Nadal brushes past Istomin

Rafael Nadal looked in ominously good form as he brushed aside Denis Istomin to book his place in the third round of the French Open.

The defending champion, bidding for his seventh Roland Garros crown, raced to a 6-2 6-2 6-0 victory in one hour 50 minutes on Suzanne Lenglen.

The second seed has only lost one French Open match since his debut in 2005 and was always in control against the world number 43 from Uzbekistan.

The Spaniard took full advantage on his opponent's second serve, breaking twice in each of the opening two sets before rattling through a

Two offers for Dufferin Grove detached

250 RUSHOLME RD., TORONTO

ASKING PRICE $2.2-million

SELLING PRICE $2.25-million

PREVIOUS SELLING PRICE $1,405,000 (2008)

TAXES $8,704 (2011)

DAYS ON THE MARKET Four

LISTING AGENTS Paul Johnston and Matt Manuel, Right at Home Realty Inc.

The Action: This three-storey residence in the Dufferin Grove community was inspected by realtors at an agents-only open house and about 20 buyers with private showings. Two buyers quickly came forward with a bid.

What They Got: The previous owners of this 3,966-square-foot residence rebuilt and restored it as a single-family home with five bedrooms, five bathrooms and several entertainment and study areas with a mix of classic and contemporary features, from original arched windows to new crown mouldings.

There are

“Malvinas for Argentina and sea for Bolivia” battle cry at next OAS assembly

Bolivian president Morales whose country is hosting the OAS meeting

“Two things, Malvinas for Argentina, and sea for Bolivia, for the debate must continue at the international community” said Morales during a meeting he held over the weekend with Argentine Vice-president Amado Boudou, some of the contents of which were released on Monday by the Bolivian government official news agency, ABI.

Next week, from June 3 to 5, OAS will be holding its annual assembly hosted by Bolivia

Reforestation of Chilean Patagonia takes off: 60.000 trees donated in first week

The first tree of the Reforestemos Patagonia campaign is planted. (Photo courtesy of Reforestemos Patagonia)

Inspired into action by wildfires that ravaged much of the iconic Torres del Paine National Park in December of last year and this January, the non-profit, public-private initiative will collect donations from Chileans and people around the world to donate native trees to the national parks and reserves of Chilean Patagonia.

So it was fitting that the campaign began planting in the park famed

No need to stop 20 per cent uranium enrichment: Iran nuclear chief

Iran’s nuclear chief said Sunday there are no reasons at the moment for his country to halt production of uranium enriched to 20 per cent, a key demand of world powers.

The West is concerned that the 20 per cent enrichment could quickly be turned into nuclear weapons-grade material. Iran insists its nuclear development program is for peaceful purposes.

The nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, was quoted by the semiofficial ISNA news agency as saying that Iran will continue the higher enrichment level for a medical research reactor that produces isotopes for treatment of about 1 million cancer patients in Iran.

A foodie's tour of the forgotten corners of Paris

Out-of-the-way pleasures are what Jennifer McLagan likes best.

Most people go where most people have already gone. But the critically acclaimed food writer who divides her year between Toronto and Paris has a powerful longing to see the world her own way.

The titles of her single-minded culinary trilogy describe this elusive curiosity exactly: Bones, Fat and now Odd Bits, which is subtitled How to Cook the Rest of the Animal and extends the boundaries of gastronomic delight to tripe and trotters, cheeks and chitterlings, boudin and brains.

Her Paris, likewise, is a rest-of-the-animal kind of experience. From her apartment in the little-frequented 14th arrondissement, just inside Paris's encircling ring road (the périphérique), she explores the odd bits of the City of Light that

Geeks are cool now, but don't call them dorks: survey

Turns out, geeks are inheriting the earth.

Thanks to ubiquitous consumer electronics and the prominence of technology executives like Facebook Inc.’s FB-Q Mark Zuckerberg and the late Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. AAPL-Q, it’s no longer an insult to be called a geek.

