ATHENS (AP) ― Greeks began voting at precisely 7 a.m. local time in their most critical ― and uncertain ― election in decades, with voters set to punish the two main parties that are being held responsible for the country’s dire economic straits.Thirty-two parties vie for the votes of nearly 10 million registered voters, many of whom, according to recent polls, were undecided on the eve of the election. Abstention, once projected to reach historic highs but seen rising in recent opinion surveys,

YEREVAN (AFP) -- Armenians voted for a new parliament Sunday in the biggest test of the ex-Soviet state‘s fragile democratic credentials since disputed presidential elections in 2008 ended in fatal clashes.The authorities promised an unprecedentedly clean contest for the 131-seat National Assembly in the hope of avoiding further turmoil after battles between riot police and opposition supporters four years ago left 10 people dead.“I am for change but without drastic upheavals. We need stability,

The photos taken by a tourist from Scotland show his wife on the ground, hair flying, blood on her neck, with two cheetahs nearby.The Port Elizabeth Herald reported Friday that Violet D'Mello of Aberdeen, Scotland, was attacked by cheetahs on April 28 while in a petting pen with the animals at a game reserve near Port Elizabeth in southeastern South Africa.It says she was attacked while trying to

Boston's Chinatown has been on edge since a 57-year-old woman claimed three women used hypnosis to get her to fork over $160,000 in life savings, police say.Police say the victim was food shopping in Chinatown April 15 when the trio of women tapped her on the shoulder and began asking her questions. The victim says one of the suspects spoke and her henchwomen handed her a plastic bag. She was told

Japan switched off its last working nuclear reactor Saturday, leaving the country without atomic-generated electricity just over a year after the world's worst nuclear accident in a quarter of a century.As technicians closed down the No. 3 unit at Tomari in Hokkaido at 11:03 pm(1403 GMT), the debate over whether Japan needs nuclear power has been reignited, amid increasingly shrill warnings of sum

Beijing says activist Chen can apply to study abroadBEIJING (AFP) -- China said Friday that blind activist Chen Guangcheng can apply to study abroad, offering a possible resolution to a crisis that erupted when he escaped house arrest and fled to the U.S. embassy.The apparent concession came after Chen said he was in “great danger” and urged China‘s government to honor guarantees on his safety, and after he phoned U.S. lawmakers in a dramatic appeal for help to leave the country.Chen, a campaign

NEW YORK (AP) ― Facebook, the company that turned the social web into a cultural and business phenomenon, is worth as much as $95 billion, according to the price range for its upcoming initial public offering of stock. Facebook’s IPO, expected in a couple of weeks, would be the biggest ever for an Internet company. Facebook disclosed the price range of $28 to $35 per share in a regulatory filing Thursday. At the high end, Facebook and its current shareholders could raise as much as $13.58 billio

Finding shoes for the tallest man in the U.S. takes more than a trip to the mall; more like a trip across the country.Igor Vovkovinskiy flew to Massachusetts on Thursday from Minnesota so shoe engineers at Reebok could try to custom build shoes strong enough to support has massive frame.He's 2.34-meter tall. Technicians estimate his shoe size at somewhere between a 22 and 25 _ sizes impossible to

A woman who went to use a Seattle Central Community College restroom says a man beat her to it -- by falling in through the ceiling. Joy Estill said around 11 a.m. Wednesday, a man smashed through the ceiling of the restroom. "My initial reaction was 'Do you need help?' -- I thought he was a worker," Estill told KOMO-TV, Seattle. "But then I realized he was not dressed like a worker doing labor; h