CANBERRA (Reuters) - One of three independent MPs needed by Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard to form a minority government hinted on Friday he could negotiate on Labor's mi ...

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - An oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, but the crew of 13 escaped and there were no signs o ...

The International Cricket Council charges three Pakistani cricketers under its anti-corruption code in the wake of an alleged betting scam. ...

The government of Mozambique says price rises which have led to deadly riots are "irreversible", as Maputo residents are urged to continue their protests. ...

The Mexican army says it has killed 25 suspected drug cartel gunmen in a clash near the US border after its soldiers came under fire. ...

The River Amazon has dropped to its lowest level in 40 years in north-eastern Peru, leaving boats stranded. ...

HATTERAS ISLAND, North Carolina (Reuters) - Hurricane Earl began to strafe North Carolina's barrier islands with dangerous surf and winds on Thursday as it spun parallel to the U.S ...

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will give Pakistan $450 million (£292.26 million) in emergency flood aid, providing some relief for a government ...

LISBON (Reuters) - A Portuguese court will render its verdict on Friday in one of the country's highest profile legal cases, a shocking story of alleged child abuse at a state orph ...

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's electoral commission said Thursday it had for the first time produced a final voter list, raising the chance that an election which has been delay ...

PARIS (Reuters) - Two unions intent on paralysing France with a strike over pension reform rounded on the minister leading the overhaul on Thursday, questioning how he can do his j ...

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard came within grasp of a return to power on Thursday after one of four "kingmaker" MPs backed her Labour Party's bid to f ...

The Canadian Space Agency announces astronaut Chris Hadfield will become the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station in 2013. ...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Attackers smashed windows and damaged security cameras at the home of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karoubi, his website said on Thursday, ahead of a rally aut ...

A tanker carrying 9m litres of diesel fuel runs aground in the Northwest Passage, off the coast of northern Canada. ...

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's referendum commission agreed on a key post Thursday, ending a deadlock which has stalled plans for the January 9 southern vote on independence from the ...

A growing number of New York sky-scrapers switch off their lights at night to help reduce the number of migratory birds hitting the buildings. ...

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Hermelindo Maquin set out from his home in the Guatemalan countryside in early August, leaving behind his small farm and pregnant wife as he began the lo ...

More than 10,000 vehicles are stuck in a 120km (75-mile) traffic jam on China's Beijing to Tibet motorway. ...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An oil and gas platform owned by Mariner Energy Inc was on fire off the coast of Louisiana on Thursday, but no oil was visible in the water and the 13 workers a ...

The German central bank calls on the country's president to dismiss one of its board members over comments he made about immigration and Jews. ...

US authorities indict 11 German and Chinese executives for conspiring to illegally import $40m worth of honey from China. ...

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Turkey's President Abdullah Gul urged Bosnian leaders on Thursday to speed up their country's efforts to join NATO and the European Union, saying that only a u ...

An explosion has torn through an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the oil rig blast in April that caused a huge oil spill. ...

Burger King is being sold to private equity firm 3G Capital in a deal valued at $3.26bn (£2.1bn), it has been announced. ...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Cardinal Ad Simonis, a former head of the Dutch Catholic Church, could become the first senior Church official to testify in a Dutch court in a sexual abuse c ...

Russia will consider lifting its grain export ban only after the next year's harvest has been reaped, Vladimir Putin says. ...

The three Pakistan cricketers accused of corruption may have been set up, according to the country's high commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan. ...

ICRC increases its Pakistan floods appeal by $76m as it warns that only a fraction of humanitarian needs were being met. ...

GENEVA (Reuters) - About 45 nations met on Thursday to seek ways to raise billions of dollars in aid to help the poor combat climate change as the United Nations warned them of a l ...

The European Commission criticises France over its expulsions of Roma (Gypsies) and requests more information about the crackdown. ...

Police in Spain arrest a Russian man wanted for questioning about a fire at a Russian nightclub that killed more than 150 people in 2009. ...

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned an air strike by NATO-led forces which he said killed 10 campaign workers for this month's election, a sour note ...

The first direct peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in 20 months are to begin, despite fresh violence and the threat of more. ...

The Philippines vows to probe claims that coffins of three of Hong Kong's eight victims of last week's hijacking in Manila were wrongly labelled. ...

Honduras accuses Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa of risking the life of a Honduran migrant who survived last month's Mexico massacre. ...

Nato-led troops investigate reports that 10 election campaigners have been killed in an air strike by foreign forces in northern Afghanistan. ...

TALOOQAN, Afghanistan (Reuters) - An apparent air strike by foreign forces killed 10 election campaign workers in Afghanistan's north on Thursday, a government spokesman said, and ...

Some 240 women, girls and babies may have been raped after rebels seized a town in DR Congo, the UN says. ...

Three days of mourning begins in Pakistan after bomb attacks on a Shia Muslim procession in Lahore city kill 31 people. ...

Four Greenpeace activists are arrested after giving up their occupation of a Scottish company's drilling rig off Greenland. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa pledged bold steps on Thursday to fix Japan's flagging economy if he becomes premier, floating tax cuts and threatening to i ...

One of four key independent lawmakers endorses Australian PM Julia Gillard, leaving her just two seats short of the majority needed to form the next government. ...

People who do puzzles and crosswords may stave off dementia longer but experience a more rapid decline once the disease sets in, a study suggests. ...

MAPUTO (Reuters) - Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and looted shops in Mozambique's capital Maputo on Thursday as deadly riots sparked by soaring bread prices entere ...

Physicists explain one of football's most spectacular free-kicks, showing that Roberto Carlos's 1997 "impossible goal" was not a fluke. ...

South Africa's prolonged public sector strike is set to continue after the main trade union federation rejects an improved wage offer by the government. ...

Five Colombian police officers are killed and three injured when their vehicle is hit by a bomb attack blamed on the rebel group Farc. ...

The Brazilian city of Dourados is left with power vacuum as police arrest all top officials on suspicion of corruption. ...

* Opposition bid for minority government trips on costings ...

A Pakistani diplomat calls for a probe into allegations that rich landowners diverted water into unprotected villages during the floods to save their own crops. ...

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Three bombs exploded at a Shi'ite procession in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding over 170, piling pre ...

SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. police shot and killed a man who took three people hostage, waving a gun and apparently fitted out with explosives, in the headquarters of ...

HATTERAS ISLAND, North Carolina (Reuters) - Hurricane Earl strengthened on Wednesday, churning up dangerous swells, forcing evacuations on some of North Carolina's barrier islands ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday not to let the chance for peace slip away as he opened a U.S.-sponsored summit to r ...

President Obama urges Mid-East leaders not to let the chance of a peace deal slip away, ahead of a new round of talks. ...

Chilean miners are receiving their first hot meal since they became trapped underground 26 days ago, as Nasa experts arrive at the mine site. ...

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's public sector unions rejected a new pay offer from the government on Wednesday to end a three-week strike but asked for more time to consult ...

SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - A man carrying a gun and possibly with explosives strapped to his body took a small number of hostages in the Discovery Channel headquarters bui ...

PARIS (Reuters) - A group of 60 nations, including France, Britain and Japan, will propose at the U.N. this month that a tax be introduced on international currency transactions to ...