KYIV - U.S. President George Bush has arrived in Ukraine - the first stop on a European tour that will also take him to Croatia, Russia and the NATO summit in Romania.
There were indications President Bush wanted to visit Ukraine several years ago. But there was political turmoil in Kyiv - the result of a […]

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has unveiled plans for a sweeping overhaul of U.S. financial regulations that are blamed for allowing the mortgage crisis that has been sending shockwaves through the global economy.
Under the proposal presented by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, government regulators for the first time would oversee non-bank financial institutions that have become […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Defense Department has charged an alleged member of the al-Qaida terrorist organization with helping to plan and carryout the deadly 1998 bombing of the American embassy in Tanzania.
The military has charged Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani with murder and terrorism in the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam that killed […]

NEW DELHI - India has taken steps to drastically limit rice exports in a bid to cool prices and ensure sufficient food stocks for its more than one billion people. India is battling inflation and a spike in food prices.
The Indian trade ministry has steeply raised the minimum prices at which all except the most […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush is on his way to the Ukraine for the start of a four-nation trip that also includes stops in Russia, Croatia and Romania where he will take part in a NATO summit.
The president opens his trip in Ukraine, where U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley says Mr. Bush will celebrate […]

HONG KONG - Japan’s jobless rate has risen for the first time in five months, and Chevron Corporation has discovered large offshore natural gas deposits in Vietnam.
Japan’s unemployment rate has risen for the first time in five months, partly because exports to the United States fell. Japanese officials say the jobless rate rose to 3.9 […]

BUDAPEST - Passport-free travel in Europe has expanded further as border checks at airports in nine mainly former Communist countries have disappeared. Sunday’s move allows 400 million people unlimited travel in what is known as the “Schengen zone.”
Starting Sunday, citizens of Europe’s 24-country “Schengen zone” are no longer required to undergo passport checks at airports […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush leaves Monday for a European visit including a NATO summit in Romania and talks about U.S. missile-defense plans with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Mr. Bush’s first stop will be in Ukraine. The president has said he believes NATO should open the membership process for Ukraine and Georgia, but Moscow has made clear […]

CAIRO - A controversial and partly boycotted Arab League summit has ended in the Syrian capital, Damascus, with no progress on the Lebanese political crisis and a summit declaration that Iraq refused to endorse. Despite the obviously sharp divisions among the delegates, Syrian officials have portrayed the meeting as a success.
The Arab summit broke no […]

WASHINGTON - The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency says al-Qaida has established a safe haven in the tribal areas near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that it presents a “clear and present danger” to the West. 
The CIA Director, Air Force General Michael Hayden, says if there were another terrorist attack against […]

BAGHDAD- Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has ordered his Shi’ite militias to defy the Baghdad government’s surrender order, and his followers say they are fighting on against Iraqi troops.
Sadr told fighters in the Mehdi Army and other Shi’ite groups to keep their weapons until Iraq has a government that will expel U.S. forces from the country.
Iraqi […]

CAIRO - Syria’s president has denied allegations that he is meddling in Lebanese politics and says he will cooperate with efforts to end the political crisis in the neighboring country. He spoke at an Arab League summit in Damascus that key Arab leaders are boycotting over what they call Syria’s role in the Lebanese crisis.  
Syrian […]

WASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats agree that help is needed for the sagging U.S. housing market and the ailing American economy in general. But President Bush and a Democratic lawmaker have made it clear they differ on what kind of help is needed.
The year’s first major government effort to strengthen the U.S economy quickly passed […]

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the way the U.S. financial industry is regulated, giving broad new powers to the Federal Reserve - the U.S. Central Bank - to ensure market stability.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will formally unveil the proposal on Monday.
The plan gives the Federal Reserve the power to […]

TAMPA - The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Central Asia and East Africa stepped down Friday, after just a year in command, following allegations he had disagreed with the Bush Administration on some key policies. 
It was the last day in command for Admiral William Fallon, and it came several months earlier than […]

JERUSALEM - Israel is extending an olive branch to Syria.
Cabinet Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer says Israel is making “every effort… to bring Syria back to the negotiating table.”
Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio that the purpose of negotiations is to reach a peace agreement and he said everyone knows the price: namely, the return of the Golan Heights […]

BANGKOK - The cost of rice has risen up to 50 percent on world markets, raising concerns among aid agencies in Asia. The agencies say they are facing shortfalls in efforts to feed the hungry in the region.  
The price of rice on world markets has doubled since 2004 and in the past two months alone […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush is heading to Europe Monday for visits to Ukraine, Croatia, Russia and the NATO summit in Romania.
“I am proud to be in this square and bring the good wishes of the American people,” Mr. Bush said on that trip, which was one of the high points of his presidency.
On a gray […]

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. secretary-general says a special tribunal to try suspects in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has entered the startup period and will begin functioning in phases, but it could still be several months before any trials begin.
In a report to the Security Council, U.N. Secretary General Ban […]

PENTAGON - The U.S. Army has suspended a contract with an ammunition supplier, which, according to The New York Times, provided 40-year-old bullets for delivery to the Afghan army.  The U.S. Army is investigating, but the Pentagon says it has no reports that the bullets failed to function.
The New York Times says the ammunition for […]

ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI - April 3 is an important date in the Midwestern city of St. Joseph, Missouri because two historic events happened there on that day, 22 years apart. One involved a short-lived, but thrilling chapter in mail delivery and the other was the cold-blooded murder of a local resident who turned out to […]

NEW DELHI - India’s biggest vehicle maker, Tata Motors, has clinched a deal to buy luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from U.S. carmaker Ford.  The latest acquisition is yet another sign of the expanding global footprint of Indian companies. 
Mumbai-based Tata Motors says it will buy British luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush has accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to travel to Russia for talks April 6 on missile defense. The hastily arranged meeting will come at the end of a European tour that will also take Mr. Bush to Ukraine, Croatia and the NATO summit in Romania.
President Bush will confer […]

JERUSALEM - Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday said peace talks with the Palestinians will continue, but he ruled out any talks with Hamas militants who control the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to an annual gathering of foreign journalists in Jerusalem, Mr. Olmert repeated that he is committed to reaching the outline of a peace agreement […]

WASHINGTON - Iraqi officials say a bomb struck an oil pipeline Thursday in the southern city of Basra, where Iraqi forces are battling Shi’ite militias for a third day.
Officials did not say who was responsible for the pipeline attack. It is also unclear whether the damaged pipeline will greatly affect crude exports.
Meanwhile, witnesses in Basra […]