Politics

Official: Syria fires Scud missiles at rebels
Syrian government forces have fired Scud missiles at insurgents in recent days, escalating the 2-year-old conflict against rebels seeking to overthrow ...
NKorea policy in Seoul to soften despite rocket
It is not too early to predict one sure winner of South Korea's presidential election next week: North Korea. President Lee Myung-bak's hardline ...
Bank repossessions hit 9-month high in November
U.S. home repossessions rose to a nine-month high in November, even as the number of homes starting on the path to foreclosure declined to the lowest ...
NKorea hails launch despite risk of consequences
North Korea, though struggling to feed its people, is now one of the few countries to have successfully launched a satellite into space from its own ...
Court ruling on Ill. gun ban sets stage for fight
Backers of Illinois' ban on concealed weapons vowed Wednesday to fight for continued controls on gun possession, a day after a federal appeals court ...
US hesitant in condemning North Korean launch
The Obama administration is drawing no "red line" for North Korea after a successful long-range rocket test, tempering the public condemnation to ...
Mali gets new prime minister after forced ouster
Mali's interim president has named a replacement prime minister after soldiers behind a coup earlier this year forced out his predecessor and placed ...
No budging as fiscal cliff talks appear stalled
Republicans aren't budging on tax rates, and Democrats are resisting steps like raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Negotiations on averting a ...
Egypt's opposition urges "no" vote in referendum
Egypt's opposition called on its followers Wednesday to vote "no" in a crucial referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters ...
Argentines shocked by verdicts in sex slave trial
The acquittal of 13 people accused in the disappearance of a young woman who was allegedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution for "VIP clients" ...
Honduran congress dismisses Supreme Court justices
Honduras' political standoff escalated Wednesday as legal officials debated whether a congressional vote to remove four Supreme Court justices ...
Census: Whites no longer a majority in US by 2043
White people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043, according to new census projections. That's part of a historic shift that already ...
Senate intern, a sex offender, faces deportation
Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by ...
US, Syria opposition disagree over terrorist label
The U.S. and the head of the new Syrian opposition coalition being feted at a conference in Morocco Wednesday publicly disagreed over designating a ...
Iraq stays execution of man allegedly held at 16
Iraq has suspended the execution of a Yemeni prisoner whose family claims was 16 years old when he was taken into custody, an Iraqi official and human ...
Pfizer to pay $55 million in drug misbranding case
The Justice Department says Pfizer Inc. will pay $55 million to resolve allegations that its subsidiary Wyeth LLC promoted the drug Protonix for uses ...
Leading Democrat calls foreign aid system outmoded
The Soviet Union was the Cold War threat, Ian Fleming's creation James Bond was headed to the screen as Sean Connery in "Dr. No" and the U.S.
Blast at Syrian regime building in capital kills 5
Three bombs collapsed walls in the Syrian Interior Ministry building Wednesday in Damascus, killing at least five people, as rebels fighting to ...
Lieberman urges compromise in final Senate speech
Retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman on Wednesday used his final Senate floor speech to urge Congress to put partisan rancor aside to break Washington's ...
Highlights from Egypt's draft constitution
Egypt's draft constitution, set for a referendum on Dec. 15 and 22, is made up of an introduction, an 11-part preamble and 236 articles. Critics have ...
THE RESET: Fed forges ahead with easy-money policy
As President Barack Obama and Congress agonize over strengthening the economy without fattening the $16 trillion national debt, the Federal Reserve ...
Obama to match FDR's record of 4 swearing-ins
President Barack Obama is poised to match Franklin Roosevelt's record of being sworn in as the nation's leader four times. While FDR served four ...
Obama's fiscal cliff strategy is tricky balance
Playing both sides, President Barack Obama is trying to balance his public pressure campaign on Republicans over the looming "fiscal cliff" with his ...
After Sandy, NYC eyes moving power gear higher
A major push is on to move New York City's electrical infrastructure to higher ground or upper floors after Superstorm Sandy sent seawater pouring ...
AP source: no prior record for 22-year-old suspect
A law enforcement official says the suspect in the Oregon mall shootings is 22 years old and has no prior criminal record. The official spoke only on ...