WASHINGTON - Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin addresses a Tea Party rally in Iowa on Saturday and political supporters and rivals alike will be listening closely for any indication that she has decided to run for president.
For months now, Sarah Palin has said she is considering a presidential run next year, but so far has […]

WASHINGTON - A U.S. federal judge has temporarily blocked a controversial immigration law that was set to go into effect Thursday in the southern U.S. state of Alabama.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace said Monday she decided to block the law until September 29 so she could further consider lawsuits filed against it.
Last month, a coalition […]

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has defended controversial policies carried out by the administration of President George W. Bush, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the harsh interrogation tactic of waterboarding.
In an interview aired on NBC television Tuesday, Cheney said he was a “big advocate” of pursuing controversial policies in order […]

TOKYO - Japan’s parliament voted Tuesday to confirm Yoshihiko Noda as the nation’s sixth prime minister in five years.
Mr. Noda, who as finance minister has steered the nation’s economy through one of its most difficult periods, was approved in both the lower house, where his Democratic Party of Japan has a solid majority, and in […]

TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s wife and three of his children entered Algeria early Monday, and rebel leaders said later they would demand that authorities there extradite the group to Libya.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry announced that Gadhafi’s wife Safiya, daughter Aisha, and two of his sons, Mohammad and Hannibal, had all crossed into the […]

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Irene continues to pound the U.S. east coast with heavy rains and strong winds Sunday, leaving at least eight people dead in its wake and paralyzing ground and air traffic.
The National Hurricane Center says Irene is approaching New York with winds of 120 kilometers per hour.  Forecasters say the upper floors of […]

ADDIS ABABA - The African Union [AU] has rejected calls for recognition of Libya’s rebel Transitional National Council. The decision highlights Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s lingering influence at the continental organization he headed as recently as two years ago.
United Nations Deputy Secretary General Asha Rose Migiro opened an African Union Peace and Security summit Friday […]

WASHINGTON - In U.S. presidential politics, Texas Governor Rick Perry is making a strong bid to take the lead in a crowded field of Republican candidates. 
The latest Gallup poll shows Rick Perry vaulting into the lead for the Republican presidential nomination over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
Perry led with 29 percent in the poll, followed […]

TOKYO - Japan will soon see its seventh prime minister in a span of five years. In a widely anticipated move, Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday announced his resignation. The country is facing serious social and economic challenges as it recovers from this year’s unprecedented natural and nuclear disasters.  A new leader is to […]

TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has urged his supporters to rise up and defeat the rebels trying to oust him from power.
In a short audio broadcast on Thursday, he described his opponents as “rats” and also denounced foreign countries for their involvement in the conflict.
His speech came as fierce gunbattles between Gadhafi loyalists and […]

WASHINGTON - Fifty years ago, U.S. President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote peace and friendship between the U.S. and other countries. But it wasn’t until a year later, in August 1962, that the first group of Peace Corps volunteers left for Africa. Since then, 200,000 volunteers have served as health workers, […]

WASHINGTON - Tens of millions of people in the eastern United States are bracing for Hurricane Irene, which forecasters say could be the biggest storm to strike the area in more than half a century.  It brings the threat of heavy wind, rain and flooding after punishing the Caribbean late Thursday with winds as high […]

DAMASCUS - Opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have formed a “national council” that they say will coordinate efforts to oust the embattled leader.
Activists meeting in Turkey announced the group’s formation on Tuesday, but they provided few details on the group’s make-up.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford has made a surprise visit to the Syrian town […]

TRIPOLI - Heavy fighting is underway around Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s compound in the capital, Tripoli, and rebels say they are establishing control over more of the city.
EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton said Tuesday the rebels’ political leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, told her they have control of 80 percent of the Libyan capital.  Heavy fighting […]

SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is in Russia. It is his first visit to the neighboring country in nearly a decade. Kim is traveling by armored train through Russia’s frontier region on what is expected to be a week-long journey.
Pyongyang’s state media is giving unusually timely reports about what it calls the […]

TRIPOLI - The son and one-time heir apparent of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Seif al-Islam, defiantly appeared in Tripoli early Tuesday, saying his father’s government still controlled the city, as rebels claimed to hold most of the capital.
 
Seif al-Islam presented himself to foreign journalists confined to the Gadhafi-controlled Rixos Hotel, despite earlier claims by opposition […]

WASHINGTON - A memorial dedicated to American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Junior opens to the public Monday in a preview ahead of Sunday’s official dedication ceremony.
The King memorial is located on the National Mall in Washington between memorials honoring iconic presidents Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.  This is the first memorial on the […]

OSLO - Norway’s King Harald sought to comfort his grieving nation Sunday, as mourners marked the end of a month largely dedicated to honoring the 77 people killed July 22 by a right-wing extremist in a bombing and shooting massacre.
Harald delivered an emotional address to nearly 7,000 people in Oslo. He said his thoughts have […]

WASHINGTON - Global Stocks ended the week lower as fresh worries over a possible U.S. recession and Europe’s debt crisis roiled markets anew. The inability of political leaders on both continents to deal with the crisis is adding to the volatility.
Renewed worries about the health of the global economy produced another roller coaster ride Friday […]

WASHINGTON - The rating agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Venezuela’s credit rating, citing the country’s political risk as a key weakness.
S&P lowered the country’s sovereign currency rating once notch Friday from BB¯ to B+ with a stable outlook.
In a statement, S&P said “changing and arbitrary laws, price and exchange controls, and other distorting and […]

MOSCOW - They have been called three days that changed world history. Twenty years ago, communist hardliners tried to mount a military coup to preserve the Soviet Union.
It has only been 20 years since Soviet citizens awoke to find the ballet Swan Lake playing endlessly on their television sets.
Soon the word spread: Soviet leader Mikhail […]

TRIPOLI - Explosions and gunfire rocked Tripoli overnight, as opponents of Moammar Gadhafi launched what they hope is their final push in the six-month-long rebellion to topple the long-time Libyan leader.
In a live audio message carried on state television, Mr. Gadhafi urged his supporters Sunday to “march by the millions” and quash the uprising. He […]

TEHRAN - Iran has sentenced two Americans, arrested more than two years ago while hiking along the Iraq-Iran border, to eight years in prison for illegal entry and spying.
Iranian TV on Saturday quoted judicial sources as saying that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal each were given five-year prison sentences for spying and three additional years […]

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration says it will review the cases of more than 300,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation to determine if they can stay in the United States.
In a letter to a group of lawmakers, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says officials will review each case to identify “low priority” offenders, including those who […]