World

Ingredients of papal conclave smoke signals
The Vatican is revealing what the smoke signals emerging from the Sistine Chapel chimney are made of, after the stir caused by how much more distinct ...
Bahrain detains 6 over anti-government tweets
The public prosecutor's office in Bahrain says six people have been detained for allegedly defaming the country's ruler on Twitter. The six, who were ...
Papal conclave steep in Catholic mystery
The papal conclave is steeped in mystery — and the church likes it that way. Elaborate ritual and veils of secrecy, after all, are fundamental to the ...
Dutch government raises terror threat level
The Dutch government raised its terror threat Wednesday amid concerns that Dutch citizens traveling to Syria to fight in the civil war could return ...
Nigeria pardons ex-governor who stole millions
Nigeria has pardoned the former political benefactor of the nation's president, a presidential adviser said Wednesday, a politician convicted of ...
New Zealand gay marriage bill passes critical test
New Zealand lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill allowing same-sex marriage Wednesday, all but assuring that it will soon become law.
Syria's war affects generation of children
Mohammed works at a Beirut supermarket where he waits on customers and carries their groceries home for a small tip that the 14-year-old saves to send ...
Tunisian vendor dies after setting himself on fire
A Tunisian street vendor has died of severe, full-body burns after setting himself ablaze in what his family described as an act of desperation over ...
Erratic North Korea poses serious threat
An erratic North Korea, with its nuclear weapons and increasingly belligerent tone, poses a serious threat to the United States and East Asia nations, ...
AP PHOTOS: China's congress tightly orchestrated
Each spring, thousands of people from China's farthest reaches stream into the country's capital to attend the biggest event on the political ...
Scouts survey members on whether to keep gay ban
Faced with a backlash against their ban on gays, the Boy Scouts of America are surveying their members on a potential change in policy.
Black smoke from chapel chimney: No pope yet
This time there was no doubt. There was no new pope yet, and the mystery of who — and when — was as thick as the unmistakable heavy black smoke ...
Victim calls decision in assault case shocking
An advocacy group says the victim in an Air Force sexual assault case is shocked and disappointed by a general's decision to dismiss the charges ...
Israel troops shoot to death Palestinian protester
Israeli troops shot to death a Palestinian man on Tuesday after he and others hurled rocks and firebombs at them in the West Bank, the military said.
UK's Cameron may veto EU arms embargo on Syria
Britain may consider vetoing an extension of the European Union's arms embargo on Syria if the situation does not improve there, Prime Minister David ...
Perez testimony questioned on Panther case
Justice Department official Thomas Perez gave incomplete testimony to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights when he said the department's political ...
Audio of GI's statement on WikiLeaks case released
Some supporters of an Army private charged with aiding the enemy released a leaked audio recording Tuesday of Pfc. Bradley Manning explaining why he ...
Mali media outlets go silent over editor's arrest
The airwaves in Mali's capital fell silent on Tuesday and newspapers didn't print a morning edition in protest over the arrest last week of an editor ...
Egypt activist gets 2 years for prosecutor slap
An Egyptian activist who led protests over an iconic torture victim during the rule of Hosni Mubarak was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison ...
Syrian army eroded by defections, battle deaths
A top Syrian cleric's appeal to young men to join the army raised the question of whether President Bashar Assad is running out of soldiers, prompting ...
Israel's ultra-Orthodox suddenly are outsiders
As Israel's new government takes shape, the country's powerful ultra-Orthodox Jewish political parties seem poised to find themselves in unfamiliar ...
Biden: Victims will be loudest voices on guns
Vice President Joe Biden says he's determined to make sure the loudest voices in the gun-control debate are the voices of the victims. Biden says ...
Ahmadinejad under fire for hugging Chavez's mother
Senior Iranian clerics have scolded President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for consoling Hugo Chavez's mother with a hug - a physical contact considered a sin ...
Papal names are rich with meaning
What's in a name? A lot if you are the next pope. Every time a new pontiff is chosen in a conclave, a senior cardinal goes up to him and asks: "And ...
5 US troops die in helicopter crash in Afghanistan
A helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan has killed five American service members, officials said Tuesday. Monday night's crash brought the total ...