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11/11/2010 07:04 AM

Bloomberg Took Secret Path to a New Schools Chief

The secrecy around Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s selection of Cathleen P. Black to run the city’s schools highlighted his faith in business leaders and dislike of public debate.

11/11/2010 08:28 AM

Tentative Deal in Iraq Keeps Maliki in Power

Iraq’s leaders reached a tentative agreement to end an eight-month political impasse and return Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to power.

11/11/2010 07:14 AM

Wal-Mart Says ‘Try This On’: Free Shipping

Starting Thursday, Wal-Mart plans to offer free shipping on its Web site, a move that may create an expectation among consumers and a threat to smaller retailers.

11/11/2010 08:28 AM

Life in Shadows for Mentally Ill in China, With Violent Flares

Psychiatry has been revived in China, but mental health remains a medical backwater, desperately short of financing, practitioners and esteem.

11/11/2010 08:15 AM

Music Review: For Nashville’s Royalty, the Shake-Up Goes On

Victories for Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert at the Country Music Awards were only some of the signs that Nashville is coming to terms with a new establishment.

11/11/2010 08:17 AM

Obama Warns North Korea in Speech

President Obama said North Korea faces further isolation unless it gives up nuclear weapons.

11/11/2010 07:20 AM

Drug Suits Raise Questions for Doctors, and Juries

As recent lawsuits suggest a long-term risk, doctors and drug makers are debating the use of osteoporosis drugs.

11/11/2010 07:59 AM

U.S. Struggles to Restore Middle East Talks

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Egyptian officials, trying to overcome an impasse.

11/11/2010 06:33 AM

Political Times: Alaska May Offer a View to Future Elections

The last undecided Senate race could be weird politics or it could be an indicator of the rise of the independent voter.

11/11/2010 07:14 AM

Countries See Hazards in Free Flow of Capital

Foreign capital in emerging markets has played a crucial role in development, but some are questioning its benefits.

11/11/2010 08:10 AM

Cuomo Visits Sing Sing and a Psychiatric Center

At a prison and a psychiatric center, Governor-elect Andrew M. Cuomo spoke of wasteful spending and needed services.

11/11/2010 07:48 AM

U.S. Tweaks Message on Troops in Afghanistan

The Obama administration is emphasizing the idea that the United States will have forces in Afghanistan until at least the end of 2014, which is a change in tone.

11/11/2010 08:05 AM

New Yorkers From Mexico Escorted Miner in Race

Juan Jesus Lopez and Rene Cuahuizo couldn’t afford the entrance fees for this year’s New York City Marathon, but had a chance to run with Edison Peña, the Chilean miner.

11/11/2010 08:10 AM

Lichtenstein Tops Warhol in Auction

Christie’s sale totaled $272.8 million, and featured instantly recognizable Pop Art images that virtually screamed their creators’ names.

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05/19/2012 06:34 AM

G8 leaders broadly united on Iran and Syria: U.S. official

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - Group of Eight leaders agreed in their initial discussions at Camp David on Friday that Iran needs to disclose more about its nuclear ambitions and that it was time to focus on a political transition in Syria, a U.S. official said. The leaders, including newly elected French President Francois Hollande and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, also stressed North Korea needed to adhere to international norms on nuclear issues and said it would face more isolation if it "continues down the path of provocation," the official said. ...

05/19/2012 01:40 AM

Obama, Hollande agree on much - but not Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New French President Francois Hollande told President Barack Obama on Friday that he will stick by his pledge to withdraw France's troops from Afghanistan at year's end, a note of discord in an otherwise convivial first meeting between the two leaders. "I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the French people to the effect that our combat troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012," Hollande said after Oval Office talks with Obama. "That being said, we will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way," he said. ...

05/19/2012 06:37 AM

Obama presses ailing Europe to focus on growth

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - A growing chorus of world leaders on Friday pushed for a shift toward more pro-growth policies to help ease a European crisis that threatens to oust Greece from the euro zone and reverberate throughout the global economy. Setting the tone for a weekend G8 summit, President Barack Obama aligned himself with the new French president's drive for more economic stimulus in recession-plagued Europe, in a swipe at the tough austerity programs that have been spearheaded by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. ...