The geek – broadly speaking, the tech-obsessed, socially-awkward type who spends more time online than offline – is more respected than ever, according to a survey by Modis, the technology staffing arm of Adecco SA, the world’s biggest staffing company.

Most Americans – 51 per cent – now consider geeks professionally

Shawinigan, Saint John fined for fight-filled Memorial Cup game

he host Shawinigan Cataractes and defending champion Saint John Sea Dogs have each been fined $2,500 after a game that degenerated into skirmishes at the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

Organizers announced Thursday the teams were fined for “conduct prejudicial to the welfare of the game and the tournament.”

Three melees marked the final minute of Saint John’s 4-1 victory on Wednesday night, including a fight between Shawinigan’s Vincent Arceneau and Grant West.

There were also shouting matches between the benches.

In the first period, Arceneau fired a slap shot directly at Saint John’s Stephen MacAuley, but was not penalized.

Saint John

'Revival Process' brings mixed feelings among ethnic Turks

Twenty-three years after the end of the shameful process of changing the names of ethnic Turks in Bulgaria, some celebrate democracy, while others struggle to forget the pain and suffering.

By Tzvetina Borisova for Southeast European Times in Dzhebel -- 23/05/12

Ethnic Turks turned out on Saturday (May 19th) to commemorate another Revival Process anniversary. [Tzvetina Borisova/SETimes]

Thousands gathered in the southern town of Dzhebel on Saturday (May 19th) to mark 23 years since the protests of ethnic Turks, considered the painful beginning of the collapse of the communist regime in November 1989.

"I am filled with joy today because we celebrate democracy," Semir Recep told SETimes. He was forced to leave his hometown during the so-called Revival Process. "I still have my house here and I

Man in stable condition after Niagara Falls plunge, survived by 'stroke of luck'

A man who survived a plunge of at least 50 metre over Niagara Falls — only the third person known to have done so without a safety device — was in stable condition Tuesday, a day after his apparent suicide attempt that led to a dramatic and painstaking rescue.

On a warm and sunny Victoria Day holiday morning in Canada, the man climbed over a railing 20 to 30 feet out over the Horseshoe Falls, the tallest of the three main falls, and “deliberately jumped” into the Niagara River, according to witness accounts given to Niagara Parks Police.

Seriously injured,

Qantas accused of using Thomson as cover

Image Video

The Qantas Melbourne Maintenance Facility at Tullamarine, which will be affected by job cuts. Picture: Stuart Mcevoy Source: The Australian

Qantas to cut 400 workers jobs

Qantas is expected to announce that more than 400 heavy maintenance jobs will be cut at Tullamarine Airport.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announcing a slump in the airline's profits and plans to cut 500 jobs. Picture: Sam Mooy Source: The Australian

Qantas restructures maintenance operations Not enough work for three separate facilities CEO says Qantas still committed to Australia

AUSTRALIA'S aircraft maintenance and engineering capacity will be decimated by Qantas' decision to axe 500 jobs, unions say.

Qantas announced it would shed the jobs as part of a restructure of its heavy maintenance facilities in Victoria and Queensland.

Unions reacted angrily, saying the job cuts would

SpaceX rocket preps for first commercial flight to space station

An Obama administration plan to cut the cost of spaceflight services faces a key test on Saturday when a privately owned rocket lifts off for a practice run to the International Space Station.

If successful, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, would become the first private company to reach the $100-billion outpost, which flies about 390 kilometres above Earth.

“It is, by all accounts, an important step, bordering on a giant leap, for commercial space,” said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut and space station commander who now heads the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, a Washington-based industry association.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule are scheduled for launch at 4:55 a.m.

With Eye On Future, Billionaire Investor Bets On Paul

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who has donated more than $2.5 million to a superPAC backing GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in October.

In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, only one candidate remains to challenge presumptive nominee Mitt Romney: Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Even Paul has said he will no longer campaign in states that have yet to hold their primaries. And Paul has always been considered a long shot to win. But that hasn't deterred many of his hard-core supporters, including the Silicon Valley billionaire who has bankrolled the superPAC backing Paul.

