4 August, 2009

Former president Bill Clinton Wednesday secured the release of two female US journalists jailed in North Korea after a surprise mercy dash to meet veteran communist leader Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang.North Korea said Clinton delivered a special message to Kim from US President Barack Obama during his historic trip, which ...

Mexico has recorded a big jump in swine flu cases with almost 1,000 new infections identified in five days, taking the total number soaring above the 17,000 mark, the health ministry said Tuesday."As of yesterday (Monday) evening the number of confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in the country was 17,416, of ...

On his own 48th birthday, US President Barack Obama Tuesday turned the spotlight on a reporter also celebrating her special day, who pitched up at the White House in the year he was born.Obama sang "Happy Birthday" and presented Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the White House press corps, with ...

Shaquille O'Neal's debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers and top draft pick Blake Griffin's NBA debut against the Los Angeles Lakers mark the opening night of the 2009-2010 NBA schedule announced on Tuesday.The season will begin on October 27 when the Cavaliers, sparked by NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James and ...

Weather experts on Wednesday reduced the number of projected hurricanes in the north Atlantic this season to four, two of them major hurricanes with winds above 178 kilometers (111 miles) per hour.After one of the calmest starts to the hurricane season in a decade, the experts from Colorado State University ...

The German stock market operator Deutsche Boerse said Tuesday its second-quarter profits fell 34 percent to 164.9 million euros (237 million dollars) as the financial crisis slashed its volume of trade.The result was well below an average analyst forecast compiled by Dow Jones Newswires of a 27 percent drop to ...

Georgia warned of the risk of a new war with Russia on Tuesday as Moscow raised the battle-readiness of its forces ahead of the first anniversary of their conflict over the rebel South Ossetia region.Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili called on the United States and European Union to send a "clear ...

Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is set to join Real Madrid after the Premier League club announced on Tuesday that they have agreed a transfer fee with the Spanish team.Real had been engaged in lengthy negotiations over a deal for Alonso in the last few days as Anfield boss Rafa Benitez ...

Last year's five-day war between Russia and Georgia is to be the subject of a new drama by Finnish-American action movie director Renny Harlin, it was reported Tuesday.Entertainment industry Daily Variety reported that Harlin, best known for action movies such as "Die Hard 2" and "Cliffhanger," was keen to make ...

The world's biggest atom-smasher, idle since breaking down only days after its launch last September, will likely restart in November, a spokesman for the European Organisation for Nuclear Research said Tuesday.When the collider will be switched on, and at what power level, will be decided at a meeting of CERN ...