Madonna, Ritchie granted divorce

Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie ended nearly eight years of marriage in just a few minutes on Friday when a British court granted them a preliminary divorce decree.

‘Twilight' in the eye of the beholder

Fans of the novel will swoon over the faithfulness of the screen adaptation; others will chuckle at the adolescent over-earnestness of it all.

Blast kills 8 mourners at Pakistani funeral

A blast killed at least six mourners Friday at the funeral of a Shiite cleric in northwest Pakistan who was gunned down hours earlier, police said.

Afghanistan markets pomegranates

Afghanistan is telling the world that it has a trendy, new replacement for its dreaded poppy crop: sweet, juicy pomegranates.

Report predicts U.S. decline, Russia rise

Global warming could be a boon to Russia while the U.S. could further decline in importance during the next two decades, says a U.S. intelligence report with predictions for the world in 2025.

Sexism award goes to 'ugly ducklings' mayor
An Australian outback mayor's plea for lovelorn female "ugly ducklings" to move to a remote mining town to reverse a shortage of eligible women has won him the country's yearly award for outrageous sexism.

Stocks seesaw after steep sell-off
Wall Street sagged again Friday but took a break from the heavier selling of recent days as energy, utility and technology stocks showed some advances and bank stocks declined.

Phone workers peek at Obama's cell records
Verizon employees snuck a peek at President-elect Barack Obama's old cell phone records and will be reprimanded accordingly, the company said late Thursday.

Deflation poses new economic threat
Strapped consumers are rejoicing at falling prices. But some economists warn of the growing risk of a ruinous downward price spiral  called deflation. Here's what's at stake.