Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova won in her debut on the WTA Tour on Tuesday, beating Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the JPMorgan Chase Open.

The Episcopal Church voted to approve the election of its first openly gay bishop, a decision that risks splitting the denomination and shattering ties with its sister churches worldwide.

A sweaty sense of dislocation was palpable this week throughout Europe, where unusually high temperatures and a summer-long dearth of rain have damaged crops, fanned wildfires, and left residents and tourists baking, broiling and steaming as seldom before.

Liberia has asked the World Court to stop the prosecution of President Charles Taylor by the UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, arguing that Taylor has immunity as a sitting head of state, the court said Wednesday.

But Pascal Clement, president of mail order empire PPE Group, says the black hole stereotype of the Russian postal service the fault of its unreliable international service.

PwC Olga Kucherova has been appointed a partner in the financial services group of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Prior to joining PwC in 1994, Kucherova worked for PNC Bank in the United States as a financial analyst in the commercial lending department. She is an expert in Russian statutory and IAS audit and in financial instruments disclosure and credit risk analysis. She holds a degree in economics from the Moscow Finance Institute. Anthony Sacca has been appointed a partner in the transaction services group. He will lead PwC's due diligence and forensic services practice. Sacca holds a degree in business administration and is an Australian chartered accountant. He joined PwC Australia in 1993, transferring to Moscow in 1995. Irina Martakova has been appointed a tax partner in the retail and consumer practice.