Sprint CEO declines comment on T-Mobile buyout report, says consolidation would be difficult

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sprint Nextel Corp.’s chief executive said Thursday that consolidation in the wireless industry may be coming but it will be difficult.

Cash for Clunkers’ success prompts automakers to take baby steps toward boosting production

NEW YORK — After a lot of heartbreak, the nation’s automakers aren’t looking to commit.

Businessman Schreiber being extradited from Canada to Germany

TORONTO — German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber is being extradited to Germany, Canada’s justice department has confirmed.

Britain says it will temporarily withdraw forces from Iraq as parliament didn’t extend mandate

BAGHDAD — Britain will withdraw its remaining forces from Iraq to Kuwait by the end of the month because the Iraqi parliament failed to pass a deal allowing them to stay to protect oil platforms and provide training, a spokesman said Tuesday.

NKorea test-fires 2 short-range missiles amid heightened nuclear tensions

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles Thursday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said, a move that aggravates already high tensions following Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test and U.N. sanctions imposed as punishment.

North Korean ship changes its course as Pyongyang renews warnings against searching its ships

SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean ship under scrutiny for more than a week by the U.S. Navy has changed course and was heading back the way it came, U.S. officials said, as Pyongyang warned Wednesday it will take military action if anyone attempts to search its vessels.

Activists say it’s high time for broader debate on pot, see momentum shifting their way

NEW YORK — The savage drug war in Mexico. Crumbling state budgets. Weariness with current drug policy. The election of a president who said, “Yes — I inhaled.”

Swine flu speads; Spain leads Europe in swine flu cases with 40 _ most after Mexico visits

MEXICO CITY — Swine flu extended its reach through Europe and Latin America, with at least five countries reporting new cases on Sunday. Health experts were investigating a case of the virus jumping from a person to pigs, trying to determine if the disease was reaching a new stage.

Mexico to shut all but essential services as world health officials ratchet up swine flu alert

MEXICO CITY — Mexico readied a “temporarily closed” sign — taking the drastic step of ordering a suspension of nonessential federal government and private business activity as it tried to squelch a swine flu epidemic. The World Health Organization ratcheted up an alert and warned that “all of humanity” is threatened.

Confirmed swine flu cases in Mexico rises to 91, pandemic imminent warns WHO

MEXICO CITY - The number of confirmed swine flu infections in Mexico climbed from 49 to 91, with eights deaths caused by the new strain, Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova has said. The latest figures came shortly after the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva raised the pandemic alert for swine flu by one level to phase 5.