Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's exiled former Prime Minister, likes to compare himself to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement. Both are in conflict with their country's military-backed leaders. But that's where the similarities end. Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, whereas Thaksin backed two violent anti-government protests. Suu Kyi spent more than decade under house arrest for her political convictions, while Thaksin fled rather than do time for corruption. Suu Kyi ...

The veterans of the Olympic Games cede the victory dais to a younger generation of swimmers who tumble records as easily as turns By They are too young to know fear, but already have the work ethic of mature professionals; they have a young person's hopes and the obsessiveness of those that have perhaps not yet dreamed enough. Mere teenagers most of them, their racing bodies are rock hard, their eyes fixed on record ...

Can Dominique Strauss-Kahn salvage a future in French politics? Despite his legal problems in the U.S., observers say his most optimistic backers are keeping alive scenarios of their champion somehow extricating himself from the catastrophic turn in his once-brilliant career. "There's currently so much amazement, shock and perplexity over the speed and enormity of DSK's fall that — in the minds of many people — any outcome in such a surreal situation remains possible," says Denis Muzet, director of the Paris-based Mediascope opinion-research group. That ...

Why aren't you letting Watson speak for himself today?Watson is trained to answer questions for Jeopardy! It's not an interactive dialogue system, so it can't conduct its own interviews. You can imagine giving it information so it could answer [impromptu] questions, but it would still be responding only from content it's been given and analyzed. What about aspirational questions? Could Watson respond if it was asked, "What do you want to be doing in five years?"It would have to be ...

John Aglialoro is on a quest. Aglialoro, 67, is the CEO of a fitness-equipment company, a former U.S. poker champion and an objectivist — a subscriber to Ayn Rand's doctrine of rational selfishness. In 1992 he bought from Rand's estate the movie rights to Atlas Shrugged, her 1957 novel about the heroes who prop up society and the parasites who leech off their efforts. His dream was to make a film that honored Rand's philosophy. For 20 years the dream ...

Defending champion Venus Williams reached the semifinals of the $4.55 million WTA Championships in Qatar on Friday without hitting a ball

Valentino Rossi was crowned MotoGP world champion for the sixth time as he took third place in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang behind Casey Stoner of Australia.

Jenson Button has emerged a surprise contender to join Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in what would be an exciting partnership for the 2010 season. Button has not yet agreed a new contract with Brawn and McLaren are interested having struggled to land first choice Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren team principal, Martin Whitmarsh refused to rule out a move for Button and create and all-British pairing at the manufacturer. Asked by British newspaper Daily Mail whether there had been talks between McLaren ...

Jean Todt has succeeded Max Mosley as president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) after he was elected to the most powerful position in motorsport on Friday. Todt, 63, won the FIA general assembly vote against ex-world rally champion Ari Vatanen by 135 votes to 49 in a secret ballot, with 12 abstentions/invalid votes, at the FIA headquarters in Paris. Frenchman Todt had received the backing of Mosley, who held the position for 16 years, ahead of Vatanen from ...

The White House refused to indicate Monday whether President Obama will issue a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson, the African-American boxing champion convicted in 1913 for dating a white woman. The House of Representatives on July 29 unanimously passed a resolution urging Obama to grant a pardon; the Senate passed a similar measure by a voice vote on June 24. The push for a rare posthumous pardon has been spearheaded for years by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Rep. Peter ...