Jobless claims data suggests labor market strength 11:28am EDT

WASHINGTON - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to resilience in the labor market despite belt-tightening by Washington.

An X-47B drone combat aircraft 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

Obama may limit drone use

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will vow to be more open to the public about the U.S. fight against terrorism and may lay out limits for the use of lethal drones abroad while sketching a vision for closing the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Full Article 

The site of the fire and explosion of April 17, 2013 is pictured in West, Texas on  April 24 2013.   REUTERS/Tom Reel/Pool

Poor planning left Texas firefighters unprepared

WEST, Texas - The fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 14 and injured about 200 others in Texas last month highlights the failings of a U.S. federal law intended to save lives during chemical accidents, a Reuters investigation has found.  Full Article | Related Story 

A general view of newly built houses at Dadun village of Lingshui ethnic Li Autonomous County, Hainan province, January 18, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

China urbanization plan hits spending roadblock

BEIJING - China's plan to spend $6.5 trillion on urbanization to bolster the economy is running into snags, sources close to the government said, as top leaders fear another spending binge could push up local debt levels and inflate a property bubble.  Full Article 

Apple CEO Tim Cook (C), CFO Peter Oppenheimer (L) and Apple Head of tax operations Philip Bullock appear before a Senate homeland security and governmental affairs investigations subcommittee hearing on offshore profit shifting and the U.S. tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Apple enjoyed Irish tax holiday from the start

SAN FRANCISCO/DUBLIN - Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest countries, former company executives and Irish officials have said.  Full Article 

A riot police prepares to fire his weapon during clash with supporters of Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia at Hai al Tadamon in Tunis May 19, 2013. REUTERS/Anis Mili

Crackdown on Islamists tests Tunisia's stability

TUNIS - For the first time since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, relations between mainstream Islamists in Tunisia's government and radical Salafist Muslim activists have reached a breaking point and risk spreading violence to neighboring Algeria.  Full Article 

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani attends Iran's Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in Tehran March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

Barred candidate calls Iranian leaders ignorant

DUBAI - Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani accused Iran's leadership of incompetence and ignorance just days after he was barred from standing in an election next month.  Full Article 

Eyewitness describes encounter with London attacker

May 23- An eyewitness describes her conversation with a man who said he had just killed a British soldier with a butcher's knife on a southeast London street. Sarah Sheffer reports.

Michael O'Hanlon and Sean Zeigler

Civil wars and Syria: lessons from history

Removing Assad would no more end the Syrian conflict than overthrowing Saddam Hussein in 2003 brought stability to Iraq. The U.S. must create a more integrated overall strategy, argue Michael O'Hanlon and Sean Zeigler.  Commentary 

David Rohde

Prosperity without power

Across the BRIC nations, frustrated members of the middle class are demanding change, but traditional power holders from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to India’s large political parties remain entrenched.  Commentary 

Edward Hadas

Apple, hypocrisy and stakeholder tax

Politicians are hypocrites when they complain about the cross-border tax strategies of Apple and other multinationals. But "hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue." It’s high time that companies admit taxes on profit are fair payments for the help that governments give them.  Commentary 

Bethany McLean

How much does Jamie Dimon matter?

To his supporters, he’s the personification of everything that’s best about the financial system. But to detractors, he’s the personification of all that’s wrong with modern banking — the arrogance, the resistance to new regulation, the astronomical pay in the face of obvious mistakes.  Commentary 

Gary Regenstreif

What Hollande can learn from Queen of Hearts

So far there has been little to show for his economic policies. Some actions have backfired and others have not gone far enough.  Commentary 

Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane

U.S. power: Down but still unrivaled

Beijing does not threaten to counterbalance U.S. power as gravely as America’s economy threatens to become imbalanced on its own.  Commentary