For a day last week Rafael Merry del Val stepped reluctantly out of the shadow of the retirement in which he has lived since the death of Pope Pius X, his beloved friend. He celebrated the silver jubilee of his elevation, at the hands of Pius X, to the cardinalate. He celebrated a high mass. He attended a banquet in his honor. Then once again he withdrew into the cloister of his memories.It was a political tangle which precipitated Merry del Val on his so-glittering early ...

Picture this: You're a sports fan, even a casual one. You're walking down the street, and someone accidentally bumps into your shoulder. You turn. Holy s---, it's LeBron James! You're stunned, speechless, almost breathless. Or it's Peyton Manning. Maybe it's Rafael Nadal. It's an iconic face, someone who's on top of his sport and instantly recognizable. Now picture this: the current best player in baseball — a guy who has hit an outlandish 73 home runs ...

Nikolay Davydenko avenged last year's Tennis Masters Cup final defeat by Novak Djokovic to upset the world No. 3 in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday. The Russian sixth seed triumphed 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in a three-hour epic to earn a showdown with world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who had an easier passage into the final when Feliciano Lopez became the tournament's ninth injury victim. Davydenko, beaten by Djokovic when the Chinese city held the season-ending finale ...

A man accused of playing a role in the 1968 hijacking of a Pan Am flight from New York to Puerto Rico was captured Sunday, federal officials said. Luis Armando Pena Soltren, 66, surrendered to federal authorities at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after exiting a flight from Havana, Cuba, officials said. It's the same airport from which Pan Am Flight 281 took off more than 40 years ago. Additional details on Soltren's apprehension were not provided by ...

British Transport Police said Saturday they are investigating after a man left a bag containing a corrosive substance at a train station outside London. The Czechs sealed their passage by also going 3-0 up against 2005 champions Croatia. Spain, who took a 2-0 lead into the pivotal doubles, paired Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez, who delivered a 7-6 6-7 6-4 6-2 win over Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram. The Israelis salvaged a measure of respectability after being whitewashed in Friday's ...

Roger Federer will be able to bounce back again following his shock U.S. Open final defeat, tennis legend Boris Becker has told CNN. The five-time winner went into Monday night's final at the top of his game, having re-established himself as the top player in the world this year after losing his No. 1 crown to Rafael Nadal and suffering from illness. The Swiss star was widely expected to defeat Juan Martin Del Potro, the 20-year-old sixth seed from Argentina ...

Kim Clijsters has advanced to the women's singles final of the U.S. Open after defending champion Serena Williams received a point penalty for a second code violation on match point. Former winner Clijsters beat Williams 6-4 7-5, the Press Association reported. Clijsters had been a set and 6-5 up when the line judge foot-faulted Williams on a second serve to give the Belgian match point. Williams moved towards the linesperson launching a verbal tirade and then waving her ...

Top seed Roger Federer fended off a resurgent 12th seed Robin Soderling with two razor-thin tie-breaking sets to reach the U.S. Open semifinals 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6). Federer on Wednesday unleashed 28 aces and kept unforced errors to 26, compared with his Swedish opponent's 45, to pull the win. Federer succeeded in winning 86 percent on his first serve alone. The Swiss tennis player is seeking his sixth consecutive U.S. Open win, which would cap a year in ...

World number two Andy Murray handily beat U.S. wildcard Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in third-round action at the U.S. Open. Murray had more than three times as many aces -- seven compared with Dent's two -- and half Dent's unforced errors -- 13 compared with 27 Sunday night. The match was a vindication of sorts for Murray, who won his earlier match over former training partner, Chile's Paul Capdeville, ranked 87 in the world, after losing a second set. ...