THE END CAME WITH ALL THE BITTERNESS of a military surrender. For weeks General Motors chairman Robert Stempel had tried to ignore the signals of discontent radiating from a hostile band of outside directors. When Stempel was hospitalized with an attack of high blood pressure, board members did not bother to phone him get-well wishes. When rumors flew that Stempel was about to be ousted, the board issued a statement that conspicuously lacked a denial. Finally, Stempel, 59, bowed to ...

Re "Why they leave France" [April 16]: There is a typically French disease that prompts citizens to overcriticize the country. Those judgments are, most of the time, merciless and exaggerated. I've traveled a lot, and I can tell you that people in the rest of the world are able to be supportive of their own country without being stupidly patriotic. You can certainly find thousands of faults with France, but there are still a million reasons to stay here, one ...

In her 30 years of counseling couples, Mira Kirshenbaum has discerned 17 reasons that people have extramarital affairs. In a near majority of couples, one partner will cheat on the other at some point. In her new book, When Good People Have Affairs: Inside the Hearts & Minds of People in Two Relationships

It's not hard to see the divinity behind the water temples that dot the rice terraces of Bali. It's there in the white-clad high priest presiding in the temple at the summit of a dormant volcano. It's there in the 23 priests serving along with him, selected for their jobs when they were still children by a bevy of virgin priestesses. It's there in the rituals the priests perform to protect the island's water, which in turn is needed to ...

FIVE REASONS TO EAT MEAT: 1> It tastes good 2> It makes you feel good 3> It's a great American tradition 4> It supports the nation's farmers 5> Your parents did it Oh, sorry...those are five reasons to smoke cigarettes. Meat is more complicated. It's a food most Americans eat virtually every day: at the dinner table; in the cafeteria; on the barbecue patio; with mustard at a ballpark; or, a billion times a year, with special sauce, lettuce, cheese, ...

World Cup hosts South Africa have sacked coach Joel Santana after a miserable run of eight losses in nine friendly internationals. The South African Football Association posted a statement on its Web site on Monday saying that Santana would step down his role with "immediate effect" and added it had been "unanimously agreed." Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane will take temporary charge of the Bafana Bafana with the finals in South Africa now only eight months away. The 60-year-old Santana ...

Ousted president Jose Manuel Zelaya has returned to Honduras, a Honduran diplomat in Washington told CNN on Monday. U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly confirmed Zelaya was in Honduras, but could provide no further information. "We have confirmed that he is in Honduras," Kelly told journalists, adding the State Department was trying to find out more details of Zelaya's whereabouts. Enrique Reina, the Honduran ambassador to the United States, told CNN en Espaol that he could not divulge exactly where ...

Kate Winslet has one more reason to call 2009 a great year. Not only did "The Reader" and "Revolutionary Road" actress dominate this year's awards circuit, she looked great doing it, earning the title of "best red carpet" on People magazine's 10 Best Dressed List. People's annual list was revealed Wednesday, giving kudos to the ladies who know how to take the best of fashion and consistently spin it to fit their style. (The magazine is part of Time ...

As sure as growth slides and employment tumbles, so cases of fraud rise during recessions. This time is no different. According to a report out today from The Network, a U.S. firm that runs compliance and corporate governance hotlines for about half of the Fortune 500, fraud-related calls amounted to 21% of all reports in the first quarter of this year, up from 14% in the same period in 2007. While reports of problems such as harassment, discrimination or ...

Pedro Pablo slowly folds up his American flag blanket and stuffs it in his duffel bag. With it goes his American dream. "I left my family and lost four years with them. I will ask them to forgive me," he said. Pablo is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who came to the United States to support his wife and five sons back home. When he arrived, construction jobs were plentiful. Over the last year, he says, he's worked three days. ...