GM is banking large on the Chevy Volt and apparently feels confident about its success. The auto maker just issued a statement, which conveniently coincides while President Obama is touring the assembly plant, detailing the increased production estimate for 2012. The Detroit-Hamtramck facility will now pump out 50% more than previously detailed, an increase to 45,000 from 30,000. Chances are t...

The Indo-US relationship has become stronger under the Obama Administration and is on a "very promising" trajectory, encompassing cooperation in areas like energy, climate change, trade and science and technology, a top American official has said.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO announced Friday that six more U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll for July to at least 66 and surpassing the previous month's record as the deadliest for American forces in the nearly 9-year-old war. Afghanistan - Asia - United States - War in Afghanistan - Barack Obama

• Fears that US economy is heading for double-dip recession• Barack Obama's congressional election hopes damaged• White House economist Christina Romer expresses concernThe US recovery appears to be faltering after a slowdown in consumer spending dampened growth and fuelled fears of a double dip recession.President Barack Obama's hopes of a strong showing in November's congressional elections t...

US-Präsident Barack Obama will Medienberichten zufolge die Überwachung der Internet-Nutzung in seinem Land erheblich erleichtern.

President Obama became the first sitting president to appear on a daytime talk show when his taped interview on “The View” was broadcast on Thursday.

Barack Obama said education was “the economic issue of our time”, linking America’s declining public schools with its struggles to remain competitive

When President Obama first took office, he pressed hard to keep his beloved BlackBerry and ultimately won permission to carry a model with beefed-up security features. Turns out he didn't really win much. Appearing on ABC's "The View," Obama said only 10 people have his number, and their email conversations are really boring. "I've got to admit, it's no fun because they think that it's probably...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought Thursday to repair damage to his relationship with the black community caused by his administration's firing of an African-American government official.

Arrinconado por los conservadores e ignorado por los demócratas, el movimiento hispano, que ha ofrecido una nueva demostración de fuerza en la jornada de protesta contra la ley discriminatoria de Arizona, ha empezado a volverse en contra de Barack Obama. El presidente, incapaz de encontrar los votos que permitan regular el problema migratorio a escala nacional, se ve impotente para ofrecer una ...

Das Thema illegale Einwanderung in den Vereinigten Staaten bleibt brisant. Nun rächt sich, dass während der Bush-Jahre eine vernünftige Reform ausblieb und Obama bei diesem Thema bisher keinen Ehrgeiz an den Tag gelegt hat. FAZ.NET - Homepage | Politik | Gesellschaft | Wirtschaft | Finanzmarkt | Sport | Feuilleton | Reise | Wissen | Auto | Computer

The Obama administration wants to make it easier for the FBI to force ISPs to turn over records of individual Internet activity without a court order if agents believe the information is relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation. "The administration wants to add just four words -- 'electronic communication transactional records' -- to a list of items that the law says the FBI may de...

Los republicanos no tardaron en criticar tanto el fallo como al Departamento de Justicia del gobierno del presidente Barack Obama por desafiar la ley. Los demócratas, divididos sobre el asunto y con vientos políticos en contra, estaban inseguros sobre qué efectos tendría el fallo.

Er ist der erste schwarze US-Präsident - ein Emporkömmling aus Hawai, der in einfachen Verhältnissen aufwuchs. Mit seinen eindringlichen Reden hat er nicht nur die Herzen der Amerikaner erobert. Barack Obamas Leben in Bildern.

Die Vorbereitungen laufen auf Hochtouren, doch die Details werden strenger gehütet als ein Staatsgeheimnis: Am Wochenende wird Chelsea Clinton dem Investmentbanker Marc Mezvinsky das Ja-Wort geben - US-Präsident Barack Obama ist nicht eingeladen.

Chicago university refuses to host former Bush adviser, arguing a 'political' speaker would threaten its tax-exempt status, yet agrees to allow Obama appointee to address students

The Democrats abandon their efforts to limit emissions through legislation“THE one approach I will not accept,” said Barack Obama in June of Congress’s faltering efforts to fight global warming, “is inaction.” Instead, the president instructed America’s lawmakers to “seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels”. Yet the energy bill unveiled by the Democratic majority in the Senate on July 27...

Crack cocaine, it is widely known, causes irrational behavior. I speak not of irrational behavior among the drug's users, but rather among politicians. It has...

Corporate chiefs may seem hardboiled, but they can be sensitive, too. Take the ruckus they've been raising over what they perceive to be rough treatment from the Obama White House.

