A series of car bombs ripped through downtown Baghdad early Tuesday, killing four people and wounding as many as 15 near the heavily fortified Green Zone, Iraqi police officials said. Read More

North Korea raised the amount of old currency that citizens can turn in for new bills after merchants rioted against the rules, a news report said Tuesday. Read More

Critics are fuming over allegations that Japan's new government pressured the Imperial Palace into hastily arranging a meeting Tuesday between Emperor Akihito and China's Vice President Xi Jinping in order to curry favor with Beijing. Read More

Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter _ unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal. Read More

Thai authorities focused Tuesday on the mammoth task of inspecting 35 tons of weapons seized from a cargo plane loaded in North Korea, as details of the aircraft's alleged shady past emerged but its ultimate destination remained a mystery. Read More

A suicide bomb explosion Tuesday in Afghanistan's capital damaged a hotel frequented by foreigners, a government official said. The extent of casualties was not immediately clear. Read More

The souvenir-flinging man who attacked Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi joins a long list of gatecrashers, shoe-throwers and other security breachers who have embarrassed, bruised and even killed leaders worldwide. Read More

Even hospitalized and in pain, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi can polarize Italians. Read More

U.N. peacekeepers in Congo are violating the laws of war and should immediately stop backing Congolese troops who have deliberately killed hundreds of civilians in an operation to oust rebels in eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch said. Read More

Guinea's military leadership on Monday rejected a proposal from a regional group to bring in foreign troops to prevent further violence, saying it would consider such a move an act of war. Read More

Iraqi police say four killed, multiple wounded in series of car bombs outside Green Zone. Read More

Large explosion heard in center of Kabul. Read More

Authorities moved thousands of villagers from harm's way near the Philippines' most active volcano Tuesday after it oozed lava and shot plumes of ash, and said they probably will spend a bleak Christmas in an evacuation center. Read More

Iran said Monday a court will try three Americans who wandered across the border from Iraq last July and became ensnared in an increasingly bitter standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear program. Read More

The top U.S. military officer said the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan is harder to defeat now than it was a year ago, and said he will take up concerns about strengthening ties to al-Qaida with government leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Read More

Fidel Castro says President Barack Obama's "friendly smile and African-American face" are hiding Washington's sinister intentions for Latin America _ more evidence of a new cooling in U.S.-Cuba relations after a thaw had seemed possible just months ago. Read More

Media reports Tuesday said Japan has delayed until next year a decision on the relocation of a major US military base on the southern island of Okinawa that's at the center of a growing row between Tokyo and Washington. Read More

A massive iceberg edging slowly toward Australia's southwestern coast is breaking up into hundreds of smaller icebergs as it drifts into warmer waters, creating potentially hazardous conditions for ships trying to navigate the region, a scientist said Tuesday. Read More

Zion National Park is establishing a sister relationship with a national park in China. Read More

Honduras' president-elect said Monday he is willing to meet with ousted leader Manuel Zelaya anywhere to help end the political impasse over last June's coup. Read More