July 13 (Bloomberg) -- Bombings in Uganda by the Somali militia al-Shabaab that killed at least 74 people have raised U.S. government concerns about the group’s growing ties with al- Qaeda, an Obama administration official said today.

Al-Shabaab, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the July 11 attacks in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Al-Shabaab said it targeted Uganda because the nation contributed troops to an African Union-led peacekeeping f...

July 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s 10-year yields were near the highest level in two weeks after the party of Prime Minister Naoto Kan lost control of the parliament’s upper house, undermining his efforts to cut the nation’s dependency on debt.

Benchmark bonds maintained last week’s losses as the election made it less likely Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan will be able to raise the sales tax to bolster the nation’s finances. The Bank of Japan will hold a two-day policy meeting this wee...

The decision by the Malaysian government to appoint women judges to its Islamic courts has been welcomed by Muslim feminist groups.

The Sisters in Islam (SIS) group based in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, told the BBC it had been pressing for this for many years.

The government said the new judges were part of its sharia reform efforts.

Malaysia runs two parallel legal systems - the civil courts for its non-Muslim citizens and the Islamic system.

"We've been calling for the appointment of w...

SINGAPORE — Switzerland's president did not plead for leniency for a Swiss train vandal during a visit to Singapore, and said there was no "big debate" over the issue, reports said Saturday.

Oliver Fricker, a 32-year-old Swiss national, was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane in June after pleading guilty to breaking into a metro depot and spray-painting a train.

In a meeting with Singapore President S.R. Nathan, Switzerland's Doris Leuthard said that punishing Fricke...

 Professors and students were excited when electronic readers, such as the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad, were released. With many students complaining about expensive textbooks, universities are trying to find ways to lower costs. So when the opportunity to participate in a year-long pilot program for the Kindle arose, universities across the nation did not hesitate.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, seven universities were asked to test the Kindle in a classroom setting. After a few months...