- West Bank settlement housing gets initial approval
Israel gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to a plan to build 600 new homes in a settlement deep inside the West Bank, a move that drew rebukes from the United Nations and Palestinians and threatened to raise tensions with the U.S. as the prime minister prepares to head to the White House.
- UK emergency services hold big Olympics test
Police escorted bloodied passengers up to ambulances, cordoned off the street near a stricken London subway station and rushed off to find an half-exploded knapsack.
- Strauss-Kahn freed after French police questioning
The former chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been released from a French police station after two days of questioning over a suspected hotel prostitution ring.
- Italian mobsters arrested for pastry extortion plot
Italian cops rounded up five mafia suspects Wednesday accused of extorting pastries from their favorite bakery, ANSA reported.
- Pope marks Ash Wednesday
Pope Benedict XVI has led a solemn service to mark the start of the Lenten season of penitence, including the placement of ashes on the forehead of faithful.
- Iran court convicts Christian pastor convert to death
A trial court in Iran has issued its final verdict, ordering a Christian pastor to be put to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, according to sources close to the pastor and his legal team.
- Greek lawmakers rush to clear promised austerity
Greece scrambled Wednesday to push through a batch of emergency laws that will further cut incomes and state spending, a day after securing a new bailout and debt relief deal designed to stave off bankruptcy.
- Nepalese man, 72, claims to be world's shortest
He has never worked outside the home or seen a doctor, and until Wednesday, he had never left his remote mountain village in western Nepal. So 72-year-old Chandra Bahadur Dangi only recently learned he might be the world's shortest man.
- Pakistan health workers linked to CIA scheme fired
A Pakistani government official says 17 health workers have been fired for allegedly participating in a CIA scheme to confirm the presence of Osama bin Laden in a northwestern town.
- Egypt's Mubarak declines chance to address court
Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday turned down a chance to address the court in the last session before the verdict in the seven-month trial in which he faces the death penalty.
- Muammar Qaddafi's daughter seeks death certificate
AMSTERDAM -- Lawyers for the daughter of Muammar Qaddafi have filed a formal petition at the International Criminal Court seeking an authorized copy of the former Libyan leader's death certificate.
- UK nursing home bills woman for not giving 28 days notice of her father's death
A retirement home in the UK has apologized after billing a grieving woman £3,000 (US,735) for not giving a month's notice of her father's death.
- US troops now in 4 African countries to fight LRA
A top military official says that U.S. troops are now deployed in four central African countries as part of U.S. efforts against a brutal rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army.
- Hamas irons out dispute over Palestinian unity
A senior Hamas official says the leadership of the Islamic militant group has settled internal disagreements and approved a unity deal with its political rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
- Italy: Divers find 8 more bodies in ship wreckage
Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship found eight bodies Wednesday on one of the passenger decks, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said.
- Argentine train slams into station, killing 49
Officials say a packed train has slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds of morning commuters. It is Argentina's worst train accident in decades.
- American war reporter Marie Colvin killed in Syria
Respected American war reporter Marie Colvin, who covered conflicts from Sri Lanka to Syria and stood up for the importance of independent journalism, died in a shelling attack in Syria on Wednesday. She was in her 50s.
- US embassy in Afghanistan on lockdown as anti-American protests continue over Koran burning incident
The Afghan Interior Ministry says seven people have been killed in clashes between Afghan security forces and protesters demonstrating against the burning of Muslim holy books at a NATO military base.
- Syria escalates shelling of Homs, as American, French journalists killed in attacks
A French photojournalist and a prominent American war correspondent working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday by Syrian shelling of the opposition stronghold Homs as President Bashar Assad's regime escalated its attacks on rebel bases by strafing from helicopter gunships, activists said.
- Dozens killed in Syria as Red Cross seeks 'humanitarian pause'
Food and water are running dangerously low in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, with frantic cries for help from residents amid the latest government shelling that has pounded rebel strongholds and killed at least 30 people, activists said.
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