Ryan Villarreal

The brother and co-conspirator of the man who assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 was released Thursday after serving over 16 years in prison.

A senior U.N. official expressed concern over the declining health of two Palestinian prisoners in Israel, who have been on a hunger strike for over two months and are in critical condition.

At least 34 people have been killed after a group of gunmen armed with explosives and assault rifles opened fire on a cattle market in northeastern Nigeria Wednesday night.

The Brazilian military has launched a massive operation to crack down on drug trafficking, illegal logging and mining and other criminal activity in a vast, remote swath of the Amazon.

Iran indicated Wednesday that it will seek the lifting of sanctions over its nuclear program in upcoming talks with world powers in Baghdad May 23, though it maintained that it has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful uses.

Mali's military junta is hunting for opponents through the capital Bamako, in the third day of fighting with soldiers loyal to ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure.

Palestinian prisoners have entered the third week of a hunger strike against conditions and practices in Israeli prisons, with numbers swelling to some 1,500 participants.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez departed for Cuba Monday, announcing that he would undergo further cancer treatment.

Former opposition leader Tzipi Livni announced her resignation Tuesday from the Israeli parliament weeks after losing the leadership of the centrist Kadima Party.

International Workers' Day, also known as May Day or Labor Day, is observed on May 1 and recognizes labor movements around the world.

Lebanese intelligence officers are questioning crew members of a ship that set sail from Libya and was found to be carrying a cache of weapons that supposedly were intended to supply opposition forces in Syria.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts, operator of the Sheraton hotel chain, will open two new facilities in Iraq, 20 years after shutting down its operations there when the First Gulf War broke out.

The U.K. banned all exports to Argentina's military Thursday amid heightened tensions over the long-standing Falkland Islands dispute.

India successfully launched a microwave Radar Imaging Satellite, Risat-1, into orbit from the spaceport at Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.

Following the successful launch of its Risat-1 satellite Thursday, India's space agency announced that it will test two of its heavy rockets prior to its planned 2014 moon mission.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home early Thursday after 11 days of cancer treatment in Cuba, putting an end to ongoing rumors of his death.

Brazil's congress voted late Wednesday to approve a bill that eases regulations on how much forest farmers are required to preserve on their land, marking a victory for the country's influential agriculture lobby.

China announced Wednesday that it will send its African envoy, Zhong Jianhua, to Sudan and South Sudan with the hope of brokering peace talks between the two rival nations which have recently been engaged in border skirmishes that threaten to escalate into an all-out war.

Over 1,300 Palestinian prisoners remain on a hunger strike in Israel after eight days, protesting indefinite detentions and demanding better conditions.

The right-wing extremist refuted a psychiatric report that found him legally insane in relation to the shooting spree and bombing attack that killed 77 people in Norway last year.

The European Union is preparing to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization over Argentina's new import restrictions, and may seek additional action in response to the country's recent nationalization of its largest oil firm YPF. The Argentinian government seized control of the company from Spanish oil major Repsol.

Iran announced Tuesday that it has recalled a diplomat from Brazil and is investigating charges that he inappropriately touching underage girls at a swimming pool in the capital Brasilia.

A high-profile protest by Chinese villagers against the alleged corruption of local officials has produced a result: Two former village officials from Wukan, near Hong Kong, have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and ordered to return stolen funds.

Muslims living in Europe face discrimination in employment, education and daily life in general, according to a new report released by Amnesty International.

Maoist rebels have offered to release a captured senior official being held in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh in exchange for the freedom of several imprisoned guerrillas and the withdrawal of security forces from the region.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Monday he refused to enter into peace negotiations with South Sudan as the North conducted a series of air strikes against southern targets along the oil-rich border region, which has been the site of ongoing skirmishes.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao Monday in Beijing as the young African nation seeks investment for an alternate pipeline that would allow it to circumvent exporting oil through its northern rival Sudan.

Three unidentified Welsh men -- ages 18, 20 and 21 -- have been accused of breaking into Sea World on Queensland's Gold Coast, where they allegedly swam with the dolphins in their underwear and absconded away with a hapless little fairy penguin named Dirk.

As Earth Day approaches on April 22, organizers view 2012 as a pivotal year to bring the environmental issues facing the planet to the forefront of the global political agenda.