Japan said Tuesday it plans to provide up to $5 billion in aid to Afghanistan, effectively replacing its naval refueling mission that supports U.S.-led coalition in the region in a commitment announced days ahead of President Barack Obama's visit. Read More

The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said. Read More

Dueling visits to Brazil by the presidents of Israel and Iran are showing the South American powerhouse's growing role in Mideast diplomacy. Read More

The U.S. State Department issued a statement late Monday decrying attacks on three Cuban bloggers, including one who has gained international attention for her searing observations about life on the communist island. Read More

Thailand's fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived Tuesday in Cambodia following his appointment as economic adviser to the government, fueling tensions between the neighboring countries. Read More

Vitaly Ginzburg, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian physicist and one of the fathers of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, has died in Moscow. He was 93. Read More

Gunmen in camouflage stormed a plywood factory and abducted three workers Tuesday, a day after suspected Muslim militants beheaded a kidnapped schoolteacher on a nearby southern Philippine island, officials said. Read More

Increased droughts, floods and storms will hit China's Yangtze River Basin over the next few decades, the result of rising temperatures globally, according to a report released Tuesday. Read More

The Obama administration has decided, after months of deliberation, to accept an offer by North Korea to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for direct talks on nuclear issues, two administration officials said Monday. Read More

The Mexican government has declared parts of the Gulf coast state of Tabasco disaster zones due to flooding from days of heavy rains, freeing up federal relief funds for the area. Read More

Yonhap news agency says navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire off west coast. Read More

Indian officials clamped down Monday on journalists covering the Dalai Lama's trip to a disputed border area in an apparent effort to minimize tensions with neighboring China. Read More

Venezuela and Russia say they are working on a series of agreements for Moscow to provide the South American country with technology for the development of industries ranging from robotics to biochemistry. Read More

Ulrich Sauff and his wife stared at the mammoth domino pieces marking the path where the Berlin Wall once stood and reminisced about life in the barrier's shadow. Read More

Iran accused three detained Americans of spying Monday, signaling Tehran intends to put them on trial. It drew a sharp U.S. response that the charges are baseless because the hikers strayed across the border from Iraq. Read More

As of Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, at least 836 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Monday at 10 a.m. EST. Read More

Battling hypothermia, a 17-year-old hunter stranded on a floating chunk of ice shot and killed a polar bear while trapped for more than a day before being rescued Monday in the Canadian Arctic. Read More

A judge on Friday granted bail for two Canadian men who face extradition to the U.S. on charges linked to the slain leader of a radical Detroit-area Islamic group. Read More

British foreign minister David Miliband has turned down the chance to become the European Union's envoy to the rest of the world, the BBC reported Monday. Read More

Rock-throwing supporters of Nicaragua's governing Sandinista party have attacked a small protest march by the opposition. Read More