WORLD

The Spanish government sold ?2.4 billion of debt on Thursday morning, with bonds due in 2015 carrying an average yield of 4.375 percent - a huge rise from an average yield of 2.89 percent in April.

Japan?s economy grew in the first three months of the year from the preceding quarter, boosted by reconstruction activities in regions hit by last year?s tsunami.

Afghanistan, bracing for a potential sharp decline in financial support from the West amid fears of a fresh military offensive by the Taliban insurgents, has demanded $4.1 billion a year for its security forces after the foreign troops pull out in 2014, ahead of the NATO summit starting Sunday.

North Korea has resumed construction on an experimental light water reactor, a move that could extend its capacity to produce more material for nuclear weapons, Web site 38North reported Thursday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to soften her stand on Greece Wednesday night, saying she was ready to discuss stimulus programs to get the Greek economy growing again and that she was committed to keeping Greece in the euro zone.

A group of retired Chinese Communist Party members have called for the resignation of Zhou Yongkang, the head of China's Public Security Ministry.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, announced Wednesday he has decided against moving across the country and running for Congress in Washington state.

Iran continues to send arms shipments to Syria in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban on weapons exports, according to a draft report by a U.N. panel released Wednesday.

The state of Vermont became on Wednesday the first in the United States to ban the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

The National Coalition For Men argues the true victims of domestic violence will be better served by the House Republican bill.

As the city invests in tech, Councilwoman Leticia James wishes that Mayor Bloomberg would to more to make sure Brooklyn doesn't get left out

Islamabad has ordered government officials to end a supply route blockade against NATO forces, said Pakistan Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira on Wednesday.

The financial markets appear to have already priced in Greece?s departure from the euro bloc.

James Abdnor, the former U.S. senator from South Dakota most known for ousting former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern from the senate seat, died Wednesday of natural causes. He was 89.

Prosecutors in Milan said in a statement on Wednesday that Bossi was being investigated for suspected fraud, while his sons Renzo and Riccardo were being investigated for alleged embezzlement.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff inaugurated on Wednesday a truth commission set up to investigate human rights abuses during the country's military regime 27 years after democracy was restored.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is again under fire for a draft study released late last year that suggests natural gas drilling contaminated ground water.

Picking up where Newt Gingrich left off, Vice President Joe Biden cast Mitt Romney's investment firm, Bain Capital, as an example of predatory capitalism that exploits workers.

While the Obama administration rejected to several section's of the House's proposed NDAA bill, a controversial indefinite detention provision for terrorism suspects was not among them.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave a rare television interview on Wednesday, appearing on Russia's official Rossia-24 news channel to tout the success of the May 7 parliamentary elections.

U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers kept the door open to a fresh round of monetary stimulus, citing downside risks to a moderately expanding economy, according to minutes for the central bank's April meeting.

Recent polls show that Greece's far-left Syriza party is poised to gain the most votes in the June 17 parliamentary elections. The news has many wondering exactly where the popular opposition party came from, what it represents, and how it would address Greece's crushing debt burden while living up to its promise of abolishing austerity.

Interestingly, Martine Aubry, the leader of the Socialist party rejected an offer to head a super ministry.

Tsipras has said he wants Greece to remain in the euro zone, but has demanded that bailout agreements be renegotiated by providing more favorable terms.

A team of U.N. observers was evacuated from a Syrian town after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb Tuesday, following an attack by gunmen on a funeral procession that killed at least 20 people. No U.N. personnel were reported injured, though the team had to spend the night among rebel fighters until they could be safely escorted out of the area.

The Obama administration has joined Democratic lawmakers in denouncing a Republican-sponsored measure to renew the Violence Against Women Act, saying the bill rolls back needed safeguards against domestic violence.

The Japanese government and local companies will buy a 10 percent stake in Chevron Corp. (CVX)'s Wheatstone natural gas field in Australia for 350 billion yen ($4.37 billion), Nikkei newspaper reported.

A new blend of ethanol in gasoline could likely cause billions in damages to millions of engines across the country said a final report released by the Coordinating Research Council on Wednesday.

Former Colombian Interior Minister Fernando Londono narrowly survived a car bomb blast in Bogota that claimed the lives of at least two bodyguards on Wednesday.