MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Rafa Nadal's quest to win four consecutive grand slam titles survived a feisty third-round challenge from teenager Bernard Tomic as record crowds flocked to the Australian Open in the hope of local success on Saturday.Although never a real scare, the threat from the Australian 18-year-old during a 6-2 7-5 6-3 win was…

Talking Points Memo is preparing for a significant expansion in 2011, including plans to roughly double the size of theWashington, D.C., bureau by the end of the year.To kick things off, TPM has hiredas a reporter and senior editor. She'll work with managing editor David Kurtz on expanding the five-person D.C. bureau, which .TPM editor…

Jewish animation studio G-dcast (rhymes with podcast) shares its new Chanukah family cartoon, PLUS, 8 fun ways to bring the Festival of Lights to life. Chanukah comes "early" this year - right after Thanksgiving - giving families the chance to celebrate the holiday as a special experience completely distinct from "the other December holiday." But…

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan election candidates took to the streets of Kabul on Wednesday to protest against a polling process they say was corrupt and shameful ahead of the expected announcement of final results from the September 18 vote.Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) has said it would announce the winners of 249 seats in the…

NEW YORK – The idea of Sara Bareilles and Pharrell working on music sounds odd enough — but it's not nearly as awkward as the actual event.The piano-playing songstress was exploring a new sound for her sophomore CD when she decided to try and work with the hitmaker for Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani and…

Stone Sour, "Audio Secrecy" (Roadrunner)Stone Sour, a spin-off of the Des Moines metal kings Slipknot, delivers a nice blend of fast, aggressive rock on the group's third album, "Audio Secrecy."The quintet is fronted by Slipknot lead singer Corey Taylor. He approaches nearly every lyric with a sense of urgent pathos, demanding the listener's attention with…

NEW YORK – The board of Casey's General Stores Inc. rejected the latest takeover bid from convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., saying Tuesday that the $1.47 billion offer was too low.The Ankeny, Iowa, company also said it has received a higher preliminary proposal from an unnamed third party and has agreed to begin talks…

New Songs of today's generation rarely highlight the beautiful girls of the world doing good things. One music artist took it upon himself to celebrate girls striving with songs "Wonderful Girl" and "Sour Sugar."Launching new album "Black Box Dreams 3" on iTunes today, the anticipation is high as he closes in on 4 million Youtube…

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame dealt with a mobile quarterback in beating Purdue last week. Now the Irish have a much bigger challenge: Stop Michigan's Denard Robinson, an even faster QB who keeps the ball and likes to run with it.Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday there's a big difference between defending Purdue's…

Facebook just rolled out its take on Foursquare’s "check-in" feature, which lets you tell your friends — or the world, if you like — that you’ve just ambled into a specific venue. The twist? Unlike Foursquare, Facebook Places will let your Facebook pals go ahead and check you into a place, as well — cool…