05/19/2012 07:59 AM

Chinese activist Chen on way to airport, bound for U.S.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has allowed blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng to leave a hospital in Beijing for the United States, a U.S.-based Christian advocacy group said on Saturday. Chen Guangcheng told Bob Fu, the president of Texas-based ChinaAid, that he and his family were heading to the Beijing airport now, according to an emailed statement from the group. Chen and his family "were informed to pack up and get ready to leave China" for the United States on Saturday, the statement said. Chen could not immediately be reached for comment. ...

05/19/2012 05:23 AM

Iran may seek "tactical gain" with U.N. nuclear deal

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog are making headway towards a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about its atomic activity, diplomats say, a potential bargaining chip for Tehran in next week's negotiations with world powers. Iran says such an agreement is needed before it can consider a request by U.N. inspectors to visit the Parchin military site where they believe explosives tests relevant for developing nuclear weapons may have been carried out. ...

05/18/2012 11:18 PM

Syria forces kill two in Damascus as thousands rally

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shot two protesters in the capital Damascus on Friday and fired in the air to break up thousands of anti-government demonstrators in the commercial hub of Aleppo, activists said. It was the second consecutive day of street protests in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, where a visit by U.N. ceasefire monitors a day earlier saw demonstrators mass outside the gates of the Aleppo University before security forces drove them off. ...

05/18/2012 02:16 PM

Poll shows Greece electing pro-bailout government

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek voters are returning to the establishment parties that negotiated its bailout, a poll showed on Thursday, offering potential salvation for European leaders who say a snap Greek election next month will decide whether it must quit the euro. The poll, the first conducted since talks to form a government collapsed and a new election was called for June 17, showed the conservative New Democracy party in first place, several points ahead of the radical leftist SYRIZA which has pledged to tear up the bailout. ...

05/18/2012 11:43 PM

Strauss-Kahn countersuit: Opening the door to his sexual past?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn struck back this week at the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault with a sharply worded countersuit claiming defamation, but lawyers say the filing could backfire. Legal experts say Strauss-Kahn's lawsuit could give New York maid Nafissatou Diallo's attorneys greater freedom to present evidence of Strauss-Kahn's sexual history, including allegations involving other women. ...

05/18/2012 09:38 PM

Hopes fading for swift U.S., Pakistan deal on Afghan supply routes

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Obama administration may be not be able to strike a long-awaited agreement with Pakistan to help supply Western soldiers in Afghanistan as hoped in time for a major NATO summit in Chicago this weekend, a U.S. official said. "There's a distinct possibility that we may not see an agreement before the end of this weekend," the U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. "But talks are progressing and we do expect to reach a deal in the near future. ...

05/18/2012 11:24 PM

Police detain 400 "Blockupy" activists in Frankfurt

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German police said they detained 400 anti-capitalist protesters in Frankfurt on Friday for defying a ban on demonstrations against austerity policies implemented to tackle the intensifying euro zone debt crisis. The demonstration in the German financial capital was part of a four-day-long "Blockupy" protest, due to run until Saturday, against capitalism and austerity measures. "Hungry? Eat a banker," read one banner protesters held up outside the Messeturm skyscraper housing Goldman Sachs' offices. Reuters' Frankfurt office is also in the building. ...

05/19/2012 08:02 AM

Blind China activist preparing to head to US

A blind Chinese activist whose escape from a rural village set off a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and Washington says he is at an airport waiting to leave for the United States.

05/19/2012 05:46 AM

Iran, Syria among top for G-8 and NATO

President Barack Obama and leaders of other major industrial powers grappled Friday with options to solidify world resolve against development of an Iranian nuclear bomb and encourage a more forceful response to worsening violence in Syria.

05/19/2012 07:09 AM

Divided but peaceful 2 years after Thai violence

Just two years ago, Thailand was at war with itself. Rifle shots and exploding grenades rang out in Bangkok as troops crushed through barricades to disperse a nine-week-old insurrection. A retired nurse was the last to capitulate.

05/19/2012 05:58 AM

Canada pleased with Chinese smuggler's sentence

The Canadian government says it is pleased that a high-profile Chinese smuggler who had been extradited from Canada has received a life sentence, and not the death penalty.

05/19/2012 07:31 AM

73-year-old Japanese woman scales Mount Everest

A 73-year-old Japanese woman has climbed Mount Everest, smashing her own record to again become the oldest woman to scale the world's highest mountain.

