PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Residents are voting to keep Portland, Ore., as the largest U.S. city without fluoride in the water or any plans to add it.

Read more here: Portland, Ore., rejecting water fluoridation

May 22 (Reuters) – Vivian Cheruiyot is not defending her world 5,000 and 10,000 metres gold medals in Moscow in August because she is expecting her first child, the Kenyan said in a statement. The 29-year-old, who won both races at the 2011 world athletics championships in Daegu, South Korea, took silver and bronze in the 5,000 and 10,000 at last year’s London Olympics. In a statement released by her agent Ricky Simms on Wednesday, Cheruiyot said she would resume her career next year. She had first revealed her decision not to compete in Moscow on Tuesday but gave no reason for her absence. …

Read more here: Athletics-Cheruiyot expecting first child, aims to return in 2014

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Wednesday decided to keep monetary policy on hold, but one board member tried unsuccessfully to loosen the central bank's commitment to achieving its 2 percent inflation target within two years. In a unanimous vote, the BOJ maintained its pledge to increase base money, or cash and deposits at the central bank, at an annual pace of 60 trillion to 70 trillion yen ($585-$682 billion). …

Read more here: BOJ keeps policy on hold; Kiuchi proposes looser price target timeframe

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Charles Woodson is coming back home to Oakland.

Read more here: Veteran DB Charles Woodson returns to Raiders

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly higher Wednesday after investor confidence was boosted by a Federal Reserve official’s comments that the U.S. central bank should stick with its super-easy monetary policy.

Read more here: Asia stocks rise as Fed official backs easy policy

We all know that the PC industry is in dire straits at the moment, which has naturally led to speculation that Microsoft could also soon find itself in big trouble. But while Microsoft’s struggles to establish itself in the mobile consumer device market are well-documented, the company still has an ace up its sleeve in the form of enterprise cloud services. Barron’s points us to a new note from UBS analyst Brent Thill, who makes the case that Microsoft cloud offerings such as Office 365 and SkyDrive have the potential to give the company a more predictable revenue stream and make the company more like IBM, which for years has raked in high earnings despite being out of the consumer

Read more here: How cloud services could save Microsoft from sinking PC sales

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea sent one of its top military officials to Beijing on Wednesday as a “special envoy” of its leader Kim Jong-un, state news agency KCNA reported. There were few details of Choe Ryong-hae’s visit, which came amid strained relations between China and North Korea after Beijing backed U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang for its February nuclear test. Choe is the most senior North Korean official to visit Beijing since Kim’s uncle Jang Song-thaek made the trip in August 2012. …

Read more here: North Korea sends top Kim Jong-un aide to Beijing

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County prosecutors said Tuesday they'll seek to retry five former officials in the city of Bell who were accused of corruption and overpaying themselves with public funds.

Read more here: Calif. prosecutors seek retrial in corruption case

NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel Paille snapped a tie with 3:31 left in the third period, and the Boston Bruins put the New York Rangers on the brink of elimination with a 2-1 victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night.

Read more here: Paille's goal puts Bruins on verge of East finals

(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc said it has entered into a $5 billion share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs Group Inc, as the drug giant looks to prop up shareholder value in face of stiff competition from makers of less-costly generics. Under the accelerated share repurchase agreement (ASR), Merck has agreed to repurchase about 99.5 million shares from Goldman Sachs based on current market prices. …

Read more here: Merck signs $5 billion share buyback agreement with Goldman Sachs