Lawyers for the founder of French firm PIP whose faulty breast implants sparked a global health scare denied wrongdoing Friday as the court said it would deliver a verdict in December. More »French firm denies fraud over faulty breast implants
UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Russia agreed Friday that a peace conference on Syria should be held "as soon as possible", even as Moscow defied growing global pressure over its arms supplies to the Damascus regime. More »UN, Russia call for urgent Syria conference
Women can not contest Iran's June 14 presidential election, a member of the Islamic state's electoral watchdog said in media reports on Friday, dashing the hopes of some 30 female candidates. More »Iran women cannot stand for presidency: cleric
Nelson Mandela did not want his daughters to be involved in his financial affairs, one of his lawyers has claimed in court papers linked to a legal fight over his assets. More »Mandela did not want daughters to manage funds: lawyer
South African police said Friday they had launched a series of murder inquiries after 23 males died while undergoing circumcision during traditional rites of passage into manhood. More »Ritual circumcision kills 23 males in South Africa
A map of China made from more than 1,800 cans of baby formula created by dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei went on show in Hong Kong Friday, reflecting the controversy over mainland demand for milk powder. More »Ai Weiwei creates giant map of China from baby formula
Syrian rebels seized three UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights in the third abduction in two months in the ceasefire zone between Syria and Israel, the UN said Thursday. More »Golan peacekeeping force suffers third abduction
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has pushed out a high-profile military figure who once played a key role under his late father -- the latest in a series of top-level personnel changes. More »N. Korea leader removes high-profile military figure
Bangladesh and Myanmar cleaned up on Friday after a killer cyclone wrecked thousands of homes, relieved that the damage was not much worse after the storm weakened as it made landfall. More »Bangladesh cleans up after killer cyclone
Two distraught Australian children who saw their mother drown and their father disappear at sea were reunited with relatives as police Friday continued to scour the ocean for the missing man. More »Rescuers search for Australian father in snorkel tragedy
Football megastar David Beckham announced he is to retire after a glittering 20-year playing career in which he became one of the most widely recognised figures in world sport. More »Beckham calls time on stellar career
Amid a flurry of moves to organize peace talks to end Syria's bloody civil war, US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted Bashar al-Assad must step down. More »Obama and Erdogan demand Assad step down
A US soldier convicted of killing five of his colleagues in Iraq in May 2009 was sentenced to life behind bars and dishonorably discharged. More »US soldier gets life for 2009 killings in Iraq
Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote a note before his capture in which he called the victims "collateral damage" for US action in Afghanistan and Iraq, local media reported. More »Boston suspect wrote note before capture: report
Having kept silent for nearly two years since returning from exile, recent public appearances by Jean-Bertrand Aristide have fueled speculation the former Haitian leader is eyeing a comeback. More »Aristide reappearance in Haiti fuels comeback talk
A play entitled "God is a gangster" will be performed under police protection in Romania after the theatre hosting it received threats, police said Friday. More »"God is a gangster" play gets police protection in Romania
A cyclone slammed into Bangladesh Thursday, forcing the evacuation of one million people and killing 14, but fears of devastating damage eased when the storm weakened over land. More »Bangladesh cyclone weakens, leaves relief in wake
Costa Rica's President Laura Chinchilla was embroiled in scandal Thursday amid revelations that she used a private jet made available by a Colombian suspected of links to drug trafficking. More »Costa Rica president caught in scandal over travel
Water from the world's shrinking glaciers was responsible for almost a third of the rise in sea levels between 2003 and 2009, new research showed Thursday. More »Shrinking glaciers behind a third of sea-level rise: study
A suicide bomber attacked Shiite mourners in north Iraq Thursday, killing 12 people, and 13 died in other violence, officials said, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed sectarianism for unrest plaguing the country. More »Iraq violence kills 25 as PM blames sectarianism
A 50-year-old man with a history of family problems shot himself dead Thursday in a Paris primary school near the Eiffel Tower, in front of about a dozen stunned children. More »Man shoots himself dead in primary school near Eiffel Tower
Nigeria's military said Thursday that it was ready to launch air strikes against Boko Haram Islamists as several thousand troops moved to the remote northeast to retake territory seized by the insurgents. More »Nigeria set for air strikes against Islamists
Russian police said Thursday they have detained a woman suspected of killing her newborn twins and hiding their bodies for five years in the walk-in freezer of a food store where she worked. More »Russian 'hid dead babies in store freezer for 5 years'
Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Thursday the government wants to give retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish. More »Israel to 'legalise' wildcat settler outposts: NGO
Attacks killed 13 people and wounded more than 35 on Thursday, officials said, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed violence plaguing Iraq on "sectarian hatred." More »Iraq violence kills 13 as PM blames sectarianism