05/19/2012 12:11 AM

Largest protests yet in Syria's biggest city

Syrian forces on Friday fired on protesters holding the largest opposition marches yet in Aleppo, a sign of rising anti-regime sentiment in the country's biggest city, which has largely remained supportive of President Bashar Assad throughout the 15-month uprising.

05/18/2012 11:00 PM

UK surveillance program could expose private lives

British officials have given their word: "We won't read your emails."

05/18/2012 11:49 PM

Greek politics, Spain banks test eurozone survival

Chaos in Greek politics and Spanish banking combined this week to underscore just how fragile Europe's economy remains after an eviscerating austerity regime that has spawned unemployment, desperation and misery. And there is no respite in sight, as Germany's finance minister predicted Friday that the crisis could last up to another two years.

05/18/2012 07:29 PM

Diplomats: Nuclear agency chief to visit Tehran

The U.N. nuclear agency chief will fly to Tehran over the weekend to sign a deal meant to allow his organization to resume a long- stalled search for evidence that Iran worked on developing nuclear arms, the agency and diplomats said Friday.

05/19/2012 02:14 AM

France's Hollande sticking to early Afghan pullout

In his first visit to the Oval Office, French President Francois Hollande declared he will withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by year's end, making clear to President Barack Obama the timeline for ending the U.S.-led war will not trump a campaign pledge that helped Hollande gain his new job.

World: World News, International News, Foreign Reporting - The Washington Post

05/19/2012 02:59 AM

Chinese communist leaders denounce U.S. values but send children to U.S. colleges

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — When scholars gathered at Harvard last month to discuss the political tumult convulsing China’s ruling Communist Party, a demure female undergraduate with a direct stake in the outcome was listening intently from the top row of the lecture hall. She was the daughter of Xi Jinping, China’s vice president and heir apparent for the party’s top job.

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05/19/2012 08:31 AM

Chen Guangcheng leaves Beijing hospital, headed for U.S.

BEIJING — Blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng, who emerged at the center of a diplomatic row between the U.S. and China, was at Beijing’s airport Saturday afternoon in the company of American diplomats and was about to leave for an uncertain new life in the United States.

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05/19/2012 08:31 AM

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05/19/2012 02:07 AM

$642.5 billion defense bill is approved by House

The House approved a bill Friday that would provide $642.5 billion in defense spending for the next fiscal year, despite a veto threat from the White House, which objected to a series of provisions that would limit the president’s authority and challenge administration policies.

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05/19/2012 12:51 AM

Egypt’s generals to redraw powers of presidency on eve of vote to fill post

CAIRO — Egypt’s military chiefs are expected to issue a constitutional declaration redrawing the powers of the presidency before polls open Wednesday for the country’s first presidential vote since autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, according to state media reports.

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05/18/2012 09:51 PM

U.N. nuclear chief to make unscheduled visit to Tehran

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Friday he will travel to Iran over the weekend on a previously unscheduled visit to try to resolve an impasse over access to Iranian nuclear documents and scientists.

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05/18/2012 09:38 PM

Syrian opposition buoyed by Aleppo rallies

BEIRUT — More than 10,000 protesters poured onto the streets of Syria’s commercial hub, Aleppo, on Friday, a sign that a city that had remained relatively quiet as an uprising swept the country has been galvanized into activity.

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05/18/2012 09:24 PM

Germans deny Merkel suggested Greek vote on euro

ATHENS — What did Angela Merkel really say?

The Greek press buzzed late Friday when the office of freshly inaugurated Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos issued a statement saying Merkel, the German chancellor, had suggested that Greece should hold a referendum on the euro.

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05/18/2012 06:07 PM

World on their shoulders, Greeks face epic choice

ATHENS — Homeward bound after the Trojan War, Odysseus of Greek myth had to pick a path through seas harboring a monster with six heads and a whirlpool that digested ships whole. Now, whether modern Greece exits the euro — potentially triggering global economic turmoil in the process — depends on the tough choices of Ivi Moreti and her 11 million countrymen.

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05/19/2012 02:15 AM

The man behind D.C.’s Argentine Festival

Daniel Manzoni holds the phone in his hand and waits for it to ring. The caller will be a talk-show host from Radio La Jefa (Boss Radio) 700 AM. He will want to hear about the annual Argentine Festival this Saturday evening in Arlington. Manzoni runs the festival as if his life depended on it — which, at a certain existential level, it does.

