Feds: Skechers deceived consumers with shoe ads
2012-05-16T15:02:47Z
Claims that Skechers' fitness shoes can help shed pounds and tone muscles are sketchy at best, says the government — and they're going to cost the company millions of dollars.

Euro crisis leaves door open for more BoE easing
2012-05-16T14:54:49Z
LONDON (Reuters) - The escalating danger from the neighbouring euro zone debt crisis prompted the Bank of England on Wednesday to keep alive the prospect of more help for an ailing economy it said was growing more slowly than expected. At a news conference after unveiling the Bank's latest economic forecasts, Governor Mervyn King also took aim at the euro zone, which is struggling to contain a renewed risk of Greece falling out of the currency bloc. "The euro area is tearing itself apart without any obvious solution," he said. ...

Judge to lead Greece to fateful June 17 vote
2012-05-16T14:54:28Z
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece put a senior judge in charge of an emergency government on Wednesday to lead it to new elections on June 17 and bankers sought to calm public fears after the president said political chaos risked causing panic and a run on deposits. European leaders who once denied vociferously that they were fretting over Greece leaving their currency union have given up pretence. Asked if he was concerned about a Greek exit, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said simply: "No comment". ...

Caught in Syrian crossfire, U.N. monitors handed over
2012-05-16T14:53:05Z
AMMAN (Reuters) - Six ceasefire monitors, who were caught overnight in the crossfire of Syria's civil conflict, were handed back to their U.N. colleagues on Wednesday by rebels fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. The stranding of the observers in a gun and bomb attack at a funeral that killed at least 21 civilians underscored the relentlessness of the violence challenging a U.N. ceasefire that is meant to lead to a peaceful resolution to the uprising. "We gave the six with their cars to a U.N. convoy near the entrance of Khan Sheikhoun. ...

Breivik killed with joyous "battle cry": survivors
2012-05-16T14:48:01Z
OSLO (Reuters) - Anders Behring Breivik screamed a "battle cry" and appeared both angry and joyous as he shot his victims one by one, survivors of the Norwegian far-right killer's massacre told a court on Wednesday. "I heard screaming but I couldn't make out the words," Ingvild Leren Stensrud, 17, who was shot in the leg and shoulder, said. Stensrud, who survived after another victim fell on her, knocking her to the floor and thus creating the impression that she was dead, said she initially thought Breivik was not alone. ...

Obama raises $44M for campaign, Dems in April
2012-05-16T14:47:56Z
President Barack Obama raised a combined $43.6 million in April for his campaign and the Democratic Party as he faces a unifying Republican effort around Mitt Romney for the White House.

Greece set for new election June 17
2012-05-16T14:46:34Z
Greece will go to the polls for the second time in just six weeks on June 17, the Athens News Agency said Wednesday, as fears grew of more instability over the troubled country's future in the eurozone.

South African police seize 10 rhino horn
2012-05-16T14:44:31Z
Police officers tipped off by an anonymous informer forced their way into a Johannesburg apartment where they found 10 rhinoceros horns and an elephant tusk and arrested a Vietnamese man, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

Crossroads announcing $25 million ad push
2012-05-16T14:44:06Z
An independent group favoring Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney is launching a $25 million, monthlong advertising campaign in 10 states against President Barack Obama, further escalating an expensive TV ad war in presidential battlegrounds six months before Election Day.

Romney hits Obama on debt, campaigns in Fla.
2012-05-16T14:43:21Z
Mitt Romney is criticizing President Barack Obama's record on debt as he campaigns in Florida, a critical battleground state.