By BOB CHRISTIE 2010-07-29T07:36:38Z PHOENIX (AP) -- States that had been watching Arizona's immigration law in hopes of copying it received a rude awakening when a judge put most of the measure on hold and agreed with the Obama administration's core argument that immigration enforcement is the role of the federal government....

Oregon prosecutor decides against charging the former vice president over allegations by a masseuse that he groped and assaulted her in his Portland hotel room in 2006

American investigators, cooperating in a probe of the assassination of a Palestinian leader in Dubai, have identified a handful of U.S.-based companies believed to have been used to transfer money to suspects in the case.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed six additional insurers as the state widens a probe into possible fraud in the life insurance industry.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged to help the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs probe how insurers reap profits from death benefits retained for the families of deceased military personnel. Pentagon - United States Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates - September 11 2001 - Terrorism

US and Afghan officials say release of thousands of documents has put lives at risk.

Steve McPherson resigned from ABC as the company conducted an internal sexual harassment investigation of the executive, according to an informed source. More on ABC

Shares of life insurance firms Metropolitan Life (MET), Prudential Financial (PRU) just took a dive as New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced he will conduct a probe of the life insurance industry and that he had sent subpoenas to PRU and MET, according to a write-up a short [...]

By ADAM SCHRECK 2010-07-29T15:10:57Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Investigators in the UAE are looking into whether a Japanese tanker damaged at the mouth of the Persian Gulf was involved in a collision, backing away from an earlier theory that natural causes were to blame, the top port official where the vessel is moored said Thursday....

With no breakthrough in the over three-year-old Samjautha Express blast case, the government has decided to handover its probe to the National Investigation Agency to unravel the conspiracy.

Police questioned France's Labour Minister Eric Woerth in their probe into the finances of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

Former US Vice President Al Gore will not face charges over claims he assaulted a masseuse in an Oregon hotel room in 2006.

By WILLIAM McCALL 2010-07-30T22:56:40Z PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Former Vice President Al Gore won't be prosecuted over allegations by a masseuse that he groped and assaulted her in his Portland hotel room in 2006, the county prosecutor said Friday....

Former Vice President Al Gore will not face prosecution on an allegation of sexual assault from 2006.

By JIM FITZGERALD and MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press: RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Bill Clinton made a long-anticipated appearance in the upstate New York village where his daughter is getting married, drawing crowds of onlookers Friday afternoon as preparations continued largely out of sight for the grand and secretive occasion. The former president, looking fit and relaxed in blue jea...

Dormitory explosion at Shanxi province mine leaves 15 dead and 20 injured.

Google mistakenly reported Thursday that China began censoring its web search again. It's a blunder that adds to a list of missteps over the last six months that have the net's top tech company looking unprofessional.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday released its first detailed assessment of the Chinese economy in four years, a document less interesting in its details than for the fact that it was made public at all. China - Asia - United States - Google - Business and Economy

Google says its search engine and several other services are working normally in mainland China after previously reporting the service had been completely blocked.

Google said that its search and advertising services were being blocked in China for first time since its groundbreaking compromise with the Chinese government earlier this month

Rebecca MacKinnon reports: "Numerous major American and European news outlets are reporting that Google is blocked in China, based on the information appearing on Google's Mainland China service availability page. However no journalist has actually confirmed with a human being at Google that this information is correct. What's more, I've heard from several dozen people all over China who say th...

Evidently Google’s troubles in China are far from over. According to the company’s Mainland China Service Availability page a number of Google services have been blocked in China, among them Web search, YouTube, mobile and ads. News of the disruption -- which is so far unexplained -- follows Beijing’s renewal of Google's Internet content provider license. The company did not immediately respond...

China's massive Three Gorges Dam is being pushed to its limits by heavy monsoon rains that have sent water gushing through spill gates. Three Gorges Dam - Flood - Dam - Water - China

In the early 15th century, Imperial Chinese mariners under the eunuch admiral Zheng He made great voyages of discovery in enormous ships. Then the Hongxi Emperor decided that what they had found on far shores was underwhelming, the whole fleet was scuppered and the Chinese paid no further attention to seafaring. In 2007 I discussed a silly story about alleged descendants of Zheng He's non-eunuc...

Trotz der Zweifel, die ich zeitweise hatte, komme ich am Ende doch zu dem Schluss, dass das rasche Wachstum für eine ganze Weile anhalten wird. Selbst wenn es in den USA entgegen dem Konsens zu einer...

