World News

File - Salva Kiir Mayardit, First Vice President of the Republic of the Sudan and President of the autonomous Government of Southern Sudan, addresses a fifth anniversary celebration of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 19 January, 2010.

photo: UN / Tim McKulka

South Sudan's Kiir urges forgiveness for war
read more Breitbart

Polling officials count ballots in Juba on January 15, 2011. The marathon t... Observers and polling station officials sit in a polling station in Haj Yus... South Sudanese president Salva Kiir urged his people on Sunday to "forgive" the north for a devastating 1983-2005 civil war, in his first public declaration since a landmark independence vote...

A woman leans against a police cruiser as law enforcement officials stand outside the house of Jared L. Loughner Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz.

photo: AP / Matt York

Purifying the World Through Violence
read more WorldNews.com

Article by WorldNews.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. This week in 1208, one of the most cruel and senseless acts to purify the world through violence commenced in southern France. The Albigensian Crusade, launched by Pope Innocent III, offered participants full absolution for all sins if they participated in exterminating the Cathars. The...

Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari, is seen during a meeting with Iraq's Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, not pictured, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.

photo: AP / Karim Kadim

Syrian premier seeks to improve ties with Iraq
read more Khaleej Times

BAGHDAD - The prime ministers of Syria and Iraq agreed Saturday to boost cooperation in security and economic affairs during talks aimed at improving relations strained by Baghdad's allegations that the Syrians were harboring Iraqi insurgents. Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari arrived Saturday for a two-day visit less than a month after Iraq...

Bodies of pilgrims are seen at a hospital in Thekkady, about 17 kilometers (10 miles) east of Sabarimala shrine in the southern state of Kerala, India, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.

photo: AP

Stampede kills 102 pilgrims in India
read more The Boston Globe

KOCHI, India - A stampede of pilgrims returning from one of India's most popular Hindu festivals killed at least 102 people and injured 44 others last night, police said. The...

Italian police cars and officers and airport authorities are seen next to a jet plane, that according to Italian news agency ANSA arrived from Tunis, in Cagliari's airport, Sardinia, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011.

photo: AP / Daniela Santoni

Tunisian leader flees amid protests, PM takes over
read more Khaleej Times

TUNIS, Tunisia - Violent anti-government protests drove Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power Friday after 23 years of iron-fisted rule, as anger over soaring unemployment and corruption spilled into the streets. Thousands of demonstrators from all walks of life mobbed the capital of Tunis to demand Ben Ali's ouster, the culmination...

An investigating officer inspects the site of a stampede, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast from the famed Sabarimala shrine in the southern Indian state of Kerala, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.

photo: AP / Aijaz Rahi

Sabarimala stampede kills over 100; scores injured
read more The Times of India

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tragedy struck the popular Sabarimala pilgrimage on Friday with an estimated 100 people reported dead following an accident which resulted in a stampede, around 25km (by road) from the forest shrine in Kerala`s Pathanamthitta district. According to reports from the remote site, more than 100 persons were injured. The mishap...

An area in the municipality of Nova Friburgo, Brazil, affected by flooding. The floods in south-eastern Brazil have left more than 500 people dead.

photo: ABr / Valter Campanato

Burying dead grim task after Brazil mudslides
read more Herald Tribune

TERESOPOLIS, Brazil - As night fell, barefoot volunteers dragged a generator and stadium lights into a town cemetery, where nearly 200 freshly dug graves lay open like wounds in the red clay soil, waiting for some of the hundreds killed by torrential rains. Funerals already had been held all day as a light rain persisted Thursday: a sister laying...

Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, left, speaks as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates looks on during their joint press conference following their meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011.

photo: AP / Koji Sasahara

Gates: U.S. forces in Japan critical to Asia security
read more CNN

Tokyo (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that the presence of American forces in Japan is critical to meet security challenges in Asia amid the tension in the Korean Peninsula. "To deal with this century's critical challenges, critical component...

Acting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Monday, April 12, 2010.

photo: AP / Jose Luis Magana

Nigerian president wins primary election
read more Gulf News

Abuja: Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) declared President Goodluck Jonathan the winner of its presidential primaries on Friday, making him the firm favourite to win an April 9 general election. "I declare Dr Goodluck...

A passer by walks past a photo of Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunis, Tunisia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011.

photo: AP / Christophe Ena

Tunisian president, calling for calm, says he won't run for re-election
read more Seattle Times

TUNIS, Tunisia - Tunisia's autocratic president, struggling to contain deadly riots that have threatened his authority, made sweeping pledges for political and media freedom and said he will leave the presidency - but not until his term ends in 2014. Facing the worst unrest in his 23 years in power, an unusually contrite President Zine El Abidine...