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05/19/2012 01:29 AM

Finding forgiveness after Charles Taylor

Last month a court in The Hague found former Liberian president Charles Taylor guilty of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in fueling a 10-year, bloody conflict in Sierra Leone. The verdict capped a trial that itself had dragged on for years and had been punctuated by moments of sensationalism, such as Wikileaks revelations and the testimonies of supermodel Naomi Campbell and actress Mia Farrow.

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05/18/2012 04:26 PM

Frequent flier miles and a practically free trip around the world

The two male lions in the brush, their manes unkempt and their stomachs empty, awakened slowly as twilight descended upon the South African sky. The elder of the two, the pride’s leader, barked to his lionesses in the distance, signaling that it was time to hunt. His breath floated through the chilly air as his roar reverberated through the rails of our Jeep.

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05/18/2012 11:53 PM

Interview with Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto

Mexico City

According to the most recent polls, 45-year-old Enrique Peña Nieto, the presidential candidate of Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is poised to win the election on July 1. Peña Nieto’s political career began in the state of Mexico, working for the governor. In 2005, when he was 38, he won the governorship himself.

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05/18/2012 10:37 PM

Retail rent on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue soars

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price for staking ground on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue jumped 22 percent in the past year, spurred by a record number of tourists spending their dollars at top U.S. and international retailers on America's most coveted shopping ground. The asking rent for street-level stores on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 59th streets rose to $2,750 per square foot this spring, the Real Estate Board of New York said in a report released Friday. ...

05/18/2012 10:18 PM

Jury deliberations in Edwards trial to resume next week

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Jurors weighing whether former U.S. Senator John Edwards illegally used campaign funds to conceal an extramarital affair when he ran for president headed home on Friday and will resume deliberations next week. A judge let the jury go for the weekend after 5-1/2 hours of discussions. Earlier Friday, jurors asked to review more than a dozen prosecution exhibits. Among the evidence they requested were notes from Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, a wealthy donor to Edwards' campaign, and testimony from her lawyer, Alex Forger. ...

05/19/2012 06:02 AM

Alabama governor signs bill tweaking immigration law

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Alabama's governor signed into law revisions to the state's controversial immigration statute on Friday, despite his earlier suggestions he might veto the measure because it did not make enough changes to the toughest state crackdown against illegal immigrants. Republican Governor Robert Bentley had publicly urged lawmakers to modify sections of the law that took effect last year and which sparked lawsuits by the Obama administration and immigrant rights groups that argued it is unconstitutional. ...

05/19/2012 03:58 AM

Police nab airline pilot with loaded gun in luggage

BUFFALO, New York (Reuters) - An airline pilot was arrested Friday morning at Buffalo Niagara International Airport after security screeners discovered a loaded revolver in his baggage. Brett Dieter, 52, of Barbersville, Virginia, arrived at the upstate New York airport Friday to pilot a flight to New York City's LaGuardia International Airport for Piedmont Airlines, a passenger airline that subcontracts under U.S. Airways. While at a security checkpoint, a scan of Dieter's bag revealed a .357 magnum revolver loaded with five rounds. ...

05/19/2012 05:42 AM

California judge allows cremation of remains in paupers' cemetery

FAIRFAX, California (Reuters) - Relatives of a pioneer buried in a paupers' cemetery unearthed by construction crews beneath the parking lot of a California hospital implored a judge on Friday to spare Anna Cardenas from cremation and allow them to give her a Catholic burial. Following a hearing in San Jose on the fate of a long-forgotten cemetery for indigent patients like Cardenas, who died in 1915, Judge Thomas Cain granted Santa Clara County permission to exhume 100 pine coffins buried at the site. ...

05/19/2012 02:26 AM

Soldier to stand trial for 2009 Iraq shooting

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier accused of killing five fellow servicemen at a military combat stress center in Baghdad in 2009 has been ordered to stand trial in a U.S. military court, officials said on Friday. Sergeant John Russell, who could face the death penalty if convicted, is accused of going on a shooting spree at Camp Liberty, near the Baghdad airport, in an assault the military said at the time could have been triggered by combat stress. ...

