Most Recommended Top Stories News

NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp plans to buy XTO Energy Inc for about $30 billion in stock, in a move that thrusts the U.S. energy giant to the forefront of North America's fast-growing natural gas industry.

President Obama: Thanks for coming to the White House, everybody. I know how miserable it is to fly commercial, but thanks for doing it and for taking the subway over from the airport. The American people will appreciate that.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai used a keynote anti-corruption speech on Tuesday to defend the first of his top officials convicted of graft in years, a move that could anger Western backers who demand more accountability.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it rejected an appeal by four former Guantanamo Bay prisoners arguing that they should be able to proceed with their lawsuit against top Pentagon officials for torture and religious abuse.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Pirates have seized an Indian dhow off the coast of Somalia in the third such incident in a week, a regional maritime official said on Monday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Pakistani-born Chicago businessman charged with helping plan an attack on a Danish newspaper knew about the assault on Mumbai in advance and discussed other potential targets in India, prosecutors said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will announce plans later on Tuesday to acquire an Illinois prison and to send a limited number of detainees there from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. official said.

LONDON (AFP) - Ryan Giggs is planning to use his BBC Sports Personality of the Year award as a bargaining tool as he looks to extend his glittering Manchester United career for another season.

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian man who broke Silvio Berlusconi's nose and teeth by striking him with a souvenir model has apologized to the Italian prime minister for his "cowardly and rash act," the attacker's lawyers said.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An island-sized iceberg is breaking up as it drifts closer to Australia, producing hundreds of smaller slabs spread over a massive area of ocean, experts said Monday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Three U.S. citizens detained in Iran and charged with espionage will stand trial, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday, in a case that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "totally unfounded."

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Nike Inc Chairman and co-founder Phil Knight said the scandal surrounding Tiger Woods is "part of the game" in signing endorsement deals with athletes and did not back away from the athletic shoe and clothing maker's relationship with the golfer.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and the United States called on China on Monday to release a prominent pro-democracy writer and rights activist who faces trial on charges of subversion.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tiger Woods has just made life a whole lot tougher for athletes looking to score big deals to pitch a company's products or services.

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prison life has been eased for convicted "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, boosting concerns about what will happen when President Barack Obama moves dozens of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees to U.S. soil.