U.S. Marines and Afghan troops have killed at least seven Taliban fighters during the first U.S.-led offensive since President Barack Obama announced a new American war plan this week, Afghan officials said Saturday. Read More

Austrian artist Alfred Hrdlicka, whose controversial works in metal, paint and pencil alienated as much as attracted the public died Saturday, Austrian media reported. He was 81. Read More

President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday demanded that Russia tighten its notoriously lax fire codes after the deadliest blaze since the Soviet era killed at least 107 people celebrating in a nightclub with a decorative twig ceiling and single exit. Read More

The overnight return to Guinea on Saturday of the No. 2 man in the junta that seized power a year ago makes it more likely that the military clique will be able to hang on to power following an assassination attempt on the president. Read More

The overnight return to Guinea of the No. 2 man in the junta that seized power a year ago makes it more likely that the military clique will be able to hang on to power following an assassination attempt of their president. Read More

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend an international climate summit in Copenhagen, a spokesman said Saturday, ending days of speculation about the country's level of representation at the landmark conference. Read More

For 20 years, as this crowded planet grew warmer, nations have gathered annually to try to do something about it. History now brings them to this chilly northern capital, and to a crossroads. Read More

Namibia's election commission says President Hifikepunye Pohamba has won re-election, with more than six times as many votes as his nearest rival. Read More

President Barack Obama has his troop surge. Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces have theirs. Read More

Police captured Cosa Nostra's No. 2 in a raid in Sicily and nabbed another Mafia fugitive strolling down a Milan street Saturday, as authorities crossed more names off the nation's most wanted list, Italy's interior minister said. Read More

A pair of shootouts between troops and gunmen in northern Mexico have killed 13 people, including a bystander and a drug trafficker linked to the killing of a retired army officer. Read More

The United States and Russia said Friday they had agreed to maintain the provisions of a major nuclear arms control treaty just hours before the pact expired after being in force for 18 years. Read More

Up a dirt road inside the thick forest here, many fear the seeds of Africa's next civil war are being sown. Read More

Iraq's vice president said Saturday there are "optimistic signs" toward a political agreement on parliamentary elections, but warned he could again veto the plan if it does not meet his demands for greater Sunni outreach in the balloting. Read More

When Egypt's government banned Islamic veils and all-encompassing robes in the dorms of public universities, it cited reports of men wearing the garb to sneak into the women's quarters. Read More

Tens of thousands of Italians fed up with Silvio Berlusconi marched peacefully through Rome on Saturday to demand the resignation of the scandal-plagued premier. Read More

Amanda Knox sought comfort from visiting family members Saturday on her first day in prison since being convicted of murdering her British roommate. Read More

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland says he will meet Pope Benedict XVI next week to discuss a devastating report that found the church covered up clerical child abuse for decades. Read More

Gunmen killed five Rwandan soldiers in a series of attacks on the international peacekeeping force in Darfur, a spokesman for the mission said Saturday, marking a swift upsurge in violence in the western Sudanese region. Read More

Thousands of people calling for a deal on climate change at next week's United Nations conference in Copenhagen marched through central London on Saturday, encircling the Houses of Parliament in a human wave of blue-clad demonstrators. Read More