05/19/2012 01:55 AM

Texas town settles council election with coin flip

(Reuters) - In the small Texas town of Wolfforth, it's "Heads I win." A city council election there came down to a coin toss on Friday. After church administrator Bruce MacNair and banker Bryan Studer wrapped up last Saturday's election with 118 votes each, the men agreed to settle the town's first electoral tie with the flip of a coin. A special election to decide a winner would have cost "north of $10,000," said Darrell Newsom, city manager of Wolfforth, population 3,600, which is southwest of Lubbock in the Texas Panhandle. "That's a lot of money for a small town like this," Newsom said. ...

05/19/2012 01:17 AM

Oregon bans American Indian team names, mascots for schools

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The Oregon state board of education has banned public schools from using American Indian names and mascots for their athletic teams, out of a concern they disparage native American people. The move is believed to be one of the nation's most sweeping prohibitions of its kind in favor of native Americans who say their culture is stereotyped by a number of sports teams. It follows years of controversy surrounding a range of teams, from the Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball to the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. ...

05/19/2012 02:00 AM

Bride's suspected killer may have fled to U.S.-Mexican border

MCALLEN, Texas (Reuters) - A man suspected of killing his newlywed bride near Chicago and leaving her in a bathtub in the same silver sequin cocktail dress she wore to her wedding reception may have fled to the U.S.-Mexican border in Texas, an FBI affidavit showed. Arnoldo Jimenez, 30, has been on the run since a relative found his wife, Estrella Carrera, stabbed to death in a bathtub on Sunday, two days after the wedding, police in Burbank, Illinois, said in a statement. The relative found Carrera, 25, after she failed to pick up her two young children, ages 2 and 8, on Saturday. ...

05/18/2012 10:41 PM

Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge charged with corruption

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin was charged on Friday with illegally using her taxpayer-funded staff to campaign for her seat on the state's highest court. Orie Melvin was suspended from the bench on Friday, a day after nine criminal counts against her were recommended by a grand jury in Common Pleas Court in Allegheny County in Western Pennsylvania. She is the third sister in a prominent Pennsylvania political family to be charged with corruption. ...

05/19/2012 03:05 AM

Arizona towns at risk as wildfires hit U.S. Southwest

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona wildfire threatened two more towns on Friday, with high winds on the way, even as firefighters made progress against the largest of a string of blazes spreading across the U.S. Southwest. More than 1,000 firefighters in Arizona and Colorado were battling five major blazes that have consumed more than 55 square miles (142 square km) of ponderosa forest, brush and grass, and a new blaze erupted in Utah on Thursday. ...

05/19/2012 02:14 AM

EPA report outlines potential Pebble mine risks

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Large stretches of salmon-spawning streams and thousands of acres of wetlands would be wiped out if a large-scale mining project were to be built in southwestern Alaska's copper-rich Bristol Bay region, according to a report issued Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The report, while not directly addressing it, is a potential blow to the massive Pebble copper and gold mine operation proposed by an international alliance of mining interests, and opposed by environmentalists and local native groups. ...

05/19/2012 02:46 AM

Arizona elections chief seeks proof of Obama's citizenship

(Reuters) - Arizona's secretary of state said Friday he had asked officials in Hawaii to verify that Barack Obama was born in their state in order for the president's name to appear on the November ballot in Arizona. Ken Bennett, who is Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign co-chairman in Arizona, said he made the request on behalf of a constituent. Earlier this year, hardline Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that an investigation by his office had found that Obama's birth certificate was a forgery. ...

05/19/2012 02:25 AM

Maryland OKs out-of-state gay couple's right to divorce

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maryland's highest court on Friday recognized the previously denied divorce of a same-sex couple who wed in California but sought to divorce in Maryland, where gay marriage is not yet legal. The state's Court of Appeals ruled 7-0 that Jessica Port and Virginia Anne Cowan have the right to divorce in Maryland because they were legally married in 2008 in California. Maryland's Circuit Court for Prince George's County, where Port was a resident, denied their request for divorce in 2010 on the basis that it was invalid under Maryland law. ...

