Iran test-launched its powerful Sajjil-2 missile on Wednesday. The Iranian missile has the range to reach Israel and parts of Europe and a drew a sharp response from the US and and other Western powers, who say it increases their doubts about the Islamic Republic's intentions and hardens their resolve on sanctions.

Iran’s snub of US overtures for engagement -- such as its test of the Sajjil-2 missile -- give Obama the moral high ground for tougher economic sanctions.

To break the impasse over global warming, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak says each and every country must do what it can, starting now.

AP - The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week as the recovery of the nation's battered labor market proceeds in fits and starts.

AP - Two suspected U.S. missile strikes, one using multiple drones, killed 17 people in a Pakistani tribal region along the Afghan border Thursday, local intelligence officials said.

AP - Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry has died, one day after falling out of the back of a pickup truck in what authorities described as a domestic dispute with his fiancee.