World News

Total news: 213
Last news: January 2, 2009 21:51:12

AP - In his nearly two decades at the head of the worlds largest Orthodox church, Patriarch Alexy II oversaw a religious revival in Russia and healed a major church rift, but his death leaves a long-running dispute with the Vatican unresolved.

AP - The top U.S. commander in Iraq warned his troops Friday to expect subtle changes in combat operations — including obtaining warrants before searching homes and detaining people — when the newly approved U.S.-Iraq security agreement takes effect on Jan. 1.

AP - As piracy explodes off Somalias lawless coast, the questions become ever more stark: How can ragtag bands of Somali pirates stand up to international warships? And why not just shoot the bandits when they try to clamber aboard?

AP - A car bomb devastated a busy street in this northwestern Pakistani city on Friday, killing 20 people, injuring scores more and unnerving a region already dangerously on edge following the attacks on Indias commercial capital.

AP - Indias top law enforcement official admitted Friday there were government "lapses" in last weeks terror attack on Mumbai, amid a public uproar over security and intelligence failures in the deadly siege.

AP - Australias driest state has been forced to purchase water for the first time to ensure adequate supplies in the midst of a drought, a government official said Friday.

AP - Paul McCartney says negotiations on a long-awaited deal to make the Beatles catalog available on online music service iTunes have stalled. - [Read more]

AFP - Nigerias biggest private airline Arik Air expects to take delivery of three Airbus 340-500 aircraft on December 4, its managing director Michael McTighe said Monday.

AP - The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia is among three people killed in a boat accident on a Guatemalan lake. - [Read more]

AP - Government soldiers went on an overnight looting and shooting spree in a sprawling Congolese refugee camp, stealing from hungry and traumatized people who have fled fighting with rebels in the countrys east, witnesses said Monday.

AFP - The United States said Monday it expects North Korea to formally agree to let inspectors take samples from weapons-grade nuclear sites during a high-level international meeting next month in Beijing.

AP - Shipping officials from around the world called Monday for a military blockade along Somalias coast to intercept pirate vessels heading out to sea. Yemens government said Somali pirates have seized another ship.

AP - Chinese paramilitary police with riot shields and batons abruptly took up posts Monday on the main street of this Tibetan town, disrupting the bustle of Buddhist pilgrims in a reminder of Chinas determined control of the region.

AP - A state court convicted a former Siemens AG executive and former independent labor leader Monday for involvement in a euro30.3 million ($38 million) scheme to manipulate union influence over Germanys largest industrial company. - [Read more]

AP - A federal appeals court seemed reluctant on Monday to release 17 Turkic Muslims being held without charges at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, questioning whether judges rather than a president can order their freedom into the United States.

AP - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday the crisis in Zimbabwe appears "much worse than anything we ever imagined" after the government there blocked his weekend humanitarian visit.

AP - Israels government and West Bank settlers have reached a compromise that will avoid the immediate evacuation of an unauthorized West Bank outpost, both sides said Monday. - [Read more]

AP - For months, tours of this historic city — famed for its Buddhist temples, royal tombs and ancient relics — have given South Koreans a glimpse of life in the hidden communist North.

AP - A woman hiding a bomb under her long robe blew herself up Monday among Iraqis waiting to enter the U.S.-protected Green Zone, where lawmakers plan to vote this week on a pact that would let American forces stay in Iraq for up to three more years.

AP - Floods and landslides in southern Brazil have killed 45 people, driven 22,000 from their homes and ruptured a major gas line, officials said Monday. - [Read more]