OAKLAND, California (AP) ― For weeks the protests had waned, with only a smattering of people taking to Oakland’s streets for occasional weekend marches that bore little resemblance to the headline-grabbing Occupy demonstrations of last fall.Then came Saturday, which started peacefully enough ― a midday rally at City Hall and a march. But hours later, the scene near downtown Oakland had dramatically deteriorated: clashes punctuated by rock and bottle throwing by protesters and volleys of tear ga

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A police officer under investigation for sexual misconduct with a teenage minor was shot and killed while on duty by fellow officers Saturday as they tried to arrest him on California's central coast, authorities said.The officer was manning a DUI checkpoint when the

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― U.S. ratings agency Fitch says it is downgrading the credit ratings of five countries that use the euro, including economic heavyweights Italy and Spain.The downgraded countries ― also including Belgium, Cyprus, and Slovenia ― faced financial and economic difficulites due to the eurozone’s debt crisis that could make it harder for them to repay their debts, Fitch said Friday after financial markets closed in Europe.The move by Fitch was largely expected, as the agency h

The Obama administration, seeking to help more homeowners lower their interest rates and shed mortgage debt, will relax the rules on a federal loan-modification program and triple its incentives to banks. The revised Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, also would pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive debt on homes that have lost value. The government-owned companies, citing cost, don’t reduce principal, a policy that has limited HAMP’s reach because they own or guarantee nearly ha

Emerging giants China and India must invest in pensions and healthcare systems now for their populations if they want to avoid falling into the West’s debt trap, experts said on Saturday.“There is a critical opportunity for India right now to look at its policy on pensions and healthcare,” Douglas Peterson, president of ratings agency Standard and Poor’s, told the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.Over half of India’s population are under 35 years old at the moment, and while the young workf

BEIJING (AFP) ― China should impose “sanctions” against the Philippines after it offered to allow more U.S. troops on its soil, state media said Sunday, amid growing tensions over disputed waters in the South China Sea.Manila said Friday it planned to hold more joint exercises and to let more U.S. troops rotate through the Southeast Asian country ― an offer welcomed by the United States as it seeks to expand its military power in Asia.China has not yet officially responded to the announcement, w

CHENGDU, China (AFP) -- Sitting in a teahouse in Chengdu’s Tibetan quarter, a nervous young monk spoke of how police arrests of innocent people were adding to the climate of fear in China’s Tibetan-inhabited regions.The Lama temple where the monk lives is a 15-hour drive away, high up on the Tibetan plateau in the southwestern province of Sichuan where rights groups say police have fired on demonstrators three times in the past week, killing at least three and leaving dozens wounded.The 28-year-