Roger Federer began his defense of the U.S. Open title with a routine straight sets victory over American wildcard Devin Britton at Flushing Meadows on Monday. The world number one beat the 18-year-old NCAA champion 6-1 6-3 7-5 in an entertaining first round match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. It extends his remarkable winning streak at the U.S. Open to 35 matches as he bids to win a sixth consecutive title at the hardcourt grand slam. Federer breezed through ...

Call it mother's intuition. Call it a police officer's intuition. But Allison Jacobs knew something was wrong. The University of California, Berkeley, police officer was sitting in on a meeting with a man named Phillip Garrido, who wanted to hold an event on campus, and Lisa Campbell, special events manager for the university police. Garrido brought along two young girls, introducing them as his daughters. Jacobs' and Campbell's intuition, authorities said, led to the arrest of Garrido, a registered sex ...

The futuristic South African sci-fi that has taken the U.S box office by storm opened in its home country this weekend. Parallels with the experience of apartheid in "District 9" are likely to resonate particularly with South African audiences. The story begins with an alien space ship breaking down over South Africa's largest metropolis, Johannesburg -- leaving the unfortunate creatures on board stranded. Their human hosts rescue them, but 20 years on they are exploited and segregated ...

In an anguished 911 call, a Georgia man told dispatchers he arrived home to find "my whole family's dead." "I just got home," a man identified as Guy Heinze Jr. told the emergency dispatcher in the Saturday call, released Monday by authorities. "I was out last night. I got home just now, and everybody's dead. ... My whole family's dead. It looks like they've been beaten to death." Seven people were found dead Saturday at a residence at the New ...

Formula One's governing body has launched an investigation into "alleged incidents at a previous Formula One event". Although the FIA haven't yet formally disclosed the race in question, it has been reported by several new agencies that the race in question is the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix held in September last year. The investigation is believed to relate to a crash by Renault's Nelson Piquet. The race was won by his teammate Fernando Alonso. Alonso started from a lowly fifteenth ...

Pop star Chris Brown has admitted guilt and apologized for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in February, but he does not remember hitting the singer, he told CNN's Larry King. LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Pop star Chris Brown has admitted guilt and apologized for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in February, but he does not remember hitting the singer, he told CNN's Larry King. Looking at police reports about the incident makes him feel like he's reading about a stranger, Brown ...

They kept their bodies alive with rationed crackers, bubble gum, beer and three gallons of water. But spiritually, the three men lost at sea for eight days had something else to keep them going. "We just kept praying, and we kept hope alive," rescued boater Tressel Hawkins told CNN on Monday. "Even though hope had managed to thread down to a little bitty string, I mean, that little bitty string could be just as strong as the rope you hung ...

A newborn baby boy with a heart protruding from his chest is set to undergo a complex surgery in New Delhi, India doctors said Monday.

Schools of robotic fish could one day map the ocean floor, detect pollution or inspect and survey submerged boats or oil and gas pipelines, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say. MIT engineers are showing off the latest generation of so-called robofish 15 years after they built the first one. The latest incarnation is sleeker, more streamlined and capable of mimicking the movements of a real fish. And it's capable of exploring underwater terrain submersibles can't, said Pablo ...

Success in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is achievable, even though the situation is serious, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said in a statement Monday. The statement came as Gen. Stanley McChrystal submitted a long-awaited report on the state of the war. "The situation ... demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort," McChrystal said in the statement. The general's review was passed on to Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, ...