ATHENS (AP) ― Standard & Poor’s cut Greece’s credit rating deeper into junk territory Monday, saying the country is likely to default on its massive debts at least once by 2013 ― a decision Athens said ignored its efforts to secure continued funding in coming yearsThe rating agency said the downgrade from “B” to “CCC” “reflects our view that there is a significantly higher likelihood of one or mor

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Leon Panetta, President Barack Obama’s choice to head the U.S. Defense Department, predicted Thursday that Iraq will ask the United States to keep some American troops in that country beyond the scheduled departure date at the year’s end.In wide-ranging testimony at a Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination to replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the current CIA director

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ― Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Monday that he will seek a second term as head of the United Nations, pledging to keep leading the world body as a “bridge-builder” at a time of unprecedented global change. His re-election is virtually assured.The former South Korean foreign minister finally made public what has been the U.N.’s worst kept secret ― that he wants a secon

 

 

Egyptian protesters carry national flags and banners as they call for the replacement of the ruling Armed Forces Council by a civilian council during a rally in the port city of Alexandria, Egypt, May 27, 2011. (Xinhua-Yonhap News)CAIRO (AP) ― Activists and bloggers are pressing Egypt’s military rulers to investigate accusations of serious abuses against protesters, including claims that soldiers

 

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama is trying to shock the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process to life, but there is little chance the patient can be resuscitated anytime soon.The two sides are more dug in, further apart and less trustful of each other than at any point since Obama brought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together at the

 

Palestinians’ protest diverts world’s gaze from Syria’s growing troubles at homeBEIRUT (AP) ― A brief but deadly border incursion has broken more than 35 years of quiet along the Syria-Israel frontier ― and it could not have come at a better time for Syria’s embattled leader.Syrian President Bashar Assad has much to gain from the furor over Israeli soldiers opening fire on thousands of Arab protes

NEW YORK (AP) ― Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s reputation with women earned him the nickname “the great seducer,” and not even an affair with a subordinate could knock the International Monetary Fund leader off a political path pointed in the direction of the French presidency. All that changed with charges that he sexually assaulted a maid in his hotel room, a case that generated shock and revulsion, e

 

 

BEIRUT (AP) ― Tanks and troops rolled into southern villages near the heart of Syria’s anti-government uprising Tuesday, while officials in Washington said the U.S. administration is edging closer to calling for an end to the Assad family’s long rule after its violent suppression of the protests.The Syrian military has been sealing off various areas and conducting house-to-house raids in search of

 

NEW YORK (AP) ― President Barack Obama solemnly honored victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and declared that the killing of Osama bin Laden was an American message to the world: “When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.”Standing at the gritty construction site of ground zero Thursday, where the World Trade Center towers fell and a memorial now rises, the president laid a w

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Americans who raided Osama bin Laden’s lair met far less resistance than the Obama administration described in the aftermath. The commandos encountered gunshots from only one man, whom they quickly killed, before sweeping the house and shooting others, who were unarmed, a senior defense official said in the latest account.In Thursday’s revised telling, the Navy SEALs mounted

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Osama bin Laden’s death may temporarily decapitate al-Qaida, but the threat of terror attacks remains, and it could spike in coming days from individuals or small extremist groups inspired to take revenge for the killing, terror experts said Monday.Would-be successors to the terror leader pose a threat as they jostle for power and attention. And other jihadists inspired by the ex

KABUL (AP) -- The death of Osama bin Laden was celebrated around the world as a victory for justice, but many people cautioned that it would not end terrorist attacks or ease the suffering of those who lost loved ones in bombings by al-Qaida-linked militants.　Spontaneous, celebratory rallies broke out in New York City at ground zero, where the twin towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001 and outside the Whi