Africa/International

Admittedly wary of losing touch, President Barack Obama returned to the comfort of backyard politics on Wednesday, assuring a polite gathering of middle-class neighbors that the economy is coming around "slowly but surely." At the…

Public sector workers in South Africa have begun an indefinite strike after rejecting the government's offer of a pay rise. Unions affiliated with Cosatu, South Africa's main union federation, have been holding out for an 8.6% rise, more…

President Barack Obama earned his lowest marks ever on his handling of the economy in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, which also found that an overwhelming majority of Americans now describe the nation's financial outlook as poor. A…

More than 60,000 holidaymakers were facing disruption to their plans on Wednesday after the collapse of budget travel firm Kiss Flights. The British-based company, which operated flights to Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands,…

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, launched a hostile $39 billion bid for Potash Corp after the Canadian fertilizer group's board rejected the world's largest takeover offer this year. BHP Billiton said on Wednesday it was submitting…

Climate change and spreading forests killed off the woolly mammoth and its big mammal cousins - not spear-wielding humans, a major new study has concluded. The demise of the mammoth and other extinct "megafauna", such as the woolly rhino,…

BP has picked Wednesday as the deadline for accepting claims from people and businesses affected by the Gulf oil disaster. After that, the oil giant will direct people to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, led by attorney Kenneth Feinberg.…

India has asked Tata Teleservices to ensure monitoring capability for BlackBerry services by August 31, the company said on Tuesday. "We have received a letter ... asking us to ensure that legal intervention capability is put in place for…

Asian markets mostly posted tentative gains Tuesday as a steady drumbeat of bad news about the global economic recovery kept new bets to a minimum. After Japan on Monday became the latest major economy to report slower growth in the second…

An occasional chocolate treat can help prevent heart failure in older women, research suggests. One or two servings of good-quality chocolate a week reduced the risk of middle-aged and elderly women developing the condition by almost a…