian capital, officials have said. Two packed commuter trains collided head-on at rush hour near Halle, 9 miles (15km) southwest of Brussels at around 07:30 GMT on Monday. Neither SNCB, the national railways company, nor Infrabel, the track [...]
Canada’s long wait for a first Olympic gold medal on home soil is over after Alexandre Bilodeau won the men’s moguls event in Vancouver. Bilodeau, 22, finished ahead of Australia’s reigning champion Dale Begg-Smith and American Bryon Wilson. It ended a 34-year wait and sparked wild celebrations at Cypress Mountain. Canada had never won an [...]
A Southern California meatpacking firm has significantly expanded its recall of ground beef and veal that might be contaminated with E. coli. The recall includes approximately an additional 4.9 million pounds of products by Huntington Meat Packing Inc. under the Huntington, Imperial Meat Co. and El Rancho brands, the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and [...]
The oldest death row inmate in the United States, who committed his first crime in 1930, has died of natural causes aged 94. Viva Leroy Nash died behind bars in the Arizona state prison after spending most of his life behind bars. Nash had been imprisoned almost continuously since he was 15 and was, his [...]
Dozens of angry North Africans overturned cars and smashed shop windows in an area of the city which in recent years has become one of the most multicultural pockets of Europe. The trouble began on Saturday after a 19-year-old was killed by a group of immigrants from South America following an argument on a bus. [...]
As if people needed any more reason to eat chocolate – now scientists find a bar a week could stop you from having a stroke. A study of nearly 50,000 people found that those eating chocolate were 22 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke than those that didn’t. And those who did suffer [...]
Two U.S. rockets slammed into a home Sunday outside the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah, killing 12 civilians after Afghanistan’s president appealed to NATO to take care in its campaign to seize the town. Inside Marjah, Marines encountered “death at every corner” in their second day of a massive offensive to capture this bleak mud-brick [...]
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Beirut Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose death touched off Lebanon’s “Cedar Revolution” and ushered in the end of Syria’s 30-year military domination. Although turnout was huge, it was estimated to be less than in previous years — [...]
A 60-year-old Israeli man who kept a harem of at least 21 women who bore him 49 children has been charged with enslavement, rape, incest and other sexual offenses. Goel Ratzon was arrested last month but wasn’t charged formally until Sunday. Ratzon, who remains behind bars, denies wrongdoing. The 25-page indictment accuses him of setting [...]
Larry Ellison’s space-age trimaran BMW Oracle won back the America’s Cup for the United States by speeding across the Mediterranean and routing two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland in a two-race sweep. The 65-year-old software tycoon was onboard his incredibly fast craft Sunday, after sitting out Race 1 due to a weight limit. His victory [...]
Czech Anastasiya Kuzmina Olympic Gold Medal Winner 7.5 Kilometer Sprint Switzerland Simon Ammann Olympic Gold Medal Winner Individual Normal Hill Speed Jumping US Hannah Kearney Olympic Gold Medal Winner Women’s Moguls South Korea Lee Jung-Su Olympic Gold Medal Winner 1500 mm Men’s Short Track Sprint Netherlands Sven Kramer Olympic Gold Medal Winner 5000m Speed Skating [...]
Someday very soon, ‘O Canada’ will receive good air time at the Vancouver Olympics. First, though, American Hannah Kearney gets to celebrate. It’s a party four years in the making for the 23-year-old from New Hampshire, who slashed through the rain and down the moguls Saturday night — a remarkable run that gave America its [...]
Two huge waves swept away spectators watching a Northern California surfing contest Saturday morning, causing broken bones and other injuries to people standing on a seawall. Thirteen people were injured, with two immediately transported to area hospitals. Eleven others were being treated at the beach for injuries including “a couple broken legs and broken hands [...]
At first glance, it looks like any typical art collection on display at London’s famous Victoria and Albert Museum. But what makes this exhibition unique is that all the featured artworks are fakes and most of the artists on display have served time in jail. Curated by the Metropolitan Police, the exhibit showcases everything from [...]
