The case of a Tennessee man jailed in Japan for trying to snatch back his children from his estranged wife is not as clear-cut as it's been made out to be, authorities here said Wednesday. The father, Christopher Savoie, apparently became a naturalized Japanese citizen four years ago, listing a permanent address in Tokyo, they said. And while he and Noriko Savoie, a Japanese native, divorced in Tennessee, the two never annulled their marriage in Japan, Japanese officials said. Also, ...

President Obama, in an effort to stimulate the economy and support critical research, will announce $5 billion in grants when he visits the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday, according to an administration official. The money, which comes from Recovery Act funds, is aimed at supporting "12,000 critical research projects -- and tens of thousands of jobs associated with them, ranging from teachers and lab technicians to database managers and scientists," the official wrote in an e-mail. Obama, who will ...

When filmmaker Roman Polanski was arrested Saturday in Switzerland, he was on his way to accept an award for Lifetime Achievement at the Zurich Film Festival. Polanski's friend, Swiss filmmaker Otto Weisser, was among the first to publicly run to his defense. "This is for me a shock. I am ashamed to be Swiss, that the Swiss is doing such a thing to brilliant fantastic genius, that millions and millions of people love his work," Weisser said upon learning ...

Felipe Massa is back in the fast lane after his life-threatening crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix just nine weeks ago which placed his Formula One future in doubt. The Brazilian has taken to the wheel of a kart in his home city of Sao Paulo, managing 60 laps of the Granja Viana circuit and is to continue the activity over the next few days. Massa suffered horrific head injuries in qualifying in Budapest after a spring from Rubens Barrichello's ...

Not long after Jon and Kate Gosselin announced their divorce on the hit TLC show "Jon & Kate Plus 8," the buzz began. Fans, bloggers and critics theorized that Jon, who had been embraced by fans as the beleaguered and sympathetic father of a set of twins and a set of sextuplets, was purposely acting out. Gone was the laid-back dad who suffered his wife's many criticisms with a grimace and an occasional eye roll. In his place was the ...

Israel will release 20 Palestinian female prisoners and detainees in a deal to obtain a recent proof-of-life videotape of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli Security Cabinet announced Wednesday.

Maria Sharapova stayed on course for her first tournament victory since returning to the WTA Tour with a battling three-sets victory over Alisa Kleybanova in the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday. Sharapova came from a set down to beat her fellow Russian 2-6 6-2 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament in Tokyo for the fourth time. Former world number one Sharapova has clawed her way back to 25th in the world after being sidelined for nine ...

Banks round the world have still to reveal about half of their likely losses resulting from the financial and economic crisis, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, warning that there was still a "significant" risk of another downward lurch in the global recession. The IMF described credit risks as remaining "elevated" even though financial conditions have improved significantly since spring. It said these risks, alongside weakened banks, were likely to depress the availability of new credit and damp the ...

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck Indonesia on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Ketsana, downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical depression, is heading towards Laos Wednesday after leaving a trail of death and destruction across Southeast Asia. By early Wednesday morning, the death toll from the storm's rage had crossed 293: at least 246 in the Philippines, 38 in Vietnam and nine in Cambodia. With heavy rains still lashing Vietnam, evacuated residents took advantage of receding waters to return to their homes. Workers used chainsaws to clear toppled trees ...