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 ...

Jack White works in an office. Until the White Stripes' formal dissolution in February, White was the singer, guitarist and songwriter for one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Now he sits at a desk. White, 35, owns and operates Third Man Records, a music store, concert venue and record label in Nashville. He spends his days clicking away at a Mac desktop and talking on a landline phone with too many buttons. This particular Saturday, though, White ...

Roger Federer began his defense of the U.S. Open title with a routine straight sets victory over American wildcard Devin Britton at Flushing Meadows on Monday. The world number one beat the 18-year-old NCAA champion 6-1 6-3 7-5 in an entertaining first round match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. It extends his remarkable winning streak at the U.S. Open to 35 matches as he bids to win a sixth consecutive title at the hardcourt grand slam. Federer breezed through ...

American rookie Webb Simpson took a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Barclays Classic Fedex Play-off tournament as world No. 1 Tiger Woods again struggled in difficult conditions at Liberty National on Friday. The 24-year-old Simpson, who has missed 10 cuts in his last 19 starts on the PGA Tour, carded a three-under-par 68 in his second round to be on eight-under 134 in New Jersey. He had started the day one shot behind joint leaders Sergio Garcia, ...

American Allyson Felix cruised to her third straight women's 200 meters gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin -- but compatriot Jeremy Wariner failed to secure his own hat-trick in the men's 400m. Felix clocked a time of 20.02 seconds in the Olympic Stadium to beat Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica into second, with Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas in bronze. "It is very special for me to win here in Berlin," Felix, 23, told ...

World No. 1 Tiger Woods stormed up the leaderboard at the PGA Tour's Buick Open after firing a nine-under-par 63 in the second round on Friday. The American had been in danger of missing the cut for the second successive tournament for the first time after opening with a lackluster 71, but a sizzling start to his second 18 holes left him tied for fifth place four strokes behind leader John Senden of Australia. Woods, who failed to make the ...

"Twilight" fans weren't the only ones surprised by the news that Bryce Dallas Howard was replacing Rachelle Lefevre on the third film "Eclipse." "I was stunned," says Lefevre in a statement. "I was fully committed to the 'Twilight' saga." Lefevre, who played villain Victoria in the first Summit Entertainment-produced film and its upcoming sequel "New Moon," said she turned down "several other film opportunities" and accepted only roles with short shooting schedules to make time for "Eclipse." "I ...

Padraig Harrington's bid to win a third successive British Open title was left in tatters after the Irishman carded a six-over-par 76 in his third round at Turnberry on Saturday. The 37-year-old slumped to nine-over 219, leaving him tied for 65th place and 14 shots behind halfway leaders Tom Watson and Steve Marino, who had yet to even begin their third rounds by the time he had finished his. The clubhouse lead at that stage saw American Bryce Molder on ...

A United Nations court convicted a former governor of Rwanda to life in prison for his role in a 1994 genocide that left about 800,000 dead in the central African country. Tharcisse Renzaho was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The verdict, delivered Tuesday, is the third judgment on charges of genocide delivered this year by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The U.N. court is holding hearings in Arusha, Tanzania, where it is based. ...

The Ailsa course at Turnberry will offer a degree of difficulty worthy of a major championship, world number one Tiger Woods tells CNN as he bids to win his fourth British Open at the Scottish links. Woods had never played Turnberry before arriving for the third major of the season and after three practice rounds is fully aware of the challenge it presents, particularly if the wind blows. "Turnberry is a golf course where you have got to hit ...