Chinese activist on flight to U.S.

Blind dissident Chen Guangcheng and his immediate family have left China on a flight to the United States. They are expected to arrive in Newark, N.J., Saturday evening.

Possible engine problem delays U.S. rocket launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The launch of a privately owned Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was delayed on Saturday when a computer detected a possible problem with one of the rocket's engines, a Space Exploration Technologies official said. Preparations for the company's trial cargo run to the International Space Station proceeded smoothly until 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 GMT) when an onboard computer aborted the launch. "Liftoff ... we've had a cutoff. ...

Facebook's messy debut on Wall Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a sloppy debut by Facebook Inc spoiled hopes that a spectacular open for the most-anticipated stock sale in years would brighten the mood in what has been a gloomy month for equity markets. Shares of Facebook, the social networking giant, were volatile in the busiest day ever for a trading debut. After early gains of more than 10 percent, Facebook shares fell back to the $38 issue price, ending up just 0.6 percent at $38.23. It was the Nasdaq's most actively traded stock, with more than 566 million shares traded. ...

Obama pledges tough enforcement of Wall Street reforms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday called on the U.S. Congress to back his efforts for tough new financial industry oversight, saying a $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan underscored the need for such regulation. "We've got to finish the job of implementing this reform and putting these rules in place," Obama said in a weekly radio address that accused some on Wall Street of causing the 2007-2009 economic crisis because they "treated our financial system like a casino. ...

G-8 leaders put focus on European financial crisis

Leaders of the world's economic powers say Germany should balance its push for European fiscal austerity with doses of stimulus spending to avoid a financial calamity with global repercussions.

3 charged with terror conspiracy ahead of NATO

Three men arrested earlier this week when police raided a Chicago apartment were being held on terrorism conspiracy charges Saturday stemming from allegations that they tried to make Molotov cocktails ahead of the NATO summit, but the first major dress rehearsal of this weekend's large-scale protests was relatively peaceful.

Greece bridles at Merkel referendum suggestion

Greek political leaders reacted angrily on Saturday to a suggestion, attributed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that the country hold a referendum on euro membership alongside an election next month.

Greek poll-front runner backs staying in euro

Greek poll front-runner Alexis Tsipras, buoyed by a groundswell of opposition to EU-IMF imposed austerity measures, says forcing his country out of the eurozone would sink the region as a whole.

Rubio's past includes political vulnerabilities

Sen. Marco Rubio has close ties to a colleague accused of questionable financial dealings. The freshman senator also once was enmeshed in a controversy over the use of the state party's credit card for his personal expenses. And he has faced increased scrutiny over his personal background since bursting onto the national political scene, including conflicting details of his parents' immigration from Cuba and his recently disclosed ties to the Mormon faith.

Witnesses paint graphic picture of fight

But nobody saw how the deadly altercation began.

Cannes guests bid up to $255,656 at Haiti auction

Guests at Cannes have bid up to €200,000 ($255,656) at a Haiti fundraiser for items including a Bono-autographed guitar as the film festival's glitzy, global spotlight turned to charity.

Murdoch denies planning to spin off UK newspapers

LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch has denied reports that News Corp is considering spinning off its British newspapers to protect the rest of his media empire from a phone hacking scandal. The Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times newspapers said executives at the company were looking into ways to split off the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times, published by its News International unit. ...

Houston family spends $1.5M on college for five daughters

It’s graduation day–a day that’s getting quite familiar to Marc and Beverly Ostrofsky of Houston. Today, they’ll attend two graduation ceremonies, one for their daughter Shelly, 22, from Washington University in St. Louis and another for their daughter, Mary Grace, 18, from Kincaid High School. Mary...

Seven charged in major roundup of Irish militant suspects

LISBURN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Seven Irish nationalists have been charged in Northern Ireland of involvement in militant activity, three under a rarely used law against "directing terrorism," in one of the highest profile roundups of its kind in the province in recent years. Five were charged on Friday and two more on Saturday of offences including conspiracy to murder and cause explosions and the preparation of terrorist acts, police said, following a joint operation with security services. ...

Troubled freighter drifts toward Great Barrier Reef

A broken-down cargo ship was drifting towards the fringes of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Saturday, with fears of major damage if it were to run aground at the World Heritage-listed site.

Iraq anti-terror officer, family shot dead

An Iraqi anti-terror officer, his wife and three children have been shot dead by gunmen in north Baghdad, security and medical officials said on Saturday.

In Colorado, same-sex marriage remains a hot issue

Minutes after President Barack Obama announced he supported gay marriage, the Democratic governor of Colorado choked back tears in Denver as he ordered state lawmakers to reconsider a civil-unions measure that Republicans had defeated the day before.

Clemens lawyer attacks key piece of evidence

Attacking key prosecution evidence, Roger Clemens' lawyer went through the items in a Miller Lite beer can one at a time and tried to cast doubt on the syringes and medical waste allegedly used to inject the famous pitcher with performance-enhancing drugs.