North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) visits the "February 20 factory of the Korean People's Army" in this photo released by North Korea's Central News Agency on May 17, 2013.  REUTERS/KCNA

North Korea fires three short-range missiles

SEOUL - North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast, South Korea's Defense Ministry said. This action, after recent warnings from the communist state of impending nuclear war, raised concerns about the region's security and prompted Western powers to urge Pyongyang to exercise restraint.  Full Article 

Bernanke upbeat on innovation outlook in commencement address 11:14am EDT

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke painted an upbeat picture on Saturday for the potential of innovation to lift living standards, delivering a sweeping look at the last 100 years that included memories of his 1963 South Carolina home.

A demonstrator holds up a placard that says 'Stop' during a protest by Italy's metalworkers union Fiom in Rome, May 18, 2013. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Rome protest turns up heat on new PM Letta

ROME - Thousands of people protested in Rome against austerity policies and high unemployment, urging new Prime Minister Enrico Letta to focus on creating jobs to help pull the country out of recession.  Full Article 

People gather outside Marseille's town hall to attend a demonstration to support the passage of the same-sex marriage bill in Marseille, April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

France's Hollande signs gay marriage law

PARIS - French President Francois Hollande has signed into law a bill allowing same-sex marriage, one of the biggest social reforms since abolition of the death penalty in 1981, making France the 14th country to legalize gay weddings.  Full Article 

An electronic street sign displays the current value of the Powerball lottery in New York, May 17, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Powerball jackpot can go over $600 million

AUSTIN, Texas - The Powerball jackpot being drawn on Saturday night could be even higher than the record $600 million advertised, pushing it near or above the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, a Texas Lottery official said.  Full Article 

Outgoing acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller is sworn-in during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 17, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

IRS chief won't name those involved in scandal

WASHINGTON - The outgoing head of the Internal Revenue Service angered Republican lawmakers by resisting their demands that he identify who at the tax-collection agency had inappropriately targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny.  Full Article 

Google founder Sergey Brin poses for a portrait wearing Google Glass before the Diane von Furstenberg  Spring/Summer 2013 collection show during New York Fashion Week in this September 9, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Files

Google's wearable gadget: cool or creepy?

SAN FRANCISCO - Google staged four discussions on its "Glass" wearable computer during a developer conference. However, a session on etiquette when using the recording-capable gadget, which some attendees wore even to bathrooms, was missing.  Full Article 

Bottles of olive oil are lined in a factory in Dos Hermanas near the Andalusian capital of Seville, September 21, 2012. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

EU tells restaurants how to serve olive oil

BRUSSELS - Critics ridiculed European Union bureaucrats for taking time off fighting the euro zone's debt crisis to impose strict new rules on how restaurants serve olive oil.  Full Article 

A man walks with his camels through the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola

Change looms for Ethiopia's ancient salt trade

HAMAD-ILE, Ethiopia - For years Ethiopia's independent miners pulled slabs of salt from the earth and slowly transported them by camel. But a modern paved road could change that tradition -- and, some fear, invite large companies into the fray.  Full Article | Related Story 

Northrop Grumman test pilots Bruce McFadden (L) and Dave Lorenz are pictured with their arm-mounted controllers in front of an an X-47B pilot-less drone combat aircraft before it is launched for the first time off an aircraft carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia, May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

A front row seat to aviation history

ATLANTIC OCEAN, COAST OF VIRGINIA - The U.S. Navy made aviation history by catapulting an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, testing a long-range, stealthy, bat-winged plane that represents a jump forward in drone technology.  Full Article 

Police, protesters clash in Turkey border town

May 18 - Demonstrators in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli clash with riot police during an anti-government protest over recent deadly bomb attacks. Sunita Rappai reports.

Nicholas Wapshott

Austerity is a moral issue

Europe’s economic turmoil is dragging the world economy down. Despite this destructive display of unnecessary masochism, many Americans still demand that the U.S. sequester be allowed to continue slashing at public spending.  Commentary 

Zachary Karabell

Massive, open, online disruption

Massive, open, online classes are transforming higher education and saving students money. So why are so many administrators and professors scared? Because tech is about to disrupt their industry like it's changed so many others.   Commentary 

Anatole Kaletsky

The radical force of 'Abenomics'

The financial arithmetic of Abenomics means that tolerable stagnation is no longer an option for Japan. Will the radical steps taken by the government be enough to fix the country's economy?  Commentary 

David Rohde

Washington-gate

An increasingly polarized Washington is devouring its own. Ceaseless, take-no-prisoners political warfare, not nefarious White House plots, ravages government.  Commentary 

Jack Shafer

Why the underwear-bomber leak infuriated Obama

It wasn't the substance of the AP story that exasperated the government, but that the AP found a source or sources that spilled information about an ongoing intelligence operation and that even grander leaks might surge into the press corps’ rain barrels.  Commentary 

Yousaf Butt

‘Reset’ on Iran now

Evidence that sanctions are not achieving their purpose should give President Obama political breathing room to have negotiators put serious sanctions relief on the table – which could prove to be in America’s national security interest.  Commentary