Microsoft says it will introduce its new search engine within the next few days. The world's largest software company has called the project "Kumo." It may change that name before the public sees it. Yahoo! and Google seem like odd names for search engines, but those choices never seemed to affect their success. Another company recently launched a search product called Wolfram Alpha. At least in the case of this software, the inventor, Stephen Wolfram, put his ...

Indian authorities cleared part of an "illegally-built" slum where "Slumdog Millionaire" child star Rubina Ali lives, but her shanty was safe so far, police said Wednesday. Approximately 18 shacks in the slum were demolished because they were illegally built, police said. The area, called Garib Nagar, or colony of poor, belongs to railway authorities that carried out the demolition, said senior area inspector Rahim Sheikh. Rubina's home was spared because it was in a different part of the neighborhood, police ...

Hundreds of refugees on Wednesday blocked a main road in northwest Pakistan, to protest living conditions for some of the 1.5 million Pakistanis forced to flee their homes in the past three weeks. "The government has been making big promises, but none of those were ever fulfilled," said Hazrat Bilal, a protester and refugee whose family has taken up temporary residence in a primary school. The refugees had blocked the main road in Pakistan's Mardan district since 8 a.m. Wednesday, ...

Hundreds of Asian-American business owners have been threatened with death if they don't send money to extortionists phoning from China. He, dressed in an immaculate suit and with a folder under his arm, tells her he is hot and sweaty after working out -- she wipes the sweat away from his face and pats his bottom, saying how lovely it is to see him. If this was a Mills & Boon novel it would be time for some romantic action ...

It's the perfect romantic scene. A dashing world leader drops in on his model wife, she touches him affectionately as their dogs play at their feet. He, dressed in an immaculate suit and with a folder under his arm, tells her he is hot and sweaty after working out -- she wipes the sweat away from his face and pats his bottom, saying how lovely it is to see him. If this was a Mills & Boon novel it would ...

For years, Candace Eloph searched for her half-brother, who was given up for adoption in 1977. She found him -- living across the street.

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi emerged from her offices with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a photo op Tuesday – her first open media event since last Thursday's disastrous press conference on what the CIA may or may not have briefed her about regarding its interrogation techniques — she was met by a wall of dozens of cameras. There's always been a lot of media interest in the first female speaker, but Pelosi is learning the ...

The deaths of about two dozen civilians in U.S. airstrikes in western Afghanistan this month were "most likely" accidental, according to a U.S. military investigation. A U.S. military source, who requested anonymity because the investigation has not been made public, told CNN there was no evidence of a second phase of air strikes in which a large number of civilians were killed. Some villagers had reported what they thought was an initial bombardment, followed by a heavier round of strikes ...

An Indonesian military transport plane crashed into a residential area in East Java early Wednesday, killing 97 people, military officials said. The death toll might rise, because the Air Force said 112 people were thought to be aboard when the Hercules transport plane crashed about 6:30 a.m. The crash destroyed four homes and killed two people who lived in at least one of the homes, said Suwardi, the village leader of Karas in East Java. The plane had a crew ...

In an unusual move, Myanmar's military government will allow diplomats to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday at the end of the day's proceeding in her continuing trial. Russian, Singaporean and Thai officials are expected to meet with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate later Wednesday, said a diplomatic source in Yangon, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Also Wednesday, the government allowed some media inside the courtroom to cover the third day of the trial. The ...