Traian Basescu, the incumbent, led by a slim margin in the first round of Romania’s presidential election, but the close results pointed to tough talks ahead to form a new government.

Scotland Yard said it had referred the cases of four members of Parliament to prosecutors after an investigation into lavish expense claims.

The explosion in central Russia occurred while soldiers were disposing of unexploded munitions left over from an earlier explosion on Nov. 13, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

An activist who tried to help parents of children who died in last year’s Sichuan Province earthquake was sentenced for illegal possession of state secrets.

The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most expensive science experiment, has produced its first collisions.

The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most expensive science experiment, has produced its first collisions.

Joe Mauer collected 27 of 28 first-place votes, with Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera taking the other.

The acquisition of quarterback Jay Cutler was expected to take Chicago to a new level, but he has been inaccurate over all and ineffective in the red zone.

India sees a warmer relationship between Washington and Beijing under the Obama administration as a threat to its rise as a global power.

At 31 years old but already in his 14th N.B.A. season, the Lakers superstar has continued to massage, mold and morph his game.

Iraq’s effort to hold parliamentary elections has collapsed, raising the prospect of a political crisis ahead of the planned U.S. troop withdrawal.

An Ohio police chief was convicted in a break-in at the home of a surrogate mother who was carrying twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

Feeling a threat from proposed legislation, both sides are mobilizing supporters like they haven’t in years.

Feeling a threat from proposed legislation, both sides are mobilizing supporters like they haven’t in years.

James Battista, a gambler, says he and Tim Donaghy bet on 47 N.B.A. games, 31 more than Donaghy acknowledged in a plea bargain.

Tim Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs halted the visiting Milwaukee Bucks’ three-game winning streak with a 112-98 victory Monday night.

A former supervisor for Acorn was sentenced to up to three years of probation for illegally paying canvassers to register Nevada voters during the 2008 campaign.

Clemson University is getting nearly $100 million in federal stimulus money to study wind energy.

Mayor Bill White of Houston says he is considering running for governor, now that Tom Schieffer, a fellow Democrat, has decided to drop out of the race.

A paralyzed University of California law school graduate has passed the bar exam after a legal battle to take the test.