05/18/2012 11:58 PM

U.S. soldier to stand trial for 2009 Iraq shooting

05/19/2012 02:24 AM

California woman burned by flaming beach stones

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A California mother suffered severe burns from a handful of beach rocks that burst into flames in her pocket, and authorities on Friday said they are trying to determine why the stones appear to have been coated with flammable phosphorus. The woman was identified on Friday as Lyn Hiner, 43, when she appeared on ABC program "Good Morning America" from her hospital bed at a burn center. She is from San Clemente, which is midway between Los Angeles and San Diego. It is also near Camp Pendleton, the biggest U.S. ...

05/19/2012 01:57 AM

PJM secures capacity at base price of $136 per MW

(Reuters) - U.S. power grid operator PJM said Friday its capacity auction secured a record amount of new generation, demand response and energy efficiency resources for the 2015/2016 delivery year to keep the grid reliable as dozens of coal plants retire. PJM said the auction, known as the Reliability Pricing Model (RPM) auction, procured 164,561 megawatts (MW) of capacity resources at a base price of $136 per MW, making the auction worth more than $8.l billion. That was a little lower than the $150-$190 base price forecasts range of some energy analysts. ...

05/18/2012 11:25 PM

Pilot killed in military jet crash in Southern California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A military jet crashed into a farm field near a naval station in Southern California on Friday, killing the pilot who was the only person on board, a fire department spokesman said. The pilot was in a Hawker Hunter jet owned by a company that contracts with the military to offer planes for training, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Steve Swindle said. ...

05/18/2012 11:24 PM

Arizona towns at risk as wildfires hit Southwest

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona wildfire threatened two more towns on Friday, with high winds on the way, as firefighters made progress against the largest of several fires spreading across the U.S. Southwest. More than 1,000 firefighters in Arizona and Colorado were battling five major blazes that have consumed more than 55 square miles (142 square km) of ponderosa forest, brush and grass, and a new blaze erupted in Utah on Thursday. ...

05/18/2012 11:45 PM

Judge might split Guantanamo trial of 9/11 suspects

MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. military judge is considering splitting up the trial of five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks because of conflicts in scheduling and strategy, lawyers in the case said on Friday. The defendants, including the professed mastermind of the hijacked plane attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are to appear in court at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba on June 12 for the next pretrial hearing in the death penalty case. ...

05/19/2012 01:25 AM

Half of Florida high school students fail reading test

MIAMI (Reuters) - Nearly half of Florida high school students failed the reading portion of the state's new toughened standardized test, education officials said on Friday. Results this year from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test showed 52 percent of freshman students and 50 percent of sophomores scored at their grade levels. Students in the 10th grade must pass the exam in order to eventually graduate but can retake it if they fail. The results came days after the Florida State Board of Education voted to lower the standards needed to pass the writing part of the test, known as FCAT. ...

05/18/2012 11:57 PM

Thousands protest in Chicago before NATO summit

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested loudly but peacefully under the watchful eye of police at a downtown Chicago plaza on Friday, chanting mostly about economic issues that have little to do with the summit of the NATO military alliance this weekend. Police estimated about 2,500 people took part in the largest protest so far in a week of demonstrations before President Barack Obama and representatives from some 60 countries arrive for the two-day summit to discuss the war in Afghanistan and other international security issues. ...

05/18/2012 11:45 PM

Ohio newborn killed by family pit bull mix dog

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A 3-day-old girl died hours after being bitten on the head by a pit bull mix dog as she sat in an infant swing at her family's home in Ohio, authorities said on Friday. No arrests were pending in the death on Thursday of Makayla Darnell, said Chief Deputy James Everett of the Allen County Sheriff's Office in northwestern Ohio. The dog, a combination of a pit bull and another breed, was placed in a 10-day quarantine. ...

05/18/2012 10:52 PM

SpaceX test flight to space station seen as milestone

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An Obama administration plan to cut the cost of space flights faces a key test on Saturday when a privately owned rocket lifts off for a practice run aimed at the first private docking at the International Space Station. Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule are scheduled for launch at 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Meteorologists expect good conditions for a launch, but if weather or technical problems force a delay, Falcon 9's next opportunity to fly would be on Tuesday. ...

05/18/2012 11:35 PM

Convicted of hate crime, former Rutgers student gets gay support

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former Rutgers University student convicted of hate crimes for spying on his roommate's gay tryst is drawing support from a surprising group before his sentencing on Monday: gay advocates. Tyler Clementi, 18, committed suicide in 2010 after learning that Dharun Ravi used a computer-mounted camera to see him kissing his older man in their dorm room and used social media to encourage others to watch. ...

