The huge U.S. bank may have few options left, other than a government bailout.

• Retreat from Asia unlikely for embattled Citigroup

Skittish financial markets veered sharply upward Friday after reports that Timothy Geithner would become secretary of the U.S. Treasury. The Dow climbed almost 500 points.

• U.S. needs to stop drifting

A garbled translation of an official's words ended up shifting public attention from valiant reconstruction efforts to questions about how many children perished in their poorly built schools.

With the rebels on one side and the government forces on the other, the Mai Mai militia, with their guns, leaf headdresses and special potions, offer a surreal - but still deadly - dimension to Congo's civil wars.

• Conflict leaves Congolese villagers in limbo

Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat to become the public face to the world for the man who dashed her hopes for the presidency, her confidants said.

• Obama goes for pragmatists, not ideologues
• Geithner to get Treasury reins

Martine Aubry, who masterminded France's 35-hour workweek a decade ago, was declared the winner of a runoff election for the leadership of the Socialist Party by a razor-thin margin over Ségolène Royal, its standard-bearer in the last presidential election.