Kazakhstan is voting in a mostly ceremonial election that is set to stretch President Nurusltan Nazarbayev's rule into a third decade amid Western worries about democracy in the resource-rich state.The Sunday vote comes against the backdrop of violent social revolutions sweeping veteran leaders from power in other Muslim nations and has already received criticism from…

Stocks were poised for modest gains Friday after a key report showed that the unemployment rate fell to a two-year low in March.The Labor Department said that the unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent, the lowest since March 2009, as companies added workers at the fastest two-month pace since before the recession began. Approximately 216,000…

A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle attacked a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, striking amid a crowd gathered along the road to greet a prominent hardline Islamist politician and killing 13 people, police said.It was unclear if the bomber specifically targeted the supporters of politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman or if they just happened…

WASHINGTON (AFP) – International scientists have discovered a chemical reaction that has caused the once-vivid yellows in Vincent van Gogh's paintings to turn brown, according to a study published in the United States.A super-sensitive microscopic X-ray has revealed a chemical reaction taking place where the paint meets the varnish, triggered by sunlight which causes yellow…

NEW YORK – Henrik Lundqvist knocked Anze Kopitar's shootout shot over the net to earn his 200th NHL win and give the New York Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.The Kings rallied twice in the third period to stretch their streak with at least one point to a team…

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Publix Super Markets Inc and Whole Foods Market Inc were the top-rated U.S. supermarket chains in 2010, according to a new study released by the American Customer Satisfaction Index on Tuesday.Consumer satisfaction with supermarkets in 2010 slipped for the first time in three years, falling 1.3 percent from a year earlier…

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Gov. Mark Dayton looked to the wealthy to erase about half of a $6.2 billion state budget deficit on Tuesday, proposing a new top tax bracket and a temporary income surtax that together would give Minnesota the nation's highest income tax rate.The Democratic governor's plan would raise nearly $2.9 billion from…

SCVNGR's location-based mobile game will be automatically preloaded on LG Optimus V handsets beginning later this month, thanks to a new partnership with Sprint announced Tuesday.Theapp will sit alongside the YouTube application on the homescreen (as pictured), and will be incorporated into LG Optimus V device packaging. "This is the first handset in what will…

SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea has asked the United States to resume food aid suspended two years ago and pledged to allow international monitors to oversee its distribution to the public, a report said Wednesday.South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said Han Sang-Ryol, Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, made the request on January 14…

MOSCOW – A website affiliated with Chechen rebels has released a video in which insurgent leader Doku Umarov claims responsibility for last month's deadly suicide bombing at Russia's largest airport.The Kavkaz Center website says it received the video late Monday. It was not clear when or where the video was recorded.The Jan. 24 attack at…