World markets were mostly lower on Wednesday amid more dire U.S. economic news and a move by Germany to facilitate bank nationalization. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up one-tenth of a percent, while other U.S. indexes were just slightly lowe...
The United Nations Security Council has welcomed the signing of an agreement between Sudan's government and the country's main rebel group to pursue a negotiated settlement to the Darfur conflict. But the agreement, signed on Tuesday in Qatar, is no...
A United Nations official is in Kenya to investigate reports of unlawful executions. Human rights groups in the country have accused the police force, as well as the military, of numerous extrajudicial killings in the past two years, many in respons...
U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign the $787 billion economic stimulus plan into law at a ceremony in the western city of Denver, Colorado on Tuesday. Mr. Obama calls it a major milestone on the road to recovery for the U.S. economy, wh...
The new Obama administration appears to be taking tentative steps towards resuming dialogue with Syria, while the key step of sending a new U.S. ambassador to Damascus for the first time in three years remains up in the air. A visit by Senate Foreig...
Algeria is preparing to host the second Pan-African Culture Festival, and the first in 40 years. The event hopes to draw hundreds of thousands of people to Algiers this July to celebrate Africa's artistic renaissance. Khalida Toumi was a young girl...
The United Nations is giving food vouchers to poor families in Burkina Faso who have access to private sector markets, but can not afford higher food prices there. The innovative program is alsp helping local shopkeepers. This is the first time the...
Zimbabwe's unity government's designated deputy agriculture minister Roy Bennett has been charged with possessing weaponry, banditry, and attempting to commit terrorism, in a court in Mutare in eastern Zimbabwe. Roy Bennett is also being charged wit...
Sudan and Darfur's most active rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, has signed a declaration of good intentions in Doha. Qatar has been mediating talks between Khartoum and the rebel group since last Tuesday. Sudanese rebel group JEM lead...
The United Nations says the number of civilians killed during 2008 in Afghanistan rose 40 percent from the year before. The 2,118 civilians reported killed last year is the highest number since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in...
The subject of North Korea was prominent in talks in Tokyo between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and top Japanese government officials. Clinton is on her first overseas trip in her new job and her first stop in Asia is America's long-time...
The State Department said Tuesday the complete dismantling of North Korea's nuclear program remains the goal of the Chinese-led six-party negotiations with Pyongyang. The comment followed an assertion by a leading U.S. academic that North Korea appe...
In his first major military move as Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama has approved a nearly 50 percent increase in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, on top of a smaller increase ordered by former-President Bush and already implement...
A major independent research institute has issued a report calling for urgent and significant changes in U.S. military strategy toward Afghanistan. The call comes just as President Obama has launched his own strategy review, and as NATO defense mini...
President Barack Obama marked his first major political achievement on Tuesday when he signed the economic stimulus bill into law in Denver, Colorado. The question now, most analysts say, is whether Mr. Obama will be able to build momentum with his...
