Russian President Dmitri Medvedev this week announced a large-scale military rearmament program, which he says will require considerable resources despite difficulties associated with the current global economic crisis. There are political and econo...
The head of Madagascar's new transitional authority is preparing to take the oath of office despite criticism from the international community and its suspension from the African Union. Madagascan opposition leader Andry Rajoelina greets the crowd a...
The State Department said Friday U.S. officials are looking for a reciprocal gesture from Iran after President Barack Obama's conciliatory holiday message to the Iranian people and government Thursday. Mr. Obama said in a broadcast for the Iranian n...
A new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD, warns protectionism will worsen the global financial crisis. The report analyzes six emerging countries and shows how their economies boomed after they opened their...
U.S. lawmakers expressed outrage in a congressional hearing on Wednesday about tens of millions of dollars in employee bonuses paid by the troubled insurance conglomerate, American International Group, or AIG. Testimony by AIG's chief executive came...
U.S. President Barack Obama is in the midst of his first trip in office to California - one of the states hardest hit by the economic recession. Mr. Obama planned the visit to highlight his strategy to rebuild the economy, but the trip is being over...
The Australian government is facing mounting opposition to its pioneering carbon trading scheme after it unveiled legislation it hopes to pass by the middle of this year. Australia is proposing what could be the most sweeping cap-and-trade system in...
This week marks the sixth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that deposed Saddam Hussein and established a fledgling democracy, but also unleashed political, ethnic and sectarian tensions that caused years of devastating violence. As the a...
Madagascar's newly installed President Andry Rajoelina held his first cabinet meeting and met with the diplomatic corps. It was all part of an attempt to ease the worries of a general population that is traumatized by months of civil unrest. Newly-i...
Israeli soldiers have arrested a number of Hamas politicians in the West Bank. The arrests follow the collapse of indirect negotiations between Israel and the militant Islamist group this week. Hudah Shaer, the wife of former Palestinian Authority D...
European Union leaders are in Brussels for a two-day meeting amid heavy pressure to pump more money into their economies to fight the global financial crisis. The Europeans will seek a united front two weeks before a key meeting of the top 20 world...
Environmentalists are hailing a Bangladesh High Court decision to order the closure, in two weeks, of all ship-salvaging yards which do not have environmental clearances. The judges also have banned toxic ships from entering Bangladeshi waters. The...
Property prices in Nairobi and elsewhere in Kenya have skyrocketed in the past few years, partly because more money may be finding its way there from pirate activities in neighboring Somalia. A local analyst says buying property is a popular and eas...
A Thai government policy review of the largely Muslim southern provinces is considering granting greater local autonomy with reforms including introduction of Sharia Law through Islamic courts. The strategy is part of efforts to bring to an end a fi...
The U.S. Senate Wednesday voted 92 to 5 to confirm Ron Kirk as U.S. Trade Representative. Kirk, who becomes the first African American to hold the post, has vowed to pursue new trade deals but also work to ensure that U.S. trading partners are not v...
