By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank has proposed a $150 million loan for Jordan to help it with the cost of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, Jordanian and World Bank board sources said on Wednesday. "The (World Bank) board should act on it in June," one source told Reuters. "Pressure on Jordan is increasing and the loan should help ease the economic burden." Close to 500,000 Syrian refugees, out of a total of 1. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hewlett-Packard is still scrambling to meet the growing demand for more versatile and less expensive mobile devices as a slump in its personal computer sales deepens, but the company's cost-cutting measures and focus on more profitable areas of technology appear to be easing the pain.

By Maria Golovnina and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street on Wednesday, in what the government said appeared to be a terrorist attack. A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker just minutes after the killing showed a man with hands covered in blood, brandishing a bloodied meat cleaver and a knife. "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. ...

LA RUANA, Mexico (AP) — The farm state of Michoacan is burning. A drug cartel that takes its name from an ancient monastic order has set fire to lumber yards, packing plants and passenger buses in a medieval-like reign of terror.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The incoming mayor of Los Angeles was able to defeat a fellow Democrat by depicting her as a pawn of utility union bosses in a city long friendly to labor, an outcome expected to echo beyond California as unions nationwide face threats to their clout.

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep on trying.

A North Dakota advertising agency is suing the creators of a Cartoon Network show, alleging that they copied a state marketing campaign.

By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co raised its 2013 earnings outlook after quarterly results beat low expectations, as CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround plan helped offset shrinking personal computer sales with enterprise computing services. While fiscal second-quarter profit plummeted 32 percent, Wall Street had braced for worse. HP shares gained 14 percent after the company projected full-year earnings per share of $3.50 to $3.60, raising the lower end by 10 cents, and fiscal third-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates. ...

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The WikiLeaks organization and a handful of journalists asked a federal judge Wednesday to order greater transparency in the court-martial of an Army private who has acknowledged sending reams of classified document to the WikiLeaks website.

By Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Tornado survivors thanked God, sturdy closets and luck in explaining how they lived through the colossal twister that devastated an Oklahoma town and killed 24 people, an astonishingly low toll given the extent of destruction. At least one family took refuge in a bathtub and some people shut themselves in underground shelters built into their houses when the powerful storm tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is investigating a possible Nigerian link to attackers suspected of hacking a soldier to death in London while shouting Islamic slogans, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Two suspects have been taken into custody after the attack, which the British government said appeared to be an act of terrorism. Police have not identified the suspects. The sources, speaking independently, said a Nigerian link was being investigated but gave no further details about the nature of the link. Police spokesmen declined to comment. ...

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla Motors, which makes a highly acclaimed $70,000 electric car, has paid off a startup loan from the U.S. government nine years early.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers suddenly have a huge void in their receiving corps as they chase another Super Bowl berth: Michael Crabtree is sidelined after surgery on his right Achilles tendon.

LONDON (Reuters) - A possible Nigerian link to attackers suspected of hacking a soldier to death in London while shouting Islamic slogans is being probed, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Two suspects have been taken into custody after the attack, which the British government said appeared to be an act of terrorism. Police have not identified the suspects. The sources, speaking independently, said a Nigerian link was being investigated but gave no further details about the nature of the link. Police spokesmen declined to comment. ...

By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Supporters of U.S. immigration reform are hoping that the smooth and drama-free passage of their legislation through a Senate committee - a departure from almost everything that has happened in Congress over the past four years - will boost the likelihood of the bill winning full Senate approval. Even Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee who voted against the immigration bill on Tuesday, told Reuters TV that the "very fair" debate by the panel "does improve its chances. ...

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep on trying.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Stacy Lewis brings more value to the LPGA Tour that just her golf.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a favorite among liberals for her forceful advocacy for consumers and criticisms of the financial industry, has a book deal.

ROME (AP) — An Italian judge has ordered the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship to stand trial for manslaughter in the vessel's shipwreck off the coast of Tuscany, which killed 32 people.

By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facing criticism from Democratic loyalists, the White House acknowledged on Wednesday that President Barack Obama's team has struggled to get its story straight on who knew what when about the IRS targeting of conservative groups. Democrats close to the Obama White House said they had been puzzled by the president's team's inability to establish one coherent account of the facts and stick to it in the nearly two weeks since the IRS scandal was disclosed. Some have communicated that sentiment to White House officials. ...