CONGRESS

Reports of self-immolation in Tibet as the 18th National Party Congress opens have not been mentioned in local Chinese media.

An encouraged Barack Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House for the beginning of fiscal-cliff talks next week.

Some skeptics have questioned whether the upbeat reading on China's economic activity can be believed.

Going over the cliff could tip the U.S. economy back in to a recession, economists agree.

On the eve of China's 18th Communist Party Congress, a survey finds 80 percent of Chinese citizens political reform, as well as continued prosperity.

The House retained its Republican leadership, but the results of several races are still up in the air.

The Communist Party congress beginning this week is a very serious matter for the Chinese government, which will change leaders at the event. Beijing is cracking down on everything from kitchen knives to taxi windows as the date approaches.

A bill lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 in Argentina has been approved by congress and will go into effect in time for the mid-term elections next year.

Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna has stepped down, indicating an outflow of aging officials from India's cabinet.

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney hold diametrically opposite views on how to pay for the nation’s welfare programs.

Higher walls and more manpower would not have stopped the assault that killed the U.S. Ambassador to Libya. According to diplomatic security officers, we should expect more of the same trouble.

Robert Vadra, the businessman son-in-law of India’s Congress-led ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairman Sonia Gandhi, deserves some credit for the clever wordplay that he has offered to define a nation and its people.

More than 70 members of Congress have, in recent years, backed legislation that would directly benefit either them or family members, according to The Washington Post.

Lonmin miners who went on strike last month have agreed to a 22 percent pay raise and will return to work this week. But the strike has taken a toll on South Africa's economy, and other mines still face unrest.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the state of West Bengal, declared that her party, the All India Trinamool Congress ? currently the second largest segment of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition ? could no longer cooperate with the UPA.

The taxpayer-owned Fannie Mae paid more than legally required to Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) and 12 other lenders when it spent $1.5 billion in termination fees for servicing rights on 1.1 million loans between 2008 and 2011. The mortgage giant argues that while it paid a premium over the minimum required price, it paid for the transfers at an ?appropriate rate.?

A federal judge has halted a recent court ruling that sharply questioned the federal government's power to indefinitely detain terror suspects -- but the issue won't be solved until later this month at the earliest.

Tax cuts for the rich don't seem to be associated with U.S. economic growth and instead are linked to a different outcome: greater income inequality in the U.S. These findings will likely fuel the already bitter political fight over extending the Bush tax cuts for upper-income groups.

The tech world is still buzzing over Samsung?s Galaxy S3, but a new rumor suggests that its successor, the Galaxy S4, will have a February 2013 release date. The next-generation flagship smartphone is said to be unveiled at a European technology expo this winter, company officials and local parts suppliers said to the Korea Times.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left interest rates unchanged but cut the cash reserve ratio for banks on Monday, disappointing market hopes that it would follow up the government's unexpected spate of bold reform measures by reducing borrowing costs.

The U.S. says there is no evidence at this point to indicate the attack on the American consulate was premeditated, but Libya suggests it was plotted by foreign extremists.