All Latest News Wires
- Anonymous hacker group claims to bring down Vatican website
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed the attack but declined to comment on its possible source. He said he didn't know how long it would take the Vatican's technicians to bring the site back up.
- Six UK soldiers believed killed in Afghanistan blast
Six UK soldiers were believed missing and presumed dead after an explosion hit their armored vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan on Tuesday evening.
- Norway mass killer faces murder, terror charges
Anders Behring Breivik has been formally charged in the murder of 77 people last summer.
- Chinese envoy to press Syria for cease-fire
China's special envoy to Syria is expected to press authorities for a cease-fire to end the country's crisis. Beijing is opposed to any foreign intervention there.
- G8 summit moved to Camp David last-minute
The G8 summit, planned for Chicago, will instead be hosted at Camp David. The White House says the change was not in response to the possibility of protests.
- Iran's high court dismisses death sentence against American
Iran's supreme court threw out a death sentence Monday against Amir Mirza Hekmati, an Iranian-American convicted of spying by a lower court and sentenced to be executed.
- Iran elections: Ahmadinejad reduced to lame duck
Forces loyal to conservative cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have taken over 75 percent of the seats in parliamentary elections, leaving rival President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad weakened.
- China plans double-digit boost in military spending
China will raise its military spending by 11.2 percent in 2012 as the Asian giant worries about the US presence in the region.
- Syrian forces continue shelling rebel stronghold
Soldiers loyal to President Assad have been bombarding Homs, a prominent rebel stronghold, despite Red Cross appeals.
- EU leaders sign treaty to enforce fiscal discipline as Spain rebels
Spain told European Union leaders as they gathered to sign a fiscal treaty that it couldn't meet the deficit targets set by the EU for the upcoming year.
- 131-year-old New Zealand church to be demolished
A 131-year-old cathedral, devastated in the earthquake last year in Christchurch, New Zealand, is too dangerous and expensive to rebuild, the city's bishop said on Friday.
- North Korea nuclear deal: Envoy to visit US
Word of Ri Yong Ho's visit to the forum at Syracuse University comes on the heels of a breakthrough agreement that will provide much-needed U.S. food aid to North Korea in exchange for a rollback of its nuclear programs.
- Debris from tsunami to reach West Coast, join Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch will soon include debris from the Japanese tsunami, while one million to 2 million tons of lumber, construction material, refrigerators, TVs, fishing boats and other fragments from Japanese coastal towns make their way across the Pacific.
- Rupert Murdoch's son gives up newspaper job after months of scandal
Rupert Murdoch's son James will leave his position at News International, the UK newspaper arm of Murdoch's News Corp., in order to focus on television work.
- North Korea agrees to nuclear moratorium, US says
The United States announced Wednesday that North Korea has agreed to halt nuclear testing and missile launches.
- Violence in Western China underscores uptick in minority unrest
At least 12 people were reported killed Tuesday night in clashes in a Muslim majority Uighur region in western China.
- Crippled Costa cruise ship to reach land Thursday
Those aboard the Costa Allegra, a sister ship of the cruise liner that capsized off Italy last month, faced more stifling days and nights before the vessel docks in the tropical paradise.
- Turkey hails French court overturning Armenian genocide denial law
The Turkish government applauded France's highest court reversing a law making it illegal to deny Armenian deaths in the former Ottoman Empire over 100 years ago was genocide.
- Lucy Lawless, 'Xena: Warrior Princess' actress, arrested in oil-ship protest
Lucy Lawless arrested: Police removed the protesters from their perch atop a 174-foot drilling tower on the Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki.
- Costa cruise ship stranded in pirate waters near the Seychelles
Costa Allegra, a cruise ship with 1,000 people on board, had a fire in the engine room. The cruise ship, stranded in Somali pirate waters, is now being towed to the Seychelles.