Photograph of Fidel Castro from 2006, proving he was alive after intestinal surgery and wearing an Adidas tracksuit Cuban president Fidel Castro resigned his position after nearly 50 years of rule. The 81-year-old Castro has been battling illness since 2006, notably turning over power to his brother Raul and other ministers temporarily. Though he was still ruling after his 2006 surgery, Castro was little seen. Now it is expected that Castro's resignation positions Raul......

Earlier today, former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed during a rally. The Western-educated (Harvard, Oxford) Bhutto had been living in Dubai and London for eight years, but returned in October to prepare for Pakistan's national elections (to be held next month) with hopes of returning to power. However, her return parade was bombed, killing 134 people and injuring more than 400. [Her obituary in the NY Times.] U.S. politicians weighed in on......

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad headed to New York today, but not telling Iranian state-run TV, "The United States is a big and important country with a population of 300 million. Due to certain issues, the American people in the past years have been denied correct and clear information about global developments and are eager to hear different opinions." He added that the U.N. General Assembly was an "important podium" for Iran's views to be......

Where does one find the best falafel in New York? The Girl Who Ate Everything declares, and Ed Levine agrees, that it might just be at Taim. We'd definitely put it near the top of our list, as we do love Rainbow Falafel quite a bit as well. This year's pickle festival was apparently a huge success, with pickles and lines galore. The trick to making your food last longer is proper storage. Yes, if......

Foodies attack the silver screen! In today's Times Arts & Leisure section, the long history and current feast of food in film is given another look. Would there have even been a Big Night if not for the food? In the coming months, Russell Crowe, the first person we think of when the phrase "good taste" coming up, will star as a man who inherits a vineyard and Nora Ephron is working on an adaptation......

Everyone that is following the 2006 World Cup knows that the United States is in trouble. After losing 3-0 to the Czech Republic in the opening game, the Americans are essentially in a must-win situation. While Ghana's huge 2-0 upset of the Czech Republic in earlier Group E action means that the United States can't be eliminated today, a win would certainly improve their chances of advancing. Bruce Arena has already made two lineup changes......

- The United States has now been in Iraq for over three years. - More from the other bouncer at the Falls. Which reminds: we never want to work at a bar owned by the Dorrian family. - Howard Stern won't shut up about CBS and Les Moonves. We think he just misses having the threat of censorship hanging over him all the time that came with being on FM. - The downside of......

Say it ain't so! The United States has been eliminated from the World Baseball Classic. Great news for George Steinbrenner, bad news for US baseball. Last night in Anaheim (or Los Angeles as the Angels would have you call it), Mexico defeated the US, 2-1. In the loss, the US team only managed three hits off 8 Mexican pitchers. If you're scoring at home, that's a single by Junior Griffey, a double by Chipper Jones......

In what is becoming a slightly disturbing trend, the United States lost again in the World Baseball Classic. First, they lost to Canada, yesterday, the Americans lost to South Korea, 7-3. South Korea, who is 2-0 in the 2nd round and is unbeaten in the WBC, slugged their way to victory. Hee-Seop Choi teed off for a three-run homer in the 4th inning off of Astros pitcher Dan Wheeler, giving the Koreans a 6-1 lead.......

Yesterday, Billy Wagner, the new Mets closer announced that he was dropping out of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. CC Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians is also stepping aside, which is potentially a bigger problem for the United States than Wagner not playing. The US team now only has 3 starting pitchers - Jake Peavy, Dontrelle Willis and Roger Clemens - potentially a problem considering all the rules on the books. Lucky for the United......

On Sundays Gothamist publishes opinion pieces by its contributors and friends. It was Mike’s week. Actually, considering the mayor’s worth more than you can imagine and New Yorkers gush over him as if he’s some kind of savior, maybe this is shaping up to be his century. Call him Bloomer, Hizzoner, Moneyberg, Li’l Mike – choose your favorite nickname. It doesn’t much matter, because you can call the short, nasily-voiced gazillionaire with an eerie ability......

The MTA will be paying for the additional police presence in the subways, according to Mayor Bloomberg. Police overtime to put one police officer on every train is costing the city $1.9 million a week, and Bloomberg said, "Let me give some credit to the MTA. They're willing to do this. They have some money. The governor has pushed them," even though he hasn't been happy about the MTA's footdragging on spending security funds. During......

At the Olympics yesterday, several of the first women to compete in the first women's world cup likely played in their last game. Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Joy Fawcett had already decided that they would retire after the Olympics, and they certainly went out with an exciting game. Playing Brazil, by all accounts a younger and faster team, the Americans pulled out a victory in overtime, winning 2-1. The youth movement was evident in......

The United States softball team won their third Olympic gold medal in a row yesterday, defeating Australia 5-1. The Australian run was the first run the US team had given up all tournament long. In their nine games to gold, they had eight shutouts and scored 51 runs, a team ERA of 0.13 and a .343 team batting average. Insane numbers for the best softball team in the world. This was the first time in......

The United States men's gymnastics team had hopes for gold, but they came out of yesterday's team competition with a silver medal. The medal yesterday was the team's first since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, when the USSR boycotted the Olympics. Before that, the only medal the team won was in 1932, also a silver. Since Los Angeles, the team finished no higher than 5th in an Olympic Games. The competition was won by a......