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.

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – The world's largest annual pilgrimage, the hajj, began on Sunday with hundreds of thousands of Muslims pouring into the camp of Mina from Mecca to prepare for the solemn rituals

PELLUHUE, Chile – The 40 retirees enjoying summer vacation at a seaside campground nestled under pine trees knew they had to move fast after Chile's powerful earthquake struck. They didn't make it. The tsunami came in three waves, surging 200 meters (yards) into this Pacific Ocean resort town and dragging away the bus they'd piled into, hoping to get to high ...

LONDON – Former Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic must remain in a British prison for at least two more days following his arrest on Serbian war crimes charges, a judge said Tuesday. The 64-year-old academic was arrested March 1 at London's Heathrow airport on a Belgrade warrant in connection with the 1992 deaths of Serbian troops in Bosnia.

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

+ PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – One of two U.S. Baptist missionaries still held on kidnapping charges in Haiti was released Monday, but the group's leader remained in custody. Charisa Coulter was taken from her jail cell to the airport by U.S. Embassy staff more than a month after she and nine other Americans were arrested for trying to take 33 children out ...

Half a century of police pressure and court convictions has left the Basque separatist group ETA shrunken, battered and shaken by infighting, with the group's political representatives wrestling its militants for leadership of the movement. This internal division was highlighted most recently on Sept. 12, when ETA's fighters called for international mediation to help bring a close to their campaign of ...

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 ...

ATHENS, Greece – Greece says it has raised badly needed cash with a new bond issue, passing a key test of its ability to avoid a disastrous debt default and dig out of a financial crisis that has shaken the European Union.

MALMO, Sweden – Lang Conteh thought the two loud cracks were fireworks from the nightclub. He was in high spirits, stepping out of a taxi with two friends to join the summer party.

BEIJING – China's central bank governor acknowledged Saturday that Beijing is using its controversial exchange-rate controls to cope with the global economic crisis and said it will be cautious about retreating from the policy.

OKCULAR, Turkey – Hundreds of earthquake survivors huddled in aid tents and around bonfires Monday in eastern Turkey, seeking relief from the winter cold after a strong temblor knocked down stone and mud-brick houses in five villages, killing 51 people. The damage appeared worst in the Kurdish village of Okcular, which was almost razed. At least 15 of the village's 900 ...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Assailants in Pakistan launched two separate attacks Friday on vehicles carrying fuel for NATO and American forces in Afghanistan, highlighting the vulnerability of the U.S.-led mission a day after Pakistan closed a major border crossing

HANOI, Vietnam – Asia's death toll from vicious rains spiked Thursday to nearly 140 as disaster officials reached previously isolated areas in Vietnam, while the worst flooding in parts of southern China in nearly a half-century killed one person and forced 213,000 villagers to evacuate.

CONCEPCION, Chile (AFP) – Divers searched for bodies in debris-clogged waters off Chile's central coast Thursday as bulldozers began removing tonnes of rubble five days after a massive earthquake and tsunami. Rescue dogs were also combing the fetid coastline, where emergency personnel believe monster waves swept hundreds to their deaths. The official death toll stands at 802, but that was expected ...

AMSTERDAM – The scene has unfolded countless times in the Netherlands: Young people break into an unused building, move in a table, chair and bed, and then tell the police they are now the official residents — with no permission from the owner and no plans to pay rent.

HARARE, Zimbabwe – A Zimbabwean court on Monday freed on bail four Americans arrested and accused of treating AIDS patients without proper medical licenses

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 ...

GENEVA – The World Health Organization says more than 85 million children under 5 in west and central Africa will be vaccinated against polio. The agency says the massive vaccination campaign in 19 countries by U.N. agencies and the Red Cross will start March 6. It will involve more than 400,000 volunteers and health workers. It is largely funded by Rotary ...

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 ...