Lupica: Reyes reason Mets are back

Mets continue offensive explosion in Detroit, set franchise record for most runs in four-game span Paul Sancya/APCarlos Beltran (l.) congratulates Angel Pagan, who goes 4 for 6 with three runs and four RBI as the Mets continue their offensive outburst in a 14-9 win over the Tigers. DETROIT - This latest Mets outpouring began as usual, with a staging of the Jose Reyes Show. On this night, though, the party lasted nearly four hours, and the entire Mets offense was invited. In a game that later devolved into an American League-style crisis of pitching in which Detroit outfielder Don Kelly worked one-third of an...

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Tsonga praise

Wimbledon 2011: Becker on the future of Federer Tsonga powers to shock win over FedererJo-Wilfried Tsonga's stunning quarter-final triumph over six-time champion Roger Federer was the biggest shock of this year's Wimbledon. Tsonga produced a magnificent display to become the first man to come from two sets down and beat the Swiss star in a Grand Slam match. Federer's total of 16 Grand Slam titles is a record, but at the age of 29 question marks are being raised about how long he will stay in the game. Six-time Grand Slam winner Boris Becker gives his opinions on the future of Federer in the men's game. ...

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Eye-opener: Is an NFL labor solution near?

NFL Commissioner, NFLPA Executive Director to Speak to Rookies in Florida APJune 23: Players association chief DeMaurice Smith, left, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stop to talk to reporters as they leave a hotel in Hull, Mass., after a negotiation session.NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith flew to Florida together Tuesday night to speak to rookies after opening four days of labor talks in Minnesota.Spokesmen for the league and the players' association confirmed that the two power brokers were on the same plane from Minnesota to address the NFLPA's rookie symposium on Wednesday morning.SI.com...

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Tourism promoters hope for boost from Will and Kate's visit

William and Kate's Canada visit will retread old ground When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge land in Canada today, they will be aware that they are about to embark on a tour that will be one of the defining moments of their lives as working members of the Royal family. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will land in Ottawa at 7pm BST Photo: EDDIE MULHOLLAND But if the prospect is at all daunting, they will at least know that they are following in familiar footsteps, as their first joint engagement on foreign soil will be at the very spot where Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, conducted the original royal “walkabout”....

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2 Journalists Freed by Taliban Return to France

Journalists return after Afghan hostage ordeal Remy De La Mauviniere  /  AP FILE - A Dec. 29, 2010 file photo of a banner on Paris city hall showing French TV journalists Herve Ghesquiere, right, and Stephane Taponier, who were kidnapped a year ago east of Kabul, Afghanistan, in front of Paris city hall. The banner in back, reads: "One year! Let us free them and their Afghan fixers". The French government announced Wednesday June 29 2011, that the two hostages have been freed after being held 547 days. VILLACOUBLAY, France —...

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Gaza flotilla organizers: Israel sabotaged Irish ship

Flotilla organisers: 2nd ship sabotaged ASSOCIATED PRESSUS and French activists chant slogans as they hold placards after a news conference about an international flotilla to blockaded Gaza, in Athens.Jerusalem - Organisers of a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break the blockade of Gaza say Israel has sabotaged a second ship. An activist tells Israel's Army Radio that the engine of an Irish ship was damaged while in port. Earlier this week, activists said Israel damaged the propeller of a Swedish ship in the Greek port of Piraeus. Israel has not commented on the allegations. About 10 ships are due to set sail this...

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Libyan oppositon leader: Rebels need weapons

Why we cannot simply dismantle Gaddafi’s regime Replacing the entire architecture of the Libyan state will lead only to further violence and chaos, argues George Grant. Libyans celebrate in Benghazi after receiving the news of the ICC warrant Photo: APFor 42 years, the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi terrorised, oppressed and divided the Libyan people. When anti-regime protests flared up on February 17, the reaction was predictable enough: bloody slaughter. Gaddafi said he wanted to “cleanse Libya house by house”. Using regime security forces, he started doing just that. Whatever the lunatic fringe from Stop...

