North Korea threatened South Korea on Thursday after their first naval skirmish in seven years, as Seoul expressed confidence it can deter any retaliation from its communist neighbor. Read More

Gunmen killed a Pakistani working at the Iranian Consulate in Peshawar on Thursday, the latest in a wave of attacks in or near the largest city in the militant-riddled northwest, said police. Read More

A 79-year-old Irish priest said he hiked through jungles, survived raging seas and slept in a swamp under a tarpaulin before his captors released him Thursday after a month, apparently without getting the ransom they demanded. Read More

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the Philippines on a visit to show support for country's fight against extremists and its efforts to rebuild after three major storms rocked the islands. Read More

Kidnapping people on their way to lodge complaints with China's central government has evolved into a lucrative cottage industry that mainland police refuse to acknowledge or crack down on, a human rights group said Thursday. Read More

Business groups in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez said Wednesday they are calling for United Nations peacekeepers to quell the drug-related violence that has given their city one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Read More

Forbes Magazine named drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman _ a fugitive reputed to be hiding in the mountains of northern Mexico _ to its list of the 67 "World's Most Powerful People" on Wednesday. Read More

Police say gunmen kill Pakistani working at Iranian Consulate in northwest city of Peshawar. Read More

A prominent opponent of President Hugo Chavez accused the socialist leader's government on Wednesday of turning a blind eye to leftist Colombian rebels taking refuge in border areas of Venezuela. Read More

Venezuelan authorities have destroyed more than 30,000 illegal firearms as part of an effort to combat soaring crime. Read More

A 79-year-old Irish Roman Catholic priest abducted in the Philippines a month ago was freed early Thursday and neither country paid any of the kidnappers' $2 million ransom demand, Irish and Filipino authorities said. Read More

As of Wednesday, Nov. 11, 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 Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST. Read More

Japan's Emperor Akihito, marking the 20th anniversary of his coronation Thursday, says he is concerned young people are forgetting their history. Read More

A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, scientists in South Africa said Wednesday. Read More

Haiti's new prime minister was inaugurated Wednesday and promised to attract more investment and create jobs, while forging good relations with lawmakers who have ousted two heads of government in as many years. Read More

Camps for people uprooted by natural disasters or armed conflict inside their own country can stir envy among locals and become a recruiting ground for armed groups, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Thursday. Read More

A man from Tajikistan seeking his freedom from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is challenging a practice among federal judges here who are short-circuiting the cases of some long-time detainees. Read More

Warlords helped drive the Russians from Afghanistan, then shelled Kabul into ruins in a bloody civil war after the Soviets left. Now they are back in positions of power, in part because the U.S. relied on them in 2001 to help oust the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks. Read More

Israel displayed for the first time Wednesday a collection of rare coins charred and burned from the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple nearly 2,000 years ago. Read More

Mexico's third-largest city has fired almost a quarter of its traffic police for failing tests designed to detect corruption and ineptitude. Read More