Two independent lawmakers said they will support Prime Minister Julia Gillard, ending weeks of political impasse.

Unions started a major strike on Tuesday over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to raise the retirement age.

To find buckwheat, a beloved food staple, some Russians are falling back on scrounging habits honed under Communism.

The current justices are much more likely than their predecessors to hire clerks who match their own positions.

Democrats are trying to stop a group of homeless people from running on the Green Party ticket, saying it is a dirty trick by a Republican operative.

At a 650-student school in Newark, in an increasingly common move, the teaching staff is the administration, raising morale but potentially blurring educators’ focus.

Despite soaring profits, high-tech companies have been slow to hire — a sign of just how difficult it will be to address persistently high joblessness.

David Westin said he would resign after a long conflict with the network over the budget.

Mark V. Hurd, who resigned from H.P. a month ago, joined Oracle as president and a director.

A heavy reliance on emergency rooms care is seen as a sign of weaknesses in the primary health care system.

An annual exodus called “mudik” at the end of Ramadan is a chance for city dwellers with rural roots to reconnect with their families — and to show off their success.

A tax deduction would let businesses keep more money and would give big corporations, many of which are sitting on cash because of economic uncertainty, an incentive to spend and invest.

Labor organizers have met strong resistance as they try to organize carwashes in Los Angeles.

The billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros will help an advocacy group that investigates human rights abuses around the world.

A man’s long climb to the top levels of a skyscraper in downtown San Francisco ended with officers taking him into custody.

The British novelist Colin Cotterill, who lives on a Thai beach, stands apart from his books’ setting, the Communist Laos of the 1970s.

Publishing’s fall schedule includes books by Bob Woodward, Keith Richards, George W. Bush and Jon Stewart.

President Obama will propose on Wednesday that businesses be allowed to write off new investments in plant and equipment through 2011, an administration official said.

Fairgoers outside Chicago seemed to share a grumpiness toward anyone with anything to do with politics.

Rodney Glassman, a Democrat who is challenging Senator John McCain, did his best to win over a tough crowd at a corn dinner last week.