Security forces clashed with opposition protesters gathered Wednesday for a memorial for Iran's most senior dissident cleric, beating men and women and firing tear gas, reformist Web sites reported. Read More

Authorities say gunmen have stormed a checkpoint west of Baghdad, killing four Iraqi police officers. Read More

The Vatican sought Wednesday to quell its latest public dispute with Jewish groups, saying the pope's decision to move Pope Pius XII closer to sainthood isn't an act of hostility against those who say he didn't sufficiently denounce the Holocaust. Read More

World stock markets rose Wednesday amid mounting optimism about the speed of the U.S. economic recovery after further solid economic data. Read More

A court tried a high-profile Chinese dissident Wednesday on subversion charges after he called for sweeping political reforms and an end to Communist Party dominance. Read More

Police and soldiers donned Santa hats and red clown noses and belted out songs in crammed evacuation centers in hopes of keeping 47,000 displaced residents from sneaking back to their homes on the slopes of a lava-spilling volcano. Read More

A U.S. man involved in a five-year battle for his son is closer than ever to being reunited with the boy, and waits now to see if Brazilian relatives will comply with an order from Brazil's chief justice to give up custody. Read More

Ford Motor Co. moved closer Wednesday to selling its loss-making Volvo unit to China's Geely Group, saying a final deal is expected early next year if financing and government approvals fall into place. Read More

O Come All Ye Faithful to Bethlehem's first Christmas rock festival. Read More

A human rights watchdog group says the U.N.'s culture and education agency is being hypocritical by collaborating with Equatorial Guinea's dictator. Read More

Residents of a southern Somali town say Islamists are enforcing a Taliban-style dress code. Read More

In Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 stories about the U.N. role in backing a Congolese army offensive, The Associated Press erroneously reported that U.N. peacekeepers supplies ammunition to Congolese troops. The U.N. says it does not provide ammunition to forces other than its own peacekeepers. Read More

France's Foreign Ministry says a young French academic arrested during Iran's postelection protests and charged with spying has attended a court hearing in Tehran and will have to return soon for another. Read More

A Saudi-owned newspaper says that one of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's daughters has taken refuge in the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after eluding guards who have held her and five brothers under house arrest for eight years. Read More

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church says that, although the church views homosexuality as a sin, homosexuality is a personal choice. Read More

A Hamas official says the German mediator seeking to clinch a prisoner swap between the militant group and Israel has entered Gaza. Read More

Police say the number of British lawmakers who could face criminal charges over the expenses they claimed from the public purse has risen to six. Read More

A member of the Afghan parliament was mistakenly killed in an early morning shootout between his bodyguards and police officers, officials said Wednesday. Read More

British leader Gordon Brown won't testify before his country's investigation of the Iraq war until after the next general election, the committee behind the inquiry said Wednesday. Read More

A plane seized in Bangkok with a cache of North Korean weapons wasn't headed to Iran, a senior Thai police official said Wednesday, contradicting a report from arms trafficking experts. Read More