World News

A computer glitch caused widespread delays and cancellations on Thursday to flights along the U.S. East Coast, a local Washington radio station said.

European Union leaders plan to decide who will be the bloc's president and high representative for foreign affairs at a summit on Thursday.

Trudging out of the woods in a heavy downpour with a large sack roped to his back and two black chickens cradled in his arms, Eric arap Tuwei joins his wife and six children in a flimsy grass shelter.

Silvio Berlusconi's conservative People of Freedom (PDL) coalition has bolstered its popularity despite judicial problems dogging the Italian prime minister and splits among its leadership, according to an opinion poll on Thursday.

Nezir Jonuzi sips black tea, stares at Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's boyhood home and wonders whether he can get a job to feed his family.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday the South American nation's unexpectedly high third-quarter economic contraction was due to its compliance with OPEC-mandated production cuts.

U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in South Korea on Wednesday and will hold a summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday, with North Korea and a trade deal topping the agenda of their talks.

The United States will take in "substantial" numbers of Iraqi refugees next year, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz said on Wednesday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to be sworn into office for a second full term on Thursday as he struggles to rebuild a tarnished reputation and convince the West he is still a credible partner after eight years of war.

The United States expects to complete a review on how to spend $7.5 billion in proposed aid for Pakistan by the end of this month, with an early focus on the country's decrepit energy sector, senior U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

Venezuela has shown little interest in curbing the number of illegal flights hauling Colombian cocaine from its territory for the United States and Europe, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Brazil's top court ruled on Wednesday to extradite former Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti om murder charges but left the final decision to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who granted him refugee status early this year.

U.S. ethanol production could eventually top 14.5 billion gallons a year, up 16 percent from output capacity at the beginning of 2009 and enough to blend 10 percent of the fuel into every gallon of the nation's gasoline, the U.S. government said on Wednesday.

Some of U.S. President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats urged him on Wednesday to abandon the Doha round of global trade talks and start over with an agenda to protect labor rights and environmental standards.

Brazil's top judge said on Wednesday he would vote to extradite former Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti to face murder charges in Italy, meaning the the court will rule to send him back to his home country.

A collapse in private sector investment and output is pushing Venezuela into recession and spells trouble for President Hugo Chavez's state-driven growth model ahead of elections next year.

U.S. Republican Senator John McCain on Wednesday strongly defended the top advisers from his 2008 presidential campaign in the face of sharp criticism from his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ruled out early elections on Wednesday, rejecting a warning by the Senate speaker that splits in the government threatened its ability to stay in power.

Cuba's Raul Castro has kept the system his brother Fidel used to repress critics, refusing to free scores of people imprisoned years ago and jailing others for "dangerousness," Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on Wednesday.

Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.