International News

Greece lowers recovery expectations
Greece on Wednesday insisted a new euro130 billion ($172 billion) bailout deal will "bind" it to the euro, but again lowered expectations of recovery as it faced skeptical world markets, continued protests and another...More >>
McCain urges Libyan militias to join national army
Sen. John McCain urged Libya's militias on Wednesday to integrate themselves into the country's new national army.More >>
Russia warns against 'hasty conclusions' over Iran
Russia said Wednesday the world should not draw "hasty conclusions" over Iran's most recent rebuff of U.N. attempts to investigate allegations the Islamic Republic hid secret work on atomic arms, but the U.S. and its...More >>
Argentine train slams into station, killing 49
A train packed with morning commuters slammed into a barrier at the end of a line in Buenos Aires Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds as passenger cars crumpled and windows exploded. It was Argentina's...More >>
West Bank settlement housing gets initial approval
Israel gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to a plan to build 600 new homes in a settlement deep inside the West Bank, a move that drew rebukes from the United Nations and Palestinians and threatened to raise tensions...More >>
American war reporter Marie Colvin killed in Syria
She was instantly recognizable for the eye patch that hid a shrapnel injury - a testament to Marie Colvin's courage, which took her behind the front lines of the world's deadliest conflicts to write about the...More >>
2 Western journalists among 74 killed in Syria
Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold Wednesday where the last dispatches from a veteran American war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning...More >>
Italian winter fashion opts for dark
After several weeks of snow and subfreezing temperatures in Italy, the chill is out of the air - at least weather-wise - and Italian designers are looking at the bright side of things as they begin the latest round of...More >>
Strauss-Kahn freed after French police questioning
French police released former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Wednesday after nearly 30 hours in custody for questioning about a suspected hotel prostitution ring.More >>
Quran burning incites deadly riots in Afghanistan
Clashes between Afghan troops and protesters angry over the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. military base left at least seven people dead and dozens wounded Wednesday as anger spread despite U.S. apologies over what...More >>
Hamas irons out dispute over Palestinian unity
The leadership of the Islamic militant Hamas on Wednesday settled internal disagreements and approved a unity deal with its political rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a senior official said.More >>
Nigeria's ex-leader attempts mediation in Senegal
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is officially in Senegal to observe this weekend's contentious election, met opposition candidates Wednesday in an effort to mediate a growing political standoff in this...More >>
Estonians held on allegations of spying for Russia
A longtime security official and his wife have been detained in Estonia on suspicion of passing classified information and state secrets to Russia, prosecutors said Wednesday in a case likely to add to long-standing tensions...More >>
Verdict in trial of Egypt's Mubarak set for June 2
An Egyptian judge on Wednesday set June 2 as the date for the verdict and sentencing in the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, which could put the man who spent nearly 30 years as one of the Arab world's key...More >>
Commonwealth urges early election in Maldives
The Commonwealth called Wednesday for early presidential elections in the Maldives, along with an international investigation into the ouster of the Indian Ocean archipelago's president earlier this month.More >>
Moammar Gadhafi's daughter seeks death certificate
Lawyers for the daughter of Moammar Gadhafi have filed a formal petition at the International Criminal Court seeking an authorized copy of the former Libyan leader's death certificate.More >>
Afghans, US may defer issues in strategic deal
The U.S. and the Afghan governments are considering pushing through a long-delayed partnership agreement by moving the contentious issues of night raids and control over detainees to separate negotiations, officials from...More >>
Final interview: Colvin describes deaths in Syria
This is the text of American war reporter Marie Colvin's final interview, given to BBC television from the Syrian city of Homs the night before she was killed Wednesday. She was staying in a house in the neighborhood of...More >>
China, Turkey sign deals
Turkey says Turkish and Chinese companies have signed deals worth $1.4 billion during a visit to Istanbul by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.More >>
Ruling could spark coalition crisis in Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced the unwelcome possibility of a coalition crisis on Wednesday after Israel's Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, overturned a law that has helped ultra-Orthodox Jewish men avoid...More >>
List of dead, missing from Concordia cruise ship
