Baghdad hit by wave of deadly car bombs

A series of car bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least 42 people and injured many more, officials say. The blasts targeted markets and car parks in mainly Shia Muslim districts of the city. There has been a recent upsurge in sectarian violence, sparking fears of a return to the bloodletting of 2008. More than 5,000 people have been killed so far this year, according to United Nations data. Monday's blasts struck during Baghdad's morning rush hour, with reports of 13 bombs, most of them in Shia...

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Congress in game of chicken as shutdown looms

(Reuters) - With a deadline to avert a federal government shutdown fast approaching, the U.S. Capitol was eerily quiet on Sunday as Republicans and Democrats waited for the other side to blink first and break the impasse over funding. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives early on Sunday passed a measure that ties government funding to a one-year delay of President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare restructuring law. Senate Democrats have vowed to quash it. If a stop-gap spending bill for the new fiscal year is not passed...

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Kvitova tames Kerber to win Pan Pacific Open

TOKYO: Czech Petra Kvitova recovered from a second-set meltdown to beat fellow left-hander Angelique Kerber 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 and capture the Pan Pacific Open on Saturday for her second title of the year. Seventh seed Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, burst from the blocks in the Tokyo final, storming through the first set, but inexplicably suffered the dreaded 0-6 'bagel' in the second. She quickly rediscovered her poise in the decider, screaming in delight and pumping her fist as she put away a sharp volley to take a 4-0 lead....

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Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf Has "Mixed Emotions" About Sextortion Photos Scandal

Cassidy Wolf has "mixed feelings" about the arrest of former classmate Jared James Abrahams, who confessed to federal investigators on Thursday to blackmailing and extorting the reigning Miss Teen USA. Wolf appeared on NBC's Today on Friday, Sept. 27, where she opened up about how it felt to have someone break into her computer, remotely turn on her webcam and watch her most intimate moments. "My computer light never came on, so I wasn't aware. This person had been taking pictures of me in my room, changing clothes from putting on outfits,...

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Robin Thicke Bows Down To Wifey Paula Patton's 'Greatness': Watch!

Paula Patton is looking for love for all the wrong reasons in her brand-new rom-com "Baggage Claim," out this weekend. The flick follows an unlucky-in-love flight attendant named Montana (Patton) as she scurries across the country to try to resurrect a love connection with some of her former flames. The film also stars Taye Diggs, Jill Scott, Djimon Hounsou, Adam Brody and Trey Songz. "It's a really fun romantic comedy. It's full of fun moments, but really it's about a girl who at the very beginning of the movie thinks she found the man...

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Kanye West tweets angrily at Jimmy Kimmel

Kanye West launched a Twitter tirade against Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday after the late-night funnyman spoofed West in a video segment on Tuesday's Jimmy Kimmel Live. Unless it's all an elaborate prank, West was apparently angered by this video, which makes fun of the rapper's recent interview with BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe in which West describes himself as the "biggest" rock star ever. Most of West's profanity-laced, all-caps tweets can't be reproduced on the website of a family newspaper. (Kimmel stayed pretty calm throughout the exchange.) The...

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Miley Cyrus Looks Fur-ocious!

Miley Cyrus posted on Twitter a rare picture of her with actual clothing on! And not just regular clothing, either, but a coat that Cruella de Vil might own! Hmm, with Liam Hemsworth getting some lovin' from Eiza, who can blame Miley for wanting a little therapeutic fluffy embrace....

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Scientists Discover Secrets Behind Dazzling Northern Lights

Researchers have discovered the secrets behind dazzling displays of Earth’s northern lights in the Northern Hemisphere, the powerhouse for the cosmic storms in the magnetic field of our planet. The new findings can help scientists predict when the stormy weather of our space may expose astronauts to deadly radiation bursts or disrupt the global power systems. Researchers can now also add insight into the spectacular auroras over the polar regions...

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Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore lead 49ers past Rams, 35-11

ST. LOUIS — Colin Kaepernick threw two touchdown passes, Frank Gore had his first 100-yard game of the season and the San Francisco 49ers' defense stepped up without some of their stars in a 35-11 rout over the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night. ...

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Senate Is Set to Vote on Budget Bill as House Weighs Options

WASHINGTON — The Senate will conclude one of its more unpredictable — and stranger — weeks on Friday when it is expected to approve a bill to finance the federal government, including the health care law that Republicans have been trying to kill. Barring any unforeseen twists, which can never be ruled out on Capitol Hill, the Senate will proceed to a series of votes at 12:30 p.m. that will send a budget bill to the House that Republicans there have vowed to change because of their strong opposition to any measure that helps the administration...

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Watchdog plan: Syria arsenal inspections by Oct. 1

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The global chemical weapons watchdog is calling for inspections of Syria's chemical arsenal to begin by Tuesday. The draft decision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons obtained by The Associated Press also authorizes the body to inspect "any other site identified by a State Party as having been involved in the Syrian chemical weapons program, unless deemed unwarranted by the Director-General." That goes beyond usual practice as the organization only inspects sites that have been declared...

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Iran seeks 'phased actions' in nuclear talks

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's foreign minister is urging step-by-step compromises between his country and world powers to advance negotiations over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Mohammad Javad Zarif's remarks on Iran's state TV referred to "phased actions" after reviving stalled talks with a six-nation group — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other envoys are scheduled to meet with Zarif on Thursday in New York to discuss restarting the talks. Zarif did not elaborate...

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First computer made of carbon nanotubes is unveiled

The first computer built entirely with carbon nanotubes has been unveiled, opening the door to a new generation of digital devices. "Cedric" is only a basic prototype but could be developed into a machine which is smaller, faster and more efficient than today's silicon models. Nanotubes have long been touted as the heir to silicon's throne, but building a working computer has proven awkward. The breakthrough by Stanford University engineers is published in Nature. Cedric is the most complex carbon-based electronic...

