Airports and airlines across Europe moved rapidly to tighten security on U.S.-bound flights on Saturday after a man tried to set off explosives on a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.
A U.S. human rights activist trying to raise global attention about the suffering of the North Korean people has crossed into the reclusive state, other activists and South Korean media said on Saturday.
Thousands of saffron-robed Thai monks chanted and prayed for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Saturday as Asia marked the fifth anniversary of one of history's worst natural disasters.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to the armed forces and referred to the recession in her annual Christmas Day message on Friday, describing 2009 as a difficult year.
The 9-year-old boy at the center of an international custody battle arrived back in the United States on Thursday after being reunited in Brazil with his American father at the end of a five-year dispute that tested bilateral ties.
A Nigerian man linked to al Qaeda tried to set off an explosive device aboard a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit on Friday, but was overpowered by passengers and crew and the aircraft landed safely, U.S. officials said.
President Barack Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii, was actively monitoring the situation with a Delta flight on which a man reportedly set off firecrackers, the White House said on Friday.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has threatened to expel Japanese carmaker Toyota unless it produces an all-terrain model of 4x4 vehicles used for public transport in poor and rural areas.
The Afghan Taliban said on Friday that they had issued a new video tape of a U.S. soldier who was captured this summer, and added that in it he asks his government to take part in a prisoner exchange deal.
China on Friday defended the role played by premier Wen Jiabao at climate change talks in Copenhagen this month after a barrage of international criticism blaming China for obstructing negotiations.
Pope Benedict called on the world to abandon violence and vengeance on Friday and showed no sign of strain after an unstable woman lunged at him, forcing him to the ground, on Christmas Eve.
China's most prominent dissident, Liu Xiaobo, was jailed on Friday for 11 years for campaigning for political freedoms, with the stiff sentence on a subversion charge swiftly condemned by rights groups and Washington.
The woman who lunged at Pope Benedict and caused him to fall to the floor at the start of his Christmas Eve mass was psychologically unstable and was not armed, the Vatican said on Friday.
The General Assembly approved a two-year U.N. budget on Thursday that pushed past the $5 billion (3 billion pounds) mark, but Western countries said they had won savings on the cost of an organisation some see as profligate.
Russia will work on a new generation of atomic weapons to strengthen its nuclear deterrent, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, just hours after Moscow test-fired one of its most feared missiles.
The central United States is expected to see a white but slick and blustery Christmas as snow will be coupled with blinding winds in western areas and freezing rain in the east, a forecaster predicted Thursday.
Thousands of Christians crowded into Bethlehem on an unseasonably warm Thursday evening, before celebrating Christmas midnight mass in the Church of the Nativity at the birthplace of Jesus.
The U.N. General Assembly condemned wide-ranging human rights violations in Myanmar in a resolution adopted early on Thursday.
A ferry collided with a fishing boat off the Philippines on Thursday killing three people and leaving about two dozen missing, an official said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday ordered a one fifth cut to the staff of the 1.4 million strong Interior Ministry after a series of scandals involving the police.
The authorities have banned memorial gatherings for a leading dissident cleric in most parts of Iran, reformist websites said on Thursday, days ahead of an emotive Shi'ite ritual that may draw more opposition protests.
At least 23 people died in attacks across Iraq on Thursday, including a provincial leader and pilgrims observing a major Shi'ite religious ritual, police and officials said.
China denounced foreign diplomatic meddling in the trial this week of Liu Xiaobo, a dissident facing up to 15 years in prison for authoring works calling for greater civil and political freedoms.
The U.S. Senate approved President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare overhaul on Thursday, backing sweeping changes in the medical insurance market and new coverage for tens of millions of uninsured Americans.
Following an emotional 5 year battle, David Goldman has been reunited with his 9-year old son, Sean, after his wife at the time, took him to Brazil and never came back.
The U.S. Senate passed a sweeping healthcare overhaul on Thursday as expected, which must be combined with a version approved last month by the House of Representatives and passed again by both chambers.
The debate over U.S. healthcare reform is full of terms familiar to lawmakers and lobbyists but often obscure to the public.
The U.S. Senate approved President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul on Thursday, backing sweeping changes in the medical insurance market and new coverage for tens of millions of uninsured Americans.
Iran's Defense Minister said Wednesday the country will launch a new-generation military satellite in early February next year.
The UN climate chief said Wednesday the Copenhagen Accord was vague about climate funds pledged by rich countries to help poor countries fight against climate change.
