BAMAKO, Mali — France claimed new successes in its campaign to oust Islamist extremists from northern Mali on Sunday, bombarding the major city of Gao with airstrikes targeting the airport and training...
NEWTOWN, Conn. — Talk about Sandy Hook Elementary School is turning from last month’s massacre to the future, with differing opinions on whether students and staff should ever return to the...
CAIRO — An angry Mohammed Morsi refused Thursday to call off a referendum on a disputed constitution that has sparked Egypt’s worst political crisis in two years, drawing chants of “topple...
BANGKOK — Investigators say they plan to file murder charges against Thailand’s former prime minister and his deputy in the first prosecutions of officials for their roles in a deadly 2010...
WASHINGTON — New census data released Thursday affirm a clear and sustained drop in illegal immigration, ending more than a decade of increases.
The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. dropped...
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday that Baghdad and Kurdish officials reached a preliminary agreement to allow inhabitants of disputed northern areas to oversee their own security.
Nouri...
SEATTLE — Hundreds of same-sex couples across Washington state started picking up marriage licenses Thursday as a voter-approved law legalizing gay marriage took effect.
King County, the state’s...
SEATTLE — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality in Washington state Thursday, and some people plan to celebrate the new law by breaking it.
Voters in Washington and Colorado last month...
BRUSSELS — Serbia’s ambassador to NATO was chatting and joking with colleagues in a multistory parking garage at Brussels Airport when he suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over and flung...
PARIS — Residents of a sleepy French village in Bordeaux have been left dumbfounded after discovering their local 18th-century chateau was completely bulldozed “by mistake.”
The...
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Rescuers say four crew members have died and seven are still missing in the icy waters of the North Sea, after a cargo ship collided with another vessel and sank off the...
CAIRO — Egypt descended into political turmoil Wednesday over the constitution drafted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi. At least 211 people were wounded as supporters and opponents...
CAIRO — Egypt descended into political turmoil Wednesday over the constitution drafted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi. At least 211 people were wounded as supporters and opponents...
NEW YORK — Police questioned a suspect Tuesday in the death of a subway rider pushed onto the tracks and photographed while he was still alive — an image of desperation that drew virulent criticism...
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinians will ask the U.N. Security Council to call for an Israeli settlement freeze, President Mahmoud Abbas and his advisers decided Tuesday, as part of an escalating...
BEIRUT — Syria’s civil war is closing in on President Bashar Assad’s seat of power in Damascus with clashes between government forces and rebels flaring around the city Tuesday, raising...
VATICAN CITY — Benedict XVI, the pope known for his hefty volumes of theology and lengthy encyclicals, is now trying brevity — spreading the faith through his own Twitter account (at)Pontifex.
The...
DOYLINE, La. — The cleanup of 3,000 tons of explosives haphazardly stored at a munitions plant has frayed the nerves of residents who evacuated, closed the high school and spawned a criminal investigation...
RALEIGH, N.C. — Prison officials in North Carolina are calling for a criminal investigation after six inmates alleged correctional officers forced them to rub habanero hot sauce on their genitals.
N.C....
NEW YORK — Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.
Health officials on Monday said suspected flu cases have jumped in five Southern...
FORT HOOD — A military appeals court has thrown out a judge’s order to shave the Fort Hood shooting suspect and removed the judge from the case.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed...
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — A Protestant mob has stormed into the grounds of Belfast City Hall and clashed with police after the council’s Catholic majority voted to remove the British flag...
LONDON — Britain doesn’t have to wait any longer: Prince William’s wife, Kate, is pregnant.
St. James’s Palace made the announcement Monday, saying that the Duchess of Cambridge...
LONDON — While morning sickness in pregnant women is common, the problem Kate Middleton has been hospitalized with is not.
In a statement Monday, palace officials said she was hospitalized with...
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians erupted in wild cheers Thursday, hugging each other, setting off fireworks and chanting “God is great” after the United Nations granted them, at least...
BEIRUT — Internet service went down Thursday across Syria and international flights were canceled at the Damascus airport when a road near the facility was closed by heavy fighting in the country’s...
NEW YORK — The future of Twinkies is virtually assured.
Hostess Brands Inc. got final approval for its wind-down plans in bankruptcy court Thursday, setting the stage for its iconic snack cakes...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Just in time for Christmas, scientists have confirmed a vast amount of ice at the north pole — on Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.
The findings are from NASA’s...
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Three California men have been indicted on terrorism-related charges for allegedly plotting to kill Americans overseas.
