Do you think you're more likely to look at an online ad if it contains 1> a picture, 2> an animation, or 3> just text? The answer: just text. Surprised? Well, now consider the man who was checking his e-mail when he came across a dating-service ad featuring a picture of a bikini-clad woman. He looked at the woman's face and chest once — and then at the surrounding text five times. The Internet has cracked open a brave new world for ...

Japan's unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in September, the government reported on Friday, according to Kyodo news Service.

Four U.S. service members were killed when two helicopters were apparently involved in a mid-air collision in southern Afghanistan on Monday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

A security guard at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport is under arrest for allegedly making threatening remarks about President Obama, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service said Wednesday. John Brek, 55, of Linden, New Jersey, was arrested Tuesday and charged with making terroristic threats, Port Authority spokesman John Kelly said. A search of Brek's home turned up at least 40 firearms, Kelly said, all of which appear to be legally owned. U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said ...

A mass H1N1 immunization program began in the UK Wednesday, with the country's health minister urging all priority groups to take up the vaccine. Health and social care workers are among those identified in the "priority" group given first access to the vaccine against the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu. Others include pregnant women, those over 65, people with asthma, diabetes and those having cancer treatment, the country's Department of Health has said. From Monday, this ...

If not for a lowly leech, Peter Alec Cannon might not be in the heap of trouble he's in now. In what Australian officials are calling a first in their country -- and possibly in the world -- police used DNA extracted from a leech that bit Cannon eight years ago to convict him of robbing an elderly woman. "I haven't heard of it being done in Australia before. I am not aware of it being done elsewhere in the ...

Authorities in Northern Ireland said Friday they were investigating an explosion in east Belfast that injured one woman. Some politicians blamed the explosion on terrorists. Police said they responded to the scene in the Kingsdale Park area of Belfast, where a 38-year-old woman was injured and a vehicle was damaged. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and has since been discharged, the police service of Northern Ireland said. She was not identified. The region was ...

Finland has become the first country in the world to declare broadband Internet access a legal right. Starting in July, telecommunication companies in the northern European nation will be required to provide all 5.2 million citizens with Internet connection that runs at speeds of at least 1 megabit per second. The one-megabit mandate, however, is simply an intermediary step, said Laura Vilkkonen, the legislative counselor for the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The country is aiming for speeds that are ...

World number one Dinara Safina and third seed Venus Williams crashed out in major upsets at the China Open in Beijing on Monday. Venus was the first to go as she lost for the second successive week to Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The American superstar was beaten by the 18-year-old in Tokyo last week and continued her recent sorry form with a 3-6 6-1 6-4 defeat in the Olympic Tennis Center in the Chinese capital. Pavlyuchenkova twice served for victory ...

Eight U.S. service members and two members of the Afghan National Security Force were killed Saturday in a battle with militants in eastern Afghanistan, officials said. Tribal militants attacked two security outposts in the Nuristan province, said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The militants launched their attack from a local mosque and a nearby village, the international alliance said. Coalition forces repelled the attack, inflicting "heavy enemy casualties," the alliance said without offering details. All eight service members ...