By The Associated Press A list of those dead or missing in the grounding of the cruise ship Costa Concordia off Italy. Italian officials released a list of the missing. Those not listed as crew are...More >>
Venezuela's Chavez says his cancer is likely back
President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant.More >>
Microsoft hits Motorola, Google with EU complaint
Microsoft on Wednesday lodged a formal complaint with the European Union's competition regulator against Motorola Mobility and its soon-to-be owner Google, saying Motorola's aggressive enforcement of patent rights...More >>
Pope marks Ash Wednesday
Pope Benedict XVI has led a solemn service to mark the start of the Lenten season of penitence, including the placement of ashes on the forehead of faithful.More >>
Iraqi PM: Al-Qaida active in area south of Baghdad
Iraq's prime minister says al-Qaida fighters are continuing to plan and launch attacks in the area south of Baghdad once known as the "triangle of death."More >>
Lithuanian archive releases KGB collaborator names
Lithuania's government has released the names of 238 citizens who admitted collaborating with the KGB when their country was ruled by the Soviet Union, and said Wednesday it plans to identify other people who have...More >>
Syrian opposition urges Russia to back aid plan
Syria's main opposition group said Wednesday that foreign military intervention may be the only way to ensure emergency aid can reach those trapped by fighting if talks fail to ensure safe passage for humanitarian...More >>
Witness: Explosions rock northern Nigeria city
Multiple explosions rocked a highway checkpoint in Nigeria's second-largest city, witnesses said Wednesday, just over a month after a radical Islamist sect claimed an attack there that left at least 185 people dead.More >>
Witness describes attempt on exiled Rwandan
Days before an exiled Rwandan army general was shot and wounded in South Africa, two of the men charged in the shooting were plotting another attempt on his life, a witness testified Wednesday.More >>
US troops now in 4 African countries to fight LRA
U.S. troops helping in the fight against a brutal rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army are now deployed in four Central African countries, the top U.S. special operations commander for Africa said Wednesday.More >>
French photographer, 28, killed in Syria
Remi Ochlik didn't waste any time celebrating after he won one of photojournalism's most prestigious prizes two weeks ago. Hours later, he was on a plane headed back to work in Middle East danger zones, a friend...More >>
Leaders meet in UK over fragile Somalia's future
Somalia's fragile leadership, its neighbors and international allies are meeting in London in the hope of speeding the troubled east African nation's progress toward a stable government and containing the threat from...More >>
Israeli minister rejects foreign warnings on Iran
Israel's foreign minister says the Jewish state will not bow to foreign pressure in deciding whether to attack Iran.More >>
Venezuela's Chavez says his cancer is likely back
President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant.More >>
US fugitive caught in Canada after a decade
A U.S. citizen convicted of child molestation has been captured in Canada after a decade on the run.More >>
Thai detention of Iranian bomb suspect extended
A Thai court on Wednesday allowed police to continue to detain one of five Iranian suspects in an alleged terror plot that was exposed by an accidental blast in a residential Bangkok neighborhood.More >>
EU suspends copyright treaty ratification
The European Commission, facing opposition in city streets, on the Internet and in the halls of parliament, has suspended efforts to ratify a new international anti-counterfeiting agreement, and instead will refer it to...More >>
Pakistan lashes out at US congressman's resolution
A U.S. congressman has sparked outrage in Pakistan by calling for the secession of the country's largest province, further complicating Washington's efforts to resuscitate its vital anti-terrorism alliance with...More >>
Festival banned 20 years returns to Myanmar pagoda
Amid the towering golden spires of Myanmar's grandest Buddhist shrine there was talk of politics and hope for the future as thousands came Wednesday for the return of an annual festival that was banned for more than 20...More >>
Christchurch slow to rebuild quake-hit downtown
As families of the 185 people killed in the Christchurch earthquake marked the one-year anniversary of the disaster Wednesday, signs of a city still broken were all around them.More >>
Company sues Apple over iPad name in Shanghai
Apple Inc. defended its right to use the iPad trademark in China in a heated court hearing Wednesday that pitted the electronics giant against a struggling Chinese electronics company that denies having sold the mainland...More >>
Ethiopian, Somali troops capture key Somali town
Residents say Ethiopian troops and Somali soldiers have seized a key town in south central Somalia.More >>
Dutch say no change in prince's condition
The Netherlands' royal information service says Prince Johan Friso remains in stable but life-threatening condition five days after he was buried by an avalanche in the Austrian Alps.More >>
2 US rescue helicopters in Montenegro
