Yahoo! announced today it has reached an agreement with Alibaba Group on a staged and comprehensive plan to unlock the Yahoo's investment in the Alibaba. The plan includes a transaction this year where Alibaba will purchase up to one-half of Yahoo's current stake in Alibaba. The transaction  could generate more than $7 billion in proceeds [...]

LONDON (Reuters) - Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb, who with brothers Barry and Maurice helped define the disco era with their falsetto harmonies and funky beats on smash hits such as "Stayin' Alive" and "Jive Talkin'," has died after a long fight with cancer. He was 62. The singer had colon and liver cancer and, despite brief improvements in his health in recent months, passed away on Sunday evening. "The family of Robin Gibb ... announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery," a statement posted on his official website said. ...

Millions of Asians watched as a rare "ring of fire" eclipse crossed their skies early Monday.

NEW YORK — A nearly complete tyrannosaur skeleton has sold for just over $1 million, in spite of a call to halt its auction because the fossils may have been taken illegally from Mongolia.

Three young men were arraigned Sunday in the assault and carjacking of popular Detroit pastor and gospel singing icon Marvin Winans.

Did a singer's name ever seem so prophetic and appropriate as in the case of Robin, one of the great male songbirds of rock's golden age? Bee Gee Robin Gibb succumbed to a longtime struggle with liver cancer Sunday, a spokesperson confirmed. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was 62. His death dashed the hopes [...]

The commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan bluntly warned Sunday that American soldiers will face combat in that war-torn country right up to the time they leave, December 31, 2014. General John Allen told reporters not to buy into a "narrative" that the handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces next year means US troops [...]

Several thousand demonstrators marched through downtown Chicago to protest the start of the two-day NATO summit as planned, streaming into Chicago's Grant park on Sunday afternoon. And unlike Saturday--which featured "increasingly tense clashes" between police and protesters--Sunday's march was mostly peaceful. Mostly. But there were some isolated, violent clashes between police and protesters--resulting in at [...]

For relatives of the people who died in the Lockerbie bombing, the death Sunday of the only man who was convicted stirred up questions once again about his guilt and whether others went unpunished.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency flew to Tehran on Sunday on a delicate mission that — if successful — could finally lift the veil on whether Iran is seeking atomic arms while strengthening the Islamic ...

Newark Mayor Cory Booker slammed the Obama campaign's ad criticizing Mitt Romney's record as the head of Bain Capital, and called for an end to"nauseating" attacks from both sides. "I have to just say from a very personal level, I'm not about to sit here and indict private equity," Booker, a Democrat, said in an [...]

Prosecutors charged two more activists Sunday with crimes tied to the two-day NATO summit, accusing one of saying he wanted to blow up a downtown Chicago bridge and a second with seeking to build pipe bombs.

Tropical Storm Alberto weakened slightly off the South Carolina coast on Sunday, canceling tourist cruises, producing showers along the coast and serving as a reminder that the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is just around the corner.

The White House said Sunday that the death of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi closed "an unfortunate chapter" that opened when Scotland freed the former Libyan intelligence officer on humanitarian grounds in 2009. "We have received confirmation from the Libyan government that Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi died earlier today," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor [...]

Looking to a day when "the Afghan war as we understand it is over," President Barack Obama met Sunday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to discuss NATO's withdrawal from that strife-torn country by the end of 2014. Obama, who has put the draw-down of combat troops at the heart of his foreign policy, declared that "the [...]

At least seven people died and 50 were injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck northern Italy early Sunday, authorities there said. According to CNN, two ceramic factory workers were killed in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara, another in a shed collapse in Ponte Rodoni di Bondeno, and three others in under rubble in various locations. Among the [...]

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the former Libyan intelligence official who was sentenced to life in prison in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, has died, the Libyan government said on Sunday. He was 60. The bombing of the Dec. 21, 1988 Pan Am transatlantic flight to New York from London as it flew over [...]

(Reuters) - The funk pioneer George Clinton has settled a lawsuit in which he accused the pop and hip hop group Black Eyed Peas of using part of one of his songs in remixes of its hit song "Shut Up" without permission. The settlement followed two weeks of mediation, and was revealed in filings this week in Los Angeles federal court. Terms were not disclosed, but the mediator Gail Killefer in a court filing said the settlement "fully" resolved the dispute. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - He brought the "American Idol" judges to their feet, but Joshua Ledet couldn't win over fans and was sent home from the top-rated TV talent show on Thursday, leaving Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips to battle for the crown on next week's finale. The elimination of Ledet - through audience voting and not by the judges - sets up a final showdown between Sanchez and Phillips to determine who will be named the next "American Idol," a distinction that has belonged to hitmakers such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, among others. ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock band Van Halen on Thursday postponed more than 30 concert dates of their U.S. summer tour, leading to speculation the "Runnin' with the Devil" group was feuding again. The band's official website, van-halen.com, took down all its dates after June 26, listing only 15 more shows, ending in New Orleans. Closely-watched fan site, Van Halen News Desk, said 31 dates had been postponed, starting on July 7 in Uncasville, Connecticut and ending on September 25 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Disco queen Donna Summer, whose sultry voice and pulsing rhythms on hits like "Last Dance" and "Love to Love You Baby" defined the 1970s disco era, died of cancer on Thursday at age 63. Summer, who won five Grammys and sold more than 130 million records worldwide, died surrounded by her family in Naples, Florida, publicist Brian Edwards said. He declined to specify what type of cancer caused her death. "Early this morning, surrounded by family, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Time was when TV talent shows set out to turn wannabes into stars. These days? Not so much. It's the celebrity judges who are raking in the cash and using TV contests not only as a way to re-launch a fading career, but to further boost a thriving one. For music stars in an era of weak record sales, the trend spells victory for their bank account, but for fans and the music industry always hungering for a new star, it's a loss. And for TV networks, the once cheap-to-produce shows are ever more expensive, yet they don't always pay off in bigger audiences. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Adele won two Ivor Novello awards for songwriting on Thursday, adding to a lengthening list of musical accolades, but she lost out in the best album and song categories. The 24-year-old chart queen picked up two coveted Ivor Novello prizes for the most performed song of 2011 ("Rolling in the Deep") and songwriter of the year. ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chuck Brown, known as the "Godfather of Go-Go" for the subgenre of funk music he helped create, died on Wednesday at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore after being admitted earlier this month suffering from pneumonia. A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed the death but could not provide a cause, and Brown's manager, Tom Goldfogle, was not immediately available to comment. Goldfogle told the Washington Post Brown died of complications from sepsis. Brown, a singer/songwriter and guitarist had been a key personality in the Washington, D.C. ...