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Pakistan earthquake creates new island, 'mud volcano' to blame

Mud houses in the mountains crumbled as a 7.7-magnitude earthquake shook western Pakistan early on Tuesday. Meanwhile, on the coast, residents of Gwadar saw a solitary island rise from the sea. Older residents of the coastal town said the land emergence was déjà vu — an earthquake in 1968 produced an island that stayed for one year and then vanished, Ali Mohammad, 60, and Azeem Baloch, 57, told NBC News. Seismologists suspect the island is a temporary formation resulting from a "mud volcano," a jet of mud, sand and water that gushed to...

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt has secret girlfriend, unsure about marriage

Psssst! Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a secret girlfriend. But he's not saying who. Gordon-Levitt, 32, who plays a porn-addicted young man in "Don Jon," which he also directed and wrote, spoke about his lady love on SiriusXM's "The Howard Stern Show" but he wouldn't reveal her name, just little morsels about who she is and why he's never talked about her before. ...

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UPDATE 1-Joint U.S.-Russian crew reaches space station

(Recasts with crew's arrival at space station) * Soyuzcapsule reaches station in less than six hours * Crew to join three already living aboard space station * Next crew will bring Olympic torch but won't light it By Irene Klotz Sept 25 (Reuters) - - A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday to deliver three new crew members to the International Space Station. The Soyuz rocket and capsule lifted off at 4:58 p.m. EDT (2058 GMT) on an express route to the station, which orbits about 250 miles (400...

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House Republicans explore strategy to avoid federal government shutdown

With federal agencies set to close their doors in five days, House Republicans began exploring a potential detour on the path to a shutdown: shifting the fight over President Obama’s health-care law to a separate bill that would raise the nation's debt limit. If it works, the strategy could clear the way for the House to approve a simple measure to keep the government open into the new fiscal year, which will begin Tuesday, without hotly contested provisions to defund the Affordable Care Act. But it would set the stage...

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The Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole Erupted Two Million Years Ago

Like most galaxies, the Milky Way has a supermassive black hole in its center. For the most part, however, that black hole is dormant – meaning that it isn’t emitting large amounts of radiation. That’s because that radition, in the form of X-rays, gamma rays, radio waves, is emitted when large objects – like giant gas clouds or stars – are brought into the black hole’s gravitational field. Matter falling into the black hole is subjected to exceedingly large gravitational forces, and the result is a blaze of light and radiation that is very...

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Alibaba Plans U.S. Listing

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is now planning to list its shares in the U.S., after talks with the Hong Kong stock exchange for an initial public offering in the city broke down, said a person familiar with the situation. Alibaba's stock market debut could value the Chinese e-commerce company at $70 billion or more based on analyst estimates, making it the technology industry's largest IPO since Facebook's FB +2.60% offering last year,...

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Pakistan earthquake: Hundreds dead in Balochistan

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 250 people in Pakistan's remote south-west province of Balochistan. The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday afternoon at a depth of 20km (13 miles) north-east of Awaran, the US Geological Survey said. Many houses were flattened and thousands of people have spent the night in the open. After the quake, a small island appeared off the coast near the port of Gwadar, witnesses reported. ...

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Miley Cyrus: Confessions of Pop's Wildest Child

In the backroom of a tattoo parlor on North La Brea Avenue in L.A., Miley Cyrus is about to get some new ink. "All right, face down," says the tattoo artist, a bald guy named Mojo. Miley flips onto her stomach and sticks her ass in the air. On the bottom of her dirty feet, in ballpoint pen, are written the words ROLLING (right foot) and $TONE (left). EXCLUSIVE: Outtakes from Miley's Wild Cover Shoot "People get tattoos of the most fucked-up shit," Miley says. "Did you know Alec Baldwin has Hannah Montana's initials tattooed on him? No,...

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Roku Starts to Look More Like Apple TV

Roku and Apple TV are the two little boxes that fight for the big cord-cutting (or more likely, cord-supplementing) masses, though they have tackled it in different ways. But with new movie- and TV rental services offerings Roku announced today, and a coming ability to sling video from your computer or mobile device to your TV, Roku is starting to look more like its rival. (To put this in perspective, though, far more people use a game console or a connected Blu-ray player than a set-top box to get online video to their TVs) Roku is...

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Eagle vs Deer: Rare Images Caught on Camera

  Kerley said she was preforming a routine check to switch out the camera trap's batteries and memory cards when she noticed the deer carcass in the snow. But something in the scene was off, she said. "There were no large carnivore tracks in the snow, and it looked like the deer had been running and then just stopped and died," Kerley said. "It was only after we got back to camp that I checked the images from the camera and pieced...

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Valve Introduces SteamOS, A Linux-Based Platform To Bring Steam To Your Living Room

Valve just announced the first part of its living room strategy with SteamOS, a free Linux-based operating system that takes the ‘Big Picture’ feature one step further. In addition to playing your game collection, SteamOS allows you to watch movies and listen to music. The company has yet to announce a hardware partner for SteamOS, but this could certainly be the operating system behind the rumored Steam Box computer. OEMs will be able to use SteamOS to build gaming computers, as Valve states multiple times that it’s an open platform. When...

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Fairfax consortium bids $4.7 billion to take BlackBerry private

(Reuters) - Smartphone maker BlackBerry has agreed to go private in a $4.7 billion deal led by its biggest shareholder, allowing the on-the-go email pioneer to regroup away from public scrutiny after years of falling fortunes and slumping market share. The $9 a share tentative offer, from a consortium led by property and casualty insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, will set a floor for any counteroffers that might emerge for Blackberry, which has been on the block since August. As an investor, Fairfax Chief Executive Prem Watsa is...

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