Details of plot emerge in file among US military intelligence documents published by WikiLeaks websiteIt may be one of the more audacious terrorist plots to be hatched in Afghanistan, but it was certainly not the most original. The same al-Qaida masterminds behind 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington planned to commit a similar attack in the capital of the country that once harboured them, a...

For China’s investigative journalists, who grapple with censors, the case of a Shanghai reporter appears to offer a positive turn.

* Geely's $1.8 bln plan to buy Volvo approved - Bloomberg

The IMF said China's trade surplus is set to balloon unless it takes steps to support domestic consumption, including letting its currency strengthen.

This series is brought to you by HTC EVO 4G, America's first 4G phone. Only from Sprint. The "First to Know" series keeps you in the know on what's happening now in the world of social media and technology.

Huang Kaiquan (40) aus China ist nur 76 Zentimeter groß! Der kleine Chinese will groß rauskommen – mit einem Eintrag ins Guinness-Buch der Rekorde!Foto: Action Press

Volkswagen verkauft immer mehr Autos - in China und den Vereinigten Staaten. Dadurch steigerte der deutsche Konzern sein Halbjahresergebnis deutlich und kommt auch ohne Abwrackprämie aus. Doch der Boom in China könnte nachlassen. FAZ.NET - Homepage | Politik | Gesellschaft | Wirtschaft | Finanzmarkt | Sport | Feuilleton | Reise | Wissen | Auto | Computer

Authorities were scrambling today to recover 3,000 barrels full of hazardous chemicals that were washed into a major river in northeastern China by recent flooding.

By CHI-CHI ZHANG 2010-07-29T10:15:29Z BEIJING (AP) -- The water supply was safe in a northeastern China city after more than 3,000 containers of toxic chemicals were washed into a river by the worst floods in a decade in the country, an official said Thursday....

Fässer mit Chemikalien von Flutwelle in Fluss gespült

Crack cocaine, it is widely known, causes irrational behavior. I speak not of irrational behavior among the drug's users, but rather among politicians. It has...

Das Geschäft des Autobauers in der Volksrepublik löst sich zunehmend von der Zentrale: Die Auslandstochter will künftig überwiegend auf Importe verzichten - und noch mehr Teile aus China verwenden.

Rising waters from flooding in northeastern China hit a chemical plant and washed thousands of containers filled with explosive chemicals into a river, state media said Thursday.

More than 1,000 containers containing explosive chemicals were washed into a major river in northeast China's Jilin Province Wednesday, and 350 of them have been recovered, local authorities said late Wednesday night. &$ &$Photo taken on July 28, 2010 shows barrels containing explosive chemicals in the water of the Songhua River in Jilin City of northeast China's Jilin Province. Mor...

Der Technologiekonzern Siemens ist nach kräftigen Auftrags- und Ergebniszuwächsen auf Rekordkurs. Dank der lebhaften Nachfrage aus Ländern wie den USA, Deutschland und China legten Bestellungen und Umsatz im dritten Quartal erstmals seit sieben Quartalen im Jahresvergleich wieder zu.

La reunión del Consejo de ministros de Exteriores de la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Unasur) concluyó el jueves sin acuerdos para solucionar la crisis diplomática entre Venezuela y Colombia. Los cancilleres, al constatar la falta de consensos, solicitaron a la presidencia temporal de la Unión, que ostenta Ecuador, que convoque a una cumbre presidencial para que sean los mandatarios los que ...

Houston-based Key Energy Services expects to begin working in Colombia "prior to the end of the year," company COO Trey Wilson said in a webcast. The company recently relocated assets to Colombia w...

* Advisers picked to handle Vietnam, Colombia sales -sources

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER 2010-07-29T11:07:48Z CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's diplomatic fight with Colombia comes at an opportune time for Hugo Chavez, who could benefit politically if he manages to shifts voters' attention away from a recession, Latin America's highest inflation and rampant crime....

Nigeria's Falconets play Colombia for a place in the final of the Under-20 Women's World Cup.

No immediate reports of casualties although an ambulance was seen leaving the scene.

Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations rights body said today.

I sat down with the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at his office in Ramallah for aPalestine Note exclusive interview. Ramallah - For three years,...

A rocket fired from Gaza Strip on Friday hit Israel's 5th largest city of Ashkelon, a day after the Arab League gave green signal to resume direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli city of Ashkelon was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza early Friday, causing minor damage, but no injuries, the Israel Defense Forces spokesman said.