A 41-year-old Palestinian resident of the West Bank city Hebron died of his wounds after he was shot and critically wounded by Israeli soldiers’ gunfire on Friday afternoon, medical sources and witnesses said. The sources said Fayez Farraj was critically wounded after Israeli soldiers opened fire at him in the neighborhood of Bab el- Zawya. [...]
A biology professor at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus was charged with murder late Friday in the shooting deaths of three fellow biology professors at the campus. Authorities say Amy Bishop, an instructor and researcher at the university, opened fire during an afternoon faculty meeting, killing the three and injuring three other school employees. [...]
Jose Roberto Arruda, governor ofthe Brazilian federal district that includes the capital city, Brasilia, was arrested Thursday on corruption and bribery charges. The arrest is the result of the Pandora’s Box Operation conducted by Brazilian federal police, which gathered evidence of frequent and regular payment of bribes made by entrepreneurs to officials since 2002. On [...]
The latest tale of financial crisis in California is playing out in Los Angeles. The city faces a budget shortfall approaching a billion dollars, and unless it can find a remedy soon, it may be insolvent by midsummer. As officials cut spending, everyone’s feeling the squeeze. The neighborhood of West Los Angeles is a quiet, [...]
The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections last Friday sued every inmate on death row, in an effort to block any one of them from challenging the state’s lethal injection procedures. Each of the 84 prisoners in the “death house” at Angola State Penitentiary was personally served papers in the suit, said Nick Trenticosta, [...]
US-led NATO troops have launched a long-expected attack on the biggest Taliban-held town in the south of the country. Helicopter-borne US marines and Afghan troops backed by British forces swooped down on the Taliban-held town of Marjah in the centre of Helmand province early on Saturday. Thousands of US and Afghan troops are taking part [...]
A decade-long odyssey to bring the Winter Olympics to Vancouver was completed Friday night in a stunning spectacle of color, culture and celebration to mark the start of 16 days of sporting events. But the euphoria inside the opening ceremony, as deafening as it was in Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium, was tinged with sadness over [...]
Authorities have issued sketches of three people sought in connection with the spate of eastern Texas church fires. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released the drawings Friday at a news conference in Tyler, Texas. We have a serial arsonist out there,” said Robert Champion, special agent in charge of ATF’s Dallas, Texas, [...]
As sex tapes go, it’s fairly tame – a man gets undressed in a bedroom, slides under the covers, plumps the pillows and calls to a woman to join him. But the man is a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and a former Palestinian intelligence official who secretly recorded the scene alleges the [...]
Rio de Janeiro’s youngest Carnival queen, just 7 years old, is preparing to share the limelight with pop divas Madonna and Beyonce as Brazil’s annual blow-out gets under way this week. The choice of third-grader Julia Lira to lead the drum corps for the Viradouro samba group sparked controversy and a legal challenge by a [...]
He only misplaced a single letter but it was one “L” of a costly mistake for the general manager of the Chilean mint. Gregorio Iñiguez and several other employees have reportedly been fired after they minted a set of 50-peso coins with the name of their nation spelt incorrectly. The coins, worth about ten cents, [...]
Haiti observed a day of mourning Friday to mark the one month anniversary of the devastating quake that killed more than 200,000 people and left an estimated 1.2 Million people homeless. A ceremony was scheduled in the city center, where the stately National Palace lies in ruin and the Champ de Mars square has been [...]
Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili has died after launching from the track and hitting his head on a metal pole during a training run Friday at Whistler Olympic Park. Kumaritashvili was going close to 90 miles an hour (150 km/h), near the end of the course, when he launched off the track. Witnesses say his [...]
A jury awarded $12 Million on Thursday to a Southern California woman who was left in a vegetative state after she waited hours at a hospital before being sent elsewhere for surgery to remove an air-rifle pellet from her brain in 2007. The Pomona Superior Court jury found that Greater El Monte Community Hospital was [...]
