— David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" whose career roared back to life when he played the assassin-turned-victim in Quentin Tarentino's "Kill Bill," was found dead Thursday in Thailand. A published report said he committed suicide. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but ...

Travel news, deals and updates for the week of May 25, 2009 AIRLINES & AIRPORTS Pack Light. Starting in July, US Airways will increase its fee for the first checked bag from $15 to $20; the second-bag fee rises from $25 to $30. But if your bags should exceed 50 lbs., you'll be hit with a whopping $70 fee for the first checked bag and $80 for the second. South American Way. Continental begins daily service from Houston to Rio de ...

"The soldier and the lawyer may both love this country with equal passion," Barack Obama said in his elegant Notre Dame commencement speech, "and yet reach very different conclusions on the specific steps needed to protect us from harm." You can say that again. In recent weeks, the President and just about every other major politician from both parties have been boggled by soldier-lawyer disputes. Some have been small: whether or not House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was adequately briefed ...

On a plane to the Maldives, tourists sigh about the luxury resorts and sun-dappled beaches to which they are bound. From above, the country's coral-fringed lagoons in the Indian Ocean look computer-generated: arrayed in turquoise pods, they stretch over an azure expanse that would span from Rome to Budapest. Ibn Battuta, the 14th century Arab explorer, hailed the archipelago as "one of the wonders of the world." Ever since, the Maldives has enchanted shipwrecked sailors, Hollywood celebrities and Russian oligarchs ...

Want tomatoes? The plants need sun, water, soil and air. And you have to get rid of the weeds — they want the sun, water, soil and air too. As this winter of our country's discontent melts into planting season, our government would do well to take this lesson from the garden. Especially as it applies to medicine. The doctor is a surprisingly fragile plant, in real danger of being strangled by a number of aggressive species. Here is a short field guide ...

Polo fans say few things are as inspiring as watching eight majestic thoroughbred horses maneuver over a 300-yard-long field. But as anyone who was at the U.S. Open polo tournament in Wellington, Fla., last Sunday has attested, few things are as shocking as seeing those same horses stagger and drop dead. Twenty-one polo ponies belonging to the Lechuza Caracas team from Venezuela died either before, during or after Lechuza's Sunday afternoon match. So far investigators have yet to determine exactly ...

In early February, Casino Mogul Steve Wynn took a stand on layoffs. The gaming industry is flailing — Nevada regulators recently formed a task force on bankruptcies — but when it came to cutting costs by cutting employees, Wynn wouldn't hear of it. Instead, Wynn announced that everyone at his company's two Las Vegas properties, Wynn and Encore, would take a pay cut. Salaried workers earning $150,000 or more would see a 15% drop in their paychecks; those making ...

Fewer Bentleys cruise the streets of Moscow these days, sushi sales are down, and construction on Europe's tallest tower has halted for lack of money. For fashionistas at the opening of the 18th annual Russian Fashion Week on Sunday, the most potent sign of the times was the sight of people wearing last year's styles. "Even the very rich aren't just going out and buying anymore," says Tatyana Ageyeva, a buyer who has worked for élite labels like Kenzo and ...

President Obama can't assure that the economy will bounce back this year, but he says he will "get all the pillars in place for recovery this year." Obama made the pledge in a 35-minute interview -- largely focused on the economy and the war in Afghanistan -- with The New York Times aboard Air Force One on Friday, according to a story published Saturday. "I don't think that people should be fearful about our future," he told the newspaper. "I ...

Echo has an endlessly challenging job. On one assignment, she might play a hostage negotiator; on another, a midwife; on still another, a woman in love. Then she gets chauffeured to a treatment at a spalike facility filled with warm light and blond wood. It's a little like being a Hollywood actress on location. But not exactly. Echo's "engagements"--ranging from deadly capers to prostitution--are real. That spa treatment is a sometimes painful process in which her personality and ...