Eurozone interest rates have increased for the first time in a year in an attempt to control inflation, which is at record levels.

Rising food and fuel costs encouraged the European Central Bank (ECB) to put its key rate up from 4% to 4.25%. Inflation in the eurozone hit an annualised rate of 4% this week, the highest rate since official records began in 1996. The move comes despite concerns that the eurozone economy is slowing.  “Today’s ECB interest rate hike underlines the bank’s determination to bring inflation down, even amid plain evidence of slowing gross Read the full story

Police say American driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep at wheel

A car plowed into a bike race along a highway near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one and injuring 10 others. The 28-year-old driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep when he crashed into the race Sunday, police investigator Jose Alfredo Rodriguez said Monday. A photograph taken by a city official showed bicyclists and equipment being hurled high into the air by the collision. Rodriguez said Juan Campos was charged with killing 37-year-old Alejandro Alvarez of Monterrey. Read the full story

Antonio McDyess scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 rebounds as Detroit eliminated Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinal.

Shortly before the Pistons won Game 5, 91-86, on Tuesday night, the power forward was told his grandmother had died.The Pistons collectively made just enough shots and stops to overcome 36-percent shooting and Rodney Stuckey, a rookie filling in for Chauncey Billups, an All-Star, at point guard.

Hamilton made all 16 of his free throws, including 6 in the final 20 seconds, and Tayshaun Prince added to his list of defensive highlights in the playoffs by blocking Hedo Turkoglu’s dunk attempt to keep a three-point lead late in the game.

Detroit broke its own NBA record by making just three turnovers even though Stuckey replaced Chauncey, who missed his second straight game with a strained right hamstring.

Two Indian teenagers are chasing an American dream as baseball professionals and their promoters hope they can stir up interest in the game in their cricket-mad homeland. Rinku Singh, 18, and fellow javelin thrower Dinesh Patel began a year-long training stint in Los Angeles last week after winning an India-wide pitching contest, “The Million-Dollar Arm.” The boys, from poor families, used their natural shoulder strength to take the top two spots from among 8,000 participants. Another teenager, Manoj Shukla, will receive a month’s training after he came third of the 27 finalists. The winners, who were handed their visas in a ceremony at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, will get an opportunity to be assessed by professional baseball scouts at the end of their one-year stint. Their U.S-based promoters are hoping the youngsters can make it as professionals, saying such success would boost baseball in India in the same way that Yao Ming’s move to the NBA created a fan base for basketball in China. “Yao Ming has been a huge success in linking China and the USA in basketball and has created over 350 million new fans of the game in China over the past seven years he has played in the U.S,” Jeff Bernstein, managing director of 7 Figures Management, a sports marketing and management firm, told Reuters. Read the full story

There is a reason the Detroit Pistons have been to five consecutive Eastern Conference finals. They proved it on Saturday, even without their All-Star point guard to hold things together in front of a hostile crowd.

Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and Hedo Turkoglu missed a layup with time running out as the Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 90-89 to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Pistons became the first team to win on the road in the second round this postseason, and can clinch their sixth consecutive conference finals appearance when this series returns to Detroit on Tuesday.

LaBron James Jr. scored 21 points on another off-shooting night, but Delonte West scored 21, Joe Smith had 17 and the Cavaliers raced to a large, early lead in Game 3 in a 108-84 victory Saturday night over the road-challenged Boston Celtics to pull within 2-1 in their playoff series.

West, who spent three seasons wearing Celtic green and white, carried the scoring load for the Cavaliers, who are attempting to become the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 0-2 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.