On Friday, millions of Americans will for the first time own a piece of Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., whose multi-thousand-dollar share price made it a thinly traded luxury of wealthy investors and institutions, is going mainstream as it joins the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. More than $1 trillion of investor money [...]
The police in El Salvador have begun an investigation into whether a man suspected of leading a trafficking ring involving Central American and Caribbean women and girls is also a legal adviser to many of the Americans charged with trying to take 33 children out of Haiti without permission. When the judge presiding over the [...]
The Los Angeles museum said it would appeal the decision to Italy’s highest court and would “vigorously defend” its right to keep the bronze. The “Victorious Youth” statue, which dates from 300-100BC, was pulled from the sea by Italian fishermen in 1964 off the eastern town of Fano, near Pesaro. The Italian government, which has [...]
Police look on while a resident exits the building housing deceased laywer Shahid Azmi’s office in Mumbai on Thursday Gunmen shot dead a lawyer representing a man accused of helping the Mumbai, India, attackers who killed 164 people in November 2008, an official said Thursday. Shahid Azmi was shot by three attackers, police believe. Azmi [...]
Alexander McQueen, the British fashion designer known for his dramatic statement pieces and impeccable tailoring, has been found dead at his London home. Police did not directly comment on Thursday when asked about how McQueen, 40, had died, but said the death was not being treated as suspicious. Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, [...]
Five U.S. soldiers were wounded Thursday when a suicide bomber attacked a U.S. base, an Afghan official said. The attacker detonated the bomb about 9 p.m. while in the “sleeping area” on the base, said Paktia province spokesman Roullah Samoun. It is unclear how the bomber got onto the base, but preliminary investigations show the [...]
A college senior studying Arabic says he was wrongly detained for almost five hours last summer after an airport screener found his Arabic-English flash cards and a book critical of U.S. foreign policy. Nicholas George, 22, a senior at Pomona College in California, filed suit in federal court Wednesday against the Transportation Security Administration, the [...]
Former President Bill Clinton was in “good spirits” Thursday after undergoing a procedure to insert two stents into one of his coronary arteries, his office said. Clinton was hospitalized at the Columbia Campus of New York-Presbyterian Hospital after experiencing chest pain, according to Douglas Band, counselor to the former president. Despite other media reports that [...]
Two former employees of Blackwater Worldwide have accused the private security company of defrauding the government for years by filing bogus receipts, double billing for the same services and charging government agencies for strippers and prostitutes, according to court documents unsealed this week. In a December 2008 lawsuit, the former employees said top Blackwater officials [...]
They’re tall, they’re blonde, they’re elegant, and at the height of their careers they can command millions of dollars. Supermodels? No, camels. In the remote Western Region of the United Arab Emirates, 28,000 of the humped beasts gathered at the end of January for what was billed as the biggest camel beauty contest ever. The [...]
Heightening its warnings as anticipated anti-government protests approach, Iran’s government says it will arrest protesters and hold them until April if they disrupt state-sanctioned marches to commemorate the overthrow of the Shah of Iran. Iran is this week celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, culminating on February 11 — a day that marked [...]
Newly released photographs show what a damaged World Trade Center tower and its collapse looked like from a New York Police Department helicopter as it flew nearby on September 11, 2001, in New York. The aerial photos were obtained by ABC News after it filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year with the [...]
The White House has expressed “deep disappointment” at an Appeal Court ruling to reveal information on the alleged torture of a UK resident. Foreign Secretary David Miliband lost an Appeal Court bid on Wednesday to prevent the details being published. Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 31, says UK authorities knew he was tortured at the behest of [...]
Haiti’s government has raised the death toll from the January 12 earthquake that destroyed much of its capital, to at least 230,000. Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue, the communications minister, said on Tuesday that the new figure – equivalent to the 2004 Asian tsunami which affected more than half a dozen countries – does not include bodies [...]
