John Lee Tin is a man with a mission. He is running for autism on Sunday 1st November in the ING New York City Marathon 2009.John Lee Tin is hoping that people will support his fundraising efforts for autism - he is running to raise funds for the UK Autism Foundation.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in a report on Monday that the U.S. dollar should be replaced as the world’s standard reserve currency. The U.N. said the establishment of a new currency would protect emerging markets from the “confidence game” of financial speculation.

The National Academy of Science's formula for poverty levels is gaining credibility with public officials, including some in the Obama administration. Based on a revision of the half-century-old formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations in the cost of living, the poverty rate among older Americans could be nearly twice as high as the traditional 10 percent estimate.

Kavya Shivashankar, 13, from Olathe, Kansas, was the only one of 11 finalists standing at the end, winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night. She took home more than $40,000 in cash and prizes and the huge champion's trophy.

Bermudian Premier Dr. Ewart Brown announced at to the Bermuda House of Assembly members that the island territory will open up an office in Washington, D.C. this move will further strengthen already strong Bermudian - Unites States relations.

Swine flu has claimed its 10th victim in the U.S. On Wednesday Christina Huitron told doctors to take her 21-year-old son off life support. Marcos Sanchez of Utah thus became the nation's 10th fatality associated with swine flu.

In what is sure to foster a great sense of panic, and reminscent of the SARS scare six years ago, the EU's health chief has warned against travel to the U.S. and Mexico due to the swine flu outbreak.

YEREVAN--In a letter to the chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman, the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Armen Rustamian on Thursday expressed his strong support for US affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, stressing that US recognition would be the greatest contributor to the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

On Monday, the Pentagon released a statement stating that in the past week, Chinese naval vessels harassed the spy ship the USNS Impeccable on Sunday, in what it called "increasingly aggressive conduct."

In preparing for possible future military interventions, the United States needs to shift substantial resources to the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, and military-civilian efforts must be integrated from top to bottom, according to a new report issued today by a group of veteran government and private-sector leaders.

Starbucks Corp. has announced it's closing 600 underperforming locations in the United States.

Despite perceptions that the nation is losing its competitive edge, the United States remains the dominant leader in science and technology worldwide, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.