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Review ordered in death that sparked Egypt revolt

Protesters Return to Cairo’s Tahrir SquareMosa’ab Elshamy, via TwitPicAn Egyptian blogger’s photograph of protesters camping in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Wednesday.Protesters returned to Tahrir Square in Cairo with tents on Wednesday, starting a new sit-in to press their demands for an end to emergency rule and changes to Egypt’s interim government, according to bloggers and activists. The new protest follows intense clashes in the Egyptian capital, which began on Tuesday when some people were locked out of a memorial service for protesters killed during the first phase of Egypt’s revolution. As my colleague Dina Salah Amer reports, many...

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Dangers lurk beyond Greek parliament vote

Greek financial woes far from over Global markets rallied Wednesday after Greece's parliament backed sweeping austerity measures to avoid bankruptcy. But Greece's plan is a stop gap measure at best, ecoThe austerity package includes a five-year, $40 billion plan to trim spending through increasing taxes, cutting wages for public sector employees, and raising the country's minimum retirement to 65 from 61.The parliament's approval, amid another day of violent anti-government protests in Athens, was seen as crucial for $17 billion in bailout loans aimed at staving off default this summer.While the news propelled European stock exchanges up 1.5% or more and helped the Dow Jones industrial average gain 73 points to 12,261, the austerity plan, which faces another parliament vote...

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Obama, Congress Work Against, And With, The Clock

Senate Panel Backs Mission in Libya Despite Its Dubious LegalityBy Conor Friedersdorf    The vote came after the State Department's top lawyer testified that the president is following the law Days after the House rejected a measure to approve the war in Libya, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee decided Tuesday that the American effort there warrants its conditional cooperation. "The resolution would limit involvement to one year while calling for a ban of American ground forces except for search and rescue operations or to protect government...

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US terror fight to focus on "surgical" hits

US unveils strategy to hunt al-Qaeda White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan.Washington - The United States will push ahead with more targeted drone strikes and special operations raids and fewer costly land battles like Iraq and Afghanistan in the continuing war against al-Qaeda, according to a new national counterterrorism strategy unveiled on Wednesday. The doctrine, two years in the making, comes in the wake of the successful special operations raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in May, and a week after President Barack Obama's announcement that US troops will begin leaving Afghanistan...

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NATO Airstrike Kills Militant Leader Linked to Kabul Hotel Attack

NATO helicopter ends Kabul hotel siege that leaves seven dead Seven people were killed in a more than four-hour standoff between militants and police at a Kabul hotel after insurgents armed with grenades and explosives struck one of the capital’s most prominent landmarks late Tuesday. A rare nighttime assault, the siege was ended by a NATO helicopter firing rockets at gunmen on the rooftop of the besieged Intercontinental Hotel, as Afghan security forces stormed the top of the building. The death toll did not include insurgents. The high-profile attack on the hilltop Intercontinental came just a week after the United...

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Bank of America nears mortgage suit settlement

Bank of America nears $8.5-billion deal over mortgage-backed securitiesThe proposed payment by Bank of America would settle claims by large investors including Pimco of Newport Beach and BlackRock Inc. of New York. Bank of America’s pending settlement with large investors would be the first with private mortgage bond investors. Above, a branch in New York. (Robert Caplin,...

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8 suicide bombers, 10 others killed in attack at Kabul hotel

NATO helicopters end Kabul hotel siege, at least 7 dead  Share  An Afghan army officer mans a heavy gun mounted to a vehicle at the entrance to the Inter Continental hotel, which came under attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 29, 2011. (AP / Gemunu Amarasinghe)View Larger Image    The Associated PressDate: Tue. Jun. 28 2011 11:04 PM ETKABUL, Afghanistan — vInterior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said six suicide bombers attacked the Inter-Continental hotel frequented by Afghan officials and foreign visitors. He said two were killed by hotel guards at...

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Prosecutors drop first indictment against Bulger

Prosecutors drop first indictment against BulgerBy DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer – BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday dismissed a 1994 racketeering indictment against mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger in order to focus on a later indictment that charged the newly captured fugitive with being involved in 19 murders. Prosecutors in Boston filed an electronic notice notifying U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf that they are dismissing the earlier indictment, which charged Bulger with multiple counts of extortion, loan sharking, witness tampering and conspiracy. In the filing, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said prosecutors consider...

