World News

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian tanks pushed into a rebel stronghold in the battered city of Homs Thursday and U.N. investigators accused President Bashar al-Assad's government of crimes against humanity. Rockets, shells and mortar rounds rained on the Baba Amro district, where armed insurgents are holed up with terrified …

MESA, Arizona (Reuters) - Mitt Romney is fighting his way back into the driving seat in the Republican presidential race, putting in a strong debate performance in Arizona and gaining in polls against conservative rival Rick Santorum. An aggressive Romney repeatedly put Santorum on the defensive in a CNN debate on Wednesday …

VIENNA/TEHRAN (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog's latest mission to Iran failed to budge a defiant Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme, sending oil prices to a nine-month high over fears of an increasing risk of confrontation with the West. The United States criticised Iran on Wednesday over the collapse of the …

A smiling ex-Philippine president Gloria Arroyo pleaded not guilty Thursday to rigging an election, denouncing the charge that could see her jailed for life as part of a relentless vilification campaign.

The Syrian government has denied responsibility for the deaths of the two foreign journalists killed in Homs, as Foreign Secretary William Hague ruled out the possibility of military intervention.

A huge fire swept through a crowded Thai border camp home to thousands of refugees from neighbouring Myanmar on Thursday, destroying hundreds of homes, the authorities said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin evoked Russia's historic 1812 victory over Napoleon Bonaparte on Thursday in a patriotic speech to tens of thousands of people intended to show he has real support and counter opposition protests ahead of presidential elections. Addressing his supporters in a Moscow sports stadium, the …

Indonesian authorities on Thursday began evacuating foreigners and women from a jail on the resort island of Bali after rioting inmates retook control triggering a tense stand-off.

A senior US diplomat said Thursday he had held "serious and substantive" talks with North Korea's nuclear envoy in Beijing, the first such contact between the two nations since leader Kim Jong-Il died.

President Barack Obama was Thursday forced to apologise over the burning of Korans at a US airbase in Afghanistan, where three days of protests have killed 14 people, including two American soldiers.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Simultaneous early morning attacks on mostly Shi'ite targets across Iraq killed at least 60 people and wounded dozens on Thursday in one of the bloodiest days of violence since U.S. troops pulled out in mid-December. The attacks that appeared to pitch al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim insurgents against Shi'ites …

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's week-long parliamentary election campaign began on Thursday, the official IRNA news agency said, a vote likely to highlight the popularity of the clerical establishment as it stands firm against Western pressure to curb its nuclear work. It is shaping up as a contest among clerical and political …

A wave of attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda killed at least 39 people on Thursday, in what Iraq's parliament speaker said was an attempt to derail an Arab League summit planned for the end of March.

A British MEP has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the European Parliament.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy for the North Korean nuclear dispute said talks with Pyongyang's lead negotiator on Thursday were "serious and substantive" and would continue the next day but analysts have said no major breakthrough is expected. The talks in Beijing between U.S. Special Representative for North Korea …

At least 50 people have been killed and hundreds injured in a wave of apparently co-ordinated shootings and bombings across Iraq.

Syrian forces launched a massive bombardment of rebel districts of Homs on Thursday, defying a world outcry over the killing of two Western journalists and a citizen reporter who were among the few to bear witness of the civilian toll.

Surging Republican hopeful Rick Santorum came under sustained fire from US presidential rivals, including struggling frontrunner Mitt Romney, in a fierce debate ahead of key upcoming polls.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Traffic in Indonesia's capital snarls so badly during rush hour that even motorbikes face gridlock and to get ahead a group of commuters have taken up an extreme sport: cycling to work. Their logic is simple. It makes more sense to inhale the fumes and risk being flattened by a vehicle than it does to …

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday called a ballot on the leadership of the ruling Labor party, bringing to a head an increasingly bitter and ugly row with her predecessor Kevin Rudd.

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum clashed on stage in Arizona during what could be one of the final debates of the Republican nomination battle.

Desperate families were searching for loved ones Thursday after a massive train crash in Buenos Aires killed 50 people, injured nearly 700 and left dozens trapped for hours in the wreckage.

The verdict in the landmark murder and corruption trial of ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak has been set for June 2, Judge Ahmed Refaat said on Wednesday.

MALE (Reuters) - It was an ordinary blue felt pen, and not a bullet, that killed Mohamed Nasheed's term as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. After rising to acclaim as a champion of democracy and action against climate change, Nasheed is now back on the streets where he led a nearly two-decade …

Internet surfers are to get the chance to go 'virtual diving' as part of a scientific survey of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

PARIS (Reuters)- After months of reassuring secularist critics, Islamist politicians in Tunisia and Egypt have begun to lay down markers about how Muslim their states should be - and first signs show they want more religion than previously admitted. Islamist parties swept the first free elections in both countries in recent …

The Taliban exhorted Afghans Thursday to attack and kill foreign troops to avenge the burning of Korans at a US-run base, but stopped short of cutting off contacts with American officials in Qatar.

A nine-year-old boy has shot and critically wounded a girl in their classroom in Washington state.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has dared her political rival, former foreign minister Kevin Rudd, to challenge her in a leadership vote next week, hoping to end infighting that threatens to sink the minority government and its reform agenda. Gillard called on Thursday for the vote to be held …

Counter-piracy operations in the Horn of Africa equate to policing the whole of Europe with just 25 police cars, according to the commander of the military alliance tasked with the job.

Iran accused Israel of assassinating its nuclear scientists as part of a "war game" while it denied any role in attacks on Israeli diplomatic targets in several countries.

Struggling Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney clashed repeatedly with his surging rival Rick Santorum on Wednesday, in a crucial TV debate as the pair battle for frontrunner status.

Indonesia said Thursday it would evacuate all 60 foreigners as well as female prisoners from a jail on Bali island currently under the control of rioting inmates.

Indonesia said Thursday it would evacuate all foreign and female prisoners from a jail on Bali island currently under control of rioting inmates.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday called a ballot on the leadership of the ruling Labor party, bringing to a head an increasingly bitter and ugly row with predecessor Kevin Rudd.

Several US lawmakers received threatening letters containing a harmless white powder, but the sender warned more missives including a "harmful material" could follow, a Senate official said.

Indonesian forces backed by water cannons and armoured vehicles were locked in a tense stand-off outside a prison on Bali island Thursday after rioting inmates took control for a second night.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A packed commuter train crashed at a Buenos Aires station during Wednesday's morning rush hour, killing 49 people and injuring more than 600 in Argentina's worst rail disaster in three decades. Passengers said the force of the collision propelled the second train car inside the first carriage, trapping …

Indonesian forces backed by water cannons and armoured vehicles were locked in a tense stand-off outside a prison on Bali island Thursday after rioting inmates took control for a second night.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday called a ballot on the leadership of the ruling Labor party, bringing to a head an ugly row with predecessor Kevin Rudd.

President Hugo Chavez's revelation that his cancer may have returned has plunged Venezuela into a period of deep uncertainty as it ramps up for what many expect to be the most closely contested presidential elections in years.

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been freed by French police after two days of questioning about an alleged prostitution ring - but he faces another grilling.

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighbourhoods of the city of Homs on Wednesday, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists. The barrages marked an intensification of a nearly three-week …

A packed commuter train slammed into a retaining wall at a railway terminus in Buenos Aires during rush hour Wednesday, leaving at least 49 dead, 600 injured, and dozens trapped in the wreckage.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A packed commuter train ploughed into the buffers at a Buenos Aires station during Wednesday's morning rush hour, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 600 in Argentina's worst rail crash in three decades. Passengers said the force of the collision propelled the second train car inside …