WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Poisonous gases kept rescuers from entering a New Zealand coal mine where a powerful blast trapped 29 workers, as intermittent power outages Saturday frustrated efforts to pump in fresh air.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran said Thursday it will free Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans jailed for more than 13 months, as an act of clemency to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's claim of a new, highly sophisticated uranium enrichment facility could be a ploy to win concessions in nuclear talks or an attempt to bolster leader Kim Jong Il's apparent heir.

PARIS (AFP) – Homosexual men in Europe are increasingly failing to adhere to safe sex, according to two new studies. In France, transmission of the AIDS virus "seems to be out of control" among men who have sex with men, said a paper published on Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Three churches in Malaysia were attacked with firebombs, causing extensive damage to one, as Muslims pledged Friday to prevent Christians from using the word "Allah," escalating religious tensions in the multiracial country. Many Malay Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the population, are incensed by a recent High Court decision to overturn a ban on Roman ...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitians are piling bodies along the devastated streets of their capital after a powerful earthquake flattened the president's palace and the main prison, the cathedral, hospitals, schools and thousands of homes. Untold numbers are still trapped. President Rene Preval says he believes thousands of people are dead. His prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, tells CNN: "I believe we are ...

UNITED NATIONS – Kenya's foreign minister said Saturday the millions being spent to fight pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia should be spent instead on helping the country become a functioning state.

Sharda, a 17-year-old mother, gave birth to her first child in February in a village in Noida, just a few hours' drive outside New Delhi. Though her son was born premature and weak, he received no treatment. In many parts of India, particularly in poor and marginalized communities, a woman is considered impure for a fortnight after giving birth.   ...

ATHENS, Greece – Riot police clashed with protesting workers barricading the ancient Acropolis on Thursday, using tear gas to clear the entrance to one of Greece's most famous landmarks.

SAN BERNARDO, Chile – The Desarmes family left their native Haiti two weeks after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, joining the eldest son in Chile for what seemed a refuge from the fear and chaos of Port-au-Prince. Their sense of security lasted barely a month. It was shattered at 3:43 a.m. Saturday when one of the most powerful quakes on record ...

JOS, Nigeria – The U.S. government and human rights activists called Tuesday for Nigeria to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the deaths of more than 200 unarmed people in renewed violence between Christians and Muslims.

KABUL, Afghanistan – It's make-or-break time in Afghanistan. The war enters its 10th year Thursday, and this is no ordinary anniversary.

LONDON – British dog owners may be forced to microchip their pets and take out insurance, part of a proposed crackdown on the country's dangerous canines. Postmen are delighted, but civil libertarians grumble that Britain's sprawling surveillance state now wants to track the nation's estimated 8 million dogs. Others complain that the insurance plan would impose a financial penalty on innocent ...

KUNDA, India – A stampede among thousands of poor villagers scrambling for free food and clothes at a commemorative event killed 63 people Thursday at a Hindu temple in northern India and injured dozens of others. Nearly all the victims were women and children. The stampede was so intense it knocked down a gate at the compound surrounding the temple in ...

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia – Deafening explosions of hot gas rattled evacuees miles (kilometers) from an Indonesian volcano Monday, the latest eruption in a deadly week. The country reported increased rumblings at 21 other active mountains, raising questions about what's causing the uptick along some of the world's most prolific fault lines.

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said it proposed Thursday a joint probe with the United States of the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship that an earlier international investigation blamed on Pyongyang.

A dentist asked three dental nurses if they shaved their pubic hair and he had sex with a fourth at his surgery, a disciplinary tribunal has heard. He groped two of the women and on one occasion pulled down his trousers in front of a nurse to reveal a leopard-print thong saying: "Get a load of that." Anthony Barton is accused ...

TEHRAN, Iran – Security forces have raided the office of Iran's top opposition leader and seized computers after days of intimidating visitors with a heavy force presence around the building.