BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her government’s decision to shut down all its nuclear power plants within the next decade could serve as an example to other countries, but industry leaders are criticizing the decision.
Germany announced Monday that it would phase out all 17 of its nuclear power stations by 2022 and generate […]

DAMASCUS - Syrian rights activists say a military crackdown on opposition protesters in the central part of the country has killed at least 15 civilians since Sunday and injured dozens more.
The demonstrators were killed as government forces backed by tanks, artillery and helicopters continued to attack the cities of Talbiseh, Rastan and other central communities […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator John McCain says he would prefer to see a greater U.S. military role in the Libyan conflict, and he expressed concern American support for U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan is waning.
 
In an appearance on the talk show Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace, Arizona Republican Senator John McCain said he is […]

WASHINGTON - Americans are observing Memorial Day weekend, a time meant to honor the nation’s war dead, with ceremonies, parades, sporting events and picnics.
The last Monday in May of each year is designated as Memorial Day, a time to place flowers on military gravesites and honor the U.S. servicemen and women who gave their lives […]

CAIRO - An Egyptian court has fined ousted president Hosni Mubarak and two of his former ministers $90 million for shutting down telecommunication services during the country’s popular uprising earlier this year.
The court ruled Saturday that Mubarak, former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly were guilty of “damaging” Egypt’s economy after […]

CAIRO - The first Palestinians have begun crossing into Egypt after the Egyptian government announced it was permanently easing restrictions on Saturday at its border with Gaza.
The Rafah crossing is the only official entry point outside Israel into Gaza.  On Wednesday, Egypt announced it was ending its four-year blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory by re-opening […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama has signed into law a four-year extension of parts of a controversial domestic surveillance law, just before the provisions were to expire Thursday. 
U.S. lawmakers raced Thursday to pass the extension to the USA Patriot Act.  Both the Senate and House of Representatives approved the measure by a wide margin […]

WASHINGTON - During his final weeks in office, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is making the case for strategic thinking about defense, as some members of Congress and some Obama administration officials want deep defense spending cuts to help reduce the federal budget deficit. 
The issues are complex and they include decisions on what is needed […]

CAIRO - Egyptian protesters plan to return to the streets Friday for what they’re billing as a “Second Revolution.” The activists fear the long-term change and lasting reform they’ve been seeking is being sidetracked.
Using the tools of their January 25 uprising, Egyptian youth are calling on Facebook and Twitter for a massive turnout in Cairo’s […]

WASHINGTON - After months of uncertainty, the Republican presidential field is beginning to take shape in advance of next year’s U.S. presidential election. Several high profile Republicans have decided whether to join the race for the White House in 2012, with a surprisingly large number saying “no”.  But one prominent Republican has yet to announce […]

JERUSALEM - Palestinian officials are accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of killing the peace process and say they will move ahead with plans to go to the United Nations in September to seek full membership of a Palestinian state. 
The Palestinian leadership had hoped that Netanyahu might make concessions on borders and other key issues […]

CHICAGO - U.S. television star Oprah Winfrey, 57, has ended her quarter-century-long talk show, tearing up as she told her millions of worldwide viewers that they and the program have been “the great love” of her life.
Earlier in the week, in the lead-up to the finale, Winfrey brought in top Hollywood celebrities to share the […]

SEOUL - An American team, led by a U.S. ambassador, has arrived in Pyongyang to assess the food situation in North Korea. 
Pyongyang is allowing, for the first time, an American envoy whose portfolio is the North Korean human rights issue, to visit the country.
Ambassador Robert King is leading a five-person team on a trip that […]

WASHINGTON - Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty has officially entered the race for the U.S. Republican Party’s presidential nomination, hoping to become a viable alternative to the current frontrunner, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.  But another prominent Republican governor has decided against a White House bid next year.
Tim Pawlenty launched his 2012 presidential campaign in […]

BRUSSELS - The European Union has expanded sanctions against Iran due to concerns about the Iranian nuclear program, which Western nations fear is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed Monday to impose asset freezes and travel bans on several people and more than 100 entities suspected of involvement in […]

WASHINGTON - A tornado has ripped through the midwestern U.S. state of Missouri, killing at least 89 people and cutting a path of destruction.
The powerful twister struck the town of Joplin, about 220 kilometers south of Kansas City, destroying homes, crushing cars and badly damaging a hospital, which had to be evacuated. Officials say they […]

WASHINGTON - Speaking on Sunday to the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States, President Barack Obama has addressed what he called questions raised about his remarks last week concerning the Israel-Palestinian peace process. 
The president spoke in Washington to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee amid continuing reverberations in Israel, the United States and globally from […]

TOKYO - International nuclear experts have begun arriving in Japan to probe the causes of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and make recommendations to prevent future accidents.
Six experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Japan Monday from the agency’s headquarters in Vienna. They will be joined by another 14 experts from 12 countries for […]

DUBLIN - U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Ireland on Monday for the start of a six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. The president is expected to discuss economic issues with Irish leaders and explore his family’s history in a small Irish town.
The state of the global economy will likely be a recurring topic for President […]

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington for what could be tense talks with President Barack Obama after Netanyahu sharply criticized the president’s remarks on Israel’s possible future borders.
The Israeli leader arrived on Friday, one day after Obama said Israel’s borders should be based on lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day […]

WASHINGTON - NATO says it has hit eight warships used by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a series of airstrikes.
A NATO statement says the vessels that were targeted were in the ports of Sirte, Al Khums and the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
An alliance official, Libyan operations Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Russell Harding, says […]

HOUSTON - Flooding along the Mississippi River has ruined crops, damaged farmland and delayed barge traffic in parts of the southern United States.  Officials say diversion of some of the water through spillways in Louisiana, though, eventually will ease the flow and help speed the return to normalcy. Closings of some sections of the river […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has failed to pass a bill that would have opened up more areas to offshore oil drilling and forced government regulators to speed up their decisions on oil drilling permits. The vote was 57 against the bill, and 42 in favor - 18 short of the needed 60 ‘yes’ votes […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Syria’s president for human rights abuses as Syria’s deadly crackdown on the opposition intensified across the country.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday it is freezing all assets under American jurisdiction of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other senior Syrian officials. The sanctions generally ban U.S. individuals […]