California insurance regulators asked Anthem Blue Cross to delay controversial rate increases of as much as 39% for individual policies, hikes that have triggered widespread criticism from subscribers and brokers — and now from the federal government. In a rare step, the Obama administration called on California’s largest for-profit insurer to justify its rate hikes, [...]
The Pakistani Taliban confirmed Tuesday that its leader, Hakimullah Mahsud, has died from injuries suffered in a U.S. drone missile strike last month, forcing the insurgency to find a new leader for the second time in six months. The death of Mahsud, engineer of a devastating series of suicide attacks and raids on markets, mosques [...]
Honda announced it is expanding a previously announced recall to replace an airbag inflator in an additional 379,000 U.S. vehicles. In a statement posted on its Web site late Tuesday, Honda said the driver’s airbag inflators in these certain vehicles may expand with too much pressure, which can cause the inflator casing to break and [...]
They were accused of recruiting the homeless on Skid Row for unnecessary medical treatments and then fraudulently billing the Medicare and Medi-Cal systems. Now the two former hospital executives must pay a $10 Million fine to the federal government. The fine is the result of a settlement in a civil lawsuit. Former Downtown Los Angeles [...]
Michael Jackson’s full autopsy report was released following the filing of involuntary manslaughter charges on Monday against the singer’s personal doctor. Following are some notable or new highlights of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s report into Jackson’s June 25 death. –Jackson died of “acute propofol intoxication” administered at a level equivalent to that used during [...]
Hugo Chávez has launched his latest radio venture, a program called Suddenly with Chavez in which he can take to the airwaves any time of the day or night. Heralded by the Venezuelan Government as a “communicational guerrilla” in its battle to advance the country’s Bolivarian revolution, the new show on state radio has no schedule [...]
Toyota could be headed for a fourth safety crisis after a US federal agency said it is investigating complaints with steering on the Corolla model in America. The inquiry by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration follows hard on today’s recall by Toyota of 437,000 Prius hybrid vehicles. The Agency said it has received complaints [...]
The death of the father of Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan was ruled a homicide Tuesday when an autopsy showed he died of a heart rhythm problem after a fight with his son in which he suffered a neck injury so severe it damaged his windpipe. The findings could prompt new charges against Kerrigan’s brother, Mark, [...]
Government safety officials Tuesday announced a recall of more than 500,000 drop-side cribs sold at Buy Buy Baby, Kmart, Wal-Mart and other stores after the death of three infants. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says plastic hardware on Generation 2 Worldwide and ChildESIGNS cribs can break and allow the drop side to detach. In addition, [...]
Afghan avalanches on a mountain pass north of Kabul may have killed up to 170 people, officials said Tuesday. Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said that rescuers have already recovered 24 bodies but fear that more than 40 others have also died. About 2,600 people have already been rescued from their snow-blocked vehicles. Afghan and coalition [...]
A man in southern China was sentenced to 13 years in jail for running a pornographic Web site, a state news agency reported Sunday, amid a national crackdown on lewd online content. The court in the Guangdong province city of Jiangmen handed down the sentence to Huang Yizhong and fined him 100,000 yuan ($14,600). Huang [...]
The commander of Canada’s largest Air Force base, who once flew dignitaries around the country, has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of two women Ontario Provincial Police Det. Insp. Chris Nicholas said Monday that Col. Russell Williams, 46, was also charged in the sexual assaults of two other women. Williams was arrested [...]
New federal rules intended to shield consumers from costly anti-consumer practices – often called “greed” — in the credit card industry take effect on February 22, according to the Federal Reserve Board. Among other things, the new rule taking effect February 22 will: Prohibit unexpected interest rate increases during the first year an account has been [...]
The group of American Baptist missionaries in Haiti who are facing kidnapping charges for trying to take 33 children out of the country last week made an earlier attempt at taking dozens of other children, according to a Haitian police officer. The officer, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, said [...]
A man pulled alive from the rubble of a building in Haiti’s capital Monday may have been trapped since the January 12 quake that leveled much of the city, doctors reported. The 28-year-old man, identified as Evan Muncie, was found in the wreckage of a market where he sold rice, his family told staff at [...]
