World Briefing | Africa: South Africa: 8 Officers Charged in Dragging Case

Eight South African police officers were charged with murder on Friday in connection with the death of a taxi driver dragged by a police vehicle, an episode that was captured on videotape. South Africa’s police chief, Gen. Riah Phiyega, said that she shared “the extreme shock and outrage” over the video evidence of abuse of the man, Mido Macia, left, by police officers and that his rights had been...

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David Bowie Makes Triumphant Comeback with New Album: PEOPLE's Critic

By Chuck Arnold 03/01/2013 at 08:40 PM EST Ten years after his last album, David Bowie is back – and so is his swagger.Forget the moody musings of "Where Are We Now?" – the reflective comeback single that he dropped, seemingly out of nowhere, on his birthday last month (Jan. 8). The Next Day – which, though...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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Wall Street advances as data outweighs budget cuts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced modestly on Friday, leaving the S&P 500 with slight gains in a volatile week as strong economic data overshadowed growth concerns in China and Europe and let investors discount the impact of expected government spending cuts. Stocks opened sharply lower for the session as Asian factories slowed and European output fell, but most of the losses evaporated...

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Jean-Claude Duvalier Faces Questions in Court About His Reign in Haiti

Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated PressSupporters of Jean-Claude Duvalier held a picture of him, right, and his father outside court. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Jean-Claude Duvalier, the former dictator known as Baby Doc accused of bearing responsibility for the deaths, torture and the disappearance of hundreds of people, walked into a muggy, packed courtroom here on Thursday, sat down next to shocked victims...

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Josh Duhamel Has 'Full Conversations' with His Unborn Child

FameFlynetDaddy-to-be Josh Duhamel is so excited about welcoming his first child that he’s begun to bond with wife Fergie‘s belly.“I’ve had full conversations with the baby already,” Duhamel jokes to PEOPLE at Tuesday’s Nickelodeon upfront presentation in New York. “I’m trying my best to communicate from beyond the womb. Whether it can hear me, I don’t know, but I’m talking to it a lot.”In addition...

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As Castro Era Drifts to Close, a New Face Steps In at No. 2

Franklin Reyes/Associated PressMiguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, right, during the closing session of the Cuban National Assembly in Havana on Sunday. MEXICO CITY — He may have just taken on the toughest job in Cuba. Rivals at home will try to take him down. Enemies abroad will discredit him. Almost anyone with an interest in Cuba — including American spies and Cuban intelligence officers — will dig through...

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Billie Joe Armstrong Comes Clean About Rehab

By Kevin O'Donnell 02/27/2013 at 08:00 PM EST Last September, Billie Joe Armstrong made headlines when, during his band Green Day's performance at the I Heart Radio Music Festival in Las Vegas, the rocker unleashed a profanity-laced tirade that took aim at everyone from the concert's promoter, Clear Channel,...

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Wall Street gains on Bernanke comments, S&P above 1,500

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday, with major indexes posting their best daily gains since early January, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke remained steadfast in supporting the Fed's stimulus policy and data pointed to economic improvement. In a second day before a congressional committee, Bernanke defended the Fed's buying of bonds to keep interest rates low to boost...

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New Report Details Syrian Missile Attack

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian government fired at least four ballistic missiles last week that hit civilian neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, killing more than 141 people, including 71 children, according to a Human Rights Watch report released on Tuesday. Syrian antigovernment activists had reported the missile strikes last week, corroborated by video of the aftermath posted...

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