Africa/International

Asian shares were sluggish Wednesday as deteriorating sentiment among Japanese companies offset solid U.S. retail sales figures. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 3.81 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 10,312.96. The central bank's…

Ending nearly two weeks of suspense, a 64-year-old substitute teacher and single parent from Arizona claimed a $95.3 million Powerball jackpot. Sheila Verke, a Fort Mohave resident, presented the single-winning ticket to lottery officials…

The majority of the nation's sparsely populated rural counties lost even more residents in the last decade, though some of the counties — particularly those in the Mountain West — saw population gains that may be the result of retirees…

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a target of U.S. ire for releasing secret cables, returned to a London jail on Tuesday pending an appeal over a decision to free him on 200,000 pound bail for alleged sex crimes. British judge Howard…

The Air Force is barring its personnel from using work computers to view the Web sites of The New York Times and more than 25 other news organizations and blogs that have posted secret cables obtained by WikiLeaks, Air Force officials said…

The United Nations (UN) has moved towards imposing sanctions on anyone obstructing the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire, where President Laurent Gbagbo refuses to step down despite international recognition of Opposition Leader Alassane …

Oil prices eased on Tuesday, as investors continued to watch for new monetary policy announcements by China to tame high inflation, and ahead of U.S. oil industry stocks data. Data showing higher oil demand in China and the lack of any…

China said Tuesday it regretted the World Trade Organisation's rejection of its complaint against punitive US tariffs on Chinese tyres and would appeal "at an appropriate time". The commerce ministry said in a statement that it "regretted…

A Middle Eastern man killed in a blast in Stockholm was wearing a bomb belt and ready to attack a train station or department store when the device went off prematurely, Sweden's chief prosecutor said on Monday. Police were all but certain…

President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul hit its first major legal roadblock Monday, thrown into doubt by a federal judge's declaration that the heart of the sweeping legislation is unconstitutional. The decision handed…