By PAISLEY DODDS 2010-07-29T19:15:54Z LONDON (AP) -- In just a few days, new Prime Minister David Cameron has openly declared Britain is no more than the "junior partner" of the U.S., irritated Israelis by calling Gaza a prison camp and enraged Pakistanis by suggesting their country exports terrorism....

THOUSANDS of kites have filled the sky over Gaza as children gathered to break their own Guinness World Record in an event organised by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

In Gaza hat die Lockerung der Blockade zwar das Süßwarenangebot erweitert, die Wirtschaft klagt dennoch über massive Probleme. Wichtige Absatzmärkte und Ersatzteile für Maschinen sind weiter unerreichbar. FAZ.NET - Homepage | Politik | Gesellschaft | Wirtschaft | Finanzmarkt | Sport | Feuilleton | Reise | Wissen | Auto | Computer

"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." -Galileo There should be a big vote going on today about the future of spaceflight in America. Obama has outlined his new space policy, and has called for the commercial sector to step up and get involved in spaceflight, particularly in low-orbit, satellite, and space launch technologies. This is going to be a hard sell to...

Chevron said that the moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following the leak from the Deepwater Horizon well had significantly affected its exploration programme and would lead to lost production this year

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is considering granting a posthumous pardon to Billy the Kid, angering descendants of frontier lawman Pat Garrett who call it an insult to recognize such a violent outlaw

THE bodies of 15 people, many bearing marks of torture and bullet wounds, have been found along a road in northern Mexico.

Senior member of powerful Sinaloa cartel killed in raid, army officials say.

The gulf has been suffering for decades before the rig explosion, with the oil industry, farming and lax oversight contributing to a dead zone in the gulf.

The Mexican government says security forces have killed leading drug trafficker Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel.

Desde el lunes, cuatro periodistas de tres medios diferentes se encuentran secuestrados por un grupo criminal no identificado. El "levantón", término que se ha acuñado para definir el rapto de una persona por cuya liberación no se pide rescate monetario, se produjo en Gómez Palacio, uno de los vértices de la norteña región denominada La Laguna, en donde se unen poblaciones de los Estados de Dur...

Mexico's Sonora state water commission CEA has scheduled the start of work on its 3.68bn-peso (US$290mn) Independencia potable water pipeline for October 28, an official from the utility told BNameric...

Mexico and China have great potential to expand the scope of cooperation, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said Wednesday. After rapid growth of bilateral ties over recent years, plenty of room remains for the two countries to get closer, she told Xinhua on Wednesday in an interview ahead of the fourth meeting of the Mexico-China Permanent Binational Commission. At the meeting, to be he...

LONDON/WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - The tide of lawsuits unleashed by BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico breaks into an Idaho courtroom on Thursday, just as the company's rivals are counting the cost of a ban on offshore drilling.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The search by the booming North American population of Amish for affordable, fertile farmland has produced settlements in 28 states and Ontario – and has even led parties to scout recently for suitable properties in Alaska and Mexico. A new study estimates the number of Amish has increased nearly 10 percent in the past two years alone, to a total population of 249,000, compar...

A top lieutenant in a Mexican drug cartel has been arrested in northern Mexico, federal police said in a statement Wednesday.

Despite the howls, Tony Hayward’s departure as boss of BP was deftly handled. And other firms are trying harder not to reward bad leadershipWHEN Tony Hayward said “I’d like my life back” on May 30th, losing his job as boss of BP was probably not what he had in mind. But on July 27th he accepted the inevitable. On his watch, zillions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. When the mi...

Shell's results underline the sudden switch in momentum between the firm and its rival BP, triggered by the Gulf catastropheAnglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell put beleaguered rival BP in the shade today with a 34% hike in second-quarter profits to $4.2bn (£2.7bn).The forecast-beating performance in an "uncertain" economic climate came as Shell unveiled a 5% increase in production and faste...

Bank of America gives Maj. Nidal Malk Hasan 30 days to find another bank to cash his checks from the military, but other banks are also snubbing the alleged gunman

When a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile on February 27, residents and seismologists knew it was a big one. But a new analysis reaffirms just how massive it was. [More] Chile - Earthquake - Seismology - South America - Earth Sciences

Built for the "presentation," in which prisoners' cuts filled cups with blood, an ancient chamber has emerged in Peru with burials intact. Peru - South America - Human sacrifice - Blood - Recreation

The latest version of Google’s 3D map application, Google Earth, now has the ability to display real-time rain and snow in certain parts of the world.To see it, you must first enable the clouds layer, and…

Just about everyone who worked to build the new Interstate Highway 35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knew that their project would never be "just a bridge." It would never occupy the same category as thousands of other concrete and steel behemoths that millions of American drivers thoughtlessly cross every day.

