WORLD

Iran said on Monday that several foreigners conducting psychological warfare against the clerical system were arrested in last month's bloody clashes between opposition supporters and security forces.

Somali government troops are ready to launch a major offensive against insurgents and expect to drive them out of the capital by the end of this month, the country's prime minister told Reuters on Sunday.

The Galeras volcano in southern Colombia erupted on Saturday, shooting rock and ash and prompting authorities to order the evacuation of about 8,000 people.

A bomb attack in northwest Pakistan killed a former minister on Sunday, officials said, keeping up pressure on a government struggling to contain a raging Taliban insurgency and stabilise the country.

Heavy snow hit Beijing on Sunday, stranding thousands of passengers at the main airport and casting an unusual quiet over normally busy streets as people stayed out of the freezing weather.

Iraq will help victims of a 2007 shooting file a U.S. lawsuit against employees of security firm Blackwater who were accused of opening fire on civilians, the government said on Sunday.

The United States has indications al Qaeda is planning an attack against a target in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, a senior aide to President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

The United States and Britain closed their embassies in Yemen on Sunday over security concerns about possible militant attacks after the failed bombing of a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day.

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday said Israel was the world's spoilt child and got away with what Riyadh said were violations of international law and war crimes without punishment.

Italy aims to install full-body scanners at the main airports of Rome and Milan for flights considered at high risk of terrorist attacks, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said in an interview published on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia urged Iran on Saturday to allow a daughter of Osama bin Laden, who fled house arrest and sought refuge in the Saudi embassy in Tehran, to leave the country if she wishes.

The Afghan parliament on Saturday dealt President Hamid Karzai a painful political blow when they rejected 17 out of 24 of his cabinet nominees, including several close allies and former guerrilla commander Ismail Khan.

The Obama administration on Saturday zeroed in on al Qaeda as the driving force behind an attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas and promised again to hold accountable those involved in the failed atta

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged on Friday to promote a more open U.S. immigration policy during his third term, much as he made a campaign against illegal guns a hallmark of his second term.

The Philippines lowered the alert at its restive Mayon volcano by one notch on Saturday after noticing signs of decreased activity, and cut to 6 kilometres (4 miles) a no-go zone at the mountain.

The Afghan parliament on Saturday approved the defense, finance and interior ministers chosen by President Hamid Karzai, but rejected Ismail Khan for the powerful post of energy minister, and four other nominees.

Somali pirates hijacked a British-flagged vehicle carrier off the Somali coast late on Friday, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.

The number of Iraqi civilians killed in violence fell by half in 2009 to about 4,500 but improvements in security have slowed and large-scale attacks took a major toll last year, a study has found.

Danish police said on Saturday they shot and wounded a Somali man with al Qaeda links when he tried to break into the home of a cartoonist whose 2005 caricatures of Prophet Mohammad sparked global Muslim outrage.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday it appeared the man suspected of trying to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas was a member of al Qaeda and had been trained and equipped by the Islamic militant network.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in an SUV at a volleyball game in northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing 88 people in a village that opposes al Qaeda-linked Taliban insurgents, police said.

The United States will more than double its security assistance for Yemen and Britain will host an international meeting this month to seek ways of preventing the poorest Arab state from becoming an al Qaeda stronghold.

Little has been done to improve Iraq's impoverished city of Basra, but for one slum dweller, the fact that no more corpses are dumped outside his door means Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gets his vote.

The main players in Honduras' dramatic 2009 coup went up in smoke on Friday as one village said good riddance to a difficult year.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has invited key international partners to a meeting to discuss how to counter radicalisation in Yemen after last week's failed attack on a U.S.-bound plane, his office said on Friday.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will dispatch senior agency officials to meet with airport executives around the world to review security and technology used to screen passengers on U.S.-bound flights, the department said.

Thousands of Hong Kong residents appealed to China on New Year's Day to allow full democracy to be introduced soon in the city, as opposition lawmakers pressed forward with a mass resignation plan later this month.

A suicide bomber in a vehicle blew himself up at a volleyball game in northwest Pakistan on Friday and a television station said more than 70 people were killed.

Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Friday he was ready to die for his reformist campaign after a disputed election in June, defying hardline calls for his execution.