WORLD

North Korea is not near collapse and leader Kim Jong-il has recovered from his illnesses, but the destitute state is hurting from U.N. sanctions imposed for its nuclear test, South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak said.

The U.S. economy likely grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the fourth quarter as businesses made less-aggressive cutbacks on inventories, a government report is expected to show on Friday.

U.N. climate talks will probably not agree an ambitious deal this year unless the economy improves and voters press for action, said India's top climate official Shyam Saran.

Angry crowds mobbed three food distribution sites in Haiti's capital on Thursday, the latest handouts to turn chaotic as aid groups struggle to help the throngs left desperate and hungry by the catastrophic earthquake.

Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai, an official in the Palestinian Islamist group said Friday.

The Afghan government on Thursday invited the Taliban to a peace council as its Western allies worked out plans to try to end the war in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama vowed on Thursday he would not rest until U.S. businesses were hiring again, as he took his recast agenda on the road and sought to dig out of his deepest political rut since taking office.

California and Florida high-speed rail projects were the biggest beneficiaries of more than $8 billion dollars in federal grants announced on Thursday.

The Senate voted to reappoint Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Top policymakers warned on Thursday the world economy is not out of the woods and a global recovery is still far from secure, urging caution as central banks work on withdrawing critical support.

North Korea said on Thursday it had detained an American who crossed into its territory from China on January 25 and was interrogating him.

Facing a make-or-break year in Afghanistan, ministers from some 60 countries meet on Thursday to hammer out a strategy to try to bring an end to the war.

President Barack Obama said his focus on nuclear disarmament had strengthened U.S. diplomacy in dealing with North Korea and Iran, and he warned Tehran faced growing consequences over its nuclear program.

President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday to boost jobs growth and impose tough new regulations on Wall Street as he recast his agenda after suffering a devastating political setback.

President Barack Obama will deliver his first State of the Union speech at 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama is set to deliver his first State of the Union speech at 9 p.m. EST, focusing on rekindling the U.S. economy , emphasizing his plans to restore job growth and taming budget deficits.

The earthquake that shattered Haiti has unleashed fears that child-eating spirits, mythological figures entrenched in Haitian culture, are prowling homeless camps in search of young prey.

A son of Osama bin Laden says he is working with Saudi Arabia and Iran to end his separation from a group of brothers and sisters that dates back to the chaos in Afghanistan following the al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11 2001.

Iranian media reported on Wednesday that two German diplomats were detained last month due to involvement in anti-government protests, but Berlin said it was unaware any of its staff in Iran had been arrested.

Yemen's government recognizes the urgent need for economic and political reforms to help root out al Qaeda militancy which risks threatening regional stability, according to a draft document at an international conference.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won re-election on Wednesday in an historic post-war vote but his chief rival called for the results to be nullified after soldiers surrounded him in a luxury hotel.

The two Koreas exchanged artillery shots on Wednesday in a brief firefight that resulted in no damage but stoked tension on the peninsula.

North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire near their disputed sea border on Wednesday, highlighting instability along a heavily armed frontier for the second time in three months.

After his worst political setback since he took office a year ago, President Barack Obama will vow to revive job growth and tame skyrocketing budget deficits in a crucial State of the Union speech on Wednesday.

As President Barack Obama goes before Congress and the U.S. public on national television on Wednesday evening for the annual State of the Union address, he faces the challenges of double digit unemployment, a declining approval rating, and some intense criticism over his latest spending freeze proposal

The World Economic Forum's security chief was found dead Tuesday in his hotel room, local authorities said, adding that his death appeared to be suicide.

President Barack Obama will deliver his first State of the Union speech at 9 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. PST Wednesday in Washington.

U.S. troops pulled a man alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Haiti's destroyed capital on Tuesday, two weeks after a massive earthquake rattled the country.

The U.S. Senate will be able to vote on Ben Bernanke's second term as the chairman of Federal Reserve by Thursday or Friday, the chamber's majority leader Senate Harry Reid said on Tuesday.