Exclusive: Developing nations to name 2 candidates for World Bank

Exclusive: Developing nations to name 2 candidates for World Bank
Zynga buys game maker behind 'Draw Something'
Doctors find clue in quest to predict heart attack
Exclusive: Watson close to $7 billion Actavis drug deal: sources
Obama, GOP vie for upper hand on energy
Alex Smith signs three-year deal with 49ers
Hartford Financial exiting annuity business
Goldman loses bid to end lawsuit over risky CDO
One Direction excited about history making debut
Disney sketches sequel to 'Epic Mickey' video game
Barber: Blagojevich's hair to turn gray in prison
France shootings siege: Live Report
Court sides with property owners over EPA
White teen pleads guilty in Miss. hate crime
Review: New iPad screen is eye-opening upgrade
NH House debates gay marriage repeal bill
US stocks mixed; investors sour on HP plan
UEFA gets lawmakers' support to curb club spending
Security Council backs Annan's Syria peace plan
Holed-up French suspect plans nighttime surrender
Romney faces tough race in Louisiana
Senate votes to move ahead on small business bill
Oil prices rise on unexpected supply drop
Off-the-charts pollen spreads allergy misery
French police in standoff with suspected shooter
Islamists seek influence in Syria uprising
Mauritania has not agreed to hand over spy chief
Belgium holds service for victims of bus crash
Saints' Payton suspended for season by NFL
Bolton to play again; Muamba needed 15 shocks
Egypt lawmakers, government disagree on IMF loan
NH House weighs gay marriage repeal vote
Tim Tebow traded from Broncos to Jets
Rights leaders keep up pressure in Fla. shooting
US suspends recovery of troop remains in NKorea
Court weighs US power over states in health case
Dole: Santorum must soon consider dropping out
Government cuts income tax, austerity drive undimmed
Dollars and endorsements shifting toward Romney
Ad attacks Obama on gas prices with faulty logic

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo are set to be nominated to lead the World Bank, sources with knowledge of emerging market efforts to find candidates said on Tuesday. The candidacies of Okonjo-Iweala and Ocampo, who have credentials as both economists and diplomats and according to sources the respective backing of Brazil and South Africa, pose a challenge to the United States, whose hold on the top post has never been contested. ...

Zynga buys game maker behind 'Draw Something'

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Online game maker Zynga has bought New York-based OMGPop, maker of the popular mobile game "Draw Something."

Doctors find clue in quest to predict heart attack

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Too often, people pass a cardiac checkup only to collapse with a heart attack days later. Now scientists have found a clue that one day may help doctors determine if a heart attack is imminent, in hopes of preventing it.

Exclusive: Watson close to $7 billion Actavis drug deal: sources

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LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc is close to buying Swiss-based Actavis for around $7 billion, marking the latest deal between generics companies racing to achieve economies of scale, three sources familiar with the matter said. The deal would involve U.S.-based Watson, already among the world's five largest generic drugmakers, paying between 5.0 billion and 5.5 billion euros ($6.6-7.3 billion) for Actavis, a business not much smaller than its own, the sources said. ...

Obama, GOP vie for upper hand on energy

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Wooing a nation of increasingly angry motorists, President Barack Obama and his Republican rivals are all plunging into gas-pump politics, seeking the upper hand as energy becomes a driving issue in the election campaign.

Alex Smith signs three-year deal with 49ers

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No hard feelings on Alex Smith's part that the San Francisco 49ers pursued Peyton Manning.

Hartford Financial exiting annuity business

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Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is exiting the annuity business so it can focus on its property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds.

Goldman loses bid to end lawsuit over risky CDO

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc lost its bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of defrauding investors by selling risky debt linked to subprime mortgages that it planned to bet against. The decision by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York keeps alive a hedge fund's claims over a $2 billion offering of collateralized debt obligations, amid intense scrutiny over Goldman's activities before and after the 2008 financial crisis. ...

One Direction excited about history making debut

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One Direction's Niall Horan was in a taxi when he learned that the group's first album, "Up All Night," debuted at the top of the latest Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

Disney sketches sequel to 'Epic Mickey' video game

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Warren Spector realizes that he made a mistake with "Epic Mickey," his 2010 action-adventure game starring the world's most famous mouse.

Barber: Blagojevich's hair to turn gray in prison

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Rod Blagojevich's famously thick, dark hair is dyed and will turn gray within months as he serves his 14-year sentence in a Colorado prison, where dyes are strictly banned, the former Illinois governor's longtime barber said Wednesday.

France shootings siege: Live Report

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1947 GMT: Gueant's full quote: "He explained how he received instructions from Al-Qaeda during his stay in Pakistan, how he had even been suggested to carry out a suicide mission but refused, but accepted to carry out a general mission to commit an attack in France." Prosecutors have already said that Merah, the suspect, has told negotiators he was trained by the late Osama bin Laden's Islamist network on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Court sides with property owners over EPA

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The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that property owners have a right to prompt review by a judge of an important tool used by the Environmental Protection Agency to address water pollution.

White teen pleads guilty in Miss. hate crime

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A white Mississippi teenager has pleaded guilty to running over a black man with his pickup truck, killing him.