Two U.S. helicopters arrived in Montenegro Wednesday to join rescue operations in the areas of the tiny Balkan state hit by the heaviest snowfall in 60 years.More >>
Pakistan health workers linked to CIA scheme fired
A Pakistani government official says 17 health workers have been fired for allegedly participating in a CIA scheme to confirm the presence of Osama bin Laden in a northwestern town.More >>
Nepalese man, 72, claims to be world's shortest
He has never worked outside the home or seen a doctor, and until Wednesday, he had never left his remote mountain village in western Nepal. So 72-year-old Chandra Bahadur Dangi only recently learned he might be the...More >>
US, NKorea to hold first post-Kim Jong Il talks
The U.S. and North Korea reopen nuclear talks Thursday that will provide a glimpse into where Pyongyang's opaque government is heading after Kim Jong Il's death and test its readiness to dismantle nuclear programs...More >>
EU Council Prez Van Rompuy set to get 2nd term
Herman Van Rompuy, who has attempted to guide the European Union through severe financial turmoil, will likely be reappointed president of the European Council at a meeting of the bloc's leaders next week, an EU official...More >>
UK court rejects Occupy London eviction challenge
Occupy London protesters braced for eviction Wednesday after a court ruled that local authorities can remove their four-month-old camp from outside St. Paul's Cathedral.More >>
Germany criticized for castration of sex offenders
Germany should do away with the practice of surgical castration of sex offenders, the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee recommended Wednesday, calling the procedure degrading to the convicted criminals.More >>
India, Italy wrangle over Indian fishermen killing
The shooting deaths of two Indian fishermen mistaken for pirates sparked diplomatic wrangling Wednesday over the arrests of two Italian marines, and some maritime experts are questioning the use of armed guards on merchant...More >>
A look at Greece's new austerity measures
By The Associated Press Greece's lawmakers are to vote on a bill detailing €3.18 billion ($4.2 billion) worth of austerity measures, as part of a second €130 billion ($171 billion) bailout package and...More >>
Strauss-Kahn questioned in France for 2nd day
French police interrogated former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn for a second day Wednesday in a probe into a suspected hotel prostitution ring in France and Belgium.More >>
A look at Greece's new austerity measures
By The Associated Press Greece's lawmakers are to vote on a bill detailing euro3.18 billion ($4.2 billion) worth of austerity measures, as part of a second euro130 billion ($171 billion) bailout...More >>
Aussie foreign minister resigns in leadership rift
Australia's foreign minister resigned Wednesday in a bitter rift with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who may poll party lawmakers next week on who should lead the country.More >>
Doctors: Myanmar desperate for HIV and TB drugs
Some 85,000 HIV-infected people in Myanmar are not getting treatment due to a lack of funding, despite renewed international engagement with the government amid a wave of political reform, a medical aid group said Wednesday.More >>
EU plans sanctions against Hungary over deficit
The European Union's executive arm said Wednesday it plans to withhold euro495 million ($655 million) in EU development funds from Hungary after the country failed to reduce its deficit.More >>
Norway summer camp called off after Utoya massacre
The youth wing of Norway's governing Labor Party says it will skip its annual island retreat after a gunman killed 69 people during last year's event.More >>
UN nuclear agency reports failed Iran talks
The U.N. nuclear agency acknowledged renewed failure Wednesday after a trip to probe suspicions of covert Iranian nuclear weapons work, in a statement issued just hours after an Iranian general warned of a pre-emptive strike...More >>
2 US rescue helicopters in Montenegro
Two U.S. helicopters have arrived in Montenegro to join rescue operations in the areas of the tiny Balkan state hit by the heaviest snowfall in 60 years.More >>
Police restore order at Indonesian resort prison
Indonesian security forces stormed a resort island prison where inmates were rioting and restored order Wednesday after several hours of violence that injured a policeman and three inmates.More >>
Protesters throw eggs at Muhammad cartoonist
A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was pelted with eggs during a university lecture when he presented another drawing of Islam's revered prophet, police and the artist said...More >>
Serbia to open first shelter for gays
Authorities have announced plans to set up Serbia's first shelter to protect gays and lesbians from harassment in this conservative Balkan country.More >>
Report: Top aide to Israeli prime minister resigns
The prime minister's top spokesman has resigned six months into the job, Israeli media reported Wednesday, injecting new turmoil into Benjamin Netanyahu's troubled office shortly before an important White House visit.More >>
Nigeria's ex-leader to meet Senegal opposition
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is in Senegal to observe and help mediate a solution to this weekend's contentious election, is meeting opposition candidates on Wednesday.More >>
