UNITED STATES

U.S. Marines are making steady progress in one of the biggest NATO offensives in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001, but areas infested with roadside bombs are bogging them down, a spokesman said on Monday.

The Aussie dollar collapsed in early European exchange following the announcement from the PBOC to lift the reserve ratio required by banks by 0.5%, a move aimed at limiting asset bubbles which will also have the effect of slowing economic growth in China.

High-level talks in Luxembourg on Sunday will assess whether there is a future for what remains of bank secrecy in Europe in the face of international pressure, but offshore centers are struggling to find common ground.

India and China are resisting requests to sign up for the Copenhagen Accord for fighting global warming that risks unravelling without clear support from major emitters.

Iraqi officials confirmed on Saturday that appeals by prominent Sunni politicians against a move to ban them from next month's election had failed, opening the door to sectarian recriminations that could mar the vote.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned his people to keep a sober mind about the challenges ahead in the new year as the country welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Tiger with noisy celebrations on Saturday.

The Obama administration on Friday invited 12 Democratic members of Congress and nine Republicans to a February 25 conference on healthcare and said it would post its proposal for a legislative overhaul online before the event.

President Barack Obama on Saturday touted the importance of long-term deficit reduction, saying the United States must go through its budget line by line and figure out ways to save money.

U.S. Marines spearheaded one of NATO's biggest offensives against the Taliban in Afghanistan on Saturday, in an early test of President Barack Obama's troop surge policy.

Groundhog Day, which is celebrated in the U.S. and Canada on February 2nd, has its origins in European weather folklore, where a badger rather than a groundhog is the weather forecaster. The most famous Groundhog Day celebration occurs in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Tradition holds that if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow when emerging from his burrow, as he did this year, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. Overcast conditions and the absence of a shadow signify warmer weather for ...

A snowboarder soared through the Olympic rings and skiers schussed down mountains in the unlikely confines of a stadium as Canada whipped up a wintry wilderness for Friday's opening of the 2010 Winter Games.

The U.S. Army on Friday cleared Oshkosh Corp Friday to resume work on a $3 billion medium truck contract, after a month-long reevaluation of all three bids originally submitted for the work.

The U.S. Army on Friday cleared Oshkosh Corp Friday to resume work on a $3 billion medium truck contract, after a month-long reevaluation of all three bids originally submitted for the work.

A fight over an Obama administration proposal to create a new U.S. watchdog for consumer financial products threatened on Friday to derail progress toward tighter bank and capital market regulation, amid much posturing on both sides.

Toyota Motor Corp will recall about 8,000 model-year 2010 Tacoma pickup trucks in the United States, the latest in a series of recalls that have hurt the automaker's sales and its reputation for quality.

The shooter who killed three people on Friday at the University of Alabama at Huntsville as a Harvard-trained neuroscientist and biology professor, according to the Huntsville Times.

Former President Bill Clinton got back to work on Friday on Haiti relief a day after a successful heart procedure at a New York hospital to open a blocked artery to his heart that caused him chest discomfort.

A U.S.-led NATO force began a long-planned assault on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Saturday.

A U.S.-led NATO force of thousands of troops began a long-awaited assault on the last big Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's violent Helmand province on Saturday.

Senate leaders have dropped from a jobs creation bill a U.S. tax credit for biodiesel, creating uncertainty for biodiesel makers, who say they need the incentive to keep running.

U.S. stocks finished slightly lower on Friday as China took another step towards monetary policy tightening and Europe reported a weaker than expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP).