Eric Linton

Republicans will try again to force the administration to approve the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline, this time by attaching it to a highway bill up next month, House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday.

Around 2,000 Syrian troops backed by tanks launched an assault to retake Damascus suburbs from rebels Sunday, activists said, a day after the Arab League suspended its monitoring mission in Syria because of worsening violence.

Greece and its private creditors made progress Thursday in talks on restructuring its debt, both sides said, and they will continue negotiating on Friday with the aim of sealing an agreement within a few days.

A broad asset rally inspired by the U.S. Federal Reserve's pledge to keep rates low paused Friday, as investors sought to gauge how sustainable the burst of optimism will be while waiting for the outcome of crucial Greek debt talks.

A 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad edged closer to the Syrian capital Thursday as troops battled rebels in a town just north of Damascus and a provincial governor spoke of negotiating local ceasefires.

The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandal Thursday after an Italian television investigation said a former top official had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts.

Japan's Nikkei average retreated from a three-month high on Thursday as disappointing results from Fanuc and Fuji Electric weighed, though the Federal Reserve's signal of its readiness to further stimulate the U.S. economy provided support.

Iran is unlikely to move toward building a nuclear weapon this year because it does not yet have the capability to produce enough weapon-grade uranium, a draft report by the Institute for Science and International Security said Wednesday.

A day after his confrontational election-year State of the Union address, President Barack Obama had a tense exchange with Arizona's Republican governor Wednesday as she greeted Air Force One in Phoenix.

Two buildings collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, in the latest incident highlighting the failure of authorities to improve the city's infrastructure amid preparations to host soccer's World Cup and the Olympics.

The owner of the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor, Tokyo Electric Power Co, will agree to be taken over by the government in a near-$13 billion bailout, sources said Thursday, even as Japan debates the future of nuclear power.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday the central bank was ready to offer the economy additional stimulus after it announced it would likely keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014.

Arab League monitors said the withdrawal of colleagues by Gulf Arab states would not hinder their work in Syria while France and Britain Wednesday joined efforts at the United Nations to end President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

In an attempt to deflect attention over his involvement with Freddie Mac, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's former consulting firm on Monday released a contract he had with the troubled mortgage firm.

Japan's Nikkei average hit its highest level in nearly three months Tuesday on hopes that a Greek debt deal will still be reached even after European finance ministers rejected an offer by Greece's private creditors.

A boom in shale oil production will raise U.S. domestic crude output by a fifth over the next decade, helping to slash the country's dependence on foreign oil imports, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Monday.

Egypt's first free parliament in six decades got to work Monday, with Islamists holding by far the most seats and opponents comparing their grip on the chamber to that enjoyed by the now defunct party of deposed President Hosni Mubarak.

Japan's Nikkei share average hit a two-month high on Friday, boosted by encouraging results from U.S. banks Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N), while near-term concerns over Europe eased after successful Spanish debt auctions.

A militant who acted as a senior operations organizer for al-Qaida was targeted and killed in one of two U.S. drone strikes launched against targets inside Pakistan last week, a U.S. official said Thursday.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) may give shares worth $1 billion to employees instead of cash as part of bonuses and hold back on dividend increases and buybacks, as the second-largest U.S. bank grasps for ways to boost its capital levels.

Pakistan's ties with the United States remain on hold following a NATO cross-border air attack, its foreign minister said Thursday, and Washington should not push Islamabad to go after militant groups or bring them to the Afghan peace process.

Asian shares rose to a two-month high and the euro firmed Thursday after news that the International Monetary Fund was seeking to boost its resources to tackle the euro zone debt crisis helped ease worries about Europe's funding difficulties.

A copy of an al-Qaida-linked magazine was delivered to the Guantanamo detention camp for suspected terrorists, a military prosecutor said Wednesday during a courtroom discussion of mail security.

The House of Representatives rejected a $1.2 trillion increase in the federal debt limit on Wednesday in a largely symbolic vote that allowed Republicans to stake out election-year positions to bash President Barack Obama's spending record.

Asian shares inched higher and the euro stayed above a 17-month trough Tuesday as investors focused on economic data from China to gauge the impact of the eurozone debt crisis on global growth.

Twelve people were killed Monday in Syria, where a peace plan monitored by Arab observers has failed to douse a 10-month-old struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his foes.

Nigerian trade unions called off strikes and protests Monday, ending a major confrontation over fuel prices after President Goodluck Jonathan said he would cut them by one third.

Germany, the only major eurozone member to retain a top-notch credit rating, refused Monday to consider boosting the bloc's rescue fund, while Greece was under pressure to urgently break a deadlock in debt swap talks if it is to avoid an unruly default.

Romanian riot police used tear gas against protesters who threw rocks and set fire to newspaper stands and rubbish bins in central Bucharest in a fourth day of street demonstrations against government austerity measures Sunday.