The British Cabinet minister responsible for the media says the press must face harsher consequences for breaches of standards in the wake of the tabloid phone-hacking scandal.

A security official says al-Qaida-linked militants have publicly executed two Yemenis suspected of collaborating with the United States. 

The helicopter was carrying food and water to U.S. forces when it went down in the mountains east of Kandahar. 

Officials say four more bodies have been found after an avalanche struck a mountain village in southern Kosovo, bringing the death toll to at least seven.  

Israeli labor leaders and the Finance Ministry have reached a deal ending a five-day nationwide strike that hobbled government operations, finance, transportation and health care. 

A Japanese television report says Emperor Akihito will have heart bypass surgery.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is telling Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to continue the Islamist militant group's resistance against Israel.

Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Dabi's resignation comes as foreign ministers from 22 countries begin to consider a proposal to send a new mission with Arab League and U.N. observers.

Lawmakers are poised to begin discussion on legislation introducing the severe measures necessary for the country to secure another multi-billion dollar bailout and stave off bankruptcy.

Mexico State prosecutor Alfredo Castillo says the mob set two of the men on fire during the attack.

An Iranian news agency reports that more than 30 million people in the country have lost access to foreign email services such as Gmail, Yahoo mail and Hotmail.

Mohammed Hareizi, spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council, says Niger must comply with the request to extradite al-Saadi Gadhafi and other officials to "preserve its relationship and interests" in its African neighbor.

President Jacob Zuma made the announcement at the country's central bank offices, on the 22nd anniversary of Mandela's release after 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid.

The Russian Foreign Ministry is asking the government to suspend adoptions of Russian children by U.S. nationals following an "incessant string of crimes" allegedly committed by American adoptive parents. 

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed said in a statement that the attacks took place in Maiduguri, the spiritual home for the radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.

Authorities say the heaviest snow in 63 years has sealed off hundreds of villages, shut roads and closed the main airport in the tiny Balkan state.

The Vatican is dealing with near-daily leaks of confidential documents and tabloid-style reports of alleged money laundering at the Vatican bank, political infighting and even a purported plot to kill the pope.

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrapped up a visit to China aimed at boosting oil sales by announcing that Beijing will loan two of the country's prized giant pandas to Canadian zoos. 

Thousands of Japanese joined a march against nuclear power as worries grow about the restarting of reactors idled after the March 11th meltdown disaster in northeastern Japan.

Thousands of cheering supporters swarmed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the democracy icon took her historic campaign for a parliament seat to the southern constituency she hopes to represent for the first time.

Iranian state TV is showing tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators rallying across the country to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Lebanese security officials say clashes between pro- and anti-Syria gunmen in a northern Lebanese city have left one person dead and 12 wounded.

It's the first killing of a high military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March.

An agency official says Emperor Akihito was admitted to University of Tokyo Hospital on Saturday for testing, but that the visit was not an emergency.

Italian Premier Mario Monti says President Barack Obama went far beyond his expectations in backing the economic reforms he instituted to lead the country out of its financial quagmire.

Satellite image provider DigitalGlobe Inc. has released photos that it says show Syrian army tanks and other armored vehicles in the city of Homs.

A court document says U.S. agents have evidence that drug cartel leaders paid millions to the governor of a Mexican border state and other members of the country's former ruling party to gain political influence.

Greece's future in the eurozone came under renewed threat Friday as popular protests again turned violent and dissent grew among its lawmakers after European leaders demanded deeper spending cuts.

Italian officials say rough seas have increased movements of the crippled Costa Concordia and are thwarting the start of fuel removal a month after the cruise ship capsized off a Tuscan island.

The Fars news agency says Ismail Haniyeh will meet Iranian leaders, despite what the agency claimed were efforts by Gulf countries like Qatar and Kuwait to stop the visit.

Shippers say they are losing money in trade because a lengthy stretch of the River Danube in Europe is stuck in the longest freeze in its recent history.

A senior Russian diplomat says Moscow will again use its veto power at the United Nations to block any resolution aimed at ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.  

Spanish police say they have detained two men involved in the assassination of Serbia's premier in 2003.

An Israeli defense official says the country has successfully tested an upgraded radar for the Arrow missile defense system, developed with the United States and designed to intercept projectiles that might be fired from Iran.

Aung San Suu Kyi's bid for a seat in Myanmar's Parliament has been challenged by a rival candidate.

A former senior Croatian official has pleaded not guilty to charges that he ordered the abduction, torture and killing of Serb civilians during the nation's war in 1991-95.

A security agency in the country says a military officer has been convicted of passing missile secrets to the CIA and sentenced to 13 years in prison. 

A British woman has been barred from leaving the country because she is on a list of foreigners under investigation over ties to foreign nonprofit groups accused of fomenting unrest in the country.

The U.N. refugee agency says at least 11 people have drowned and 34 are missing after a smuggling boat headed for Yemen sank.

A senior lawmaker says the German Parliament will likely hold a special session on February 27th to vote on the second bailout for Greece. 

The Supreme Court says it will charge Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani unless he obeys its order to reopen a corruption case against the country's president.

The push by Afghanistan's president to nationalize legions of private security guards before the end of March is encouraging corruption and jeopardizing multibillion-dollar aid projects.

A delegation of South Korean lawmakers has crossed the tense border with North Korea to visit a joint factory park seen as the last major symbol of reconciliation between the rivals.

A court in the Maldives issued an arrest warrant Thursday for former President Mohamed Nasheed, a day after his supporters rampaged in the capital.

The European Union's economic affairs commissioner says the eurozone is seriously considering forcing Greece to set up a separate fiscal account that would be dedicated to repay its debts as part of a new bailout.

Medical authorities in Panama say former dictator Manuel Noriega has left a hospital four days after fainting in the prison where he is serving time for murder, embezzlement and corruption.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is claiming that a coalition airstrike has killed eight children in eastern Afghanistan.

Hamas appears to be drifting away from its longtime patron Iran — part of a shift that began with last year's Arab Spring and accelerated over Tehran's backing of the pariah regime in Syria.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and his coalition partners have struck a deal on new cuts demanded by creditors to secure a vital €130 billion bailout.

The group is calling says the current military-appointed government has failed to manage the deteriorating security and economic situation in the country.