A startup evidently devoted to mining asteroids for metals is to make its public debut Tuesday in the U.S. northwest city of Seattle, seeking to redefine the term "natural resources."

X Prize founder Peter Diamandis and a former NASA astronaut are slated to unveil Planetary Resources, which boasts an impressive list of backers including Google co-founder Larry Page and famed film maker James Cameron.

French citizens living in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina began voting early Saturday in France's presidential elections, 19 hours ahead of polls opening in France.

A polling station at the French consulate in Rio de Janeiro opened its doors at 8:00 am local time (11:00 GMT) and was scheduled to close at 6:00 pm (21:00 GMT).

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon made a call on Friday to double global consumption of renewable energy over the next two decades in order to ensure sustainable economic development.

"It's possible if we show political leadership," Ban said about the goal that falls under a sustainable energy initiative aiming to have universal access to power by 2030. Currently, renewable energy accounts for about 16 percent of world consumption.

The United States pressed China Saturday to make progress on its recently announced currency reform to make the yuan more flexible, calling it key to healthy global economic growth.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that despite global trade imbalances being lower than levels before the 2008 financial crisis, further action was needed to guard against renewed unsustainable imbalances.

Sources close to Premier Najib Miqati denied that a visit made by U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly to the Grand Serail on Friday was aimed at thwarting meetings scheduled to be held by the Higher Lebanese-Iranian committee next month.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Saturday, the sources said: “We are not aware of any such move and the U.S. ambassador’s visit to the Serail had nothing to do with it.”

U.S. President Barack Obama late Friday called for an end to fighting between Sudan and South Sudan and negotiations between the leaders of the two countries to settle their conflict.

"We know what needs to happen -- the government of Sudan must stop its military actions, including aerial bombardments," Obama said in a videotaped message to the people of the two countries.

The White House Thursday urged restraint among nuclear capable states after India tested a long-range missile, but rejected any comparison between New Delhi's behavior and that of North Korea.

"We urge all nuclear capable states to exercise restraint regarding nuclear and missile capabilities and continue to discourage actions that might destabilize the South Asia region," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

U.S. leadership has lost some of its luster abroad, suggesting President Barack Obama can't count on as much global euphoria as he gears up for a fierce reelection campaign, a new survey found Thursday.

The report card was particularly dire from Serbia and Iran where approval ratings for the White House were below 10 percent. India, Cyprus, Belarus and Egypt also gave the Obama administration less than stellar marks.

Soldiers posing with slain or captive foes for trophy pictures is nothing new. What is new, experts said, is how technology is enabling such images to go viral.

Digital photography makes snapshots like those of U.S. soldiers alongside the mangled remains of Taliban suicide bombers reveal a brutal side of conflict that's disturbing to civilians, but all too familiar to combatants.

A new treatment helped rabbits born with cerebral palsy regain near-normal mobility, offering hope of a potential breakthrough in treating humans with the incurable disorder, researchers said Wednesday.

The method, part of the growing field of Nano medicine, worked by delivering an anti-inflammatory drug directly into the damaged parts of the brain via tiny tree-like molecules known as dendrimers.