The current West Nile outbreak is one of the largest in the U.S., with four times the usual number of cases for this time of year, federal health officials said Wednesday.It's still too early to say how bad the year will end up because most infections are reported in August and September. But never before have so many illnesses been reported this early, said Dr. Lyle Petersen, of the Centers for D

Researchers have identified a mysterious new disease that has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV. The patients' immune systems become damaged, leaving them unable to fend off germs as healthy people do. What triggers this isn't known, but the disease does not seem to be contagious.This is another kind of ac

A man proposed to his girlfriend immediately after the couple was arrested for aggravated robbery, San Antonio, police said.Managers of a Family Dollar Store said they attempted to stop Treila Woods, 24, before she left the store Monday morning, suspecting her of shoplifting. The alleged driver of her getaway car, Sean Foxx, 24, watched her attempt to leave through a broken and unmoving door, and

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Brazilian President Dilma Roussef head this year's Forbes list of powerful women. The trio at the top of annual list of the 100 most powerful women in the world hold traditional positions of power of the kind that until recently were all-male preserves, the magazine said. Two others in the Top 10, Melinda Gates at No. 4 a

In a decision contrary to U.S. and Israeli positions, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Iran next week, according to his office.Ban "takes seriously his responsibility and that of the United Nations to pursue diplomatic engagement with all of its member states," it said in a statement, announcing the closely watched decision.The summit of 120 mem

Peter Thiel, one of Facebook's earliest investors and a member of its board, was among the insiders selling stock in the social network after a lockup expired last week.A regulatory filing on Monday said that Thiel, a former CEO at PayPal sold about 20 million shares of Facebook through affiliates such as his Founders Fund and other entities last week. The shares were sold on Thursday and Friday f

A news report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plans to visit Iran next week to attend an international meeting seems to be misleading although Seoul is still working to verify it, a government official said Wednesday.German news agency DPA reported earlier that Kim would attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran from Aug. 26 to 31, citing local news media. "Findings through vario

Police said Tuesday they have arrested a man who went on a stabbing rampage in Suwon, just south of Seoul, killing one and seriously injuring four others.The 38-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Kang, is suspected of stabbing a woman multiple times at a bar in a bustling area in Suwon around 1 a.m. Tuesday after attempting to rape her, police officers said. He also stabbed another c

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a regional strongman in power for over two decades, has died in hospital abroad, the government said Tuesday."Prime Minister Meles Zenawi passed away yesterday evening at around midnight," Bereket Simon said, adding that the 57-year-old "was abroad" when he died, without giving further details.Meles had not been seen in public for two months, and had been rep

Myanmar abolished direct censorship of the media Monday in the most dramatic move yet toward allowing freedom of expression in the long-repressed nation. But related laws and practices that may lead to self-censorship raise doubt about how much will change.Under the new rules, journalists will no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication as they for almost half a century