05/18/2012 10:47 PM

Review so far shows mad cow case was atypical

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators are searching for a dozen herdmates of the elderly California dairy cow that had mad cow disease, the Agriculture Department said on Friday, with all signs indicating it was a rare spontaneous case of the fatal brain-wasting illness. Two laboratories associated with the World Organization for Animal Health confirmed the cow had an atypical version of mad cow disease, USDA said. It was the same diagnosis as USDA tests. USDA said the investigation was moving toward completion. ...

05/18/2012 08:15 PM

Health secretary urges contraception compromise

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's top health official on Friday took the debate over whether healthcare coverage should include contraceptives to the campus of a Catholic university that has been deeply divided over the administration's policy. U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in a speech at Georgetown University a few miles from the White House, praised the new U.S. healthcare law requiring coverage and called for "conversation and compromise. ...

05/18/2012 11:36 PM

MF Global to get $168 million back from JPMorgan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co , under scrutiny for its ties to collapsed commodities firm MF Global, will return $168 million to the estate of MF's broker-dealer, the estate's trustee announced on Friday. James Giddens, tasked with winding down the estate and recovering as much money as possible for its trader clients who lost money when the firm went bust, said JPMorgan will return "excess collateral" that was held in its estate when the bankruptcy began. ...

05/18/2012 08:43 PM

U.S. soldier referred for court martial for 2009 Iraq shooting

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier accused of shooting dead five fellow servicemen at a military clinic in Baghdad in 2009 has been referred to stand trial by military court martial, Joint Base Lewis-McChord said on Friday. Sergeant John Russell, who could face the death penalty if convicted, faces five charges of premeditated murder, one charge of aggravated assault, and one charge of attempted murder. Russell, of the 54th Engineer Battalion based in Bamberg, Germany, is accused of going on a shooting spree at a combat stress center at Camp Liberty, near the Baghdad airport, in May 2009. ...

05/18/2012 07:34 PM

Appeals court affirms minority voting rights law

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a key provision of the landmark U.S. voting rights law aimed at protecting minorities in states and local areas with a history of racial discrimination. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a 2-1 decision said Congress did not exceed its power by renewing a requirement that nine states, mostly in the South, and dozens of local governments with a history of racial discrimination get federal permission to change their election procedures. ...

05/19/2012 02:46 AM

Arizona elections chief seeks proof of Obama's citizenship

05/19/2012 06:44 AM

California police arrest two in killing of Chinese students

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles police said Friday they have arrested two suspects in the killings of two Chinese graduate students slain near the University of Southern California last month. Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both 23, were fatally shot early on April 11 as they were sitting in a parked car outside Wu's rented home, a few blocks from the USC campus. Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19, were arrested on Friday without incident in swoops on two homes, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. Both men were charged with murder and are being held without bail. ...

05/19/2012 06:02 AM

Alabama governor signs bill tweaking immigration law

05/19/2012 05:42 AM

California judge allows cremation of remains in paupers' cemetery

05/19/2012 03:58 AM

Police nab airline pilot with loaded gun in luggage

05/19/2012 03:05 AM

Arizona towns at risk as wildfires hit U.S. Southwest

05/19/2012 02:26 AM

Soldier to stand trial for 2009 Iraq shooting

05/19/2012 02:25 AM

Maryland OKs out-of-state gay couple's right to divorce

05/19/2012 02:24 AM

California woman burned by flaming beach stones

05/19/2012 02:14 AM

EPA report outlines potential Pebble mine risks

BBC News - US & Canada

05/19/2012 04:02 AM

US baby boomers in Hep C warning

US baby boomers are advised to get tested for the liver-destroying virus hepatitis C, in a move health officials say could save 120,000 lives.

05/18/2012 10:49 PM

Facebook shares see modest debut

Facebook shares end a volatile first day of trading at $38.23, barely above the company's initial pricing, having initially jumped more than 10%.

05/19/2012 08:57 AM

Private spaceship set for launch

California's SpaceX company is preparing to launch to the space station - the first resupply mission to the orbiting outpost by a private company.

05/18/2012 11:10 PM

Maryland allows same-sex divorce

The highest court in Maryland allows gay couples to divorce, even though same-sex marriage is not yet allowed in that US state.

