World News

Violence and sexual attacks against women and children in eastern Congo would increase if the United Nations ended its support for the Congolese army due to concerns over its human rights record, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday.

Brazil's president sought an urgent explanation on Wednesday for the worst power outage in a decade, which left a huge swath of the country in the dark for more than five hours and raised doubts about the reliability of its energy infrastructure.

A major electricity outage left tens of millions of people in Brazil's two biggest cities without power on Tuesday night due to problems with the transmission lines that connect to the massive Itaipu dam.

The United States accused Iran in the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday of illicit arms deliveries to Lebanese guerrillas, endorsing charges by Israel after it seized a ship in the Mediterranean last week.

We were led through a door that is usually forbiddingly closed, past a clutch of burly secret service agents, around a corner, and there he was, in a corridor leading to the Oval Office.

Venezuela stoked a diplomatic feud with Colombia on Monday by accusing its South American neighbor of "lies" and "hypocrisy" in a growing dispute that is threatening trade and regional stability.

South Sudan could face famine following low rainfall and a surge in tribal conflicts, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF said on Sunday.

Colombia said on Sunday it will appeal to the U.N. Security Council and the OAS after Hugo Chavez, the fiery leftist president of neighboring Venezuela, ordered his army to prepare for war in order to assure peace.

The death toll from flooding and mudslides in El Salvador triggered by the passage of Hurricane Ida jumped to 124 people, Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes said in a national radio broadcast.

At least 54 people are dead in El Salvador following flooding and mudslides triggered by Hurricane Ida, a spokesman for the interior ministry said on Sunday in a statement read on local radio.

Hurricane Ida intensified off the Mexican resort of Cancun on Sunday and aimed for the Gulf of Mexico as the storm's heavy rains killed at least 42 people in El Salvador.

Supporters of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas turned out in the West Bank on Sunday to urge him to run again for the presidency following his announcement that he did not want a second term in the job.

At least 42 people have been killed by flooding and mudslides in El Salvador due to heavy rains caused by Hurricane Ida, Interior Minister Humberto Centeno said in a press conference carried by national radio.

Hurricane Ida strengthened off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as it makes its way to the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.

Thousands of Palestinians turned out in the West Bank on Sunday to urge Mahmoud Abbas to run again for the presidency following his announcement that he did not want a second term in the job.

Sudan's political parties accused each other of widespread fraud and intimidation as voters began to register for the oil-producing state's first multi-party elections in 24 years.

Honduras' ousted president and de facto leader gave signs they would try again on Saturday to form a unity government to guide the country out of a four-month crisis after the process collapsed a day earlier.

Younger Palestinian leaders were in no rush on Friday to step into the shoes of President Mahmoud Abbas after he said he did not want to run for re-election in January.

Gunmen who infiltrated into Saudi Arabia from Yemen have killed a Saudi security officer and wounded 11 others, the official Saudi Press Agency said on Wednesday.

Iran has executed a convicted member of the Jundollah Sunni rebel group, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.