World News

Palin speaks with group of reporters

GREENVILLE, N.C. - After weeks of limited contact with the news media, Republican vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin ventured to the back of her campaign plane Tuesday and answered several question...

Qantas flyers injured in sudden altitude plunge

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia's air safety bureau is investigating the sudden altitude plunge of a Qantas airplane that left as many as 40 people injured, 20 of them seriously, during a flight from Si...

Obama, McCain debate U.S. economic crisis in televised 'town hall' face-off

WASHINGTON - The economy was front and centre again on Tuesday in the second U.S. presidential debate between Barack Obama and a struggling John McCain, who's steadily sliding in the polls amid the fi...

Nobel physics prize goes to 2 Japanese scientists, 1 American

Two Japanese scientists and an American won the 2008 Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for theoretical advances that help explain the behaviour of the smallest particles of matter. The American, Yo...

Mexican man dies after pleading for help with obesity problem

JUAREZ, Mexico - A 990-pound, bedridden man who had appealed on Mexican television for help tackling his weight problem died Tuesday of heart failure, his family said. Emergency officials had to kn...

Obama wishes he had more time for staying fit, admits he sometimes smokes

NEW YORK - Barack Obama says he wishes he had more time for staying fit. And the Democratic presidential candidate admits that he still occasionally smokes a cigarette. His wife, Michelle, pressure...

UN chief sees obstacles to helping in violence-racked Darfur, Somalia

UNITED NATIONS - The UN chief says he is greatly concerned about the security of food aid that three million Somalis depend on in light of increasing piracy in waters around the Horn of Africa. Sec...

Bush seeks to reassure Americans that economy will recover from crisis

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush sought to assure Americans on Tuesday that the economy will eventually recover from the global financial crisis but he cautioned that it's going to take time and ...

Vatican says Pope Pius XII was 'prudent' in protecting Jews during Holocaust

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican stepped up its defence of Pope Pius XII on Tuesday, countering allegations the wartime pontiff was silent about the Holocaust by saying he saved Jews through his prudent dip...

Iraq's foreign ministry says 'bold' decisions needed on U.S. bases deal

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi foreign ministry said Tuesday it will require "bold political decisions" to resolve the major issue standing in the way of a deal allowing American troops to remain here next year ...