The Group C team to fear: USA?

Words are cheap in international soccer, where goals remain the only currency that means anything. Yet as the United States prepares for its sixth straight appearance in the World Cup finals, it is impossible to ignore the seismic change in the way Team USA is regarded around the round-ball universe. The U.S. side is no longer dismissed as an international afterthought. Its performances, especially in recent times under Bob Bradley, have afforded a newfound level of respect....

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JAL to cut 16,500 jobs

Japan Airlines Corp (JALFQ.PK) plans to reduce its workforce by a third within the fiscal year to lower labor costs by 81.7 billion yen a year, the Nikkei business daily said. The restructuring proposal compiled by the carrier and the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan (ETIC) suggests to cut 16,500 jobs. The proposed cuts include 5,405 workers from cargo and other peripheral operations, 2,460 flight attendants, 2,043 sales representatives...

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Heavy rains swamp Rio, killing at least 81

Torrential rains in Rio de Janeiro have triggered landslides that killed 81 people as rising water paralyzed traffic and suspended most business. The ground gave way in steep hillside slums, cutting red-brown paths of destruction through shantytowns. Concrete and wooden homes were crushed and hurtled downhill, only to bury other structures. The future host city of the Olympics and football World Cup ground to a near halt Tuesday as Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes...

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FIFA dress code bars Iran girls from Youth Games

Iran's girls' soccer team was thrown out of the Youth Olympics because FIFA rules prevent players from wearing an Islamic headscarf. Thailand replaces Iran in the August tournament, the governing body of Asian soccer said on its Web site Monday. The hijab scarf — worn by girls and women to observe Islamic dress code — was not allowed under FIFA rules relating to on-field equipment, the Asian Football Confederation said. Iran's national Olympic committee...

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Margarito fights to reclaim reputation, licenses

Antonio Margarito's promoter and lawyer think it's time for the disgraced welterweight to reclaim both his reputation and his U.S. boxing licenses. Promoter Bob Arum and lawyer Daniel Petrocelli renewed their criticism of the California State Athletic Commission on Monday for its decision last year to revoke Margarito's license, which still hasn't been restored since glove-loading allegations derailed the former welterweight champion's career in January 2009. ...

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Duke hangs on, beats Butler for 4th national title

The Duke Blue Devils are national champions. Again. Surviving everything that Butler could muster in front of a hometown crowd in one of the closest, most exhilarating national championship games in history, Duke hung on for a 61-59 victory that gives coach Mike Krzyzewski his fourth national title. It's the first for Duke since 2001. The Blue Devils could have made the final seconds a little less agonizing,...

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Another first for Mourinho as Inter ease into semis

Colourful Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho became the first man to guide three different clubs to the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday as Italian champions Inter Milan defeated CSKA Moscow 1-0, 2-0 on aggregate. An early goal by Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder - who had been an injury doubt on the eve of the match - set them on their way for their first appearance in the last four in seven years. Their task was made easier when Nigerian Chidi Odiah...

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Aussie NBA star Bogut undergoes hand surgery

The Milwaukee Bucks will continue their playoff push without Australian centre Andrew Bogut who underwent successful surgery for a broken right hand. The Bucks star damaged his right arm in an ugly fall during the second quarter of Milwaukee's 107-98 win over Phoenix. The surgery came two days after he suffered the fracture, plus a sprained wrist and dislocated elbow, after dunking the ball then being pushed from behind by Suns Amare Stoudemire. ...

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Chile quake offers tough lessons for US coast

As the Easter earthquake shook Southern California, the state's disaster management chief was thousands of miles away in Chile, examining what experts say is the best case study yet for how a truly catastrophic earthquake could impact the United States. Chile and the U.S. Pacific coast have more in common than their geology; they share advanced construction codes, bustling coastal cities, modern skyscrapers and veteran emergency services. These were all put...

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At least 7 blasts rip through Baghdad, killing 49

At least seven bombs ripped through apartment buildings across Baghdad Tuesday and another struck a market, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 180, authorities said. The explosions were the latest in a five-day spree of attacks in and around the capital that have killed at least 119 people. Several bombs were planted inside empty apartments, the government said. The violence, which has largely targeted families and homes, is reminiscent of...

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Cameras make Chicago most closely watched US city

When the body of Chicago's school board president was found partially submerged in a river last fall, a bullet wound to the head, cameras helped prove it was a suicide. Friends had speculated someone forced Michael Scott to drive to the river before shooting him — and maybe even wrapped his fingers around the trigger. But within days, police recreated Scott's 20-minute drive through the city using high-tech equipment that singled out his car on a succession...

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Tires eyed in crash that injured Blink 182 drummer

Under-inflated tires led to a Learjet crash 18 months ago that killed four people and seriously injured Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM, federal safety investigators said, warning that the problem may be widespread on business jets. Investigators told the National Transportation Safety Board at a public meeting Tuesday that their investigation found that operators of air charters often aren't aware how rapidly the tires of some business jets...

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Russian oil tycoon gives bombastic appeal in court

Imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky presented Russian prosecutors with a jar of crude oil Tuesday and demanded to know how anyone could siphon off 350 million tons of the stuff, as he has been accused of doing in a politically charged trial. The theatrical arguments were the most expansive he has been allowed to make since the legal assault on him began in 2003, and it included props like a laser pointer and a gallon of waste liquid from an oil well, which he encouraged...

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27 Taliban reported killed in western fighting

Afghanistan's military said 27 insurgents were killed in ground fighting and airstrikes in a western province on Tuesday, in what appeared to be a major blow to Taliban influence in the region, while four civilians died in a NATO airstrike in the south. NATO and Afghan forces launched an operation in Badghis province before dawn, with troops inserted behind Taliban lines to trap the militants, the regional Afghan corps commander Gen. Jalandar Shah Behnam said. Fighting...

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