World News

The crew of a Spanish fishing boat freed by Somali pirates this week said they had been threatened with being shot during their near two month captivity.

Venezuelan soldiers on Thursday blew up two makeshift foot bridges that stretched across the border to Colombia in the latest incident to stoke a diplomatic dispute between the Andean neighbors.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has secured a high-profile European Union foreign policy job for Britain, but may have to cede to France an important role in overhauling financial regulation.

When white Zimbabwean farmer Irvin Reid arrived in Nigeria almost five years ago, he was given a set of grid references in the remote bush and told to find water and build a new farm.

The European Union says it finally has the answer to a question long attributed to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who is little known outside his own country, as the bloc's first president on Thursday to lead efforts to make it more influential on the world stage.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is not thinking of extraditing Italian former guerrilla Cesare Battisti despite a Supreme Court ruling that he should be sent home, a high-ranking government source said on Thursday.

Roman Catholics should look beyond the divisive issue of ordaining women to see how much they share with the world's Anglicans and work toward greater Christian unity, the head of the Anglican Communion said on Thursday.

Gap Inc posted a 25 percent rise in quarterly profit as sales rebounded at its Old Navy chain and the company recorded its highest margins in a decade.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday named two former military officials to lead a review of the deadly Fort Hood shooting rampage, saying it was important to do everything possible to prevent such a thing from happening again.

REUTERS - Colombia said on Thursday Venezuelan soldiers had blown up two small pedestrian bridges that stretch across their border in the latest incident to stoke a dispute between the Andean neighbors.

The United States has severely restricted access to a spot on the Mexican border where families and lovers divided by illegal immigration could unite briefly to hold hands or kiss through a fence.

Nigeria signed a 677 million euro ($1 billion) pact with the European Union on Thursday aimed at combating corruption and promoting peace in its troubled, oil-producing Niger Delta region.

U.S. President Barack Obama praised dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez and said in a posting on her website on Thursday that he looks forward to the day "all Cubans can freely express themselves."

Colombia's government said on Thursday Venezuelan soldiers blew up two small pedestrian bridges that stretch across their border in the latest incident to test diplomatic ties between the Andean neighbors.

Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was on course on Thursday to become the European Union's president and Briton Catherine Ashton to become its foreign affairs chief, EU officials said.

A majority of European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to appoint Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as EU president and Britain's Catherine Ashton as foreign affairs chief, senior diplomats said.

Egypt recalled its ambassador from Algiers for consultations on Thursday after Egypt's soccer team lost to rival Algeria in a play-off to reach the World Cup finals, accusing its fans of post-match thuggery in Sudan.

Italian police arrested a suspected mafia hitman on Thursday whose brazen killing of a man in Naples last May was caught on video and shocked the country, prompting reluctant witnesses to come forward.

Half a million people from Serbia and neighbouring countries attended the funeral on Thursday of Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle, who presided over the revival of the faith after decades of communist rule.