A rare Siberian tiger fitted by Vladimir Putin with a radio-tracking collar has vanished, a Russian environmentalist said Wednesday, dramatizing the plight of a species some conservationists fear may be approaching extinction. Read More

A senior Foreign Office official has testified that Saddam Hussein's regime was not the British government's main concern in 2001. Read More

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed a 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement construction in what he says is an attempt to jumpstart Mideast peace talks. Read More

Rare, heavy rainstorms soaked pilgrims and flooded the road into Mecca, snarling Islam's annual hajj as millions of Muslims headed for the holy sites. The downpours add an extra hazard on top of intense concerns about the spread of swine flu. Read More

Saudi Arabia should overturn a death sentence imposed on a Lebanese national convicted of practicing witchcraft during a visit to the conservative kingdom, an international human rights group said in a report late Tuesday. Read More

Netanyahu office says Israel to propose 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement construction. Read More

An Iranian cleric says religious authorities have started taking control of schools, part of a wider ideological drive by hard-liners to wage what authorities call a "soft war" against Western influence. Read More

He's done the Swiss Alps and the English Channel, soaring over them on a jet-powered wing. For his next trick, a daredevil pilot aims to go intercontinental, flying from North Africa's tip to Europe's southern fringe. Read More

Pakistan charged seven men on Wednesday in last year's Mumbai terror attacks, its first indictments in a case watched closely by India and the United States to see if Islamabad makes good on promises to punish those responsible. Read More

The Taliban's reclusive leader issued a Muslim holiday message on Wednesday calling on Afghans to break off relations with the government, which he described as a 'stooge' administration. Read More

Prosecutors in the genocide trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief demanded a 40-year jail sentence Wednesday for a man they described as responsible for snuffing out innocent lives and spreading terror across Cambodia. Read More

Witnesses testifying against two Congolese warlords at the International Criminal Court have been threatened and the court does not have the resources to fully protect them, a senior investigator testified Wednesday. Read More

A wedding was called off because international troops killed the groom. A suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a police patrol. An old woman was beaten by the Taliban after she tried to stop them from taking her son. Read More

Judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal have ordered the resumption of a Serb nationalist's trial almost a year after it was suspended amid claims of witness intimidation. Read More

The Great Debate gets under way Wednesday, led off with a grand question: "For you, what does it mean to be French?" Read More

The Taliban's reclusive leader has issued a Muslim holiday message calling on Afghans to break off relations with the government, which he calls a "stooge" administration. Read More

The virus that causes AIDS is now spreading fastest in China through heterosexual sex, a trend demanding new strategies to stave off a rebound in the epidemic after years of progress in containing it, a United Nations report said. Read More

China has detected eight cases of swine flu mutation, a health official said Wednesday, amid longstanding concerns among scientists that the virus could change into a more dangerous form. Read More

With cutting-edge anti-missile systems and two new submarines that can carry nuclear weapons, Israel is readying a new generation of armaments designed to defend itself against distant Iran as well as Tehran's proxy armies on its borders. Read More

Philippine authorities, under intense public pressure to make arrests in the country's worst election massacre, said Wednesday they are investigating a member of a powerful clan allied with the government along with four police commanders. Read More