05/19/2012 04:18 AM

Quebec in emergency protest law

The government of Quebec passes an emergency bill in an effort to quell the most sustained student protests in Canadian history.

05/18/2012 04:20 AM

Zimmerman found with bloody nose

A Florida neighbourhood watch volunteer who shot an unarmed black teenager had a bloody nose and a cut on his head, according to police reports.

05/18/2012 03:01 PM

JP Morgan boss to testify in US

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon will appear before a Senate committee to explain the bank's $2bn trading loss on a failed hedging strategy.

05/19/2012 07:22 AM

Eurozone set to dominate G8 talks

US President Obama hosts an opening dinner for G8 leaders, discussing North Korea, Syria and Iran, with the eurozone crisis likely to top Saturday's agenda.

05/18/2012 09:43 PM

Romney ad makes 'day one' pledges

Republican candidate Mitt Romney releases his first TV ad of the general election, outlining a to-do list for his first day in the Oval Office.

05/17/2012 11:25 PM

US strike plan on Iran 'ready'

The US has plans in place to attack Iran if other measures fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel says.

05/18/2012 01:17 PM

China jails smuggler Lai for life

Lai Changxing, extradited from Canada to China to face smuggling and bribery charges, is jailed for life in China, state media says.

05/18/2012 10:59 AM

Obama leads Donna Summer tributes

President Obama joins music industry luminaries in paying tribute to Donna Summer after the disco star's death at the age of 63.

05/17/2012 06:40 PM

Man held for 'swallowing diamond'

A man is being held in custody until a $20,000 diamond he is believed to have swallowed passes through his system, Canadian police say.

05/16/2012 05:32 PM

Virgin Atlantic allows air calls

Passengers flying Virgin Atlantic from London to New York will soon be able to make in-flight phone calls using personal devices.

05/18/2012 06:35 PM

Yahoo jumps on Alibaba deal talk

Shares in internet giant Yahoo rise 5% on reports that it is close to selling its valuable stake in Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce company.

05/18/2012 01:35 AM

Float values Facebook at $104bn

Facebook prices its shares at $38 each ahead of one of the most eagerly anticipated share flotations in recent stock market history.

02/01/2012 05:21 PM

Canada country profile

Provides an overview of Canada, including key events and facts about the world's second-largest country

02/23/2012 12:36 PM

Puerto Rico profile

Provides and overview as well as facts and figures for this small dependency of the United States situated in the Caribbean

02/23/2012 06:03 PM

St Pierre and Miquelon profile

Provides an overview of what remains of France's once-extensive possessions in North America

01/27/2012 05:32 PM

United States country profile

Provides an overview of the United States, including key events and facts about this superpower

05/18/2012 04:04 PM

VIDEO: Beckham: 2012 a special year

David Beckham attends a ceremony in Athens where the Olympic flame is handed over to the UK delegation.

05/18/2012 06:57 AM

VIDEO: G8 leaders gather in the US

World leaders are gathering at Camp David in the US, for talks dominated by the unresolved crisis in the Eurozone.

05/18/2012 04:39 PM

VIDEO: Zuckerberg rings Nasdaq bell

In one of the largest and most high-profile share floatations of recent years, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, rang the opening bell of the Nasdaq exchange.

05/16/2012 08:33 AM

VIDEO: Arizona wildfire continues to rage

US firefighters are continuing to battle a growing wildfire near Crown King in Arizona, with dry conditions and high wind hampering efforts to contain it.

05/17/2012 10:02 PM

VIDEO: Tough auditions for NY subway acts

Passengers on New York's subway system are familiar with the sight of buskers performing for the crowds, but the musicians who play underground must be scrutinised before earning a spot there.

05/17/2012 08:59 AM

VIDEO: Soyuz spaceship docks at ISS

A Soyuz spacecraft has successfully docked with the International Space Station.

05/17/2012 10:13 AM

VIDEO: Horse rescue two miles out at sea

A photo shoot at a beach in California had to be stopped after the horse in the pictures panicked and bucked the rider off.

05/18/2012 07:13 AM

Obama's new friend

Obama will relish Francois Hollande's anti-austerity support

05/18/2012 11:31 AM

California expects Facebook boost

Californians hope of Facebook flotation windfall