Search results for

Janet Yellen made her first appearance before Congress as chair of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday. Her remarks, released prior to her testimony, stressed that there would be a lot of continuity with past policies, because she had helped develop and implement them.

History is being made Tuesday in Sochi, as women's ski jump makes its debut as an Olympic event. While men have competed in ski jumping for nearly a century, women have not been included in Olympic competition. They've been seeking equality in their sport for more than a decade. Tamara Keith was on hand to report on the day's events.

Another winter storm is hitting the Deep South on Tuesday. Snow is falling in six Southern states. Two weeks ago, a storm paralyzed metro Atlanta. Some motorists were trapped on snowy and icy interstates for 18 hours. But this time around, officials are saying they will be better prepared.

There have been five major mass extinctions over the last half-billion years, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists are currently monitoring an era of mass extinction predicted to be the most devastating since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. But this time around, says Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction, it's humans that are causing it.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner has said for months that he would not let the United States default on its debt, and he made good on that promise: The House voted Tuesday evening for an increase of the debt limit with no strings attached, just as President Obama had wanted.

Carnival in Rio attracts tourists from all over the world. But there is a murky — and sometimes deadly — underbelly to the celebrations. The recent murder of a samba school official highlights the links between the glittering affair that is Carnival and the city's criminal world.

In Chattanooga on Wednesday, workers at Volkswagen's auto plant will vote on whether to unionize. This is billed as the most closely watched unionization vote in the South in decades.

Chinese immigrants adapted their cuisine over time to appeal to American palates. So Americans looking for familiar dishes in China won't find many. But a new restaurant in Shanghai hopes to change that — offering expats a taste of home and introducing locals to foreign treats like fortune cookies.

Belgium already allows doctor-assisted death for adults, and a bill that looks set for approval this week would allow terminally ill kids under 18 to make the same choice. But some lawmakers and the Catholic Church are strongly opposed.

Little is known about how the hastily arranged meeting went. Reports from the border village of Panmunjom say the two sides' representatives appeared to behave cordially toward each other. But upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises could ratchet up tensions again.