Ten years after helping launch "American Idol" into a national pastime, Simon Cowell is again playing the role of underdog.He's back auditioning talent for a largely unknown singing competition -- although this time, when "The X Factor" premieres on Fox this fall, it will come with immense hype and expectations.Cowell, 51, spoke with Hollywood Reporter…

A few years ago, George Mason showed that a No. 11 seed from an unheralded conference can make it to the Final Four. Now league rival Virginia Commonwealth is on the verge of topping that — taking a No. 11 seed from the First Four to the Final Four.The Rams had to win a play-in…

Plutonium has been detected in soil at a stricken nuclear plant in Japan and highly contaminated water has leaked from a reactor building, the operator said Monday, fanning environmental fears.Radiation worries have disrupted efforts to restart the cooling system of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which was battered by a huge earthquake and tsunami on March…

President Barack Obama told Americans on Monday that U.S. forces would not get bogged down trying to topple Muammar Gaddafi but stopped short of spelling out how the military campaign in Libya would end.In a nationally televised address, Obama -- accused by many lawmakers of failing to explain the U.S. role in the Western air…

DETROIT – R&B star El DeBarge, who earned a pair of Grammy nominations following his comeback album last year, has entered a rehabilitation center and dropped out of a national tour with KEM and Ledisi that's scheduled to kick off this week in Texas.The 49-year-old singer said in a statement that he voluntarily checked into…

The Food and Drug Administration announced it has approved 3-D Selenia Dimensions System medical imaging device for mammogram X-rays used in the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. 3-D X-rays deliver double doses of radiation. Are there safer breast evaluation tools? Here's the FDA rationale for approving Hologic's Selenia 3-D mammography devices: "A mammogram is…

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – Florida's Tea Party movement-backed Governor Rick Scott on Wednesday said he was rejecting federal funds to construct a high-speed railway project in the state."Government cannot spend more than it takes in," the Republican governor said.Scott spoke at a news conference in the state capital, where he strongly criticized the budget proposal…

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Dell Inc's quarterly earnings and margins blew past Wall Street expectations as component costs slid and corporations replaced aging technology, propelling its shares 6 percent higher.Its forecast for a 5 to 9 percent rise in current fiscal-year revenue also modestly surpassed Street targets.Dell executives expressed full confidence that the company could…

Egypt has long been one of America's strongest allies in the Middle East, but with popular protests on the verge of driving President Hosni Mubarak from office, Egypt's future relationship with the United States is in doubt. What is the current state of affairs in Egypt politically and who are the key players? David Patel,…

SEOUL (AFP) – Thirty-one North Koreans crossed the tense Yellow Sea border by boat and arrived in South Korea but they have not so far expressed any wish to defect, the defence ministry in Seoul said Monday.A spokesman, confirming a report in Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, said the South's navy on Saturday detained the five-ton boat…