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom released on bail
The founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload was released on bail Wednesday after a New Zealand judge decided Kim Dotcom lacked means to flee because his funds had been seized.More >>
As China clamps down, Tibet struggle grows radical
Police don't travel far to monitor the goings-on at the Gami Temple at the edge of the Tibetan plateau. The police station sits inside the monastery, just outside the gates to the main prayer hall.More >>
Kenya blames Somali militants for food crisis
An 80-year-old Somali woman fondly recalled her younger days. There was peace in Somalia then, and people in the town of Tabda in the arid scrublands of the country's south did not rely on the mercy of others for food.More >>
President of breakaway Georgian province attacked
The president of Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia on Wednesday survived an assassination attempt unhurt, but two of his bodyguards have died, officials said.More >>
'Mademoiselle' gets boot in new French rules
Forget what you learned in French class about "madame" and "mademoiselle." The French government now says women's marital status shouldn't matter, at least when it comes to this country's far-reaching bureaucracy.More >>
Golan Druse support for Syria regime cracking
Syria's embattled leader, Bashar Assad, appears to be losing one of his last bastions of reliable support: the Druse Arab community in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.More >>
Malaysia bans British author's sex education book
Malaysia has banned a nearly 40-year-old sex education book written by a British author following complaints by Muslim activists that it is obscene.More >>
Inmates start fire inside Mexico prison
Inmates set fire to mattresses and trash Tuesday after officials announced that three prisoners would be moved from the prison where 44 gangs members were massacred this week to a maximum security jail in western Mexico.More >>
SKorean president says Seoul open to NKorea talks
South Korea's president says Seoul is open to talking with an "open heart" if North Korea shows a willingness to improve ties.More >>
Ties to Knicks' Lin peck at Taiwan bookishness
In achievement-oriented Taiwan, where studying is a pastime sport among young people, the outdoor complex of basketball courts near National Taiwan University is normally a pretty lonely place, more used to hosting raindrops...More >>
US team says Honduras prison fire was an accident
U.S. investigators concluded Tuesday that the deadliest prison fire in a century was accidental, and may have been caused by a lit match, cigarette or some other open flame.More >>
Jamaica gang feuds driving rise in murder rate
Jamaica is developing a new policy to battle crime as gang violence drives the homicide rate higher, the country's top security official said Tuesday.More >>
Adele and Ed Sheeran win at UK music's Brit Awards
Soulful songstress Adele capped a momentous year of Grammy Awards triumph and medical woes with a double win at the U.K.'s Brit music awards Tuesday, taking prizes for album of the year and best British female solo...More >>
PRico gov delivers final address before elections
Puerto Rico's governor announced proposals Tuesday to fight crime, bolster the U.S. territory's justice system and strengthen public education in his last address to legislators before the fall elections.More >>
Greece bailout wards off Europe meltdown
The bailout has saved Europe, for now, but it's unlikely to save Greece.More >>
Chile says Peru border to reopen by late Wednesday
Chile's government says it will reopen the border with Peru by Wednesday night, following heavy rains that displaced land mines and floated some onto the Pan-American Highway.More >>
Guatemala judge steps down in ex-dictator's case
A Guatemalan judge overseeing the genocide case of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt stepped down Tuesday, accepting a defense request.More >>
Yemen's new leader inherits shattered nation
Yemenis flocked to the polls across their battered nation Tuesday to vote in a U.S.-backed, single-candidate election meant to instate a new leader to replace the outgoing autocrat.More >>
Witnesses: Tribal clashes in Libya kill scores
Scores of civilians have been killed in the past 24 hours in tribal warfare in a remote region of southern Libya, witnesses said on Tuesday.More >>
UK court OKs legal claim to be served via Facebook
Status update: You're sued.More >>
Tel Aviv angers religious by seeking Sabbath buses
In the latest salvo in Israel's simmering cultural war between religious and secular Jews, municipal authorities in the bustling metropolis of Tel Aviv have outraged the country's religious establishment with a...More >>
French far right candidate suffers legal defeat
French far right leader Marine Le Pen lost a legal battle Tuesday in her bid to run for president, with the Constitutional Court ruling that her backers' names must be made public.More >>
New claims suggest sweep of Iran's covert plots
Piece by piece, the tools for an alleged Iranian-directed murder team were smuggled into Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea. A sniper rifle with silencer. Pistols. Sixteen pieces of plastic explosives and detonators.More >>
