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 ...

ASHDOD, Israel (Reuters) – The Israeli navy boarded a yacht in the Mediterranean Tuesday to prevent 10 Jewish activists sailing to Gaza to protest against Israel's blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

The massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile more than a week ago moved the city of Concepción at least 10 feet (3 meters) to the west, seismological measurements indicate.   The violent temblor - the fifth most powerful quake ever measured - shifted other parts of South America as well, from the Falkland Islands (located just east of the southern ...

NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates hit a Spanish fishing boat off the coast of Kenya with a rocket-propelled grenade Thursday as private security on board returned fire at the would-be hijackers. The successful defense of the fishing vessel Albacan illustrates two trends driving up the stakes for sailors and pirates off the Horn of Africa: Better trained and protected crews are ...

ROME (AFP) – The UN children's agency on Thursday proposed a new approach for ending female genital mutilation, saying campaigns should work with communities instead of fighting local traditions.

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Three months after it was stolen, the corpse of Cyprus' former president was found reburied in another grave and the country's justice minister said Tuesday that it had been held for ransom. But two spokesmen for former President Tassos Papadopoulos' family insisted his relatives had never received a demand for money.

JERUSALEM – The killing of a Hamas operative in a Dubai hotel may signal the end of an era: the moment when modern technology finally caught up with the cloak-and-dagger world of disguised assassins and fake passports. "The last assassination of its kind," said a headline in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

MEXICO CITY – Mexico's capture of two rival drug gang leaders in two weeks may mark a new trend in the country's drug war, an official said Monday: drug lords surrendering without a fight when surrounded

MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Russian Olympic officials to quit or be fired on Monday and demanded drastic changes to training procedures after a poor showing at the Winter Games dented national pride. Once mighty Russia limped in 11th in the medals table with just three golds, its worst ever tally.

KABUL – Afghan government officials are not rushing to oust the man they chose to bring fresh and credible governance to a town just seized from the Taliban, but his newly disclosed violent criminal record in Germany will be investigated further, officials said Saturday.

PARIS – Mideast rivals Israel and Syria on Tuesday each announced ambitions to develop nuclear energy, with Israel facing the prospect that its plan could bring new international attention to its secretive nuclear activities.

ISLAMABAD - A top Pakistani Taliban commander close to al-Qaida is believed to have been killed in an army airstrike, officials said Saturday, in the latest apparent blow to insurgents who have attacked Pakistan and threatened U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

OSLO, Norway – A chemical tanker with 21 crew members has been hijacked by Somali pirates near Madagascar, the Norwegian owner said Saturday. It was not clear whether anyone in the crew, all from Myanmar, had been injured in the attack early Friday or whether any ransom had been demanded.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks a "big lie" used by the U.S. as an excuse for the war on terror, state media reported. Ahmadinejad's comments, made during an address to Intelligence Ministry staff, come amid escalating tensions between the West and Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. ...

CARACAS, Venezuela – A plane carrying 51 people crashed Monday in eastern Venezuela, and officials said at least 21 people survived. The French-built ATR-42 from the state airline Conviasa crashed about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz at about 10 a.m. (1430 GMT), Transportation Minister Francisco Garces told state television. He said the plane went down ...