New Zealand was on Wednesday named the world's least corrupt nation out of a list of 180 countries, unseating Denmark after a year in which the global recession and ongoing conflicts proved challenging.
Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president vetoed an election law on Wednesday over the number of seats for refugees, prompting poll workers to halt preparations and casting fresh doubt on whether the vote can take place in January.
Future supply shortages could drive up contracts for oil use in several years' time, as they mimic a market for near-term delivery that has more than doubled since the start of the year.
President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded U.S. actor and director Clint Eastwood one of France's top honors on Friday, hailing him as a cinema legend and a symbol of the type of America that the French adored.
The U.S. imported slightly more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from Saudi Arabia during the first 8 months of 2009. Despite a decline of more than 33 percent compared to the same period in 2008, Saudi Arabia was still the third largest source of U.S. crude oil imports during the first 8 months of this year, according toEIA import data.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair will face questioning next year about Britain's entry into the Iraq war from a committee which has heard the decision was illegal and based on deception, its chairman said on Friday.
A former CIA agent whose unmasking led to the conviction of former Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide lost an appeal on Thursday to declassify parts of her memoir.
U.S. President Barack Obama convened his war council on Wednesday for talks considered critical to his deliberations on boosting troop levels in the increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to make sure the gunman who killed 13 people in a rampage at a U.S. Army base in Texas pays for his crimes.
Iraqis will vote in a general election on January 21 now that parliament has passed a law needed for a vote to take place, the head of the country's electoral commission said on Monday.
Getting his project cast and financed was not the hard part for Grant Heslov.
The death toll from an Army psychiatrist who opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post rose to 13 on Friday, and Army officials said the suspected shooter was hospitalized and on a ventilator.
Business Secretary Peter Mandelson will call Friday for strong leadership of the European Union and outline his vision for revamping its economic policies.
An Italian judge sentenced 23 Americans to up to eight years in prison on Wednesday for the abduction of a Muslim cleric, in a symbolic condemnation of the CIA rendition flights used by the former U.S. government.
In a move that puts him at the cutting edge of sport sponsorships, comedian Stephen Colbert and his fans will back the U.S. Speedskating team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the talk show host said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday Israel must do more to get peace talks with the Palestinians on track, countering Arab accusations she had given in to Israel over settlements.
U.S. military chiefs plan to present recommendations on troop strength and strategy in Afghanistan to President Barack Obama on Friday as White House deliberations reach an end stage, Pentagon officials said.
The defense bill President Barack Obama will sign into law on Wednesday contains a new provision that would pay Taliban fighters who renounce the insurgency, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said on Tuesday.
An al Qaeda-linked group has said it carried out the twin suicide bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad on Sunday and revived doubts about security in the run-up to Iraq's elections in January.
Iraq renewed calls on Monday for a U.N. inquiry into the support given by foreign countries to insurgents after twin suicide blasts against government buildings in Baghdad killed more than 150 people.
The Iraqi government blamed the bloodiest bombings in years on al Qaeda and other extremists, but many ordinary Iraqis think political infighting before next year's election is the cause and fear worse is yet to come.
The death toll from Sunday's two suicide bombs in Baghdad, one of Iraq's bloodiest attacks in years, has risen to 155 with more than 500 wounded, police said on Monday.