Jordan's king blames Israel for deadlocked peace
King Abdullah II on Tuesday blamed Israel for deadlocked Mideast peacemaking in a meeting with U.S. Jewish leaders, the official Petra News Agency said.More >>
Azerbaijan says it busts alleged pro-Iran group
Azerbaijan's security agency said Tuesday it has busted a suspected terrorist group working for Iran's secret services, the second such claim this year as tensions rise between the two neighbors.More >>
Israel to free Palestinian hunger striker
A Palestinian member of a violent Islamic militant group that advocates killing Israeli civilians agreed to end his 66-day hunger strike to protest his imprisonment without charge after reaching a deal with Israel that will...More >>
Nevis charged in armed robbery of US justice
A lawyer says he will enter a plea of not guilty for a man charged in the robbery of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on the Caribbean island of Nevis.More >>
AP Interview: Libyan leader acknowledges mistakes
Libya's leader acknowledged Tuesday that his transitional government is powerless to control militias that are refusing to lay down their arms after ousting Moammar Gadhafi as it struggles to impose control over the...More >>
Dozens killed in Syria, Red Cross urges cease-fire
Food and water are running dangerously low in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, with frantic cries for help from residents amid government shelling that pounded rebel strongholds and killed at least 30 people Tuesday,...More >>
Religious Carnival bands use samba to prostyletize
By JULIANA BARBASSA Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO - The Carnival band kicked off according to tradition: Dozens of percussionists struck their bass drums, sending a low rumble like a sustained thunderclap...More >>
US apologizes for Quran burnings in Afghanistan
The U.S. apologized Tuesday for the burning of Muslim holy books that had been pulled from the shelves of a detention center library adjoining a major base in eastern Afghanistan because they contained extremist messages or...More >>
Pakistan to seek arrest of ex-president Musharraf
Pakistan will ask Interpol for help in arresting ex-President Pervez Musharraf for his failure to prevent the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the interior minister said Tuesday.More >>
Eclectic shows as London Fashion Week winds down
London Fashion Week is winding down - but not before some of Britain's brightest young designers showcased the inventiveness, eclectic range and irreverence that the British capital's fashion scene has to offer.More >>
Honduras: cigarette may be cause of prison fire
The Hondurans government says a dropped cigarette may have set off the prison fire that killed at least 359 people in the city of Comayagua.More >>
Saudi Arabia names ambassador to Iraq
Saudi Arabia is taking a major step toward thawing diplomatic relations with Iraq by posting an ambassador to Baghdad for the first time in more than two decades, Iraq's foreign minister said Tuesday.More >>
Malawi police leave government critic in hospital
A lawyer for an opponent of Malawi's president says his client is no longer being watched by police at the hospital where he is being treated for heart problems.More >>
Bolivia police: stranglers lured victims on buses
The little buses looked like any others as they rattled down the dirt streets of El Alto, collecting people headed to work in the pre-dawn chill.More >>
Afghan president: Pakistan crucial to peace talks
Pakistani support of negotiations with the Taliban will be "crucial" to the success of any peace talks, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday as he repeated a call for the neighboring country to facilitate meetings.More >>
Son: Ian Paisley recovering in Belfast hospital
Northern Ireland politician Ian Paisley is recovering from his recent near-death experience and remains a "hearty and strong man," one of his sons said Tuesday in the family's first comment on the Protestant...More >>
Rights group: Children pressed to fight in Somalia
An international rights group says Somalia's militants and government forces are recruiting children to fight and in some cases to serve as "cannon fodder" for adult fighters.More >>
General: Iran will strike pre-emptively at foes
A semiofficial Iranian news agency quotes a senior military commander as saying that Tehran will strike pre-emptively at its enemies, if it feels it is in danger.More >>
Big questions still unanswered in Thai terror plot
It began when three men blew up their house accidentally on Valentine's Day in Bangkok. It ended with a gory scene that looked more like Baghdad: a bloodied, would-be bomber with severed legs moaning on a glass-strewn...More >>
Strauss-Kahn questioned in prostitution case
Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was being held for questioning Tuesday by French police investigating a suspected hotel prostitution ring.More >>
Opposition activist goes on trial in Belarus
An opposition activist who is holding a hunger strike in prison went on trial Tuesday in Belarus.More >>
Yemenis vote to rubber-stamp VP as new president
