BERLIN (AP) ― Germany’s finance minister has made it clear that he is prepared to become chairman of the so-called eurogroup, a position that involves chairing eurozone finance ministers’ regular meetings.Wolfgang Schaeuble has frequently been linked to the job, and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker ― who says he won’t seek another term leading the eurogroup ― has described him as an “ideal candidate.”Schaeuble has told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper that national leaders must d

Greece’s possible exit from the euro area moved to the center of Europe’s debt-crisis debate, with officials beginning to weigh the fallout of a withdrawal even as authorities in Athens struggled to form a government. Meetings brokered by Greek President Karolos Papoulias are set to continue Monday after Syriza, the largest anti-bailout party, rejected a unity government following last week’s inconclusive elections. The country where the 2 1/2-year-old crisis began moved closer to a new vote, an

BEIRUT (AP) ― Syrian forces killed at least five people when they raided a Sunni farming village on Sunday, torching homes and looting shops in what activists said is a sign of worsening relations among the country’s religious groups.Tensions stemming from the 14-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad also touched off clashes across the border in Lebanon as the revolt threatened to morph into a broader conflict.The relentless violence further undermines a U.N.-backed peace plan that i

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) ― Forty-nine bodies with their heads, hands and feet hacked off were found Sunday dumped on a northern Mexico highway leading to the Texas border in what appeared to be the latest carnage in an escalating war between Mexico’s two dominant drug cartels.Local and federal authorities discovered the bodies before dawn lying in a pool of blood at the entrance to the desert town of San Juan, on a highway leading from the metropolis of Monterrey to the border city of Reynosa. A w

ATHENS (AP) ― Talks to form a governing coalition in crisis-struck Greece are planned Monday but the chances of success have been diminished after one leftist party pulled out of the talks, leading the country one step closer to new elections ― and bringing its continued membership in the euro into serious doubt.Last-ditch efforts by President Karolos Papoulias to broker a deal between wrangling party leaders ended with no deal in sight late Sunday, a week after national elections produced a dea

For 20 long years, Kanon Bala Das was married to a man who suddenly disclaimed her and her two children to marry another woman. As there are no laws for the Hindus to register or have any official document during marriage, Kanon, who was married off as per Hindu traditions, can neither prove her marriage and file for a divorce nor take any legal help. Her children face questions regarding their identities especially when they need to fill in forms to sit for exams. Because of the stigma surround

Sony Corp. has announced a new management plan including about 10,000 job cuts and reinforcement of its strengths in the electronic sector with TVs, games and cell phones, but there is no assurance it can bounce back from the company’s worst deficit ever. The new focus is a major shift from Sony’s past strategy, with the TV sector as the main profit-earning pillar. The company aims to rejuvenate the TV business by drastically reducing its number of models.Sony is expected to report a 520 billion