A 2-year-old Brazilian boy has as many as 50 metal sewing needles inside his body and a doctor treating the boy said Wednesday they were apparently stuck there one by one. Read More

A convicted killer suspected of masterminding a bar shooting that left eight people dead in Puerto Rico was arrested aboard a 30-foot boat just after it entered a marina in the U.S. Virgin Islands, federal officials said Wednesday. Read More

Britain's Royal Academy of Arts says the prince of Liechtenstein has canceled a major London exhibit planned for next year. Read More

Switzerland will take in one detainee from the U.S. detention facility for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in the hope of helping President Barack Obama to close down the prison, the government said Wednesday. Read More

South Africa's former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who gained notoriety for her dogged promotion of lemons, garlic and olive oil to treat AIDS, has died. She was 69. Read More

State-run TV and private channels are reporting that Pakistan's top court has declared that an amnesty that had protected the president from corruption charges is illegal. Read More

Guinea's former presidential guard chief said Wednesday he shot the country's military strongman earlier this month because the junta leader wanted him to take the blame for a massacre by troops of pro-democracy demonstrators in September. Read More

State media: Pakistan's top court voids corruption amnesty that protected president, allies. Read More

Pakistan has held up visas for U.S. diplomats, military service members and others, apparently because of hostility within the country toward the expansion of U.S. operations in Pakistan, a senior U.S. diplomat said Wednesday. Read More

The Taliban have announced they will release a new video of a U.S. soldier captured in Afghanistan, a U.S-based terrorism monitoring group said Wednesday. Read More

Doctors say Premier Silvio Berlusconi will stay in hospital at least until Thursday with injuries from an attack by a mentally ill man that left his nose and two teeth broken. Read More

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown phoned former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Wednesday to say she is still welcome in Britain, despite a recent attempt by pro-Palestinian activists to have her arrested during a planned visit to London. Read More

Iran on Wednesday test-fired an upgraded version of its most advanced missile, which is capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe, in a new show of strength aimed at preventing any military strike against it amid the nuclear standoff with the West. Read More

A Swedish court has sentenced two North Korean diplomats to eight months in prison for trying to smuggle cigarettes into the Nordic country. Read More

Russia has hailed recognition of Georgia's breakaway provinces by the South Pacific island nation of Nauru. Read More

Despite opposition from Serbia, NATO's commander for Southeast Europe said the alliance will cut down its force in Kosovo by some 4,500 troops in January for possible use in hotspots like Afghanistan or Iraq. Read More

Gunmen have attacked the car of a Honduran television journalist, killing her pregnant daughter but leaving her uninjured. Read More

Massive bombings and scattered daily violence won't impede American troops from leaving Iraq by the end of 2011, the country's prime minister said Wednesday. Read More

The Palestine Liberation Organization indefinitely extended Mahmoud Abbas' term as Palestinian president on Wednesday and endorsed his refusal to negotiate with Israel unless it freezes all settlement construction. Read More

The Mayon volcano, which has blown its top nearly 40 times in 400 years, menaced nearby residents with small eruptions of ash and lava Wednesday as Philippine authorities moved more than 30,000 people to shelters in case of a larger eruption. Read More