Yemenis voted Tuesday to instate their U.S.-backed vice president as the new head of state, tasked with steering the country out of a crisis created by an anti-government uprising that has raged for a year.More >>
William and Kate's cocker spaniel is named Lupo
British royal officials say Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge have named their black cocker spaniel puppy Lupo.More >>
Famous faces help boost animal rights in China
Celebrities like basketball star Yao Ming have helped energize China's animal rights movement by speaking out against shark fin soup and bear bile tonics, an animal welfare group said Tuesday.More >>
15,000 die each year crossing rail tracks in India
About 15,000 people die every year trying to cross the tracks of India's mammoth rail network, a "massacre" that a government committee said was being ignored by railway authorities.More >>
Greece says Libyan embassy hands over arms cache
Greek police say Libyan embassy officials in Athens have handed over a large weapons and explosives cache, following instructions from the Libyan government.More >>
Lesbians, gays lobby Australian PM over dinner
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, an opponent of same-sex marriage, hosted a dinner for two lesbian couples and a pair of gay men Tuesday after an Australian activist group won a charity auction.More >>
Russian officials feed pelicans in frozen Caspian
Authorities are scrambling to save hundreds of starving and endangered Dalmatian pelicans after the Caspian Sea froze for the first time in years.More >>
Israel to rule on status of migrant children
Israel's Interior Ministry has begun sifting through applications of over 2,000 children who are in Israel without legal status.More >>
3 suspected militants killed in southern Thailand
Police say three suspected Muslim militants have been killed and three soldiers wounded in a shootout in Thailand's violence-prone south.More >>
Hong Kong court hears appeal on maids' residency
Hong Kong's government argued Tuesday against a landmark ruling that could let foreign maids gain permanent residency as it appealed a case that has raised concerns about ethnic discrimination and strains on social...More >>
Philippines launches new anti-kidnapping force
Philippine police launched a new anti-kidnapping force Tuesday to deal with a long-standing scourge by criminal gangs and militants that authorities say has been eased by crackdowns but anti-crime advocates continue to...More >>
EU and Turkey: talks languish, trade booms
If a project has no deadline, is it really a project? What do you call a negotiation process in which the partners can't talk about key issues? These are existential times for Turkey's campaign to join the European...More >>
72-year-old Nepalese man claims to be shortest man
A 72-year-old man from western Nepal is hoping to prove to Guinness World Records that he's the world's shortest man.More >>
Russia proposes sending UN envoy to Syria
Russia on Tuesday urged the United Nations to send a special envoy to Syria to help coordinate security issues and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.More >>
Report: Vietnam arrests political dissident
Vietnamese state media say police have arrested a high school teacher who called for a multiparty political system.More >>
Israelis flock to sages' tombs seeking miracles
One man prays to heal the legs he broke in a car accident. An older woman pleads for grandchildren. Another visitor has come to see "God's secretary."More >>
Blast at steel plant in NE China kills at least 13
At least 13 people have been killed and 17 hurt in a blast at a steel plant in northeastern China.More >>
Inmate massacre highlights Mexico jail corruption
Nine guards have confessed to helping Zetas drug gangsters escape from prison before other Zetas slaughtered 44 rival inmates, a state official said late Monday, underlining the enormous corruption inside Mexico's...More >>
North Korean envoy arrives for US nuclear talks
Pyongyang's top nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Tuesday ahead of the first nuclear talks with the United States since the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.More >>
Philippine militant blamed for beheadings captured
Philippine police commandos captured an alleged Abu Sayyaf militant Tuesday who has been implicated in several atrocities, including the beheadings of marines, a major jailbreak and deadly attacks.More >>
Flood dislodges land mines, closing Chile highway
Chilean authorities say flooding from heavy rains dislodged anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, floating two of the explosive devices onto the Pan-American Highway near the border with Peru.More >>
Aussie PM says she has colleagues' strong support
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Tuesday she still had enough support to lead the government despite growing speculation that Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd plans to seize power.More >>
Syrian forces mass outside rebel stronghold
Syrian tanks and troops massed Monday outside the resistance stronghold of Homs for a possible ground assault that one activist warned could unleash a new round of fierce and bloody urban combat even as the Red Cross tried...More >>
Mexican prez sister accused by former ruling party
The sister of Mexican President Felipe Calderon was hit with accusations of possible corrupt practices MondayMore >>
