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Tetris turns 25: Is it the next Olympic sport?

It’s amazing how a huge global phenomenon can begin. In 1984, Russian mathematician Alexey Pajitnov was playing with one of his favorite puzzles when he had an inspiration: How about creating a computer version Pajitnov wrote the program in his spare time, simplifying the idea to make it easier for those of us who aren’t math geniuses. He used shapes made of four squares — hence “Tetris,” which comes from the Greek word for four, “Tetra.” In the game, players must position and stack blocky shapes to fill a grid without leaving spaces in between.

Top Colombian rebel suspect captured

The Colombian military has captured one of the top leaders for a Marxist rebel group waging war on the government for more than 40 years, authorities said. The officials believe that al Qaeda may see the Horn of Africa as its new headquarters after dozens of attacks from U.S. drones along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border

Guard opened museum’s door for his killer

The security guard shot to death at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum had opened the door for the gunman, who then raised a rifle and killed him, authorities said Thursday. The suspect in Wednesday’s slaying — 88-year-old James von Brunn — will be charged with murder and, if convicted, could face the death penalty, a federal prosecutor confirmed

Judge orders release of 3 U.S. contractors held in Iraq

Three of five Americans contractors detained in Baghdad have been ordered released by an Iraqi judge, because of insufficient evidence, a court spokesman said Thursday. The other two other contractors remain in custody, according to Judge Abdul Sattar al-Beeraqdar, a spokesman for Iraq’s Higher Judicial Council.

White supremacist accused in Holocaust Museum shooting

The suspect in Wednesday’s fatal shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland, two law enforcement officials told CNN

Shooting at Holocaust Museum injures guard, suspect

A lone gunman wounded a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday before being injured by return fire, according to police and a museum statement. The suspect was identified as James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland, two law enforcement officials told CNN.

Palau to take Uighur detainees from Gitmo

The Pacific island nation of Palau has agreed to take in 17 Chinese Muslims now held at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the country’s ambassador to the United States said Wednesday. Details of the transfer are still being worked out, Ambassador Hersey Kyota told CNN.

The disease that’s ravaging Latin America

A hundred years ago a Brazilian physician, Carlos Chagas, showed that monkeys were susceptible to a rare parasitic illness carried by a particular Latin American bug.

London commuters battle subway strike

London commuters crammed onto buses, scrambled for taxis, cycled or simply walked on Wednesday as a strike by Tube workers shut down most of the subway network. The strike began Tuesday at 7 p.m. (2 p.m

Saro-Wiwa’s son welcomes Shell payout

A $15.5 million payout made by oil giant Shell to settle a lawsuit brought against it by relations of executed Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists will allow the families of the victims to move on with their lives, Saro-Wiwa’s son has told CNN. The New York lawsuit — brought to court by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Saro-Wiwa’s family and others in 1996 — accused Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary of complicity in the writer’s 1995 hanging and the killings or persecution of other environmental activists in the Niger Delta. Nigeria’s Ogoni people have complained for years that Shell was allowed to pollute its land without consequences