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Obama to hold more debt talks with Senate Democrats

White House pushes for progress on debt talks as senators float new Medicare proposal Sen. Joe Lieberman (i-Conn.), shown here at a May hearing, introduced a new proposal along with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to try to move along debt-limit negotiations. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) ...

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Office 365: Microsoft Pitches Cloud, Eyes Profit

Microsoft's Office 365 software hits the cloudUSA "The biggest name in Office software is very strongly going to the cloud," says Matt Cain, an analyst at technology research firm Gartner. "It presupposes a much larger move to the cloud, assuming things go well."The worldwide market for cloud computing will grow from $68.3 billion in 2010 to $148.8 billion in 2014, Gartner forecasts.Microsoft's move takes aim at Google Apps, Directions on Microsoft analyst Wes Miller says. Google's free online service includes Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Talk. Google also offers subscription-based corporate versions of its e-mail and applications. Google Apps popularized the online office.What's significant about Microsoft's Office 365 is that it will allow people to work both online and offline with...

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'Transformers: Dark Of The Moon': The Reviews Are In

ActivisionIt's not much fun being a Transformer. At least that's what you'll think as you play through "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," a boring and repetitive movie tie-in. OverviewLOVED IT: Good story, and there’s nothing like transforming and instantly shooting an enemy. HATED IT: Repetitive and unimaginative gameplay, confusing controls, no enemy variety. GRAB IT IF: You absolutely positively have to know the backstory for this weekend's movie . . . or you see it in the discount rack next month. It's not much fun being a Transformer. At least that's what you'll think as you play through...

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Bachmann comes out swinging at Obama

Bachmann Looks to Carry Iowa Momentum to New Hampshire Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., greets supporters after her formal announcement to seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, in Waterloo, Iowa. Bachmann, who was born in Waterloo, will continue her announcement tour this week with stops in New Hampshire and South Carolina. On a temporary stage in a Raymond, New Hampshire backyard, Michele Bachmann brought her nascent presidential campaign to the first in the nation primary state Tuesday morning. In front of a crowd of about 200 people Bachmann led the crowd in a chant of "Live Free or Die," the state motto of New Hampshire,...

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NEWSMAKER-France's Lagarde faces policy dilemmas as IMF chief

Christine Lagarde named IMF headFrench finance minister, who succeeds Dominique Strauss-Kahn, becomes first woman to hold top IMF job Christine Lagarde said she was 'honoured and delighted' to become the new head of the IMF. Photograph: Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty ImagesFrench finance minister Christine Lagarde has become the new head of the IMF after the fund's board confirmed her appointment following a meeting in Washington. Lagarde, who takes over from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is the first woman to hold the post. She will begin her five-year term on 5 July. After the board's announcement, Lagarde tweeted: "The results are in: I...

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Williams sisters, Caroline Wozniacki out

Williams sisters shut down at Wimbledon AP France Marion Bartoli celebrates after winning a point against Serena Williams of U.S. at Wimbledon on Monday. Serena and Venus Williams crashed out in the Wimbledon fourth round within a few hours of each other on Monday as the sister act with nine trophies between them headed for the exits at the start of week two. Ninth seed Marion Bartoli handed defending champion Serena a tenth Wimbledon defeat as the Frenchwoman held her nerve 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win into the quarterfinals. The victory on fifth match point was the worst defeat for four-time champion and holder Williams at the All England Club...

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'Stunned' Blagojevich found guilty on 17 counts

Rod Blagojevich Convicted on Corruption Charges Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich pauses as he talks with reporters at the Federal Court building after the judge handed the case to the jury in his corruption trial in Chicago A "stunned" Rod Blagojevich and wife Patti hugged in the courtroom after a federal jury in Chicago this afternoon convicted the former Illinois governor of attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated when President Obama was elected in 2008, among the 17 guilty counts against him. His wife could be heard saying to him, "Let's just go home." A sentencing date has yet to...

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