Japan economy slumps more than expected in first quarter

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's economy shrank in the first quarter at nearly double the pace expected, effectively slipping into recession as the devastating earthquake in March hit business spending and private consumption.

Gross domestic product fell 0.9 percent in the first quarter, much more than a median market forecast for a 0.5 percent contraction.

That translates into an annualized decline of 3.7 percent against a forecast of a 2.0 percent fall, Cabinet Office data showed on Thursday.

5 foreign journalists freed by Libya and Iran

TRIPOLI, Libya – The Libyan government released four foreign journalists on Wednesday and a fifth reached freedom in Qatar after disappearing while on assignment in Syria, the latest reporters to be freed after being swept up while covering unrest in the Middle East.

Americans Clare Morgana Gillis and James Foley, along with British freelance reporter Nigel Chandler and Spanish photographer Manuel Varela, appeared at a Tripoli hotel after being released from six weeks detention in Libya.

Gaddafi's wife and daughter in Tunisia: source

TUNIS/TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The wife and daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi crossed the border into Tunisia, a Tunisian security source said, but it was unclear whether they were on a diplomatic mission or seeking safe haven.

Arabic television stations quoted Tunisian officials as denying that the family members were in the country, saying that Safia Gaddafi and her daughter Aisha were on a U.N. sanctions list and would therefore not be allowed in.

War crimes prosecutor seeks arrest of Gadhafi

TRIPOLI, Libya – The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants Monday for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his son and the country's intelligence chief for authorizing the killing of civilians in a crackdown on anti-government rebels.

Gadhafi's government denied the allegations.

IMF crisis opens the door to emerging nations

WASHINGTON – The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn has plunged the International Monetary Fund into a leadership dilemma just as it's playing a key role in addressing Europe's debt crisis and other global challenges.

It also hastens a likely confrontation between Europe and increasingly rich developing countries that have been angling for the top spot at either the IMF or its sister organization, the World Bank. Since their inception just after World War II, the IMF has been led by a European, the World Bank by an American.

Britain celebrates monarchy as Kate, William wed

LONDON – With a smile that lit up TV screens around the world, Kate Middleton married Prince William in a union that promised to revitalize the British monarchy. A million people roared their approval as the royal couple then paraded through London in an open carriage.

Even knowing that an immense television audience was turning in to watch, the couple managed, at times, to appear in their own private world Friday, both at Westminster Abbey and on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Watch the British royal wedding live

Whether you will be watching every moment or just want to see the ceremony, Yahoo! will be your one stop for all royal wedding updates. You won't miss a thing. Here's what you can expect:

Live streaming video: No TV? No problem, just come back to this page, starting at 1 a.m. PT/4 a.m. ET on Friday morning, where we'll have live video of every moment of the event courtesy of ABC News, hosted by Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters. Live coverage will continue through 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET.

Middleton to spend eve of wedding at 5-star hotel

LONDON – Kate Middleton's spending her last night as a single woman in a room fit for a queen.

The princess-in-waiting is staying Thursday at London's Goring Hotel, a family run luxury hotel just around the corner from Buckingham Palace.

Middleton, father Michael, mother Carole, sister Pippa and brother James have taken over the 71-room hotel, with the bride-to-be staying in a recently redecorated five-room suite overlooking the hotel's private garden, complete with a four-poster bed, silk wallpaper and even a waterproof flat-screen TV in the bath.

Man in cow suit robs Walmart of 26 gallons of milk

The schedule of events for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

• 0815 BST (0715 GMT; 3:15 a.m. EDT) — Guests begin arriving at the Great North Door of London's Westminster Abbey.

• 0950 BST (0850 GMT; 4:50 a.m. EDT) — Governors-general and prime ministers of realm countries, the diplomatic corps, and other distinguished guests arrive at the abbey.

Royal wedding eve: Crowds swell outside the abbey

LONDON – Each step has been rehearsed, each flower meticulously arranged, the aisle of Westminster Abbey transformed into a flowering avenue of trees.

With just hours to go before his wedding to Kate Middleton, dedicated royal watchers camped outside got an unexpected surprise — a visit from Prince William.