Toyota announced a global recall Tuesday for three of its 2010 hybrid models, totalling about 400,000 vehicles. The recall adds to the woes of the beleaguered automaker, which had previously recalled more than 8 million cars in recent months. This latest recall was the first of Toyota vehicles sold in the domestic Japanese market. This [...]
Dr. Conrad Murray, personal physician to Michael Jackson, was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the pop star’s death last summer. A criminal complaint filed earlier in the day alleged that Murray “did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson.” Murray turned himself in shortly before 4 p.m. at a branch courthouse [...]
A top Scotland Yard officer was jailed this afternoon after he was found guilty of threatening and falsely arresting a man in a dispute over money. Commander Ali Dizaei, 47, was sentenced to four year in prison for misconduct and perverting the course of justice at London’s Southwark Crown Court. A jury found he attacked [...]
A GI waterboarded his 4-year-old daughter in their suburban Tacoma, Wash., home because she couldn’t recite the alphabet, police reported. Joshua Tabor, 27, allegedly admitted to police he used the torture technique because his daughter was terrified of water and he was furious she didn’t know her ABCs. Tabor was arrested Sunday and charged with [...]
It was a good night for Endeavour. The space shuttle and its six-member crew blasted off early Monday morning on its way to the International Space Station, as NASA’s famed shuttle program begins its final missions. STS-130 successfully took off after 4 a.m., delayed a day due to clouds and high winds. “Looks like the [...]
A security guard takes out four activists of the Ukrainian women’s movement FEMEN. Four topless women barged into a Ukrainian polling station on Sunday as the country voted to elect a new president. The eye-popping protest came just before Viktor Yanukovich showed up to vote in Kiev. The women wore nothing except for jeans and [...]
Investigators have seized $1.1 Million in cash from a Little Italy flat – profits from a huge marijuana money-laundering ring with possible ties to organized crime. It is “by far” the biggest stash ever seized in the city linked to a marijuana ring, city special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan said. “Marijuana, and particularly Canadian Bud, [...]
China has found another 170 tons of tainted milk powder in an emergency crackdown that has made it increasingly clear many products discovered in the country’s 2008 milk scandal were repackaged for sale instead of destroyed. The growing number of cases in recent weeks challenges the government’s earlier promise to overhaul its approach to food [...]
Saints running back Reggie Bush crashes against the Colts defense in Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning (18) pursues Saints cornerback Tracy Porter (22) in vain as the New Orleans defensive back returns an interception 74 yards for a game-clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter [...]
Tiger Woods has been reunited with his family for the first time in over a month after leaving a rehabilitation clinic. The world’s troubled number one golfer completed a programme in Hattiesburg, Mississippi from where he was picked up by his wife Elin Nordegren. Despite earlier reports that the couple intended to divorce they are [...]
Sheikh Anwar al-Aulaqi , a Yemeni religious scholar, has told reporters that the suspect accused of attempting to blow up a US passenger jet on Christmas Day, was one of his students. Al-Aulaqi said that he did not order the attempted suicide attack on the airliner, but that US civilians were legitimate targets since they bore [...]
Five people were killed and at least 12 were injured in an explosion Sunday at an under-construction power plant in central Connecticut, local officials said. A statement from the mayor’s office in Middletown, Connecticut, was the first official confirmation of the number of deaths in the explosion. Residents up to 20 miles away reported hearing [...]
The anti-whaling ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica on Saturday — the second major clash this year in the increasingly aggressive confrontations between the two sides. No one was reportedly injured in the latest strike. The U.S.-based activist group Sea Shepherd, which sends vessels to [...]
The Haitian lawyer for 10 U.S. Baptists charged with child kidnapping tried to bribe the missionaries’ way out of jail and has been fired, the attorney who hired him said Saturday night. The Haitian lawyer, Edwin Coq, denied the allegation. He said the $60,000 he requested from the Americans’ families was his fee. Jorge Puello, [...]
