More than US$98 billion in taxpayer dollars spent by government agencies was wasted, much of it on questionable claims for tax credits and Medicare benefits, representing an increase of US$26 billion from the previous year.

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed U.S. anger at Israel's approval for new homes in a settlement near Jerusalem, saying it was part of a routine building programme.

Suicides in the U.S. Army will hit a new high this year, a top general said on Tuesday in a disclosure likely to increase concerns about stress on U.S. forces ahead of an expected buildup in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of students lobbed homemade bombs at the Nicaraguan Congress to protest government plans to cut university funding, as pro-and anti-government demonstrators prepared to square off at the weekend in Managua.

The United States lags far behind other nations in offering paid sick days, paid parental leave and other workplace benefits that proponents consider vital to public health and workers rights, according to research released on Tuesday.

Forget cookies and milk. Santa wants the swine flu vaccine. Many of the nation's Santas want to be given priority for the vaccine and not just because of those runny-nosed kids.

A 13-year-old French boy set out Tuesday to mow down his teachers with a shotgun but abandoned the plan when he arrived at the school and found it surrounded by police, officials said.

1Up to 2,700 Zimbabwean asylum seekers have set up a temporary “safety camp” in a rural South African town following attacks on their shacks in a dispute over jobs, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

A 19-year-old Brownsville man is jailed on a drug charge after he allegedly went door-to-door trying to sell marijuana.

Granite Falls residents are suspicious of any newcomers, let alone a Muslim native of Pakistan who moved to this rugged, blue-collar mining town to open his own bar.