Vettel paces Red Bull's one-two in rainy Chinese F1 GP

SHANGHAI, April 19 -- Germany's Sebastian Vettel won a rain-plagued Chinese Grand Prix here on Sunday to clinch the second title in his career.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany celebrates with his trophy after winning the Chinese F1 Grand Prix in Shanghai, east China, April 19, 2009. Vettel won with 1 hour 57 minutes and 43.485 seconds.

Vettel, 22, who has his maiden victory in Monza last year, led Red Bull's one-two at the Shanghai International Circuit in one hour 57 minutes and 43.485 seconds, earning a perfect 10-point the first time this season.

Vettel's teammate Mark Webber was 10.970 seconds behind for the second place. Brawn GP's duo Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello managed third and fourth place respectively.


Toyota's Jarno Trulli pulled out the race after being hit by BMW Sauber's Rober Kubica in the 40th minute. The rain caused some trouble for drivers and a couple of spins, slides came up to Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet and Mark Webber.

Sutil was forced out of the race after his car slid out of the track in the last sixth lap to hit the type wall.

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Madonna Horse-riding Accident: Madonna Hospitalized After Horse Tumble

Madonna had a horse-riding accident Saturday in Hamptons, New York. The Material Girl star fell off from a startled horse while horseback riding on New York's Long Island where she was visiting friend and famed photographer Steven Klein.

The 50-year-old suffered minor injuries and bruises after the tumble. She was taken to the Southampton Hospital and released soon.

"The accident occurred when the horse Madonna was riding was startled by paparazzi who jumped out of the bushes to photograph the singer, who was visiting friends on Eastern Long Island over the weekend," the singer's rep Liz Rosenberg told Us Weekly. "Madonna will be having further tests and will continue to remain under observation by doctors."

This was the second time Madonna suffered from a horse-riding accident. In 2005, a much serious accident in London left her with three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken hand.

Link: Madonna Horse-riding Accident Photos Gallery

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South Africa: Mandela boosts Zuma at final ANC campaign rally

“Nelson Mandela has always been a hard act to follow. At an African National Congress (ANC) rally today, ahead of Wednesday’s elections, the former president of South Africa and famous political prisoner sparked cheers among the tens of thousands of ANC supporters assembled. His role at the rally — as it was when Mr. Mandela was the first post-apartheid president — was to reassure South Africans that the ANC government would stand for reconciliation and peace, as well as correcting historic injustices. The 90-year old Mandela was driven into Coca-Cola Park, a Johannesburg rugby stadium, in a golf cart and helped to the stage by the ANC’s presidential candidate, Jacob Zuma.” (04/19/09)
Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0419/p06s04-woaf.html

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The Torture Memos

The Obama administration granted legal immunity to Central Intelligence Agency officials who followed Justice Department guidelines in carrying out harsh interrogations of terror suspects following the 9/11 attacks.

But in a victory for Attorney General Eric Holder, the administration released four Justice memos on CIA interrogations mostly intact, despite CIA officials' objections. The decision concluded a hard-fought internal debate that highlighted different views on how the Democratic administration should address Bush-era antiterror policies.

Three of the memos were issued in 2005 by Steven Bradbury, then acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, and portray efforts by the Bush administration to wipe away doubts that the interrogations were legal. In one memo, Mr. Bradbury says, "Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms." He follows that with multiple pages that painstakingly define the meaning of "severe" and "physical pain and suffering" to conclude that what the CIA did wasn't torture.

One key factor was the online publication last week by the New York Review of Books of an International Committee of the Red Cross account of detainee interrogations. The president read the account and concluded "virtually everything that was in these memos was out in the public domain," said the senior official.

As of May 2005, the CIA program had held 94 detainees and subjected 28 of them to enhanced interrogations, according to the memos.

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Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton Crowned Miss USA

22-year-old Kristen Dalton from Wilmington, North Carolina was crowned Miss USA tonight. She's pictured above wearing one of the swimsuits from Jessica Simpson's collection that all the contestants wore during the competition. Ms. Dalton is a singer and dancer who completed her degree in Psychology and Spanish at East Carolina University. She comes from a family of pageant winners. Her mother was Miss North Carolina USA in 1982 and her sister was Miss North Carolina Teen USA in 2008. You can see more photos of Kristen Dalton here on the Miss USA website.

Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean was the First Runner Up and Miss Arizona USA, Alicia-Monique Blanco was the Second Runner Up. Miss Wyoming USA, Cynthia Pate was named Miss Congeniality.

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