Rookie Henley wins by three shots at Waialae

Sony Open golf tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii January 13, 2013. REUTERS/Hugh …more (Reuters) - American Russell Henley, remarkably unflappable for a PGA Tour rookie, became the youngest ever champion at the Sony Open in Hawaii when he won his maiden title on the U.S. circuit by three shots on Sunday.Aged just 23, the fresh-faced Web.com Tour graduate displayed ice-cool nerves as he stormed home with...

Read More..

Pats' Gronkowski needs surgery on arm

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski needs surgery on his broken left arm, a person with knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press.Gronkowski was injured on the Patriots' eighth offensive play of Sunday's 41-28 victory over Houston. He previously missed five regular-season games and is done for these playoffs.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team...

Read More..

Patriots beat Texans 41-28, Ravens up next

   View PhotoNew England Patriots running back …View PhotoNew England Patriots quarterback …FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Brady is so good at this playoff thing he seems to be going for a championship every year.He gets another chance to lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl after earning his record 17th postseason victory in New England's 41-28 victory over Houston Sunday. Brady even outdid...

Read More..

Northern Irish militants seen hijacking flag protests

Pro-British militant groups are instigating riots that have rocked the Northern Irish capital Belfast in the past month, a police officers' representative said on Sunday as officers came under attack again.The violence stems from protests over the removal of the British flag over Belfast City Hall. It has been among the province's worst since a 1998 peace accord ended 30 years of conflict in which...

Read More..

Britain's coalition leaders seek to regain voters' trust

LONDON (Reuters) - The leaders of Britain's fractious coalition pledged on Monday to cap the cost of long-term care for the elderly and to improve state pensions in an effort to re-engage with electors midway into their five-year government.Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy, Nick Clegg, have seen popular support fall away as voters suffer squeezed incomes and...

Read More..

Egypt Copts mark Christmas with fear of future

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's minority Christians were celebrating their first Christmas after the election of an Islamist president and a new pope — and following adoption of a constitution many argue has an Islamist slant.Christians gathered in Cairo's main cathedral Sunday for Midnight Mass on the eve of Orthodox Christmas led by their new pope. Pope Tawadros II was elected in November to replace longtime...

Read More..

Monti says he is open to leading next government

After keeping Italians, and the rest of Europe, in suspense for weeks, caretaker Premier Mario Monti on Sunday ruled out campaigning in February elections, but said he would consider leading the next government if politicians who share his focus on reform request it.The decision positions him to take the helm again without having to get into the political nitty-gritty of an election — preserving...

Read More..

UK 'plebgate' scandal becomes police crisis

 The "plebgate" scandal started with an angry exchange over a bicycle in front of Downing Street. The controversy over what a senior politician did or didn't say to officers guarding the prime minister's official residence has now grown into a full-blown crisis which is raising new questions about the ethics of Britain's largest police force.Scotland Yard's reputation has already been battered...

Read More..

UK household finances worsen sharply in December - Markit

 Britons suffered the biggest deterioration in their finances in seven months in December and turned more downbeat about 2013, a survey showed on Monday.The Markit Household Finance Index fell to 36.8 - the lowest since May - from November's near two-year high of 39.3, sinking further below the 50 level that would mark no change in the financial situation compared with a month ago.Around a third...

Read More..

Russian opposition leader faces new probe

 A prominent Russian opposition leader faces his third investigation in five months as authorities intensify pressure on the opposition.The Investigative Committee said in a statement on Monday that they launched a new probe against Alexei Navalny, who was already charged with theft and with fraud and money laundering in two separate cases.Investigators now say they also suspect Navalny of defrauding...

Read More..

Pope lights Christmas candle in his Vatican window

 Pope Benedict XVI has lit a Christmas peace candle set on the windowsill of his private studio.Pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered below in St. Peter's Square for the inauguration Monday evening of a Nativity scene and cheered when the flame was lit.Later, he will appear in St. Peter's Basilica to lead Christmas Eve Mass. The ceremony begins at 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) instead of the midnight...

Read More..

Japanese chef dishes on North Korean leader and missile launch

The Japanese chef who cooked for North Korean leaders for 13 years – before finding a pretext to return to Japan – believes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has no desire to upset other countries by sanctioning the firing of a long-range missile later this month.“It’s hard to understand why surrounding countries are so sensitive,” says Kenji Fujimoto, who left North Korea in 2001 but returned for...

Read More..

Human rights report names names in Kashmir, invokes international law

Two prominent human rights groups in India-administered Kashmir Thursday accused New Delhi  of institutionally blocking justice in thousands of cases of crimes like enforced disappearance, killings, rape, and torture allegedly committed by its forces in the disputed region during the past two decades.A report "Alleged Perpetrators: Stories of impunity in Jammu and Kashmir" released by the groups...

Read More..

McAfee's rise and downfall via technology

Computer protection guru John McAfee’s high-profile run from the law is over, and it may have been a simple slip in digital security that helped lead to his downfall.Mr. McAfee, on the run for nearly a month since his neighbor in Belize turned up dead, was arrested Wednesday in Guatemala for crossing into the Central American country illegally. He is being held in a detention center with other migrants,...

Read More..

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood's 'trial of power'

This morning I stumbled across a long story I wrote about the Muslim Brotherhood's struggles with the Mubarak regime  in June 2005 and found plenty of resonance for events today (as well as some personal chagrin in the fact that I'd used the phrase "Arab spring" back then).Egypt is now finding out something that had been an object of speculation for decades: What the Muslim Brotherhood would...

Read More..

Merkel meets Netanyahu as Israel and Germany hit rocky patch

With German-Israeli relations unusually tense, Chancellor Angela Merkel is scrambling today in an apparent effort to assure Israel that the two are still friends as usual.When Germany abstained in last week’s vote to change the Palestinian Authority's status at the United Nations to a non-member observer state, rather than vote against it, Israel took it poorly.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained...

Read More..

Egypt's anti-Morsi protests spread beyond Cairo

Violence erupting in the capital between supporters of President Mohamed Morsi and his political opposition is being mirrored outside of Cairo, revealing the extent of divisions across the country as the political crisis over a proposed new constitution continued to spiral today.Clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators broke out in Suez, the port city at one end of the famed canal of the...

Read More..

How deadly would chemical weapons in Syria be?

Serious concerns have been raised about chemical weapons in Syria as unnamed US officials on Wednesday told NBC News that Syrian forces have loaded sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into bombs that can be dropped by planes.The officials said the bombs had not been loaded onto planes and there was not yet a decision from Syria's leader to use them.President Obama has said the use of chemical weapons in Syria...

Read More..