English Premier League side Chelsea confirmed Thursday that Guus Hiddink will take charge until the end of the season following the dismissal of Luis Felipe Scolari. The veteran Dutchman currently coaches the Russian national team, which he led to the semifinals of last year's European Championship. Chelsea said it thanked the Russian Football Union for its "understanding and cooperation." It was unclear whether Hiddink would continue as Russian coach. Asked if he could combine both high-profile jobs in an ...

The severe storms that uprooted trees, demolished homes and killed at least eight people in central Oklahoma on Tuesday are expected to weaken Wednesday, authorities said. A tornado watch that was in effect early Wednesday for central Oklahoma was lifted, the National Weather Service said. That was good news for people in the city of Lone Grove, who were dealing with extensive damage from the deadly storms that hit the area. Lone Grove, near the Texas ...

The murders of two super-yacht staff within a fortnight have shaken the luxury yacht industry and sparked calls for crews to exercise extreme caution. Both murders occurred in popular yachting destinations in the Caribbean islands and involved violent attacks. Last week, U.S. luxury yacht chef Sara Kuszak, of Savannah, Georgia was murdered after being abducted during a morning run in the Puerto del Rey marina in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Kuszak's five months pregnant body was found in a field ...

Switzerland's Credit Suisse has joined the list of banks revealing disastrous results for 2008 after it reported losses of $7.1 billion (8.2 billion Swiss francs). The officials told CNN that the alleged cell had connections to a senior al Qaeda operative who helped orchestrate the 2006 "Airline Plot," widely recognized as al Qaeda's most serious terror attempt since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The source could not reveal the operative's name to CNN because of ...

The chief investigator in the domestic violence case against singer Chris Brown will deliver his findings to the Los Angeles district attorney Tuesday afternoon for consideration of further charges, the investigator told CNN. Los Angeles Police Detective Deshon Andrews said he has kept the case file closely guarded and no copies have been made of the original photos and documents in order to keep them from leaking to the media. Police have refused media requests to hear the 911 call ...

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger says he'll take to the skies again -- as soon as he can shake Flight 1549 out of his head. "I'll be going back to work as soon as I'm ready," said Sullenberger, who along with First Officer Jeffrey Skiles safely guided US Airways Flight 1549 to an emergency landing in the Hudson River last month. Sullenberger, Skiles and veteran flight attendants Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent spoke to CNN's Larry King in an ...

A massive fire engulfed a newly constructed, unoccupied luxury hotel in central Beijing on Monday night. The cause of the blaze at the 40-story Mandarin Oriental is not known, and there were no reports of injuries, according to CNN staff members who were at the scene. The fire began at about 9 p.m. (8 a.m. ET) and continued to burn an hour later. CNN's Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz said he was on one side of the hotel, but, "It ...

A bomb inside a van exploded in northeastern Madrid Monday, after a warning call by the Basque separatist group ETA. The blast caused damage but there were no immediate reports of injury. The Red Cross received a call at 7:37 a.m. (1:37 a.m. ET), in the name of ETA, warning of the bomb. The Red Cross immediately contacted police, who cordoned off the area, a Red Cross spokeswoman told CNN. The blast occurred shortly after 9 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) ...

For 25 agonizing minutes, journalist Norm Beaman did not know whether his wife had perished in wild fires sweeping southern Australia, after he lost mobile phone contact following an explosion and a scream. Beaman, a veteran reporter for Channel 7 news, was racing home to his property on Mount Disappointment, north of Melbourne, talking to his wife Annie as she tried to defend their home from the fires that have left dozens dead. "She was being stoic, putting up a ...

U.S. forces shot two Shiite pilgrims on Saturday night as they walked to Karbala for an upcoming holy day, an Interior Ministry official said. The victims were a man and a woman, and the man later died of his injuries, the official said. A weapon unintentionally discharged in the area, and two local nationals were reported to have injuries, but "it's unclear whether the weapons discharge and injuries are directly connected," the U.S. military said in a news release. The ...