WASHINGTON – The Bush administration, which failed to win new promises on currency flexibility from Chinese President Hu Jintao, pushed ahead on the issue Monday with meetings involving China’s top financial market regulators. U.S. officials said the meeting of the U.S.-China financial market working group would not address currency flexibility …

NEW YORK – Interest rate worries sent share prices lower Tuesday on Wall Street after strong consumer confidence and home sales data signaled that the economy is holding up better than expected and suggested that the Federal Reserve has room for more rate increases. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped …

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – As the electric guitar in the U2 anthem “Pride (In the Name of Love)” faded from four speakers, the Rev. Robert Brooks welcomed worshippers to Grace Episcopal Church with an unusual suggestion: He warned them to protect their hearing. “If the sound’s an issue, we do have …

LIMA, Peru – About 260 people were ordered Thursday to evacuate their small village as the Ubinas volcano in southern Peru continued to spew acid-laden ash and vapors and its crater increased in size. “At this time we are directing the village of Querapi to evacuate the nearly 80 families …

LAPORTE, Ind. – The American flags put up along this town’s main street after Jeffrey Ake was abducted in Iraq a year ago are gone now. With little word on his fate, the ribbons put up in his honor on lampposts have given way to ones supporting troops in Iraq. …

SAN DIEGO – Eighteen candidates vied for voters’ support Tuesday in a special election to fill the congressional seat once held by incarcerated former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Leading the pack were former congressman-turned-lobbyist Brian Bilbray, the choice of the GOP establishment; wealthy businessman and Republican Eric Roach, a political …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Bitter rivalry between two powerful clans for leadership of Iraq’s Shiite Muslims snarled efforts Tuesday to agree on the next prime minister, the key issue that is blocking a national unity government. Meanwhile, the U.S. military reported the deaths of five more soldiers, including three killed Tuesday …

DUBLIN, Ireland – The Irish Republican Army on Thursday admitted it killed a Catholic civilian during a botched 1974 attempt to ambush British troops, and it apologized to the man’s family. In a statement accompanying the group’s traditional Easter policy statement, the outlawed IRA said its members were responsible for …

WASHINGTON – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since early March, the government reported Thursday. The Labor Department said that 315,000 newly laid off workers applied for jobless benefits last week, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week. The claims …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday Iran will “cut the hand of any aggressor” that threatens it, and insisted that Iran’s military has to be equipped with the most modern technology. “Today, you are among the world’s most powerful armies because you rely on God,” Ahmadinejad …