Peter Thiel is a venture capitalist, entrepreneur and co-founder of PayPal. He hit the jackpot again when he gave Mark Zuckerberg the money to launch Facebook.

Thiel's half-million dollar Facebook investment is now worth more than $1 billion. His success and his smarts have made him a virtual rock star in Silicon Valley.

The List: SuperPAC Superdonors

More than two dozen people or groups have donated at least $1 million each to the new superPACs.

A Contrarian View

On a recent day at Stanford University, the lecture hall is full long before Thiel saunters in — light blue business suit, open collar, a Diet Coke in his hand, his eyes shifting nervously as he scans the crowd of mostly adoring undergraduates. He's come to argue a contrarian view: that technological progress is decelerating.

"Whether we look at transportation, energy, commodity production, food production, agro-tech, nanotechnology — that with the exception of computers, we've had tremendous slowdown," he says.

Billionaire Buffet now believes in print media and buys 63 newspapers

For many communities there is no more important institution than the local paper, said the Omaha financial sage

Berkshire Hathaway is also extending a loan to Media General and taking a 19.9% stake in the company, which will still own 18 TV stations. Media General also owns some websites, such as coupon provider DealTaker.com.

Media General on Thursday said the deal includes all of its newspapers except the Tampa Tribune of Florida and smaller newspapers in that market.

Greece gets caretaker government ahead of elections

Amid worries that a second round of voting will also end in deadlock, Greeks are withdrawing savings from local banks.

By Andy Dabilis for Southeast European Times in Athens -- 17/05/12

Greeks have withdrawn 700m Euros from banks since the May 6th election that failed to create a government. Central bank governor George Provopoulos warned that "fear could turn into panic" in the weeks before fresh elections that could precipitate Greece's exit from the eurozone. [Reuters]

The failure of Greece's wrangling political parties to form a coalition government in the wake of the stalemated May 6th elections has led President Karolos Papoulias to put the country in the hands of a caretaker administration until new polls on June 17th.

The interim leader, Council of State President Panayiotis Pikramenos, who is also a judge, will struggle to keep calm

Autos Help Speedup In Factory Production

Enlarge Paul Sancya/AP

Workers on the assembly line at a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Mich. Half of the April increase in factory output reflected a 3.9 percent jump in the production of motor vehicles and parts.

Paul Sancya/AP

Workers on the assembly line at a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Mich. Half of the April increase in factory output reflected a 3.9 percent jump in the production of motor vehicles and parts.

U.S. factory output increased in April, helped by a gain in auto production. Busier factories have driven stronger hiring this year and helped the economy grow.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that factory production rose 0.6 percent in April, erasing a 0.5 percent decline in March.

Half of the April increase reflected a 3.9 percent jump in the production of motor vehicles and parts. That's the fifth consecutive gain at auto plants and the biggest rise since January.

Overall industrial production increased 1.1 percent in April. In addition to the big gain at factories, output at mines and utilities both showed strong gains.

Factory output has risen 18.3 percent since it hit a low in June 2009, the month the recession ended. Through the first three months of the year, it was growing at an annual rate of nearly 10 percent.

Other data suggest factory output has since strengthened.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers,

Last chance to vote in the bit-tech and Custom PC Awards

Vote in the survey to be in with the chance of winning some ace prizes

Voting has nearly closed on the 2012 Custom PC and bit-tech awards, so those of you who haven't already need to get involved and have your say. There are a full 15 awards this year, with the winner of every single on chosen by you, our lovely lovely readers.

Voting ends at midnight on the 17th of May, with the results being announced a week later here on the bit-tech front page. Naturally we'll also be having a little bit

Escape photo competition finalists, week 13

Last week's winner... A busy public holiday on the Great Wall of China at Badaling. Picture: Amos Washington Source: Supplied

HERE are the latest finalists in Escape's Your Holiday photographic competition for 2012.

