WORLD

The International Monetary Fund is highly unlikely to approve Ukraine's request to restructure $3 billion of loan repayments due this year, but the fact that the government is even considering such a move demonstrates the extent to which it is running out of options, according to Capital Economics.

India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday presented the budget for 2012-13 in the Parliament. Here are the highlights of the budget.

Following the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) leaving its repo rate unchanged at Thursday’s meeting and given that measures of activity have picked up recently and inflation is set to fall only gradually in the coming months, the forecast for rate cuts have been reduced to 100 basis points this year according to Capital Economics.

David Cameron and Barack Obama agree deal to release strategic oil supplies from government-controlled reserves in UK and US.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday released a new economic analysis that will be used to justify a critical final rule that will determine which companies will face new regulations of their derivatives trading.

Syrian regime forces pressed their military offensive in the northern province of Idlib Thursday, driving 1,000 refugees across the Turkish border as the bloody revolt against President Bashar al-Assad entered a second year with no sign of political solution.

A Seattle defense attorney who once represented Ted Bundy said Thursday he will represent the Army staff sergeant accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan.

The Environmental Protection Agency's new air pollution standards for natural gas wells will cost state and federal treasuries billions of dollars in delayed taxes and royalties, the American Petroleum Institute said.

A panel of federal appeals judges said Thursday that there's a "strong likelihood" a lower court's rejection of a $285 million civil-fraud settlement between the SEC and Citigroup will be overturned.

Rod Blagojevich's potty mouth has been causing him trouble for quite some time now.

Just as Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S.-based oil company, hoped to restart its offshore drilling operations in Brazilian waters, the company experienced a setback.

Meghan McCain is posing in April’s issue of Playboy.

The move comes amid a new wave of sanctions designed by the U.S. and EU to further pressure Tehran to halt its alleged development of nuclear weapons.

Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), plans to introduce legislation that would enact a 5 percent surtax on millionaires in exchange for the passage of a balanced-budget amendment.

New York State lawmakers passed a major pension reform deal following an arduous session that lasted through Wednesday night, according to the NYPost. The pension deal had already been approved by the State Senate and needed only to be passed by the Assembly before the new legislation was authorized.

Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 29 -- who appeared at a military check point in North Waziristan on Thursday -- told Pakistani officials that they escaped their Taliban captors.

This world is a brutal, hostile environment. This is a simple fact, regardless of what you believe about God or humanity’s origins.

Chevron on Thursday continued its attempts at not paying billions in environmental fines for pollution the company says it didn't commit.

Ali Akbar Javanfekr, who serves as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's press adviser, also warned that in the event that Israel attacks Iran, a counter-strike by the Islamic Republic would include not only Israel, but also U.S. targets.

China's foreign direct investment in February fell for the fourth straight month as companies tightened spending amid a slowdown in the world's second-largets economy and the ongoign European sovereign debt crisis.

The pair urged support for UN special envoy Kofi Annan in his bid to gather full Security Council backing for a resolution denouncing the crackdown by Syrian government forces on the opposition anti-Assad movement.

While 14 years is a hefty sentence, Blagojevich may have some consolation in that the Colorado federal prison he will be calling home is a low-security institution that offers plenty of amenities and resources.

President Barack Obama responded to attacks made by Republicans about his energy policy, arguing that the GOP strategy to lower gas prices was ignoring the facts.

Britain has decided to cooperate with the United States in a bilateral agreement to release strategic oil stocks, two British sources said, in an effort to prevent high fuel prices from derailing economic growth in an election year.

President Barack Obama would vastly outperform his Republican opponent among Latino voters -- a rapidly-growing voting bloc that could prove decisive in several swing states in 2012, according to a new Fox News Latino poll.

A senior Republican senator on Thursday warned the White House that passing legislation to bolster trade relations with Russia won't be a slam dunk because of concerns over that country's record on human rights and foreign policy actions.

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is expected to release a much-anticipated documentary on Thursday, and Republicans have already crafted a visual pre-emptive response.

The agreement, originally signed in July 2007, was only ratified by the U.S. congress after a renegotiation to address complaints from the American auto industry.

The popular regional politician had been rumored to be in consideration for a promotion to the powerful Politburo Standing Committee ahead of a radical shake-up expected at the Communist Party's upcoming congress.