Polanski wins $4.5M bail, house arrest likely

IAEA chief: Iran must accept nuclear proposal

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency urged Iran on Wednesday to endorse a plan that would strip it of most of its enriched uranium, saying Tehran could not defuse fears about its nuclear program with proposals that included keeping the material.

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Iran seeks to quiet critic inside ruling system

When Iran holds state-run ceremonies this week for an important Islamic feast day, there will be one very noticeable change: former President Hashemi Rafsanjani will not be leading the prayers.

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2 Beefeaters fired for bullying female colleague

Two ceremonial guards known as Beefeaters at the historic Tower of London were fired Wednesday after an internal investigation found that they harassed their first and only female colleague.

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Former AP stringer among 57 dead in Philippines

Alejandro "Bong" Reblando, a veteran Filipino journalist and former Associated Press stringer, was among at least 18 reporters killed in an attack on an election caravan, authorities said. He was 53.

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Judge orders Chavez opponent to stay in prison

A Venezuelan court has ordered an opponent of President Hugo Chavez to remain in prison while awaiting trial on charges of injuring a police officer during a protest.

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Greece to restore birthplace of classical theater

The ruined theater under the Acropolis where the works of Euripides and other classical playwrights were first performed some 2,500 years ago will undergo partial restoration over the next six years, Greek officials said Wednesday .

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Haydn expert HC Robbins Landon dies at 83

H.C. Robbins Landon, a musicologist noted for his pioneering research on Franz Joseph Haydn and for writing popular works on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has died at age 83.

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Man wanted in US on fraud charges denied UK bail

A former security consultant wanted in the U.S. on charges of defrauding a client of more than $2 million was refused bail in a British court Wednesday.

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Pakistan charges 7 suspects in Mumbai attacks

Pakistan charged seven men in last year's Mumbai attacks on Wednesday, its first indictment in a case being monitored by India and the United States to see if Islamabad makes good on promises to bring those responsible to justice.

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AU: Donors slow in paying up for Somalia security

The African Union's Somalia envoy said Wednesday donors have released only 30 percent of funds they pledged months ago toward bolstering Somalia's security, frustrating efforts to turnaround the lawless country.

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6 family members killed in Iraq

Assailants broke into a house and killed six family members before dawn Wednesday in an area north of Baghdad that was once a stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq, Iraqi officials said.

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UN report: Congo rebel network spans 25 countries

One of Africa's most brutal rebel movements relies on a vast, international network of supporters in at least 25 countries including in the United States and Europe, a United Nations report said.

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Putin's rare Siberian tiger goes missing

A rare Siberian tiger that Vladimir Putin fitted with a radio-tracking collar is alive and well, the Russian prime minister's spokesman said Wednesday, easing concerns raised when an environmentalist said the tracking device had gone silent.

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Iran clerics start taking control of schools

Islamic religious authorities have begun tightening their grip on Iranian public schools, a report said Wednesday, as hard-liners expand an ideological "soft war" against Western influence.

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Netanyahu office says Israel to propose 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement construction.

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Jet-winged adventurer ditches in Atlantic, unhurt

A Swiss adventurer trying to soar from Morocco to Spain on jet-powered wings ditched safely into the Atlantic on Wednesday after hitting turbulence and clouds so thick he could not tell if he was flying up or down.

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UK: NATO to offer 5,000 troops for Afghanistan

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday that several NATO nations will jointly offer 5,000 more troops for Afghanistan, as London and Washington push allies to take on a greater share of the war burden.

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Muslim pilgrims circle Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba, in traditional white robes, with new additions - umbrellas and face masks - at the opening of the annual hajj.

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The claim that computer games consoles can improve pupils' maths ability has been dismissed by an Edinburgh University brain scientist.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday evening that Israel would implement a 10-month freeze on construction in West Bank settlements, saying the move was a bid to restart stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.

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Against a backdrop of smoldering unrest in immigrant-heavy suburbs, France is convening a series of soul-searching meetings an effort to clarify and reaffirm the nation's values.

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Since 200 AD, scaremongers have been describing human beings as 'burdensome to the world'. They were wrong then, and they're still wrong today.

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Police are less likely to believe a rape victim if she lives in a deprived area, according to a report. The report, "Rape: The Victim Experience Review", used interviews and focus groups with victims, police officers and prosecutors.

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At the summit, Obama will propose to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a range of 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020,

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THEY call themselves outlaws but there's a point at which even the bikies draw a line - and this is it. Don't outlaw them from the pub.

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Sen. Lieberman and his Homeland Security Committee have declared Major Hasan's actions as a terrorist act based on ample evidence of his intent to carry out a personal Jihad.

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Fear of the Iranian nuclear weapons development program has overshadowed the fact that not far from Tehran, actually right nearby, two countries, India and Pakistan, already possess nuclear weapons.

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India's prime minister said Wednesday that Pakistan must do more to punish the masterminds of last year's terrorist attacks in the Indian financial capital.

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A NASA astronaut says he wants to help Mexican officials start the country's first space agency.

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Ali Sibat is not even a Saudi national. The Lebanese citizen was only visiting Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage when he was arrested in Medina last year. A court in the city condemned him as a witch on November 9.

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"The human rights organization Yesh Din says not one of the 69 complaints filed during the past four years on damage to Palestinians' trees in the West Bank has resulted in an indictment.

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The UK received intelligence days before invading Iraq that Saddam Hussein may not have been able use chemical weapons, an adviser has said. Foreign Office official Sir William Ehrman told the war inquiry that a report suggested that such weapons may have been "disassembled".

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There are ominous signs that the Earth's weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production — with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth.

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Top Israeli diplomats have made a rare visit to the Persian Gulf state of Oman this week to discuss Middle East peace efforts, said a senior Omani official Wednesday.

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