BEIJING – A mad rush to the playground turned into a stampede that left dozens of elementary school children hurt and seven severely injured in western China on Monday, state media and officials said.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Police searched homes and secured the perimeter of a Rio de Janeiro shantytown Friday that has long been a stronghold for drug gangs and a symbol of their ability to rule vast areas of the seaside city with impunity.

Back in the 1980s, Peru's government ran the printing presses as an answer to the country's massive economic crisis, but churning out currency only made things worse and hyperinflation topped off at 1.2 million percent by the end of the decade.

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.

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.

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.

Reuters - Brazenly provocative, the bare-breasted young women of Femen are becoming an eye-catching -- if unsolicited -- fixture on Ukraine's political scene

BERLIN (Reuters) – A German judge has shot to popularity after letting 42 speeding drivers off without charges in the last week because he thinks speed controls merely serve to fill the state's coffers rather than prevent accidents

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

For almost 70 years, successive Romanian governments have downplayed the nation's role in the Holocaust. But now a suspected mass grave has been found in the Vulturi forest, and some are hoping that the discovery will help Romania face up to one of the darkest periods in its history  

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has refused to ratify the death sentence of a Lebanese psychic convicted of practicing witchcraft in a case that has outraged international human rights groups

As the United States and China battle over the finer points of currency manipulation at the G-20 summit, American negotiators may want to take note of this startling testimonial to the productivity of Chinese workers: A construction crew in the south-central Chinese city of Changsha has completed a 15-story hotel in just six days. If nothing else, this remarkable achievement will ...

SAN SALVADOR (AFP) – A fire on Wednesday tore through a detention center housing young gang members in El Salvador, killing at least 16 people and injuring 22, according to police and rescue personnel

Peru's court system continued its ping-pong treatment of Lori Berenson late Friday afternoon, once again granting the New York native parole on her 20-year sentence on terrorism charges. Berenson, hands clasped in her lap and flanked by two prison guards, sat motionless during the 75-minutes it took to read Judge Jessica Leon's verdict.  

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Libya has ordered a diplomat at the United States embassy in Tripoli to leave the country within 24 hours for breaching diplomatic rules, two Libyan newspapers reported on Sunday.

SWIEBODZIN, Poland – A gigantic statue of Jesus that Poles claim is the world's largest rose majestically above a small town on Saturday, as the grandiose dream of a local priest finally came to pass.

DANNENBERG, Germany – Activists rappelled down from a high bridge, broke through police lines and chained themselves to German train tracks Sunday, trying to halt a shipment of nuclear waste as they protested Chancellor Angela Merkel's plans to keep using nuclear energy.

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.

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.