A US-nominated Korean-born president of an Ivy League university, Nigeria’s finance minister and a Colombian economist have been confirmed as the three candidates contesting to become the next leader of the World Bank. US President Barack Obama, whose country traditionally selects the president of the global lender, said on Friday that it was nominating Jim Yong Kim [...]

Serena Williams, saying she felt nervous and rusty, made a triumphant WTA return from a left ankle injury, defeating China’s Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday at the WTA and ATP Miami hardcourt event. Fellow former World No. 1 players Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki also advanced to the third round at the [...]

It’s hard enough for kids to remember all the known oceans and seas — Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Norwegian, Barents — and now they can add one more to the list: the Enceladan Ocean. The name is lovely, and the place is nifty, but there’s not much chance of visiting it soon. It’s located on Enceladus, [...]

  Pope Benedict flying to Cuba for a historic visit, has said that Marxism was out of place in the contemporary world and urged Cubans to find “new models”. His remarks on Friday were at least as forthright as any made by his predecessor, John Paul II, on a groundbreaking trip to the country 14 [...]

The nation’s difficult history with race relations has been central to the narrative of Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency and has often complicated the ways in which he deals with the issue both as a candidate and as president. But the president’s decision Friday to assertively insert himself into the controversy surrounding the fatal [...]

The African Union plans to deploy 5,000 troops to hunt down the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, an evasive Ugandan rebel group accused of decades of atrocities. The operation against Joseph Kony will include 1,500 Ugandan troops, said Col. Felix Kulayigye, a military spokesman for the East African nation. Ugandan troops have operated in [...]

A 13-year-old boy has been shot dead during clashes in Port Said after the Egyptian city’s football team was suspended, state media reports. Dozens of people were also injured as hundreds of angry fans of the al-Masry club battled security forces. Al-Masry, one of Egypt’s top teams, have been banned for two years over violence [...]