Now it is up to you to choose the winner for this week.  Vote for your favourite picture and one lucky photographer will win the $200 weekly prize.

Polls close at 12.01am Monday May 21.

The next winner will be announced in the Escape print edition on May 20th.

Scroll down to see the finalists

Do you fancy yourself as a travel photographer? If so, send us your efforts for a chance to grab $1000 and be published in Escape.

Every week we will

Explore Jerusalem, a city polished by time

Jerusalem is the kind of city where you want to walk everywhere in bare feet. There's no beach or boardwalk – nothing but Jerusalem stone, which is used to face every building, and often to pave floors, sidewalks and outdoor plazas. And when I spent my first summer in Israel, I really did slip off my sandals at every opportunity. The stones are big and square, smooth and warm and polished by time. I was just a typical university student, away from home and doing something that would make my mother cringe, but walking

everywhere with my shoes in my hand made me feel as free and wild as a travelling hippie.

Warm stone underfoot is not the only feeling I associate with Jerusalem. I loved the wind that would pick up out of

Robertson's route to becoming Yankees closer started with a letter

If not for a letter to George Steinbrenner a dozen years ago, David Robertson might never have become the New York Yankees’ closer.

The story goes like this.

The baseball coach at Indiana’s Culver Academy wrote a letter to the Yankees’ owner in July 2000, asking Steinbrenner to sign an infielder from his alma mater who had been overlooked in baseball’s amateur draft. D.J. Svihlik lasted just 13 games in the Yankees’ minor league system but so impressed the team with his baseball IQ and that he was kept around as a scout.

During one of his first weeks on the job in 2003, he came across Robertson while checking out a prospect at high school game

Hopes for Greek deal appear slim as politicians locked in last-ditch efforts

Greece's wrangling politicians were locked in last-ditch efforts Friday to form a coalition government, with chances of a deal appearing slim and the country's future in Europe's common currency at stake.

Voters on Sunday punished both main parties, the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK, for their handling of the country's protracted financial crisis, deserting them for a myriad of smaller parties on the right and left. The result left a hung parliament, with no party able to form a government.

Hopes for a deal between election winner New Democracy and third place PASOK with the small Democratic Left party of Fotis Kouvelis suffered a setback Friday when Mr. Kouvelis insisted he could not participate in a government with just the conservatives and socialists.

“We have made our position clear. In a government with (only) New Democracy and PASOK, we will not take part,” Mr. Kouvelis said.

Unless an agreement is found, the country will head to new elections next month. The political instability has alarmed Greece's European creditors, who have warned that the country's international bailout package and

Romney counters notion he bullied gay classmates

Mitt Romney is countering the notion that he bullied high school classmates and insists he didn't know some were gay.

The Republican presidential candidate apologized Thursday to anyone he may have offended by what he said were “hijinks and pranks during high school.” His comments in a hastily arranged radio interview followed a Washington Post report Thursday that he had held down classmate John Lauber and cut off his bleached blond hair. The Post suggested Mr. Lauber was bullied because he was gay.

The newspaper also reported that Mr. Romney shouted “atta girl” at a different student.

Separately, Mr. Romney

April showers hit big-ticket purchases but helped smaller homewares

Retail sales value were down 3.3% like-for-like for April 2012 compared with April 2011 according to the British Retail Consortium, with the poor weather hitting outdoor products particularly hard

Rainy weather discouraged high street sales, said the BRC

It was a harsh comparison with this time last year, when sales during the month were up 5.2% lfl, boosted by warm weather and a later Easter. The BRC pointed out that while "some smaller homewares" sales were helped by the record April rainfall, big-ticket purchases continued to suffer from continued consumer caution and were mainly promotion-led.

Online sales of

Coventry Teen draws up winning Logo

A COVENTRY student has won a competition to design a logo for Coventry Hospital Radio based at University Hospital, Coventry.

