SEOUL - For the first time in a decade, a North Korean has defected to South Korea by crossing the heavily armed border dividing the two countries. 
South Korean military officials say the North Korean military officer crossed into the South on Sunday.
The officer is being debriefed by South Korean authorities, who are are unwilling to […]

ISTANBUL - Turkish forces have launched a series of air strikes in northern Iraq, targeting fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Ankara accuses the PKK of using Iraq as a base to launch attacks against its forces inside Turkey. These latest airstrikes come ahead of an expected spring offensive by the PKK.
Turkey’s military says […]

JERUSALEM - Turkey’s leader is in Damascus today, launching a new initiative to bring Israel and Syria back to the negotiating table. Earlier this week, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Israel had conveyed through Turkey that it is willing to return the Golan Heights to Syria for a peace treaty.  Israel has said it wants […]

GENEVA - The United Nations say an exceptionally high locust infestation expected this year in Tajikistan could threaten the east European nation’s food supply. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says urgent action must be taken to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. 
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is appealing for $500,000 to stop the plague […]

WASHINGTON - Senator Hillary Clinton is challenging her Democratic Party presidential rival, Senator Barack Obama, to a debate. The call is part of the escalating rhetoric between the two as they campaign in the central state of Indiana.  
Clinton is trailing Obama in delegates and in the popular vote, and she has been putting pressure on […]

UNITED NATIONS - Syria’s U.N. envoy says his country will continue to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, as he again dismissed U.S. allegations that North Korea was helping Syria build a secret nuclear reactor. 
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari said Friday Syria has no reason to stop cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush says tax rebates for more than 130 million American households should help stimulate an economy hurt by falling home prices and higher food and energy costs.
More than 7 million Americans should see the tax rebates in their bank accounts in the coming week. Those who chose to receive […]

NEW ORLEANS - The Mississippi river, which drains more than 40 percent of North America’s river flow into the Gulf of Mexico, is at its highest point in years, leading to concern that levees protecting the city of New Orleans could be compromised. A few weeks ago, the same conditions farther upstream caused widespread flooding […]

FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA– Women from coast-to-coast and around the globe once equated getting older with invisibility. Thanks to the Red Hat Society (RHS), founded 10 years ago today, perceptions began to change. In just one decade RHS has evolved from a few friends who donned red hats and purple outfits in the spirit of having fun […]

JERUSALEM - Israel has dismissed a six-month truce proposal from the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
An Israeli government spokesman, David Baker, Friday suggested Hamas was only offering a cease-fire in order to recover and re-arm following recent fighting.
Hamas officials told Egyptian mediators Thursday that they would agree to a six-month truce in the Gaza strip, followed […]

CAPITOL HILL - The White House says Syria was covertly building a nuclear reactor, with clandestine North Korean assistance, capable of producing plutonium. A statement from the White House, and an unusual release of photographic intelligence, followed briefings for members of Congress about what the White House says were Syria’s illicit nuclear activities. 
Calling the issue […]

JERUSALEM - At least one Palestinian has been killed and at least three wounded in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip. The violence occurred amid efforts for a ceasefire.  
An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of Palestinian militants in southern Gaza. The army said the gunmen were spotted as they approached Israeli […]

WASHINGTON - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is meeting with U.S. President George Bush at the White House Thursday for talks on advancing the peace process with Israel.
Mr. Bush wants Israel and the Palestinians to complete a peace deal before he leaves office in less than nine months.
Mr. Abbas has said that any deal must include […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials will meet with congressional lawmakers about North Korea’s alleged nuclear cooperation with Syria Thursday on Capitol Hill.
High-ranking U.S. officials are telling reporters the lawmakers will be shown video of North Koreans working at a suspected nuclear reactor site in Syria. The video also reportedly shows the reactor’s design was identical […]

WASHINGTON - Jordan’s King Abdullah has told U.S. President George Bush that negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis should be based on clear grounds and fixed time frames.
The king met with Mr. Bush Wednesday at the White House for a private breakfast.  Mr. Bush also is hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week.
Jordan’s embassy in […]

PENTAGON - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has named the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, to lead the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S. military operations and security cooperation throughout the Middle East and in Central Asia and East Africa.  
The move was not […]

WASHINGTON - Members of Congress have sharply criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, saying underfunding and a failure to act aggressively to increase foreign inspections is putting Americans at risk from dangerous drug and food imports.
For the fiscal year beginning in October, the Food and Drug Administration requested a $130 million budget increase, with […]

PITTSBURGH - Senator Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania primary election, keeping her campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination alive. Despite the victory, she still trails Senator Barack Obama in the total number of delegates committed to endorse her candidacy at the party convention in August. 
It was a healthy margin of victory for the […]

GENEVA - The United Nations warns of a humanitarian catastrophe as fighting escalates in Somalia at the same time the country is struggling to come to grips with the worst drought in a decade. It says about 2.5 million people are in urgent need of assistance.
The United Nations says hundreds of families fled their homes […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President George Bush says the United States is not in a recession, but concedes that the world’s largest economy is in a “slowdown.”
Mr. Bush spoke after meetings with Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon and Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tuesday in New Orleans.
The president said he is concerned about record-high prices for crude […]

LONDON - Britain’s central bank, the Bank of England, has announced a plan aimed at preventing the unfolding international credit crisis from causing more damage to the British economy. Under the deal, lending institutions will be able to swap currently held mortgage debt in exchange for secure government bonds. The lending boost could total about […]

CAIRO - Iraq’s prime minister has called on his neighbors to forgive Iraq’s debt and establish full diplomatic ties, saying that their failure to do so is harming Iraq’s ability to stabilize.  He spoke at a conference for Iraq’s neighboring states in Kuwait. 
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a strongly worded appeal to his neighboring […]

PITTSBURGH - Voters in the state of Pennsylvania are going to the polls to show their preference for who should win the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. 
After six weeks of intense and sometimes nasty campaigning, the voters of Pennsylvania are finally getting their say.
They are expected to turn out in large numbers in a contest that […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush praised the achievements of the nation’s small business sector on Friday.   Speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the president pledged continued support for the small business community and outlined steps his administration is taking to insure that small businesses continue to grow. 
Small businesses create more than 70 percent of all […]

WASHINGTON - Ethiopia says it has broken off diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing the Gulf state of supporting armed opposition groups in the Horn of Africa.In a statement Monday, Ethiopia’s government charged that Qatar is a source of instability in the region.
It alleged that Qatar supports armed opposition groups within Ethiopia as well as Islamic […]