WORLD

In Saudi Arabia, the woman sentenced to flogging for driving a car has been pardoned by King Abdullah.

Two economic reports released Thursday may give encouragement to the U.S. stock market's bull, or those who calculate the market is headed higher -- initial jobless claims plunged 37,000 to 391,000 last week and U.S. GDP in second quarter was revised slightly higher, to 1.3 percent from 1.0 percent.

The Greek government faces the unenviable task of cutting tens of thousands of public sector jobs as demanded by Eurozone officials in exchange for the next tranche of bailout money for the beleaguered nation.

American student Amanda Knox was a naive young woman publicly crucified and impaled to justify wrongly imprisoning her for murder, her lawyer told an Italian court on Thursday.

Nokia shares have plunged almost 49 percent year-to-date.

Poor women are more than twice as likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than their higher income counterparts, a trend that could contribute to the growing social divide in the U.S.

Typhoon Nesat hit Hainan Island in South China on Thursday after it had struck Hong Kong forcing markets, schools and businesses to close in one of Asia's most important financial centers.

Army defectors in Syria have reportedly started launching attacks on government forces, suggesting that the long drawn-out rebellion has reached an inflection point.

Germany's parliament approved new powers for the Eurozone's crisis fund on Thursday with a large majority.

Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, has begun which will include 10 days of repentance leading up to the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.

India and Pakistan agreed on Wednesday to further liberalise trade flows with tentative moves such as opening a second customs post and issuing more visas, seen as bolstering a fragile peace process between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

India is moving quickly on a plan to open its $450 billion retail sector to global players such as Wal-Mart, the country's industry secretary said on Wednesday, in a sign the government may be pressing ahead with a key reform.

South Africa needs to work harder to boost the current sluggish rate of creating jobs, with the employment still well below 2008 levels, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is hurting investor confidence and stalling recovery by promoting a law to force the transfer of foreign-owned firms to local ownership, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ruled that the law enacted by West Bengal state government to return a piece of land to farmers from the present occupant India's Tata Motors, was constitutional and valid.

Global energy prices that have remained steadily high restrict the elbow room for monetary policy response, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India said, highlighting the uphill task the bank faces in its fight against stubbornly high inflation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a battle for her political survival on Thursday when some of her coalition, worried about throwing good money after bad by bailing out Greece, could humiliate her in a parliament vote on euro-zone rescue schemes.

A survey by Daily Kos/Service Employees International Union found that 66 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of self-described Tea Party faction members support raising the tax rate on individuals making more than $1 million a year.

Mitt Romney is back in the lead for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday. Support for Rick Perry has fallen after his lackluster debate performances, and Herman Cain has surged.

Obama discusses immigration reform at roundtable.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday the United States should take a que from robust emerging market economies and support strong GDP growth through responsible fiscal policy.

Chris Christie's speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Tuesday did not include a declaration of his presidential candidacy -- but it didn't rule one out, either. All the same, the prospects of him running are extremely slim.

As New York police officers disperse and fence in Occupy Wall Street protesters, a situation that has led to one highly-publicized pepper spraying incident, questions about First Amendment violations have been raised by the supporters of the demonstrators.

Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon might be garnering all of the headlines about the Occupy Wall Street protests, but not everyone down at Zuccotti Park is comfortable with that.

Based on unsubstantiated reports in an Italian newspaper, GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann warned Wednesday that the United States could be facing another Cuban Missile Crisis, but from Hezbollah, the Middle Eastern terror group.

Polls point to a minority government in Canada's economic powerhouse of Ontario after provincial elections next week, amid disillusionment with the ruling Liberals and disappointment with their main rivals.

Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor in Iran, faces the death penalty if he refuses to convert to Islam. Nadarkhani, who was arrested in 2009, has been given three chances to repent and convert to Islam. All three times he has refused. Nadarkhani will be given his fourth and final chance to give up Christianity on Wednesday, which he again declined.

The Florida legislature is planning to schedule the state's Republican presidential primary for Jan. 31, 2012, expressly violating party rules and further upsetting the 2012 election cycle.

A federal judge upheld a measure to require public schools to verify the citizenship of its students as well as another that allows police to detain suspected illegal immigrants without bond.