&$ &$Huang Dahui (in white shirt), a hybrid rice scientist, is seen with his students at the Booker Washington Institute in Liberia in October 2005. Huang was chief of the Chinese agriculture assistance team to Liberia, teaching locals how to grow hybrid rice. (Photo: China Daily)&$&$ China has provided aid to more than 160 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and in the S...

Team America lives on. Jeff Koyen sends this along and asks, "Anyone remember Evil Bert spotted alongside Osama in Bangladesh?" Indeed. At left, a snapshot of the original Kim Jong Il puppet from the Team America movie. I shot the photo during a visit earlier this year to South Park Studios. The little guy does get around. Team America preview screening in Hollywood Team America puppet sex scen...

National Wildlife Federation says catalogue of oil industry accidents proves BP disaster in Gulf of Mexico is not a one-offThe oil industry has been responsible for thousands of fires, explosions, and leaks over the last decade, killing dozens of people and destroying wildlife and the environment across America, according to a report published today.None of the individual incidents catalogued b...

NII Holdings (Nasdaq: NIHD), which operates the Nextel brand of trunking and 3G services in Latin America, raised guidance for key indicators for 2010 after posting a strong Q2, boosted by continued g...

The US government will provide funds to the tune of Rs 15 lakh to the Rabindra Bharati museum for setting up two new galleries, including an 'America gallery' dedicated to the bard's visits to the US.

By 2010-07-29T14:55:24Z WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says Shirley Sherrod "deserves better than what happened last week" when the black Agriculture Department official was ousted in a racial firestorm over selective remarks....

Recruiting in both America and Europe continued to climb in June, according to the Monster Employment Index, which measures the strength of companies’ hiring intentions by counting online advertisements. Europe saw the fifth monthly rise in a row, with more openings in production and manufacturing. Opportunities in the automotive industry, however, declined. In America managerial openings were ...

Crack cocaine, it is widely known, causes irrational behavior. I speak not of irrational behavior among the drug's users, but rather among politicians. It has...

"empty home on Bloomington Ave S, Minneapolis" by Andrew Ciscel via CC OK, so I'm not an economist. But as a venture investor in early-stage medical and technology companies I read the usual financial articles that come across my screen and I see the same statistics everybody is seeing. I listen to Obama and I watch the TV shows where pundits argue with Congressmen about the wisdom of this or t...

• Fears that US economy is heading for double-dip recession• Barack Obama's congressional election hopes damaged• White House economist Christina Romer expresses concernThe US recovery appears to be faltering after a slowdown in consumer spending dampened growth and fuelled fears of a double dip recession.President Barack Obama's hopes of a strong showing in November's congressional elections t...

Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott said Friday his Liberal-National coalition of center-right parties could revise the country's foreign investment laws if it wins the general election.

So Robert Gibbs was right. Remember the uproar the White House press secretary created when he said on national television that there were certainly enough seats in play for Republicans to take control of the House in November? House Democratic leaders upbraided him and expressed their anger to t... Democratic - Politics - United States - Election - Parties

THE high-speed fibre network is a major point of difference between the Government and Opposition.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Charles Rangel is near a deal on ethics charges that would let him avoid a trial that fellow Democrats fear could hurt them in the November election, an aide for the New York lawmaker said on Thursday.

The Election Commission will soon come out with a set of guidelines to tighten procedures over role of money in polls as part of electoral reforms that will also include deregistration of political parties.

Justice Minister Wu Aiying will attend, as a special envoy of the Chinese government, the presidential handover ceremony in Colombia on Aug. 7. Wu would attend at the invitation of the Colombian government, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Thursday. Juan Manuel Santos, candidate for the ruling Social Party of National Unity, was elected as new president of Colombia on...

Remember when some people said that Barack Obama's election meant we had gone post-racial? It really hasn't turned out that way. In the last 20...

The battle for a stronger opposition to the African National CongressIT IS rare for the leader of a political party to appear on the platform at a rival’s congress, even more so to be welcomed with a standing ovation. But that is what Patricia de Lille of South Africa’s Independent Democrats (ID) received at a recent meeting of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s main opposition party, ...