Democratic hopes for passing a broad healthcare overhaul in the Senate took a hit on Thursday when a crucial party holdout, Ben Nelson, rejected a compromise on abortion funding aimed at winning his vote.
A $636 billion military spending bill that would fund wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cleared a procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate early on Friday.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev failed to clinch a landmark pact cutting Cold War stocks of nuclear arms on Friday but pledged to keep working for a deal in the New Year.
As President Barack Obama labored behind closed doors to break a deadlock over efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Republicans from the U.S. Congress were outside those meetings urging him not to bother.
World leaders worked toward a target of halving greenhouse gas emissions on Friday, but a draft text abandoned ambitions for a legally binding climate treaty next year in a sign divisions remain.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will retain technocrats in key ministries when he unveils his new cabinet, parliamentary officials said on Friday, a move likely to appease Western backers who want him to clamp down on corruption.
A suicide bomber killed up to 10 people in Pakistan Friday, while a suspected U.S. drone killed six militants, as rising political tension threatened to distract the government from its war against the Taliban.
Taiwan and China, political rivals for six decades, will discuss a free trade pact at formal talks next week amid protests planned by the island's opposition parties wary of deeper engagement with Beijing.
Government supporters rallied across Iran on Friday to protest against an opposition insult to the Islamic Republic's revered founder, with some calling for pro-reform leader Mirhossein Mousavi to be executed.
The United States plans to transfer six Yemenis held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba back to their home country in coming days, a move that could lead to repatriating dozens more, The Washington Post reported in its Friday edition.
U.N. peacekeepers' vessels and Lebanese navy boats searched on Friday for more survivors from a cargo ship carrying more than 80 people and livestock that sank in the Mediterranean off Lebanon.
A suicide bomber killed up to 10 people in Pakistan on Friday, while a suspected U.S. drone killed six militants, as rising political tension threatened to distract the government from its war against the Taliban.
U.S. President Barack Obama addressed on Friday morning to delegates in Copenhagen on the final day of the UN climate conference.
World leaders tried to rescue a global climate agreement on Friday but the failure of leading greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States to come up with new proposals blocked chances of an ambitious deal.
President Barack Obama met other world leaders in a last push for a new global climate deal on Friday, after negotiators failed to reach a deal on carbon cuts in all-night talks.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could reach an agreement in principle on nuclear arms reduction in Copenhagen on Friday, leaving it to negotiators to finalize a deal in coming days, a senior U.S. official said.
China said on Thursday the US move to offer $100 billion in climate funds for poor countries was a good step”, seeking compromise with Washington on its demand for checks on Chinese emissions curbs.
World leaders worked through the early hours to try and beat a Friday deadline for a deal on cutting emissions and helping poor countries cope with the costly impact of global warming.
A cliche recipe for success is to aim for the stars. France's luxury hotels say they need to reach for just one more.
When it is about pushing climate policies, the debate often surrounds the costs of implementation. Nations debate with nations, while citizens debate with their leaders. Locally, proponents often stress that new policies will create new jobs, 'green jobs,' as they say in the US. What is often not mentioned is that there are also costs, both in increasing prices and old jobs which are vanishing in turn.IBT's full coverage of Copenhagen
U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen on Thursday night and will join the UN climate talks on Friday, bringing hopes to finish a complicated process of reaching a political agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming.
Prospects for a strong U.N. climate pact grew more remote on Thursday at the climax of two-year talks as ministers and leaders blamed leading emitters China and the United States for deadlock on carbon cuts.
The London's High Court ruled on Tuesday that a 12-day British cabin crew strike was illegal because it included members no longer employed by the airline.
Danish hosts revived climate talks on Thursday and Washington backed a $100 billion (62 billion pound) fund to aid poor countries as world leaders gathered on the eve of a U.N. deadline to reach a deal to slow global warming.
High unemployment and a fractious debate over healthcare have combined to push down President Barack Obama's job approval ratings and highlight the potential for political dangers ahead.
A fragile global economic recovery is underway, and a double-dip recession remains unlikely, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.
The economic crisis in Dubai is over, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister said on Thursday.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday he saw no need for a new security treaty proposed by Russia, rebuffing the Kremlin's call for new defense arrangements in Europe.
Suvadee Sukkasem is still searching for her son who vanished when the Indian Ocean tsunami turned this tropical paradise into a mass grave for thousands of Thais and foreign vacationers nearly five years ago.
Aircraft black boxes should be adapted to emit signals for longer to make it easier to find the flight recorders after crashes at sea, experts investigating an Air France disaster said on Thursday.