An indictment filed Wednesday charges Ralph Deleon, Miguel...
DOHA, Qatar — An area of Arctic sea ice bigger than the United States melted this year, according the U.N. weather agency, which said the dramatic decline illustrates that climate change is happening...
BERLIN — A German lawmaker says Parliament is close to passing a law explicitly banning bestiality after animal rights groups and tabloid newspapers pushed for existing legislation to be clarified.
Max...
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will step up its uranium enrichment program by sharply increasing the number of centrifuges used to make nuclear fuel, a senior official said Wednesday, in direct defiance of...
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The expected U.N. vote Thursday to recognize a state of Palestine will be far more than symbolic — it could give the Palestinians leverage in future border talks with...
GOMA, Congo — Rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda began retreating from the territory they seized last week and pulled out of the region of Masisi, their military leader said Wednesday, in the...
CAIRO — Egypt’s highest appeal courts suspended their work Wednesday to protest presidential decrees that gave the country’s Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi nearly absolute powers, state...
PARIS — France announced Tuesday that it plans to vote in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week.
With the announcement, France becomes the first major European...
SAN FRANCISCO — Four female service members filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Pentagon’s ban on women serving in combat, hoping the move will add pressure to drop the policy just as officials...
CAIRO — More than 200,000 people thronged Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, protesting against Egypt’s Islamist president Tuesday in an opposition show of strength, as the standoff over...
CLEVELAND — An Ohio woman dubbed the “cleaning fairy” after she broke into a home, cleaned it and left a $75 bill has been put on probation for one year.
A judge sentenced 53-year-old...
NEW YORK — Americans clicked away on their computers and smartphones for deals on Cyber Monday, which is expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history.
Shoppers are expected to spend...
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Wal-Mart says a Bangladesh garment factory that caught fire Saturday killing 112 people had previously produced merchandise for the retailer without its permission.
Wal-Mart...
PITTSBURGH — Add seven swans, six geese and five golden rings to the list of Christmas gifts that cost more than they did a year ago.
And if you get all 364 items repeated throughout “The...
NEW YORK — If you make it convenient for shoppers, they will come.
It’s estimated that U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, according...
KAMPALA, Uganda — Congolese officials are in talks Sunday with representatives of M23, the rebel group that last week took control of the eastern Congo city of Goma, according to Ugandan officials.
Ugandan...
GHENT, Belgium — The main suspect in the legendary art heist is said to have whispered with his dying breath: “Only I know where the ‘Adoration’ is...”
More than seven...
NEW ORLEANS — The manslaughter charges brought against two relatively low-ranking BP rig workers in the deadly Gulf of Mexico disaster may be as far as federal prosecutors are willing to go.
The...
TEL AVIV, Israel — The wine-red walls of the Brueghel exhibition hall at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art are now bare, like the crime scene of a daring art heist.
Tel Aviv’s leading art museum,...
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers traded fire and tough cease-fire proposals Monday, and threatened to escalate their border conflict if diplomacy fails. No deal appeared...
TOPEKA, Kan. — A Kansas appeals court attorney was fired Monday after using foul language about the state’s former attorney general in comments she posted to Twitter last week.
Sarah Peterson...
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Twinkies will live to see another day.
Hostess Brands Inc. and its second largest union agreed Monday to try to resolve differences after a bankruptcy court judge noted that...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Animal wranglers involved in the making of “The Hobbit” movie trilogy say the production company is responsible for the deaths of up to 27 animals, largely because...
MBABANE, Swaziland — The Anglican Church has ordained its first female bishop in Africa.
Ellinah Wamukoya, 61, was consecrated Satuday to serve as the church’s bishop in Swaziland,...
DETROIT — Twinkie lovers, relax.
The tasty cream-filled golden spongecakes are likely to survive, even though their maker will be sold in bankruptcy court.
Hostess Brands Inc., baker of Wonder...
GOMA, Congo — A rebel group believed to be backed by Rwanda advanced to within two miles (three kilometers) of Goma, a crucial provincial capital in eastern Congo, marking the first time that rebels...
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, including four young children and an 81-year-old...
NEW ORLEANS — A day of reckoning arrived for BP on Thursday as the oil giant agreed to plead guilty to a raft of criminal charges and pay a record $4.5 billion in a settlement with the government...
DUBLIN — The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesday after the government confirmed that a woman in the midst of a miscarriage was refused an abortion and died in an Irish hospital...
