Sergio Morales is the last mechanic in Cuba making his living by fixing the iconic American bikes the old-fashioned Cuban way, working with homemade parts.

The bitter dispute over pricing and transit has been resolved with an agreement on monitoring, according to the European Commission, so that fuel can resume its flow to Europe.

Europe itself has done too little, too late, to develop workable alternatives to Russian natural gas, but now it's looking at its options.

Washington has long argued that relying on Russian hydrocarbons is risky, and that finding alternative supplies would limit opportunities for coercion.

Some Democrats complained that components of the plan are not bold enough and urged more focus on creating jobs.

At a confirmation hearing, Tom Daschle said the task had become more urgent because of the recession.

An expert panel said on Thursday that as president Barack Obama should change regulations on high-tech exports and on immigration by scientists and engineers.

Ssangyong became the first major casualty among Asian carmakers after struggling because of slumping sales.

Opel has been promised conditional bailout guarantees of as much as €1.8 billion by the German government, more than the initial request made in November, a state official said.

The South Korean central bank cut its key interest rate Friday by 50 basis points as expected to a new record low.

As the war continued unchecked on Friday, the Israeli military said its forces attacked more than 50 targets in Gaza overnight.

Aid group bypasses diplomatic language when describing civilian suffering in the Zeitoun district of Gaza.

At Shifa Hospital, a lesson in how ordinary people are squeezed between suicidal fighters and a vengeful military behemoth.

The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent in December from 6.8 percent in November and a rapidly deteriorating economy promised more significant job losses in the months ahead.

U.S. stock-index futures and European shares declined Friday.

Trading in Asian markets saw slight losses Friday.

Stock markets clipped their losses, turning mixed in the final minutes of New York trading as investors positioned themselves for the release Friday of December unemployment numbers.

Both militants have been linked to suicide attacks in Pakistan in recent months, and were also on the FBI's most-wanted list for ties to the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Pakistan's main spy agency has given India information about the Mumbai terror attacks, the prime minister said Friday, while denying media speculation of a rift between him and the president.

Five American soldiers and 13 Afghans were killed in a string of incidents in Afghanistan on Thursday and Friday, according to local officials and the United States-led coalition.

General David Petraeus also said Iran and the United States had "some common objectives" in the country.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa says Sri Lankan forces have captured the strategic base of Elephant Pass from the Tamil Tiger rebels.

President-elect Barack Obama has become BlackBerry's most prominent user, a pitch that would be worth millions if he could charge for it.

Outsourcing firm with 53,000 employees, 30 percent of them outside India, needs $1 billion to meet expenses by end of January.

The big winners from the fallout of a scandal at an Indian computer services outsourcer are likely to be two American companies, Accenture and IBM, as competitors begin angling for a share of Satyam's nearly $2 billion in annual revenue.

While the Indian outsourcing company struggles to pay employees, investors prepare to sue its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Carmaker is latest Japanese motorsport casualty after Honda, Suzuki and Subaru.

A United States Joint Forces Command report lists Mexico alongside Pakistan as states whose sudden collapse would pose grave threats to world stability.

Iceland's financial collapse — a sharp devaluation of the currency — hasn't dampened the capital city of its vibrant spirit.

Who will win and lose? Nobody knows, of course, but one observer makes his picks.

As the global downturn has intensified, Beijing is starting to keep more of its money at home, just as the U.S. is projecting record deficits.

The jobless rate on the island has jumped to a five-year high, with many workers becoming semi-employed as manufacturers force workers to take unpaid leave for as many as three days a week.

As the United States endures a recession, global credit crisis and the aftermath of a leveraged debt binge, bond prices are reflecting concerns that a wave of expected U.S. corporate bankruptcies may be repeated elsewhere.

Extremists on each side sustain the other, and the Israeli assault in Gaza is likely to create more terrorists in the long run.

Israel should work for a cease-fire on terms that allow both sides to save face.

This war on the people of Gaza isn't about rockets or 'restoring Israel's deterrence.'

For the last seven years, Fred Milani has lived in a scaled-down version of the White House in Atlanta, but change is coming to the replica, an outsized casualty of the national housing crisis.

An ad campaign for atheism in London is aiming to counter religious ads, one bus billboard at a time. Next week, the campaign plans to place 1,000 advertisements in the subway system.

Lately, a new meat is gracing the British table: Squirrel is selling as fast as gamekeepers and hunters can bring it in.

How to cook a squirrel.

The spectacle of two sets of European diplomats scurrying around the Middle East bodes poorly for EU ambitions to become a major player in the region.

Democrats were divided over the president-elect's choice of Leon Panetta to run the Central Intelligence Agency.