WORLD

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has an unspoken pact with the Turkish electorate: he delivers rapid economic growth, jobs and money, and voters let him shape what kind of democracy this Muslim nation of 74 million people becomes.

A judge Monday refused to release former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from police detention, increasing political tension around her trial on a charge of abuse of office.

A helicopter that crashed two days ago, killing 38 people in the worst single incident in 10 years of war in Afghanistan, was carrying elite troops sent to help comrades in a firefight when it was likely hit by a rocket fired by the Taliban, NATO forces said Monday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pressed on with a tank onslaught against a city on Monday, but was plunged deeper into international isolation by Arab neighbours who denounced his violent crackdown and recalled their envoys from Damascus.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has assured President Obama he will keep his position through the current term, despite calls for him to resign in light of the S&P downgrade.

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann attended an Iowa church service on Sunday where the pastor denounced homosexuality and implied that Christianity turned a gay man straight, offering further clues to how the candidate's religious beliefs and position on gay rights intertwine.

Jacqueline Kennedy believed Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was behind the assassination of her husband, according to tapes recorded by the former first lady just months after President John F. Kennedy's death, the Daily Mail reported.

Some investors, who were already jittery about the European debt crisis, and continued bad news on the US economic front, appear to have thrown in the towel.

A majority of states do not approve of President Barack Obama's performance and his national approval rating is hovering just below 50 percent, according to a new Gallup Poll.

China's foreign minister was due to meet Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Monday for the highest-level talks between the two allies in the Sudanese capital since South Sudan seceded to form an independent state.

South Africa's ruling ANC put off discussions planned for Monday to bring its Youth League leader Julius Malema to heel after the populist politician angered the party by calling for nationalisation of mines and meddling in foreign affairs.

If, as a stock investor, you're a little jittery following Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. Government's credit rating, you're not the only one. The stock market has tumbled, and more declines may be ahead. Even so, keep in mind that a good portion of the money made in stocks stems from not panicking.

Libyan rebels who seized this town 80 km (50 miles) south of Tripoli said on Monday they would now push on towards Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold in the capital but expected a tough fight.

Trump believes the whole thing is a ?publicity stunt? by S&P.

For African-Americans, the unemployment rate is at a lofty 15.9 percent, almost double the 8.1 percent for whites.

In 1986, Moody?s and Standard & Poor?s cut Australia?s debt rating, prompting the Canberra government to impose strict budget cuts.

The U.S. downgrade drama heated up Monday, as stock markets domestically and abroad plunged. The end of the story hasn't been told, yet. But how it ends lies in the hand of the leading character -- U.S. President Barack Obama.

The former labor secretary described S&P?s downgrade maneuver as an ?ironic? intrusion into American politics.

Buffett also pointed out that his company?s exposure to US Treasuries is quite significant.

Australian Nancy Wake, who as a spy became one of the Allies' most decorated servicewomen for her role in the French resistance during World War II, has died in London, officials said Monday. She was 98.

These institutions process trades and are key to the daily operation of the U.S. financial markets.

Credit ratings agency S&P threw a monkey wrench in the works by downgrading its long-term credit rating for the U.S. from AAA to AA+, just days after President Obama signed a debt-limit compromise.

The Federal Aviation Association issued a statement Friday that no refunds will be given for ticket holders who flew during the temporary FAA hiatus. Meanwhile, airlines will not be able to keep the $400 million windfall in increased ticket prices; says IRS is to blame.

The crises at the heart of the international financial and political system go beyond the debt woes currently gripping the Western world and to the heart of the way the global economy has been run for over two decades.

Recent unrest in Xinjiang ? blamed by the national government on Uighur Muslim militants -- has led to dozens of deaths.

Diana Nyad, 61, is swimming to promote closer ties between the two countries.

The U.S. budget deficit was $1 trillion before he took the oath of office, he inherited a nation in deep recession, with a banking crisis, two wars, and now there's a credit downgrade stemming from decades of debt incurred before he was on the scene, but make no mistake about it, President Barack Obama has to create a lot of jobs for his presidency to succeed.

On Friday, S&P reduced the U.S. credit rating by one notch from the highest rating of AAA to AA+, with a negative outlook.

After considering a resignation once a debt deal was reached, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner confirmed on Sunday that he will remain at his post at President Barack Obama's request, making him Obama's longest-serving economic adviser after the first-ever U.S. credit downgrade.