Zimbabwe's president says mediator can be fired
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said Monday that he reserves the right to disregard efforts by South African President Jacob Zuma to mediate disputes in the nation's troubled coalition government.More >>
Puerto Rico honors Obama, LBJ visits with statues
Puerto Rican officials marked Presidents Day by unveiling bronze statues of U.S. President Barack Obama and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, pointedly noting that people who live on the island can't vote in the U.S....More >>
Burberry headlines busy day at London Fashion Week
So many beautiful clothes, so little time: London Fashion Week produced its busiest day Monday, with blockbuster shows including Burberry Prorsum, Christopher Kane and McQ by the Alexander McQueen house all jostling for...More >>
Gunmen attack polling stations in south Yemen
Gunmen attacked three polling stations in Yemen's restive south, officials said, a day before the country is to go to the polls to rubber stamp its vice president as the new head of state after 33 years of one-man rule.More >>
Senegal: Candidate has recruited militia
Senegal's government said Monday that one of the candidates vying to unseat the nation's elderly leader in this week's election has recruited a militia in a bid to install chaos and make the country ungovernable.More >>
Colombia's No. 2 rebel group seeks peace talks
Colombia's No. 2 leftist rebel group is offering to halt offensive actions if the government agrees to peace talks.More >>
Rebels hold 3 peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur
Three civilians with a joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force are being held by rebels in Sudan's Darfur and accused of being spies, a spokeswoman for the mission said Monday.More >>
Historic monastery in Cyprus near collapse
A historic monastery where an apostle of Jesus Christ is said to have performed miracles is close to caving in and needs immediate repairs, the leader of Cyprus' Orthodox Christian Church said Monday.More >>
Ballot set for Puerto Rico's Republican primary
The Republican Party of Puerto Rico says Buddy Roemer will be the first name on the ballot for the island's March 18 presidential primary.More >>
Suspected Afghan police shoot dead Albania soldier
Gunmen in Afghan police uniforms opened fire on NATO troops on Monday in southern Afghanistan, killing an Albanian soldier, officials said.More >>
Suspected Afghan police shoot dead Albania soldier
Suspected Afghan police opened fire on Albanian and other foreign troops in the war-wracked country's south Monday, killing an Albanian soldier, and wounding an Albanian and another international soldier, authorities...More >>
Rio Carnival revelers twist, shout to Beatles
English speakers got their moment in the Carnival sun on Monday as a wild, Beatles-themed street party let them shake it up, baby, with a samba swing to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."More >>
Israelis fear homefront vulnerable to Iran attacks
Despite its confident saber-rattling, Israel's concern is growing that the country is vulnerable to a devastating counterstrike if it attacks Iran's nuclear program.More >>
UK restructures border agency after lapses
Britain shook up its troubled border agency Monday after admitting that security checks at ports and airports had been suspended or applied inconsistently for the past five years.More >>
South African soprano Elizabeth Connell dies at 65
South African-born opera singer Elizabeth Connell, who won global acclaim in roles by Wagner, Strauss, Beethoven and others, has died. She was 65.More >>
Misrata holds first Libyan elections post-Gadhafi
Four months after the death of Moammar Gadhafi, the people of Misrata were frustrated by stalled reforms. They played a key role in overthrowing the Libyan dictator of 42 years, and were impatient to see the changes they...More >>
McCain says Egypt working to resolve NGO crisis
Sen. John McCain said Monday Egypt's military rulers have reassured him that authorities are working "diligently" to resolve a criminal case against U.S. pro-democracy groups that has brought relations between the two...More >>
Russia's president meets with critics on reforms
Russia's president held an unprecedented meeting Monday with opposition leaders, who said they were encouraged by his promises to make it easier for anti-Kremlin parties to take part in elections, but he was unwilling to...More >>
Man held in robbery of Justice Breyer in Nevis
A police spokesman in the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis says a "person of interest" is in custody in the robbery of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.More >>
Algerian forces: 5 dead in clash with militants
An Algerian security official says Algerian forces surrounded and killed four Islamist militants implicated in a roadside bomb attack a day earlier.More >>
Egypt begins restoring ancient boat near pyramids
Archaeologists on Monday began restoration on a 4,500-year-old wooden boat found next to the pyramids, one of Egypt's main tourist attractions.More >>
Kurds shield Iraq VP in death squads case
