Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Vilnius, Lithuania
There were moments, as recently as last year, when a body that would not stay healthy and on-court results prompted Bethanie Mattek-Sands to wonder whether it was simply time to call it a career after more than a decade as a professional tennis player.
Swedish furniture giant Ikea was drawn into Europe's widening food labeling scandal Monday as authorities said they had detected horse meat in frozen meatballs labeled as beef and pork and sold in 13 countries across the continent.
Serena Williams frightened a few people, including herself. Defending champion Victoria Azarenka had a momentary lack of concentration. Two of the biggest names on the men's side at the Australian Open — Roger Federer and Andy Murray — had straight-set wins.
Peter Burian's pursuit of his lost luggage is almost a metaphor for his country, the Slovak Republic, and its quest for respect and relevance in Europe.
The parking lot outside the atomic power plant is weedy and potholed. Bus stops that once teemed with hundreds of workers are eerily empty.
German pastor Gabriele Stangl says she will never forget the harrowing confession she heard in 1999. A woman said she had been brutally raped, got pregnant and had a baby. Then she killed it and buried it in the woods near Berlin.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) _ In a Sept. 18 story about the St. Petersburg Open tennis tournament, The Associated Press erroneously named Vasek Pospisil as Michal Pospisil.
The Czech Republic announced emergency measures Wednesday to combat a wave of alcohol poisoning, saying that 19 people have died and 24 have been hospitalized after drinking vodka and rum laced with methanol.
Prague, Czech Republic
This U.S. Open finally got its first shocker.
Diana Taurasi scored 15 points and Candace Parker added 12 to lead the U.S. women to a 91-48 rout of Canada on Tuesday and advanced to the semifinals for the eighth straight time.
On the morning of her own tournament final match, Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova read about Serena Williams' domination over Maria Sharapova in the gold medal match of the Olympic Games.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova covered herself with wet towels. Two bags of ice rested on her knees and trainers handed her bottles of Gatorade and water. At that point, she said she was only half-conscious.
Step aside, Carl Lewis.
