A homemade flying saucer-shaped balloon in which it was feared a six-year-old boy could have been trapped has been found to be empty after it landed in a field in Colorado following a desperate chase through the skies.The silver, car-sized craft reportedly came untethered from the garden of the man who had constructed it. Reports named him...

The TLC network filed a lawsuit this morning in Maryland against the octodad for breaching his contract, according to the Associated Press.The network claims the "Jon and Kate Plus 8" star hasn't kept up his end of its exclusive deal, by allegedly getting paid to appear on other shows and making unauthorized disclosures about the show.That's...

A piggish hedge fund hotshot who ranks among the world's richest men was charged by the feds Friday with making millions of dollars on insider-trading tips.Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of the New York-based Galleon Group, was among six people charged in what federal prosecutors labeled the largest-ever hedge fund insider-trading...

The UN Human Rights Council today voted to endorse a Gaza war crimes report despite Israel's threats to pull out of the Middle East peace talks in retaliation.The international body approved a resolution recommending the report after two days of heated debate. The document condemns Israel’s conduct in last winter’s conflict and theoretically...

WASHINGTON -- GlaxoSmithKline said Friday U.S. regulators approved its vaccine Cervarix to prevent the leading cause of cervical cancer in women, following a two-year delay.The approval from the Food and Drug Administration allows the British drug maker to compete against Merck's billion-dollar selling vaccine Gardasil, which has been on...

The insurance industry trying to pick holes in the Democrats health care overhaul, is using facts selectively, while mixing accurate assertions and putting a misleading spin on them, embracing worst-case scenarios.A 30-second TV spot run by America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's trade group in six states, even as the Senate Finance...

A piggish hedge fund hotshot who ranks among the world's richest men was charged by the feds Friday with making millions of dollars on insider-trading tips.Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of the New York-based Galleon Group, was among six people charged in what federal prosecutors labeled the largest-ever hedge fund insider-trading...

When the chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee announced this morning that President Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize the news was received with a collective gasp from the room full of journalists. Around the world the announcement was received with similar surprise and divided reactions. His allies applauded the choice, while his...

The Taliban has stepped up its assault on Pakistan's security establishment with synchronised commando-style raids on three law enforcement agencies in the country's second-biggest city, Lahore.In the fifth major terrorist attack in Pakistan in 10 days, heavily armed militants staged gun and bomb attacks at Lahore's Federal Investigation...

LOS ANGELES -- "Where the Wild Things Are," the book, is just 339 words long. But in turning it into "Where the Wild Things Are," the movie, director Spike Jonze has expanded the basic story with a breathtaking visual scheme and stirring emotional impact.It's a gorgeous film: This may sound contradictory, but it's intricate and rough-hewn...

Only those who were in the room know what was said in the series of White House meetings about America's policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it's likely that at least some of the views expressed paralleled those heard at last week's Intelligence Squared US debate at New York University, because the six speakers among them counted decades...

Even before Air Force One touches down in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, President Obama is discovering the burdens of rebuilding a city that feels abandoned by the federal government. Four years after Hurricane Katrina, swaths of New Orleans remain devastated by the winds and floods that tore through. More than 65,000 homes remain abandoned....

The investment bank, which is set to report its results for the three months to September on Thursday, is understood to be giving serious thought to some form of large philanthropic donation.The aim of the donation, first disclosed by Henry Blodget's Business Insider blog, would be to deflect the likely row come at the end of the year. By...

A wave of Pakistani Taleban attacks over the last 11 days shows that the militant network is more dangerous than ever, despite the death of its charismatic leader in August and the apparent success of the army’s six month campaign in the northwest.It also suggests an unprecedented level of cooperation between Pashtun militants in north-western...

A meditation technique has been found to help relieve stress and improve mental health among women with breast cancer.Researchers from St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago studied the use of a transcendental meditation technique among 130 women with breast cancer.All participants were 55 years and older and were randomly assigned to either the...

New York, October 13 -- A Canadian research shows that H1N1 influenza associated with respiratory failure could prove to be more fatal for the younger population with no serious underlying medical conditions, contrary to the chronically ill and the elderly who are believed to be more prone to the disease.The findings of the study reported...

The danger comes not only from Taliban, who are ethnic Pashtuns from Pakistan's north-west fringe, which borders Afghanistan, but also from extremists from its heartland Punjab province, who have forged a network with the Taliban.So Pakistan is threatened by a network of extremism that has cells throughout the country, able to mount attacks...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - CIT Group Inc is seeing little interest from bondholders in a debt exchange offer aimed at repairing its fragile balance sheet, making bankruptcy increasingly likely, sources familiar with the matter said.The lender to small and medium-sized businesses said earlier this month it was looking for investors to approve a...

An agreement to reconcile bitterly divided Palestinian groups has been delayed for several weeks, Egypt's foreign minister said today. A deal was to be signed on 25 October, clearing the way for Hamas militants and the more moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to cooperate in rebuilding war-damaged Gaza and preparing for Palestinian...

Sir Thomas, a former senior civil servant, is writing to every MP about their second home expenses claims between 2004 and 2008.Some are being told that their claims were excessive and they should pay back money. Some are being asked for more information and some are being told they are in the clear. Most controversially, Sir Thomas has imposed...