Iraq's Sunni vice president on Monday asked for popular support to fight government charges that he commandeered death squads and said he would continue to defy arrest with the help of the nation's powerful Kurds in...More >>
Polish folk art society defends its 'Oskar' award
Few would confuse the glitz of the Academy Awards with a ceremony held by a folk arts society in Poland, but Hollywood doesn't want anyone else handing out Oscars.More >>
4 die in military crash near US base in Africa
An American reconnaissance plane crashed 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the only U.S. base in Africa, killing four service members on board, after returning from a mission in support of the war in Afghanistan, the military...More >>
Israel top court takes Palestinian detainee appeal
Israel's Supreme Court has brought forward a hearing this week on the appeal of a Palestinian prisoner waging an unprecedented two-month hunger strike, court officials and his lawyers said Monday.More >>
Report: 43 anti-aircraft missiles found in Algeria
Algerian security services have found two cache of weapons, including 43 anti-aircraft missiles, hidden in the sand near the Libyan border, a local newspaper reported Monday.More >>
Egypt prosecution: Mubarak deserves death penalty
The chief prosecutor in the trial of ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak said Monday in his closing remarks that the former president should be given the death penalty for the killings of protesters in last year's...More >>
Spain sending military planes to retrieve treasure
Spain said Monday it will soon send hulking military transport planes to Florida to retrieve 17 tons of treasure that U.S. undersea explorers found but ultimately lost in American courts, a find experts have speculated could...More >>
12 EU leaders call for open markets to fuel growth
A dozen European Union leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Premier Mario Monti, called Monday for an open-markets strategy to stimulate growth and jolt the region out of its economic doldrums.More >>
12 EU leaders call for open markets to fuel growth
A dozen European Union leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Premier Mario Monti, called Monday for an open-markets strategy to stimulate growth and jolt the region out of its economic doldrums.More >>
Egypt to help with Gaza power shortages
Egypt has agreed to help ease Gaza's chronic power shortages as part of a three-stage plan that would eventually hook up the isolated territory to the regional grid, a Palestinian energy official said Monday.More >>
New Albanian exhibit on communist regime's abuses
Albania's National Museum opened a new wing Monday on the abuses of the former communist regime, timing the dedication to the 21st anniversary of the toppling of former communist dictator Enver Hoxha's monument.More >>
Cuba names econ chief a VP on ministers' council
Cuba named its economy chief as a vice president on the Council of Ministers on Monday, making him one of the highest-ranking people in government.More >>
Melting ice on Danube damages boats, restaurants
Giant chunks of melting ice broke free on the Danube River on Monday, crashing hundreds of boats into each other, sweeping away several barges and sinking one of Belgrade's trademark floating nightclubs.More >>
Gunmen attack polling stations in south Yemen
Gunmen attacked two polling stations and killed one soldier in Yemen's restive south Monday, one day before the country is to go to the polls to rubber stamp its vice president as the new head of state.More >>
Ugandan women tricked into Malaysian sex work
Advertisements pinned on the walls of shopping malls in Uganda's capital promise young women a free ticket to a well-paying job in Malaysia as a nanny, maid or bartender.More >>
Iran says may cut oil to more European countries
Tehran is considering extending an oil embargo on France and Britain to other European countries, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported Monday.More >>
Explosions, gunfire strike northeast Nigeria city
Gunfire and explosions echoed Monday through a city in northeast Nigeria as fighting between soldiers and members of a radical Islamist sect killed at least two civilians, authorities and witnesses said.More >>
Red Cross says it is negotiating with all parties in Syria to broker humanitarian ceasefire
Red Cross says it is negotiating with all parties in Syria to broker humanitarian ceasefire.More >>
Bagram prisoner's bid for freedom rebuffed in UK
Britain's Court of Appeal has accepted that the government has been unable to comply with an order to obtain the release of a Pakistani man from a U.S. military prison in Afghanistan because "the Americans are not going...More >>
Christchurch still 'safe haven' for quake survivor
Jane Taylor was managing a women's clothing store in downtown Christchurch a year ago when the earthquake struck. She was dug from the rubble within minutes with horrific injuries - her vertebrae were crushed, her skull...More >>
Azerbaijan arrests Iranian journalist
An Iranian journalist has been arrested and jailed in Azerbaijan as tensions rise between the two neighbors.More >>
Turkey urged to allow greater religious freedom
The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians said Monday that Turkey's new constitution should grant equal rights to minorities in the country and safeguard religious freedoms.More >>