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Norway’s Rybak wins Eurovision

A 23-year-old Norwegian violinist, Alexander Rybak, won the Eurovision song contest with an upbeat ballad that got the most votes in the history of one of the world’s most watched television shows. On Saturday night Rybak beat out contestants from 42 countries, with singers from Iceland and Azerbaijan taking distant second and third places. The boyish Rybak — who performed a self-composed tune, “Fairytale,” with some deft dance steps and a smile plastered on his face — won with 387 points, the most in the contest’s 53-year history, organizers said

Panasonic posts $4 billion loss

Panasonic, one of the world’s largest makers of electronic devices, announced it lost nearly $4 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31. The loss wasn’t surprising, but the size was — analysts had predicted the Osaka-based company would lose about $1 billion.

Cannes gets specs appeal as 3D ‘Up’ opens festival

Dark glasses are de rigueur on the sun-kissed French Riviera, but this year glamorous cineastes attending the opening night of Cannes were matching another kind of face wear with their tuxedoes and designer dresses. The audience donned 3D glasses as they attended the premiere of Pixar’s “Up,” an animation in 3D, which marked the start of world’s most prestigious film festival

Plight of the giant panda: Animals struggle after quake

As people across China’s Sichuan province continue to rebuild their lives one year after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake leveled some towns and cities, the region’s famed giant pandas are still struggling due to the devastation wreaked by the deadly temblor. The quake triggered mountain landslides and caused damage across large areas of the forests at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection Studies Center, also known as “the Home of Pandas.” A majority of the reserve’s panda living facilities and its studies facilities were damaged. “The pandas were traumatized by the quake.

Hitachi posts historic loss for Japanese manufacturers

In the Land of the Rising Sun, the fiscal year is setting in a sea of red. Electronics makers Hitachi and NEC Corp., and carmaker Nissan all ended the year with a loss

Unfriendly Fire: Why Did a U.S. Soldier Kill His Fellow Troops in Iraq?

The initial U.S. military statement on the killings Monday at Camp Liberty in Baghdad was predictably terse. “Five Coalition forces members were killed in a shooting at Camp Liberty in Baghdad today at approximately 2 p.m.,” the statement read

The Other GM

At last month’s glitzy Shanghai auto show, held in the only significant car market in the world that’s still growing, Nick Reilly, the president of GM Asia-Pacific, knew the question would come. Still, he winced a bit when a Chinese journalist asked him what would happen to Detroit’s fallen giant if it was forced by the U.S. government to declare bankruptcy

Global IPO slide reveals economy’s deep crater

If you want to stare deep into the crater of the world economy, look at the largest public company listings over the past year. By May 2008, a U.S

Decisions: How One College Is Snagging So Many Students

For high school seniors, May 1 was D-Day. Decision Day

Vegas entertainer Danny Gans dies at 52

Singer-impressionist-comedian Danny Gans died early Friday at his Las Vegas, Nevada, home, according to the hotel where he was based. Gans, 52, was voted Las Vegas “Entertainer of the Year” for 11 of the 13 years he has been based there. Hotel mogul Steve Wynn, who signed Gans to star in his Encore Theatre starting in February, said he was “devastated at the loss of our brilliant, talented and loving friend.” “One of the most unique human beings and entertainers in the world has been taken from us in an unexpected moment,” Wynn said