Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas dismissed an Israeli plan to halt new construction of West Bank settlements as insufficient on Friday, saying it won't be enough to restart peace talks. Read More

Costa Rica promised to restore ties with the Honduras after it elects a new president on Sunday, joining other nations in rejecting ousted President Manuel Zelaya's insistence that recognizing the vote would legitimize a June coup. Read More

The permanent Arctic sea ice that is home to the world's polar bears and usually survives the summer has all but disappeared, a Canadian researcher said Friday. Read More

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will visit Canada for a weeklong visit starting in late June. Read More

For years, Dubai seemed unstoppable, an oasis of excess boasting indoor ski slopes and manmade islands, the world's tallest tower and dreams that reached even higher. Read More

Saudi Arabia says nine of its soldiers fighting Yemeni rebels on the border are missing and the kingdom's monarch is vowing to defend the country. Read More

A Russian news agency has reported that 10 people were feared dead and about 130 injured in the derailment of a passenger train headed from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Read More

A lawyer representing the family of a British college student who was slain in Italy is seeking euro25 million ($37 million) in damages from an American and two other defendants accused in the 2007 killing. Read More

Iran summoned Norway's ambassador Friday and said the country had no right to criticize the Islamic Republic for confiscating Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi's medal. Read More

In a blow to Iran, the board of the U.N. nuclear agency on Friday overwhelmingly backed a demand from the U.S., Russia, China and three other powers that Tehran immediately stop building its newly revealed nuclear facility and freeze uranium enrichment. Read More

A 16-year-old Christian girl from southern Sudan said Friday she was lashed 50 times for wearing a skirt deemed indecent by authorities in the north who enforce a strict version of Islamic law. Read More

Namibia's longtime ruling party may see its grip on this desert nation weakened in elections that began Friday, with a challenge from a new breakaway party hoping to attract voters dissatisfied with corruption and leadership scandals. Read More

Equatorial Guinea _ a violent land of coups, petrodollar wealth and killer poverty _ is holding a presidential election Sunday that its leader of 30 years says he will win by more than the 97 percent garnered in the last widely criticized vote. Read More

Canadian federal officials were well aware of allegations of abuse in Afghan jails as the Canadian military was handing over detainees to Afghanistan's intelligence service in 2006, Canada's former top official on Afghanistan said Thursday. Read More

Ukrainian nationalists hurled red paint at a restored monument to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin moments after it was unveiled Friday, sparking a street brawl and revealing the bitter divisions over the legacy of communism in Ukraine. Read More

Light ash has fallen over the capital of Montserrat after the Caribbean island's temperamental volcano hurled another round of hot rocks and gases. Read More

An approaching global climate summit has raised the temperature at what is usually a low-key meeting of leaders from Britain's former colonial empire. Read More

Vast crowds of pilgrims cast stones at walls representing the devil on the third day of the annual hajj on Friday as Muslims around the world began celebrating Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar. Read More

Undeterred by the deadly attack that killed 57 in a campaign convoy, Ismael Mangudadatu filed to run for governor of Maguindanao province Friday, heavily guarded by police and soldiers. Read More

Three Ukrainians were killed when a helicopter operated by an international military contractor crashed in eastern Afghanistan. Read More