VATICAN CITY – The Vatican bank said Monday its profit soared by more than 20 times last year as it recovered from a trading loss and continued its reform process away from its scandal-marred past. The bank, officially called the Institute for Religious Works, said it earned 69.3 million euros …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Dutch police say they have detained 19 people, most of them members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang, in coordinated raids that spread into neighboring Belgium and Germany. The cross-border operation early Wednesday involved riot police, specialist arrest squads and a police helicopter. They targeted 30 locations …

ANKARA, Turkey – The Istanbul prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation of newspaper editor following the publication of images of truckloads of ammunition, which the paper says proved that a convoy which was stopped on its way to Syria on a Turkish intelligence mission was carrying arms to rebels. The …

BERLIN – Germany’s labor minister is backtracking from a new rule stipulating that old-fashioned jump-on, jump-off elevators can only be used by trained personnel, a restriction that was met with media mockery. The rule came into effect on Monday, effectively barring visitors from riding the so-called paternoster elevators that survive …

Case: Wyeth v. Levine Date: Monday November 3, 2008 Issue: Are states preempted from imposing more stringent labeling requirements than what the FDA imposes on drug manufacturers? Background: This is the second preemption case of the term and the third the Court will hear in less than a year. In …

Anger is building all over America, as many of us are uncertain about the ability of our government to control the economy and corruption. Now, the reason I’m so engaged on this issue is that I understand how hard most of you work and how you trusted the system by …

NAIROBI, Kenya – A government-sponsored commission in Kenya has accused a number of top-level officials of inciting and funding ethnic violence in the country that left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced following disputed elections late last year. The report, which was embargoed by a separate government commission, was …

The U.N.’s Palace of Nations is falling apart. The Palais des Nations is the U.N.’s European headquarters, flanked by the Swiss Alps to the west and Lake Geneva to the east. Peacocks roam freely on the grounds of the pristine, 111-acre Ariana Park that surrounds it. But on the inside, …

LOS ANGELES – We’re starting to think that perhaps Brooke Hogan should steer clear of expressing her political opinions. The 20-year-old recently caused a media stir when she wrote on her MySpace blog that she thought it was “crazy” for Hillary Clinton to run for president as women “deal a …

SEATTLE – For years America’s northern and southern borders — 5,938 miles of dense forest and open land — were fair game for drug dealers and illegal immigrants looking to sneak into the U.S. That was before September 11, 2001. After the 9/11 terror attacks, securing America’s borders became a …