WORLD

The murder rate in South Africa – while still high – has actually been plunging over the past 15 years or so.

The latest Crossroads ad buy seeks to link several vulnerable Democrats in tough Senate races to tax increases. Spots set to run in Virginia, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota and Nevada portray Democrats as proponents of higher taxes and needlessly expanded government.

President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have stepped up their attacks on each other in recent days, with Obama calling Romney's tax plan "Robin Hood in reverse" and the former Massachusetts governor saying the president's characterization was "Obamaloney."

Amnesty International believes 1-million North Koreans have died of starvation since the 1990s, while millions more remain malnourished.

A new report from Haaretz claims Iran may be even closer than previously thought to getting the bomb. But other sources aren't so sure.

Russia's food security commission on Wednesday ruled out imposing a ban on grain exports, saying -- for now -- concerns that a serious drought will not cause one of the world's largest wheat producers to deliver a worldwide blow to the price of bread.

Two non-voting members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors have broken a long-standing taboo against wading into politics by publicly talking about how election-year considerations affect the decisions of U.S. central bankers.

Despite Mitt Romney's enduring lack of personal appeal, he and President Obama remain locked in a tight contest in several swing states, according to two new polls.

These figures also do not include the hundreds of thousands --- perhaps millions – of Indians who are seriously injured by these frequent mishaps.

China has become Uganda’s number one trade partner, replacing Britain.

At least 23 people have been killed in the Philippines: Wednesday morning's deluge alone dumped 18.5 inches of rain, surpassing the 17.9 inches dumped by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, which killed over 700.

The search giant's corporate tax bill amounts to £1,519 paid for every million pounds in turnover, a rate of just 0.15 percent.

Egyptian military helicopters launched air raids on suspected Islamic militants in Sinai near the Israeli border on Wednesday, killing more than 20 in Touma village. The aerial attacks were in response to the gunmen attack on Egyptian border police station on Sunday which killed 16 guards.

Kenya's parliamentary building has undergone a major renovation, worth millions of dollars. Meanwhile, about half the citizens live in poverty.

Local campaigners have compared the potential impact of the mine's effluent to BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil spill, saying the region's fish stocks will become unsellable if the project goes ahead.

The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit to South Africa, known globally for its high incidence of AIDS, praised the government's efforts to prevent the spread of the virus. Both the nations will sign an agreement Wednesday to reinstate the U.S. anti-AIDS funding, which was cut back during former South African President Thabo Mbeki's tenure.

On Tuesday, at least 16 lives were taken when gunmen stormed into a church in central Nigeria and opened fire upon the congregation with AK-47 assault rifles.

Armed men opened fire on a security checkpoint early Wednesday in al-Arish, Egypt, on the Sinai peninsula, state media said, three days after 16 border guards were shot dead in an attack on Sunday blamed partly on Palestinian militants.

Iran reaffirmed support to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo.

As the U.N. General Assembly session in September approaches, Israel is flexing its muscles against a Palestinian bid for statehood, but such a move could only spell trouble for both sides.

Yemeni President Hadi's new decree consolidates military power under his own leadership.

Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student whom Rush Limbaugh notoriously labeled a "slut," will introduce President Barack Obama at a rally in Denver on Wednesday, offering further proof that the incumbent's campaign will use women's rights as a key issue in the 2012 presidential election.

Sri Lanka and China remain friendly, despite an incident involving some stray fishermen. India watches closely as its southern neighbor and its big rival to the north get ever closer.

Iran pledged strong support for Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday, accusing the United States of "warmongering" and promising to back Assad's crackdown against rebels of the Syrian uprising.

Among the charges: Pfizer's China subsidiary was accused of offering a program where doctors could claim cell phones and other goodies based on how many prescriptions they doled out of the company's products.

Reporter Chinchilla was inside and was not injured, while his son was hospitalized and remains in stable condition.

U.S. authorities said Tuesday they had halted for now a traffic-switching procedure at issue when three U.S. Airways flights came too close to one another over Washington's Reagan National Airport last week.

George P. Bush, nephew of former president George W. Bush, will be deputy finance chairman of the Lone Star State’s Republican Party, becoming the latest in a long line of Texas politicos with the surname “Bush” to get a foothold in the GOP.

A 60 percent surge since June in the U.S. price of corn has reignited the on-again-off-again debate over using corn to produce ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol, as a motor fuel additive.