The first clue came when I got my hair cut. The stylist offered not just the usual coffee or tea but a complimentary nail-polish change while I waited for my hair to dry. Maybe she hoped this little amenity would slow the growing inclination of women to stretch each haircut to last four months while nursing our hair back to whatever natural color we long ago forgot. Then there was the appliance salesman who offered to carry my bags ...

A superb free-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United a 2-1 home win over Blackburn to move them eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table. United's record-breaking run of clean sheets came to an end at Old Trafford, but Ronaldo's moment ensured Sir Alex Ferguson's side remain well on course to lift their third successive title. United took a 23rd minute lead when Wayne Rooney celebrated his first start since returning from a hamstring injury, ...

Bleak. That's always been the rap against American novelist Richard Yates. Though he has been celebrated as a writer's writer and a consummate craftsman since his death in 1992, even his admirers found his work depressing. Fellow novelist Carolyn See explained it in 1981: "He's not going to get the recognition he truly deserves because to read Yates is as painful as getting all your teeth filed down to the gum with no anesthetic." Joyce Carol Oates agreed, writing in ...

On a winter evening in early 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first black performer to win an Oscar, a best supporting actress honor for her performance as Mammy, the servant in "Gone With the Wind." She accepted her award at the Academy Awards ceremony at the Coconut Grove, a nightclub in Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel, where she was seated in the segregated section at the rear of the room. Though her win was played as a sign of progress for ...

A U.S. congressional delegation visited Gaza Thursday, marking the first time that American lawmakers have entered the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory in eight years, according to the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem. The delegation included Reps. Brian Baird, D-Washington, and Keith Ellison, D-Minnesota, who is the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Congress. Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, also visited Gaza separately from the two congressmen, according to an official who was traveling with the senator. None of the ...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed for South Korea on Thursday on the third leg of her four-nation tour of Asia. The visit comes at a time of escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and after U.S. officials cited evidence that North Korea was gearing up for a launch of a long-range missile. North Korean officials have disputed the claim, saying in the country's official news agency that Pyongyang was preparing to launch a satellite. But Pyongyang said Thursday ...

A one-of-a-kind bicycle belonging to Lance Armstrong that was stolen Saturday, hours after the U.S. cycling legend rode it in a race, has been handed over to authorities, police said Wednesday. "A local resident came to the police headquarters and turned in a bicycle that he believed to be Lance Armstrong's," said Sgt. Norm Leong, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department. By checking the serial number, "we were able to confirm that the bike was, in fact, Lance ...

A court in Zimbabwe charged a senior opposition official Tuesday over an alleged plot involving terrorism and insurgency, as President Robert Mugabe chaired the first Cabinet meeting of a coalition government. Roy Bennett, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) treasurer and the country's agriculture deputy minister-designate, is charged with illegally possessing firearms for the purposes of trying to commit acts of insurgency, banditry and terrorism and to illegally leave the country last week, his lawyer said. Trust Maanda told CNN ...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Indonesia Wednesday on the second stop of her tour of Asia -- her first trip abroad as America's top diplomat. She's expected to huddle with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda Wednesday evening before meeting with President Bambang Yudhoyono the following morning. Clinton will "discuss the close and growing partnership with Indonesia and perspectives on common interests in Southeast Asia," according to the State Department Web site. She began her trip ...

Zimbabwe's new unity Cabinet met for the first time Tuesday, bringing together leaders of President Robert Mugabe's party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition party. The government met a day after the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, criticized last week's arrest of a key party leader and what they called the abduction of other party members by Mugabe supporters. Roy Bennett -- treasurer of the MDC and Zimbabwe's agriculture deputy minister-designate -- faces charges of planning terrorism and ...