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Ahmadinejad to hold victory rally amid protests

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepared to hold a victory rally Sunday, a day after he was declared the winner of the country’s presidential election, spurring violent street protests from opposition supporters who claimed ballot fraud. Thousands of demonstrators, shouting “Death to the dictatorship” and “We want freedom,” burned police motorcycles, tossed rocks through store windows and set trash cans on fire on Saturday. Riot police charged back, spraying demonstrators with tear gas and clubbing many with batons

Going, going, gone digital — with a few exceptions

Phones at help centers across the country rang Saturday, a day after broadcasters halted the transmission of analog signals long depended on by many people without cable or satellite television. The Federal Communication Commission, on its Web site, said Friday’s switch to digital television by 971 full-power stations had prompted hundreds of thousands of calls for help “but caused no widespread disruption of free, over-the-air television broadcasts.” It said 317,450 calls had been handled on Friday alone by the commission’s help line, 1-888-CALL-FCC. “Of the calls handled by live FCC help-line agents, nearly 30 percent concerned the operation of digital converter boxes,” the FCC said

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.

Elizabeth Warren: Riding Herd On a Bailout

Don’t let my politeness fool you,” says Elizabeth Warren. The Harvard Law professor and head of the congressional panel monitoring the bank bailout had just finished a hearing in New York City and was nibbling at a dish of pasta with zucchini.

Ex-Miss California USA: Pageant director never supported me

Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean wants to set the record straight.

Labour Pains: Gordon Brown is Running Out of Time

It was billed as tragedy — an insurrection that would topple the Labour Party’s flawed hero, Gordon Brown — but it played out like a Marx Brothers farce. The June 8 meeting that would determine Brown’s fate attracted so many Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords that a House of Commons committee room quickly filled to capacity. And still they came, squeezing their way into the mass of bodies politic.

U.S. pledges $73 million in aid to Zimbabwe

The United States will provide $73 million in aid to Zimbabwe, President Obama announced Friday after meeting with Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House. “I obviously have extraordinary admiration for the courage and tenacity that the prime minister has shown in navigating through some very difficult political times in Zimbabwe,” Obama said. “There was a time when Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa, and [it] continues to have enormous potential.

Election officials: Ahmadinejad leading as final result nears

Final results in Iran’s hotly contested presidential race were expected soon, election officials said Saturday morning, as hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held a commanding lead. With 78 percent of ballot boxes counted, Ahmedinejad had 64.9 percent of the vote while his chief rival Mir Hossein Moussavi had 32 percent, election officials said

A Carnival of Provocations as Gaddafi Visits Rome

When Muammar Gaddafi comes to town, the first questions facing his hosts is where to pitch his tent. Having watched the stir caused in Paris and Moscow last year by the Libyan leader pitching a Bedouin-style portable chateau in the heart of each capital, the authorities in Rome were well prepared for the four-day visit of the Colonel and his retinue of 300.

After 7 years at Gitmo, resettled Uyghurs grateful for freedom

Two of four Uyghurs relocated to Bermuda after seven years of detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, denied Friday that they had ever been terrorists, and expressed gratitude toward President Obama for working to free them. Asked what he would say to someone who accused him of being a terrorist, one of the men, Kheleel Mamut, told CNN’s Don Lemon, “I am no terrorist; I have not been terrorist. I will never be terrorist.