Tornadoes devastate South, killing at least 280

PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. – Firefighters searched one splintered pile after another for survivors Thursday, combing the remains of houses and neighborhoods pulverized by the nation's deadliest tornado outbreak in almost four decades. At least 280 people were killed across six states — more than two-thirds of them in Alabama, where large cities bore the half-mile-wide scars the twisters left behind.

The death toll from Wednesday's storms seems out of a bygone era, before Doppler radar and pinpoint satellite forecasts were around to warn communities of severe weather. Residents were told the tornadoes were coming up to 24 minutes ahead of time, but they were just too wide, too powerful and too locked onto populated areas to avoid a horrifying body count.

Reid: US must compete with China to lead on energy

WASHINGTON – The United States must step up its efforts on renewable energy to compete with China and other countries for global leadership, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday after returning from a nine-day, taxpayer-funded trip to Asia with nine of his colleagues.

The Nevada Democrat said the trip, his first visit to China in a quarter-century, offered "an unmistakable reminder just how hard we have to work to make America competitive with the rest of the world," particularly on manufacturing and energy.

Egyptians find their voice after years of repression

CAIRO (Reuters) – For decades, authoritarian rule and police brutality ensured the only voice heard from Egypt was that of its leaders. Since popular protests deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the silent majority has erupted into a cacophony.

Emboldened by the success of their uprising, almost everyone in post-Mubarak Egypt, from Western-educated professionals to illiterate farmhands to once-banned Islamists, has something to say about their nation's past and future.

White House releases Obama birth certificate

The White House on Wednesday morning released the president's long form birth certificate (pdf) in an attempt to put "birther" questions to rest.

"The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn't good for the country. It may have been good politics and good T.V., but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement.

Israel's Electric Car Network: Can It Change the World?

Shai Agassi, the founder of Better Place, the most sophisticated electric-car enterprise in the world, projects the ebullient confidence of a man facing a giant wave of money. "Within less than this decade the No. 1–selling car in the world will be the electric car," he says. "It's the biggest financial opportunity the world has ever seen. We're seeing a $10 trillion shift in an industry in less than a decade. It's the Internet, and add another zero."

In the introduction to Start-Up Nation, Dan Senor and Saul Singer's best-selling paean to Israeli innovation, Agassi was the soft-spoken software wiz who had a brilliant idea and a terrible time locating a backer. That doesn't seem

Bahrain crown prince declines royal wedding invite

LONDON – Bahrain's crown prince on Sunday declined an invitation to attend Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, saying he did not want the Gulf nation's unrest to tarnish the celebration.

Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa sent his regrets to Prince Charles after questions emerged over the British monarchy's decision to invite a member of Bahrain's Sunni ruling family, which has waged a wide-ranging crackdown against Shiite protesters calling for more freedoms.

Taliban tunnel more than 480 out of Afghan prison

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – During the long Afghan winter, Taliban insurgents were apparently busy underground.

The militants say they spent more than five months building a 1,050-foot tunnel to the main prison in southern Afghanistan, bypassing government checkpoints, watch towers and concrete barriers topped with razor wire.

Heavy fighting in Misrata and Libyan mountains

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya's rebel-held city of Misrata won no respite from two months of bitter siege as Muammar Gaddafi's forces bombarded the city and battled rebel fighters, despite pulling out of the city center.

Gaddafi's forces were also pounding Berber towns in Libya's Western Mountains with artillery, rebels and refugees said, in a remote region far from the view of international media.

New York Times falls for Onion spoof

The paper of record has been punked by the paper of parody.

The New York Times' April 17 mini-retrospective on the "original teen-girl tabloid," Tiger Beat, included a sampling of the magazine's covers throughout the years. But as the Times learned the hard way, one of those things was not like the other.

Japan launches massive search for tsunami bodies

SHICHIGAHAMAMACHI, Japan – Soldiers prodded marshy ground with slender poles and cleared mounds of rubble by hand Monday as 25,000 troops mounted Japan's largest search yet for the bodies of nearly 12,000 people missing in last month's earthquake and tsunami.

The operation was the third intensive military search since the March 11 disaster, which splintered buildings, flattened towns and killed up to 26,000 people along Japan's northeastern coast. With waters receding, officials hope the team, which also includes police, coast guard and U.S. troops, will make significant progress during the two-day operation.