Late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Ted Kennedy): Brief Biography

A chronology of the life of Sen. Edward Kennedy

Highlights in the life of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy:

Trees colonize new territories in response to higher temperatures

LONDON - Reports indicate that trees around the world are colonizing new territories in response to higher temperatures, all thanks to global warming.

Thieves kill rare tiger in Indonesian zoo, steal most of its body

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A group of thieves killed an endangered tiger in an Indonesian zoo and stole most of its body, zoo officials said Sunday, a theft police suspect was motivated by the animal’s valuable fur and bones.

Heavy rains bring Delhi to a halt

NEW DELHI - Heavy rains lashed Delhi Friday evening, bringing the national capital to a virtual halt with familiar scenes of waterlogged roads, chocked sewers and long lines of vehicles in traffic snarls.

‘We took out Mehsud,’ says Obama

WASHINGTON - While the US officials have maintained that there is 90 percent chance that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has been killed in a drone strike earlier this month, President Barack Obama, it seems, has no doubt about the Taliban chieftain’s death.

Iran’s president nominates loyalists for new Cabinet, drawing fire from fellow conservatives

TEHRAN, Iran — Lawmakers criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nominees for his new government as inexperienced cronies and threatened on Thursday to reject some of them, setting the stage for a new fight between the hard-line leader and rivals with his conservative camp.

At the Movies: capsule reviews of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and other films this week

Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

Lead poisoning that sickened hundreds of children stokes tensions in Chinese town

CHANGQING, China — Farmer Wang Zhifan jabs a stubby finger toward the sprawling smelter blamed for poisoning hundreds of local children with lead. He bares his yellowed teeth and spits hard.

Andhra government reluctant to declare drought

HYDERABAD - With the southwest monsoon triggering heavy rains in parts of Andhra Pradesh and reviving hopes of the farmers, the Congress government is reluctant to declare the state drought hit.

HeartWare announces $60M proceeds from stock sale

NEW YORK — Heart pump maker HeartWare International Inc. said Monday it grossed $60 million from a sale of 2.7 million shares of common stock.

Water rationing in Jharkhand to ensure water supply till next monsoon

RANCHI - Authorities in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand State, which has been declared a drought hit State, have issued orders for water rationing to ensure adequate water supply till next monsoons.

Hotel chain executives tour landmark Watergate Hotel to determine renovation costs

WASHINGTON — The lender holding the $40 million note on the closed Watergate Hotel says at least six potential buyers are interested in acquiring the landmark property.

Suicide car bombing strikes near NATO headquarters in Afghan capital as election looms

KABUL — A suicide car bomber struck near the front gate of NATO headquarters in Kabul killing seven people and wounding nearly 100 in a brazen daylight attack less than a week before Afghanistan’s landmark presidential election.

NY Senate hires DJ to Prince, Prada as ‘creative director’ during fiscal crisis

ALBANY, N.Y. — Christopher Sealey has spent days in his young life as a marketing guru for liberal causes and many of his nights as a DJ or clubbing in Manhattan in ensembles that would cost an average New Yorker a month’s pay.

5 dead in Gaza gunbattle between Islamic radicals and Hamas security forces

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Islamic radicals from an al-Qaida-inspired group battled Hamas security in the Gaza Strip Friday in a shootout that killed five people.

Chhattisgarh Maoist massacre report fake: police

RAIPUR - The reported massacre of eight members of a family, including two minor girls, over a property dispute in a Chhattisgarh village was a fake complaint, intended to lure security personnel into a Maoist ambush, police said Friday.

Now, even prisoners get to fill out customer satisfaction forms!

LONDON - There was a time when customer satisfaction forms were usually handed out only to guests staying at hotels, but now even prisoners are being given the privilege to describe their stay behind bars.

American Express warns some cardholders that their account data was stolen by an employee

NEW YORK — Some American Express card members’ accounts may have been compromised by an employee’s recent theft of data, the company said Thursday.

Key senators excluding end-of-life provision from health overhaul bill

WASHINGTON — Key senators are excluding a provision on end-of-life care from health overhaul legislation after language in a House bill caused a furor.

Vatican paper praises Swiss-US deal on secret bank accounts as step toward ‘ethical finance’

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s newspaper on Thursday praised as a step toward “ethical finance” a deal announced by the Swiss and U.S. governments to settle American demands for the identities of suspected tax dodgers.

Taiwanese villagers flee flood-created lake that bursts; 4,000 more troops sent to rescue

LIUKUEI, Taiwan — Hundreds of villagers fled their homes minutes before a flood-created lake burst Thursday, as the Taiwanese military deployed thousands more troops to rescue and deliver supplies to survivors from remote villages devastated during last weekend’s typhoon.

Pakistan cannot afford another spell of army rule: Asma Jahangir

KARACHI - Famous lawyer, human rights activist and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairman Asma Jahangir has said that even the worst democracy is better than an army regime and Pakistan cannot afford another spell of army rule politically and economically.

Human-induced global warming increases water vapor in atmosphere

WASHINGTON - Climate models have confirmed that as a result of human-induced global warming, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is increasing.

US Army Stryker brigade retools for new mission in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — More than 100 soldiers in the brigade studied Arabic for 10 months. Their officers boned up on Iraq by reading dozens of books.

Chinese cops catch identical triplets using one driving license!

NEW DELHI - Chinese cops in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, have caught a set of identical triplets using one driving license.

New US policy for tuberculosis testing could disrupt adoptions from China, Ethiopia

NEW YORK —Advocates of international adoption are furious over a new federal policy related to tuberculosis testing that could disrupt plans for families adopting children from China and Ethiopia.

Dollar extends last week’s gains ahead of Federal Reserve’s two-day rate meeting

NEW YORK —The dollar extended its gains Monday on the back of a fall in unemployment figures at the end of last week, as investors were cautious ahead of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve on interest rates.

Gene scans for all? Maybe not so far off as Stanford prof sequences own genome in a week

SAN FRANCISCO —It might not be long until there is a gene scanner in every doctor’s office, as DNA sequencing becomes faster and cheaper.

Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver deluged with well wishes from across the globe

BARNSTABLE, Mass. —Well wishes from Special Olympians and their families have poured in for founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who remained in critical condition Sunday at Cape Cod Hospital.

Bus plunges into river in Pakistan; 34 people missing and feared dead

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A bus veered off a narrow mountain road and plunged into a river in northern Pakistan on Thursday, leaving about 34 people, including 26 soldiers, missing and presumed dead, authorities said.