WASHINGTON - Legislation proposed this week by U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd could result in big changes in the way financial institutions do business.  Dodd, the Democratic Party chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, says the bill expands the Federal Reserve’s role in policing large financial institutions and creates a new consumer protection agency.  But some […]

WASHINGTON - A top U.S. military official says U.S. forces in Afghanistan are undergoing a major restructuring that will bring virtually all American troops under NATO command.
Vice Admiral Greg Smith, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, says U.S. troops serving in eastern Afghanistan as part of the Operation Enduring Freedom command will soon be […]

WASHINGTON - The commander who oversees U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has cited progress in both places, but also warned of uncertain times ahead. General David Petraeus appeared in Washington Tuesday before the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee.
General Petraeus says the recent operation in and around the town of Marjah in Afghanistan’s Helmand […]

WASHINGTON - The United States is asking Israel to take steps to restore confidence in the Mideast peace process after Israel’s controversial announcement last week on new Jewish housing in East Jerusalem.  U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell is expected to visit the region this week.
A senior State Department official says Secretary of State Hillary […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials say Mideast envoy George Mitchell has delayed his latest peace mission to the region after Israel vowed to keep building in disputed east Jerusalem, despite international objections.
Mitchell had planned to leave Washington Monday for the Middle East, but delayed his departure, leaving the timing of his trip unclear.
The U.S. State Department […]

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration continues to blast Israel’s announcement it will build new housing in disputed East Jerusalem.  VOA reports from Washington on the uncharacteristically blunt language that continues to flow between the United States and Israel.
Days have passed since Israel announced its intention to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem during a […]

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military says it has arrested a senior commander of the Palestinian faction Hamas after he spent more than a decade on the run.
Israeli troops and the Shin Bet security service caught Maher Uda overnight Saturday near the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Uda has been on Israel’s most wanted list since the […]

BANGKOK - Tens of thousands of protesters are demonstrating in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, demanding the current government step down and call new elections.  The protesters have set a one day deadline for their demands to be met.
A sea of red clad protesters wave banners and cheer as a band plays music on stage.  The protesters […]

JERUSALEM - Israel has imposed a security clampdown on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank amid fears of unrest.
Israel sealed off the West Bank for 48 hours, saying police had intelligence information that Palestinian youths would cause disturbances after prayers for the Muslim Sabbath on Friday. This Palestinian was turned away by Israeli troops […]

WASHINGTON - In 2008, an ancient Egyptian coffin in a shipping crate raised the suspicions of a customs agent at the Miami, Florida, airport.  For the past two years, the ornate sarcophagus has been at the heart of an international mystery and investigation. The ancient artifact was returned to Egyptian possession Wednesday.
The painted wooden coffin, […]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has announced a new strategy aimed at boosting U.S. exports, saying his administration will work to level the playing field around the world for U.S. businesses and workers.
Linking America’s economic recovery with its ability to expand exports, the president used a speech to the U.S. Export-Import Bank in Washington to […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department’s annual report on human rights world-wide issued Thursday cited an upsurge in efforts to restrict access to the Internet and other new communications means, and escalating persecution of vulnerable minorities. The report was sharply critical of the rights performance of several countries including China, North Korea and Iran.
The massive […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department has unsealed criminal terrorism charges against an American woman they say used the name “Jihad Jane” on the Internet. She is accused of plotting with terrorists to kill someone in Sweden as well as wanting to take part in a so-called global jihad against the west. 
Federal prosecutors disclosed the […]

WASHINGTON - Northrop-Grumman has given up a lengthy effort to win a huge contract to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.
The contract covers nearly 200 planes and is worth tens of billions of dollars over the next two decades.
Northrop had teamed up with Europe-based Airbus to compete for […]

JERUSALEM - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has promised Israel a “total” U.S. commitment to its security as Israeli and Palestinian officials prepare to begin indirect peace talks.
Biden was speaking in Jerusalem Tuesday after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.  Biden is making the highest-level visit by a U.S. official […]

PARIS - France is among the world’s top users and exporters of nuclear power.  Roughly two-thirds of French electricity is derived from it.  So it may not be surprising that French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a strong pitch for the use of nuclear energy at an international conference in Paris.
Mr. Sarkozy said energy demand will […]

ANKARA - A strong earthquake has shaken several villages in eastern Turkey, destroying homes and killing at least 57 people.
Turkey’s Kandilli Observatory says the magnitude 6.0 quake struck the province of Elazig early Monday at 4:32 a.m. local time.  It was centered near the town of Karakocan.
The quake toppled stone and mud-brick homes, and brought […]

BAGHDAD - Violence in Iraq’s capital has killed at least 24 Iraqis at the start of voting in the country’s first parliamentary elections since 2005.
An Iraqi Interior Ministry source says at least 12 people were killed and eight wounded when an explosion destroyed a building in Baghdad.
An earlier blast as polls opened killed four people […]

WASHINGTON - The United States says it will debut a new design to the hundred-dollar bill next month.
In a statement Friday, the Treasury Department said it makes decisions about currency redesigns by evaluating “ongoing counterfeit threats.”
The department said the new look will help protect against fraud.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent in February. Fewer jobs were lost than many economists had feared, but the statistics show that many companies don’t have enough faith in an economic recovery to start hiring now.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the economy lost 36,000 more jobs last month […]

CAIRO - Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed what they say is the 4,000-year-old sarcophagus of a mysterious ancient Egyptian queen.
A French team discovered the stone coffin in a burial ground, or necropolis, at Saqqara, south of the capital Cairo.
Egyptian experts say the burial chamber included ancient texts, or hieroglyphics, identifying the coffin as belonging to […]

WARSAW - This spring marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Chopin, who was born and raised in a village just outside Warsaw.  His musical legacy forms an integral part of modern Poland’s cultural identity.
For any visitor to Warsaw, it does not take long to realize that Frederic Chopin is everywhere.  Schools, streets […]

WASHINGTON - Several of President Barack Obama’s strongest supporters in the U.S. Congress say a big loophole in the economic stimulus bill they passed last year is helping foreign companies.
The problem is with the portion of the economic stimulus bill used to fund alternative energy projects.
If a project is being constructed by the government, all […]