Much of the world was shocked and titillated by news of alleged fat-stealing murderers in the Peruvian jungle. But the story may have a much more sinister underbelly. Could the allegation of homicidal liposuction possibly be a smokescreen to distract attention from other crimes, including, some local journalists say, the existence of a death squad that may be operating within the country's national police? The existence of marauding fat stealers was made public mid-November by General Felix Murga, head ...

Preliminary data indicates Black Friday sales got off to a roaring start this year, with consumers shopping earlier and online sales increasing significantly over last year. Retailers across the board reported strong crowds early Friday, with high-definition televisions, laptops, winter coats and the popular toy Zhu-Zhu pets among the hottest items. "There were bargain-hungry shoppers out there, and retailers really did pull out all the stops for people," says Kathy Grannis, a spokesperson for the National Retail Federation, ...

At the national stadium in the Guinean capital, Conakry, it's oddly quiet — the only sounds that can be heard are the muffled beats of a drum band practicing nearby. The other strange thing in a dusty and garbage-strewn city is how clean the stadium looks. Many of the walls and exit tunnels have been freshly painted. That's the only sign of what happened here on Sept. 28 when human rights groups say Guinea's year-old military junta opened fire on an opposition rally, killing 157 ...

Preliminary data indicates Black Friday sales got off to a roaring start this year, with consumers shopping earlier and online sales increasing significantly over last year. Retailers across the board reported strong crowds early Friday, with high-definition televisions, laptops, winter coats and the popular toy Zhu-Zhu pets among the hottest items. "There were bargain-hungry shoppers out there, and retailers really did pull out all the stops for people," says Kathy Grannis, a spokesperson for the National Retail Federation, ...

The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church traditionally couch even the harshest disagreements in decorous, ecclesiastical language. But it didn't take a decoder ring to figure out what Rome-based Archbishop Raymond Burke meant in a late-September address when he charged Boston Cardinal Sen O'Malley with being under the influence of Satan, "the father of lies." Burke's broadside at O'Malley was inspired by the Cardinal's decision to permit and preside over a funeral Mass for the late Senator Ted ...

Picking up trash and pulling weeds may not sound terribly posh, but at a growing number of high-end resorts, where rooms often cost $400 or $500 a night, these activities are becoming yet another hotel amenity. One morning you can sleep in and order room service, and the next you can serve breakfast at a soup kitchen. The trend is part of a larger movement toward voluntourism, i.e., trips with a heavy focus on volunteering. But unlike programs ...

For decades, the French considered it taboo to question whether immigration and foreign influences were diluting France's social and cultural character. Indeed, the topic was considered so toxic that no one in France besides extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen would even take it up in public. But times have changed. Twenty years after Le Pen's National Front party became a political force in France, its view that immigration is threatening the French national identity is starting to gain ...

Joe Marshall was cruising across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge when a piece of steel and a giant cable crashed down.He's worried about what he calls "fracture-critical" bridges: roughly 460 bridges across the country that are in dire need of repairs. "Following the Minnesota bridge collapse, there was a lot of discussion because of emotions," he said. "I didn't really see a sustained effort that says, 'We are going to replace these fracture-critical bridges.' " Federal regulators said support ...

In a new memoir, The Audacity to Win, David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama's 2008 race for the White House, provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse inside the campaign. Here's an excerpt.Agony. Ecstasy. The [Rev. Jeremiah] Wright story broke on a Wednesday and exploded across the media landscape the next day. We decided Obama had to take questions about [his former pastor's inflammatory sermons] head-on on Friday, in a series of lengthy national cable interviews. There was one not-so-minor complication. He ...

The force of the blast threw Rawnaq against the wall of her office at the Ministry of Justice. She instantly thought of her two children in the day care center just two floors below."The government What is it doing for us" she yelled. "Nothing, what have they done We have been widowed; we have orphans, car bombs, theft. What have they done for us Elections are coming up and they want us to vote, why would we" The blasts have ...