Opposition parties walked out of a meeting in parliament this week in protest over the creation of a Senate. The opposition claims the Senate is a backhanded way for the ruling party to stay in power in the event of the death in office of President Blaise Compaore.

Israel's air force chief warned Wednesday that tensions with Syria could escalate into a "surprise war" and that Israel needs to be ready.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says now is "not a time for political retribution" against the people of Oklahoma victimized by a powerful tornado.

The World Health Organization says the Horn of Africa is experiencing an outbreak of polio with cases confirmed in Kenya and Somalia.

Football and basketball coaches are the top-paid state employees in Washington.

Michelle Gass, known for transforming the Frappuccino into a popular drink, is becoming the department store chain’s chief customer officer.

A Senate panel has endorsed President Barack Obama's slate of five nominees to sit on the National Labor Relations Board. Two of them advanced despite strong GOP opposition.

Washington State University regents meeting Thursday in Pullman are expected to propose limiting a tuition increase to 2 percent for the coming school year.

A New York City woman has been sentenced to probation for stalking actress Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAR') on the Internet.

The International Monetary Fund has called on Britain to do more to support the economic recovery, urging the government Wednesday to speed up investment in infrastructure and come up with a plan to privatize its bailed out banks.

In France, there's a brewing debate over whether to speak anglais in universite.

One after another, major U.S. corporations have updated anti-discrimination policies to protect gay, lesbian and transgender workers, drawing plaudits from gay-rights groups. There's one prominent exception: Exxon Mobil Corp.

College coaches are the top-paid state employees in Washington, according to a list recently released by the state Office of Financial Management.

When a small anti-abortion group in Iowa sought nonprofit status, the Internal Revenue Service asked its board to promise not to organize protests outside Planned Parenthood and demanded to know how its prayer meetings and protest signs were educational.

Pope Francis has issued his first appeal directed at Catholics in China, long the source of concern for his predecessor Benedict XVI.

The White House says President Barack Obama will nominate Dan Tangherlini to run the General Services Administration, the agency in charge of federal buildings and supplies.

Aretha Franklin is taking off the month of June.

A publicist for an upcoming Marilyn Monroe exhibition in Prague says that photographs of the star have been stolen.

British prosecutors have charged a 61-year-old Irishman with the Irish Republican Army bombing of the queen's cavalry in Hyde Park in 1982, a strike at a top London tourist attraction that killed four soldiers and seven horses.

Kerry: Iranian fighters, Hezbollah helping perpetuate Assad's `campaign of terror' in Syria.