Review: New iPad screen is eye-opening upgrade

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Beware the new iPad, not because it's an inferior product, but because it's a superior one. Using one is like living the life of a millionaire for a day, then getting dumped back in your regular life. Your eyes are now opened to how miserable your existence is.

NH House debates gay marriage repeal bill

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New Hampshire lawmakers are considering whether to take the first step toward making their state legislature the first one to repeal a gay marriage law, even as the governor threatens a veto.

US stocks mixed; investors sour on HP plan

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U.S. stocks were mixed Wednesday, continuing a bumpy week on Wall Street.

UEFA gets lawmakers' support to curb club spending

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UEFA President Michel Platini won the support of the European Union's executive office on Wednesday to legally protect his plans to curb excessive spending by top soccer clubs.

Security Council backs Annan's Syria peace plan

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The previously divided U.N. Security Council sent a strong and united message to the Syrian government and opposition on Wednesday to immediately implement proposals by international envoy Kofi Annan to end the yearlong bloodshed.

Holed-up French suspect plans nighttime surrender

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The Interior Minister says a holed-up suspect wanted for shooting seven people dead plans to turn himself in to French police surrounding him at night "to be more discreet."

Romney faces tough race in Louisiana

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Mitt Romney faces another possible Southern setback — this time in Louisiana.

Senate votes to move ahead on small business bill

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Legislation making it easier for small businesses to raise money survived a test vote in the Senate on Wednesday, increasing the chances it could emerge as one of the few bipartisan bills to pass Congress during this election year.

Oil prices rise on unexpected supply drop

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One day after the price of benchmark crude took the biggest one-day drop this year, it headed up again.

Off-the-charts pollen spreads allergy misery

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Allergy season has come early and hit with a wheezing vengeance in parts of the South and Midwest this year, thanks largely to an unusually warm winter. Abundant pollen is causing watery eyes, sniffles and sneezing.

French police in standoff with suspected shooter

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In a tense, daylong standoff, French riot police surrounded a building Wednesday in southwest France, demanding the surrender of a gunman whom they say boasted of shooting seven victims in an al-Qaida-linked terror spree.

Islamists seek influence in Syria uprising

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The gunmen in eastern Syria, sporting grenade launchers and assault rifles, announced on the Internet they were forming the "God is Great" Brigade and joining the country's rebellion. They swore allegiance to the Free Syrian Army and vowed to topple President Bashar Assad.

Mauritania has not agreed to hand over spy chief

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A high-ranking government official is denying that Mauritania had agreed to hand over one of Moammar Gadhafi's ex-intelligence chief for trial in Libya.

Belgium holds service for victims of bus crash

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King Albert II and thousands of mourners on Wednesday remembered the 28 victims of last week's bus crash in a Swiss tunnel during a memorial service centering on the 22 schoolchildren whose promise of youth was shattered by sudden death.

Saints' Payton suspended for season by NFL

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The NFL handed down sweeping and unprecedented punishment Wednesday for bounties paid out on big hits, suspending New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton without pay for next season and indefinitely banning the team's former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, who now works for the St. Louis Rams.

Bolton to play again; Muamba needed 15 shocks

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Bolton will return to the field in the English Premier League on Saturday, a week after midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered cardiac arrest during a match and needed 15 shocks to recover.

Egypt lawmakers, government disagree on IMF loan

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An International Monetary Fund team was due to leave Cairo Wednesday without securing an agreement over a $3.2 billion loan to help boost the nation's battered economy.

NH House weighs gay marriage repeal vote

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New Hampshire lawmakers are considering whether to take the first step toward making their state the first to repeal a gay marriage law through legislation — a move opposed by the governor.

Tim Tebow traded from Broncos to Jets

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Tebowmania is headed to Broadway.

Rights leaders keep up pressure in Fla. shooting

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After declaring victories in getting federal and state officials to investigate the case of an unarmed black teenager shot to death by a neighborhood watch captain, civil rights leaders continued to pressure authorities to make an arrest.

US suspends recovery of troop remains in NKorea

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The United States said Wednesday it is suspending efforts to recover remains of thousands of fallen service members in North Korea, the latest sign that a recent thaw in relations is over.

Court weighs US power over states in health case

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Congress will help pay for your roads, but your state can't lower its drinking age below 21. There's federal money for colleges, but they can't discriminate against women in the classroom or on the athletic field.

Dole: Santorum must soon consider dropping out

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Former senator Bob Dole says GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is "getting close to the point" where he'll have to decide whether to stay in the race for the nomination or drop out.

Government cuts income tax, austerity drive undimmed

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LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne cut the top rate of income tax while imposing new levies on the wealthy, in a political high wire act designed to rejig the burden of austerity without wavering on plans to erase a huge budget deficit. Britain should avoid a renewed recession and while the recovery was set to remain modest this year, growth should pick up thereafter, Osborne told parliament in his annual budget statement on Wednesday. ...

Dollars and endorsements shifting toward Romney

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Fresh off a decisive victory in Illinois, Mitt Romney won critical establishment support Wednesday from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as he looks to unite the Republican Party behind his candidacy. Romney said he's "almost there" after pursuing the GOP nomination for six years, and there are fresh signs that big GOP donors and other party figures will follow Bush's lead after sitting on the sidelines for much of the primary season.