Group of Seven countries (G7) have pledged to cancel their bilateral debt with earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and urged international lenders to do the same, Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, has said. “The debt to multilateral institutions should be forgiven and we’ll work with these institutions and other partners to make this happen as soon as [...]
Gunmen stormed into a nightclub in the Mexican beach resort of Mazatlan and shot dead six people in what looked like the latest in a flurry of drug cartel attacks. Early Saturday, four men entered the nightclub and fatally shot two waiters and a patron on a crowded dance floor. They then turned back and [...]
A diplomatic deal over the 10 American missionaries jailed in Haiti on child abduction charges may lead to the release this week of all except the group’s leader, Laura Silsby, according to legal sources in Port-au-Prince. The intervention of Bill Clinton, the former president, who is co-ordinating relief efforts in Haiti, may accelerate the resolution [...]
The life and work of Nat Finkelstein – court photographer at Andy Warhol’s Factory. In the Sixties the beautiful and the damned flocked to hang out at the Factory — and be photographed by Nat Finkelstein. Whoever heard of a celebrity that nobody knows? When Andy Warhol met the photographer Nat Finkelstein in 1964, he [...]
An Australian firm has signed a $60 Billion (AUS$69bn; £38bn) deal to supply coal to Chinese power stations. Clive Palmer, chairman of the company, Resourcehouse, said it was Australia’s “biggest ever export contract”. Under the deal, the firm will build a new mining complex to give China Power International Development (CPI) 30 million tons of [...]
Ramiro Valdes, 77, is one of only four remaining original rebels led by Fidel Castro in the 1950s in Cuba. By Cuban standards, he has had a remarkable career, serving the Castro brothers loyally for years in a variety of posts, some which made him notorious. Now, Valdes has accepted a new task outside Cuba [...]
The International Space Station is about to get what NASA is calling “a room with a view” — an observation dome that will give astronauts a window on the world unlike any other ever flown in space. Sunday morning, space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off on a mission to the space station to [...]
The arms giant BAE yesterday agreed to pay out almost $469 Million (£300m) in penalties, as it finally admitted guilt over its worldwide conduct, in the face of long-running corruption investigations. For 20 years, the firm refused to accept any wrongdoing, despite mounting evidence of alleged bribes and kickbacks. But BAE yesterday said it would [...]
The brother, sons and a niece of the convicted US fraudster Bernard Madoff have agreed to an asset freeze in a deal with the trustee liquidating his firm. Madoff’s brother, Peter, his sons, Mark and Andrew, and a niece, Shana Madoff, can no longer sell any property or run up debts of more than $1,000 [...]
Google’s decision to enlist the help of the National Security Agency in tackling cyber attacks has caused alarm among internet groups and bloggers, who fear that users’ personal information could be accessed by the US government. The Washington Post reported yesterday that the internet giant had turned to the NSA, which conducts surveillance and codebreaking [...]
Life in the nation’s capital ground to a halt Friday as steady snow fell, the beginning of a storm that forecasters said could be the biggest for the city in modern history. Meteorologists said they didn’t expect the blizzard battering the Mid-Atlantic region to stop any time soon. A record of 2½ feet or more [...]
A Bronx, New York condo has agreed to pay almost $1 Million to a woman who was raped by a serial attacker and claimed the building hushed up the crime spree. The victim, whose name is being withheld, was attacked at knifepoint in March 2003 by the so-called “good-guy bandit” – who got his nickname [...]
Jesse James Hollywood was sentenced to life in prison Friday for orchestrating the kidnap-murder of a teenager, ending a 10-year legal odyssey that included an international manhunt and a movie inspired by the high-profile crime. Superior Court Judge Brian Hill sentenced Hollywood, 30, to life without the possibility of parole in a Santa Barbara courtroom [...]
