By GREG KELLERAssociated PressPARISFrancois Hollande charged back into campaign mode Monday with momentum on his side to capture France’s presidency, after the Socialist won the most votes in the first round of voting that put him into a runoff with
PYONGYANG, North KoreaNorth Korea promised Monday to reduce South Korea’s conservative government “to ashes” in less than four minutes, in an unusually specific escalation of recent threats aimed at its southern rival. The statement by North Korea’s military, carried by
BY SLOBODAN LEKICAssociated PressLUXEMBOURGThe European Union on Monday suspended its sanctions against Myanmar for a year following a wave of widely praised political reforms in the country, but will retain an embargo on arms sales, officials said. The EU wants
(AP) Aging workforce strains Social Security, MedicareBy STEPHEN OHLEMACHERAssociated PressWASHINGTONAn aging population and an economy that has been slow to rebound are straining the long-term finances of Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two largest benefit programs. Those problems are
(AP) Auditors call for end to Medicare bonus programBy RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVARAssociated PressWASHINGTONIn a rebuke to the Obama administration, government auditors are calling for the cancellation of an $8 billion Medicare program that congressional Republicans have criticized as a political ploy.
The Associated Press is on the Obama bandwagon. The Associated Press‘s Andrew Taylor “reports” today that “Reducing government deficits Mitt Romney’s way would mean less money for health care for the poor and disabled and big cuts to nuts-and-bolts functions
(AP) IMF urges bold changes in EuropeBy HARRY DUNPHY and MARTIN CRUTSINGERAssociated PressWASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund, armed with a replenished arsenal containing billions of dollars to battle Europe’s lingering debt crisis, now must press governments in the eurozone to
(AP) Hugo Chavez’s weeklong silence spurs uncertaintyBy JORGE RUEDAAssociated PressCARACAS, VenezuelaVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been out of sight for a week, speaking only through Twitter messages and written statements while undergoing cancer treatment in Cuba. The lack of any
By JESSICA GRESKOAssociated PressWASHINGTONCharles Colson, the tough-as-nails special counsel to President Richard Nixon who went to prison for his role in a Watergate-related case and became a Christian evangelical helping inmates, has died. He was 80. Colson’s death was confirmed
(AP) Unauthorized biography spills Simon Cowell secretsBy JILL LAWLESSAssociated PressLONDONHe gets colonic irrigations, Botox injections and vitamin drips, and insists on black toilet paper in his home. A revealing new biography offers intimate _ some might say too intimate _
By GILLIAN WONGAssociated PressBEIJINGHer head was ringing from the blows. Once, twice, three times, her husband slammed her face into the living room floor. Kim Lee tried to twist her tall but skinny frame out from under his 91-kilogram (200-pound)
By AYA BATRAWYAssociated PressCAIROEgypt’s Islamist and secular forces sought to relaunch the street uprising against Egypt’s ruling military Friday, packing Cairo’s Tahrir Square with tens of thousands of protesters in the biggest rally in months and accusing the generals of
By NASSER KARIMIAssociated PressTEHRAN, IranIran’s ground forces commander warned that should diplomacy fail, the military is ready for action over a disputed Gulf island controlled by Iran but also claimed by the United Arab Emirates, state TV reported Thursday. Gen.
By JOHN HEILPRINAssociated PressGENEVAThe Swiss government has extended its financial sanctions against Iran by freezing the assets of 11 more companies and people but decided not to take any action against Tehran’s central bank, officials said Wednesday. The action against
OSLO, NorwayConfessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik’s original plans for a terror attack was to bomb Oslo’s government district, the Labor Party’s office and a third target, possibly the royal palace, he told a court Thursday. The far-right fanatic has
(AP) Wisconsin governor greeted as Republican rock starBy SCOTT BAUER and SEAN MURPHYAssociated PressOKLAHOMA CITYThe preacher’s son laughed and joked as he took a seat among the biggest players in Oklahoma politics, some of whom paid $10,000 to break bread
(AP) Scorching talk: Romney, Obama battle over economyBy DAVID ESPO and NANCY BENACAssociated PressCHARLOTTE, N.C.Their battle joined, challenger Mitt Romney savaged President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy on Wednesday while the commander in chief commiserated up close with victims
By KARL RITTERAssociated PressOSLO, NorwayNorway’s prison terms are “pathetic,” mass killer Anders Behring Breivik declared Wednesday in court, claiming the death penalty or a full acquittal were the “only logical outcomes” for his massacre of 77 people. The right-wing fanatic
By KARL RITTERAssociated PressOSLO, NorwayNorwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik insisted Tuesday he would massacre 77 people all over again, calling his July rampage the most “spectacular” attack by a nationalist militant since World War II. Reading a prepared statement in
By ALAN CLENDENNINGAP Business WriterMADRIDArgentina’s President Cristina Fernandez is attempting to quell increasing unrest at home and boost her popularity with an “unlawful” bid to nationalize YPF, the Argentine oil unit of Spanish energy firm Repsol, the company’s president claimed
By KARIN LAUBAssociated PressBEIRUTThe Syrian regime widened artillery attacks on opposition strongholds Tuesday in another sign that the U.N.-brokered cease-fire is quickly unraveling despite the presence of foreign observers, activists said. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he is asking the
When Barack Obama beat McCain in 2008, he immediately began pushing to fulfill his campaign promise to “fundamentally change” this country. And one of the key areas for that fundamental change was energy (and energy policy). In that arena he
The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting Monday for documenting the New York Police Department’s widespread spying on potential terror suspects.
By CIARAN GILESAssociated PressMADRIDSpain’s cost of borrowing on the international debt markets rose sharply again Monday, increasing concern that the country may become the latest member of the eurozone to seek a financial bailout. The yield _ the interest rate
By ZEINA KARAMAssociated PressBEIRUTAn advance team of U.N. observers was negotiating the ground rules with Syrian authorities Monday for monitoring the country’s 5-day-old cease-fire, which appeared to be rapidly unraveling as regime forces pounded the opposition stronghold of Homs with