Munir Khalifa from Sidney Stringer Academy beat other hopefuls to the prize.

The competition was organised by Neil Wilkes, a schoolteacher and volunteer radio presenter at University Hospital, who wanted to let the children of Coventry take part in the ‘new look’ station.

Neil first had the idea to involve schoolchildren after hearing about the Workplace Challenge, an initiative to let pupils from the local school complete real projects in a working environment.

Munir, 16, learnt about the competition during a graphics lesson at school and was inspired to take part by his love of music. Munir said: “My design

Emirates offers cheap flights from Dubai

Dubai-based airline Emirates has launched an Arabian Airpass allowing passengers flying the carrier from Toronto to Dubai to purchase onward flights in the region much less: from $60 in economy, $175 in Business Class and $245 in First Class. The Airpass provides savings on flights to the following Gulf and Middle East destinations: Tehran, Beirut, Damascus, Amman, Kuwait City, Dammam, Bahrain, Doha, Muscat, Sanaa, Riyadh and Cairo. For more information, visit emirates.com/ca.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Source: The Globe and Mail

Azarenka beats Kuznetsova on blue-clay court at Madrid Open

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a tough first-round match on the new blue-clay court at the Madrid Open on Sunday.

The Australian Open champion and Kuznetsova traded breaks in the opening set. Just when it looked like the second set was going to end in another tiebreaker, Azarenka broke again to close out the match.

Azarenka, last year's runner-up, has won four titles this year.

Also, sixth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki served six aces in a 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-4 win over Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan.

Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska didn't give up a single break

Clinton Leaves China, But Activist's Story Isn't Over

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has left China, after a diplomatic roller coaster of a trip, revolving around the fate of activist Chen Guangcheng, who still remains in a Beijing hospital. NPR's Louisa Lim tells host Scott Simon that Friday night, China hinted it would let Chen apply for permission to study overseas.

Source: NPR : National Public Radio

Roddick races to be fit for French Open

Andy Roddick has withdrawn from next week's Madrid Open and is doubtful for Roland Garros.

Tournament organisers have announced that the former world number one has a hamstring injury and has also pulled out for the Rome Masters later this month.

Given the Italian tournament starts less than a fortnight before the French Open is due to get under way, the American is facing a race against time to be fit enough to compete in Paris.

The three-time Wimbledon runner-up is likely to be more concerned about regaining full fitness in time for the grasscourt season as he has rarely

Andy Murray to headline Queens

The AEGON Championships at Queen's Club next month will feature six of the top 12 players in the world rankings, led by number four Andy Murray.

Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Potro had already confirmed their places at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament, which begins on June 17, and the entry list revealed they will be joined by Janko Tipsarevic, Mardy Fish and Gilles Simon.

Serbian Tipsarevic is at a career-high ranking of eighth, one ahead of Fish, who will be hoping to at least match his performance from his last appearance in 2010, when he reached the final

Leafs on 24/7? Zzzzz

HBO has selected the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings as the featured teams for its 24/7 documentary next season. A large reason for the appearance of a Canadian team on the U.S.-based show, says John Collins, COO of the NHL, is the ratings success of last year’s Stanley Cup Final between Boston and Vancouver.

“The historical view had been you need two big U.S. markets in any of these games to pop a number,” says Collins. “In this case the best hockey won out. It was so compelling people forgot about their own teams and joined in. It opens up an opportunity to do more with NBC and HBO to make them less reliant on U.S match-ups. It also allows us to go back

4 Medical Implants That Escaped FDA Scrutiny

Image: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Medical devices sustain and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans. But as the over $100 billion-a-year industry pushes thousands of devices to market every year, reports of faulty devices, repeat surgeries, and recalls have increased. The FDA and the industry maintain that a speedy approval process gives patients faster access to life-saving devices. But critics say that unlike drugs, a substantial number of risky devices are cleared without clinical testing, and receive almost no oversight once on the market.

We've taken a closer look at four