A wealthy Manhattan mom killed her 8-year-old son in a botched murder-suicide at a luxury Midtown hotel, police said Friday. Gigi Jordan, 49, was “babbling incoherently” when police found her on the floor of Room 1603 inside the Peninsula hotel on Fifth Ave. shortly before noon, the sources said. Her son – who was dead [...]
Bangladesh Anthrax Spreads, Public Panics
Top Police Official In Siberia Accused Of Taking $450,000 In Bribes
Russian Banker Shot Dead In Moscow
Russian Performers Drop Fish-Eating Circus Act
Taliban Chief Says Victory Imminent
North Korea Marks 62nd Founding Day
Fear Of Fresh Violence In Nigeria
Rachel Corrie Trial: During War There Are No Civilians
Egypt’s Leprosy Colony Lives On, VIDEO
US Soldiers ‘Kept Afghan Body Parts’
China’s Blind Activist Lawyer Released From Prison
9th Circuit Throws Out CIA Torture Lawsuit For National Security Reasons
Mexican Mayor Gunned Down Inside Own Office
Giant Rats Put Noses To Work On Africa’s Land Mine Epidemic
Fidel: ‘Cuban Model Doesn’t Even Work For Us Anymore’
Vitamin B Halts Memory Loss In Breakthrough British Trial
Bremner: ‘I Represent Seattle Police, You Can’t Arrest Me’
Russian Rokot Carrier With Three Satellites Blasts Off From Plesetsk Space Center
Police In Kamchatka Seize Poached Caviar Worth $1 Million
Europe Raids File-Sharing Groups Including Sweden
Kabul Bank Freezes Assets of Directors And Major Borrowers
Meeting The Taliban In Baghlan, VIDEO
United Nations ‘Failed’ Congo Rape Victims
California Regulators Seek Up To $9.9 Billion In Fines From PacifiCare
18 Murdered In Shoe Factory Shooting In Honduras
The Amazing World Of The Praying Mantis
9/11 Koran Burning Would Put US Troops’ In Danger, Petraeus Warns
Dozens Of Homes Burn Across Detroit, VIDEO
John Lennon’s Killer Denied Parole For The 6th Time
Belize Mob Torches Americans’ Animal Sanctuary
Pastor Wonders If It’s Wise To Burn Qurans Amid U.S. Warnings, VIDEO
Italian Crime Fighting Mayor Is Killed In Mafia-Style Execution
With A Little Help From My Friends
In Russia, No Kasha Creates Political Tension
Thieves Steal 3 Ancient Icons From Moscow Region Church
George Soros Donates $100 Million To Human Rights Watch
Congolese Poachers Destroy Protected Birds
French Unions Stage Nationwide Strike
Oracle Hires Former HP’s Mark Hurd
LAPD Kills Unarmed Migrant, Community Protests
El Salvador: 3rd Migrant Survived Mexico Massacre
Mexican Soldiers Open Fire On Family’s Car At Checkpoint, Killing 15-Year-Old And Father
U.S. Considers Boosting Funds For Mexico Drug War
California’s Union Jobs Take Hit From Recession
Israeli Minister: Speed Up Building, A Promise Is A Promise
Miners Seeking Gold Destroy Suriname Ecosystem
Little Rock Nine Member, Jefferson Thomas
Putin Compares Himself To Roosevelt As He Hints At Third Term
Condoleezza Rice ‘Ordered Bush To Stay Out Of Washington’ After 9/11
Stone Mason Sparks Cathedral Row With ‘Muslim’ Gargoyle
John Travolta Drops Charges In Extortion Case
150 Arrested In Mozambique Following Deadly Protests
U.S. Investors Sue For Payback For Pre-World War II German Bonds
Saad al-Hariri Retracts Charge That Syria Killed His Father
North Korea Plans Succession Meeting
The Arrest And Trial Of Human Rights Activist Shiva Nazar-Ahari
Arsenic Scare Hits Argentina, VIDEO
President Obama Unveils $50 Billion Infrastructure Plan
Cockroach Immune To Deadly Super-Bacteria
Gulf Residents Test Positive For Oil In Blood
