Search results for

Even before the March tsunami hit, the fishing town of Kesennuma in northeast Japan was on the skids. But to their surprise, residents began to see the tsunami as less a catastrophe than a chance to start from scratch. Now, they are taking bold, counterintuitive steps to remake their hometown.

In Libya, refugees are streaming out of Sirte, the last major town still in the hands of forces loyal to ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Cut off from the rest of the country, without electricity, many knew nothing of recent rebel advances, including the fall of the capital, Tripoli.

With the country still digging its way out of the recession, banks have severely tightened lending to small firms — making it harder for many to get back on their feet. But Daphne Wilson, an entrepreneur in Milwaukee, Wis., didn't let being turned down by four banks stop her.

While carbon dioxide streams into the atmosphere from tailpipes and smokestacks around the world, one man is building a machine to suck it back out. And some heavy-hitting investors are betting that it's going to work.

The Syrian military has been using tanks and heavy weaponry as it battles opponents of President Bashar Assad's rule. Assessing whether this strategy is working depends on whom you ask.

In the past, consumers usually talked more about cutting back than they actually did, analysts say. However, the sluggish recovery has left Americans feeling financially insecure — and more reluctant to spend.

There is in the American air — some 13 months away from the 2012 election — a whiff of suggestion that Obama might not be re-elected. Or re-electable. Past presidents have weathered stormier times, but when you hit bottom matters.

The nation's poverty rate rose last year to 15.1 percent, the highest level in 17 years, according to new data from the Census Bureau. The agency's latest poverty report, released Tuesday, shows that the median income dropped last year by more than 2 percent to about $49,445.

Ever since the Soviet Union collapsed two decades ago, many Russians have felt they were a nation in retreat. But Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sees the Arctic as a place for Russia to expand, with an eye on its natural resources.

While carbon dioxide streams into the atmosphere from tailpipes and smokestacks around the world, one man is building a machine to suck it back out. And some heavy-hitting investors are betting that it's going to work.