Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms seized an Iranian diplomat as he drove through central Baghdad, officials said Tuesday. Iran said it held the U.S. responsible for the diplomat's "safety and life." One Iraqi government official said the Iranian diplomat was detained Sunday by an Iraqi army unit that reports directly to the U.S. military. A military spokesman denied any U.S. troops or Iraqis that report to them were involved.
Bolstering education and training -- rather than erecting trade barriers -- would help narrow the economic gap between low- and high-income workers, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday. Bernanke issued a fresh warning for the U.S. to steer away from policies that seek to erect protectionist barriers to trade and investment opportunities or to stifle the economy's flexibility.
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Wal-Mart, the world's largest private employer, must face a class-action lawsuit alleging female employees were discriminated against in pay and promotions. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a 2004 federal judge's decision to let the nation's largest class-action employment discrimination lawsuit go to trial.
A NASA astronaut accused of trying to kidnap a romantic rival for a space shuttle pilot's affections will remain in jail because authorities planned to charge her with attempted first-degree murder, an official said Tuesday. Orlando police were in the process of adding the new charge against Lisa Marie Nowak, 43. Nowak is a Naval Academy graduate who has a master's degree in aeronautical engineering.
Thousands of youngsters got a second day off from school Tuesday in the midst of a bitter cold snap that combined with heavy snow several feet deep along the Great Lakes. At least seven deaths were blamed on the weather. Cold air surging from the Arctic stretched from the northern Plains through New England. Temperatures were below zero as far south as the mountains of West Virginia.
The world's oldest newspaper still in circulation -- Sweden's Post-och Inrikes Tidningar -- has dropped its paper edition and now exists only online. Founded in 1645 by Sweden's Queen Kristina, the paper became a Web-only publication Jan. 1.
The U.S. has agreed to release a classified cockpit video showing the dismayed reaction of two American pilots after they killed a British soldier during a friendly-fire incident in Iraq. In the video, a U.S. pilot is heard saying "I'm going to be sick," then, "We're in jail, dude," after firing on the British convoy in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on March 28, 2003. Lance Cpl. Matty Hull was killed.
