Black boxes from Mali plane crash arrive in France

An Iraqi government raid on jihadist targets in a flashpoint town southwest of Baghdad killed 17 people on Monday, including at least three civilians, medical and tribal sources said.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has announced the closure of most of the Ebola-hit country's land borders, with stringent medical checks being stepped up at airports and major trade routes.

Japanese officials are handing out radiation-blocking iodine tablets to people living in the shadow of two nuclear reactors slated to restart this year, underscoring concerns about atomic power after the Fukushima crisis.

At least one person was killed and up to eight others injured when freak lightning struck the bustling Venice Beach of southern California, officials said.

A top-ranking North Korean military official has threatened a nuclear strike on the White House and Pentagon after accusing Washington of raising military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Firefighters on Monday failed to extinguish a blaze at an oil depot on the outskirts of Tripoli, sparking fears of a huge fireball that could cause carnage over a wide area.

The downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 may constitute a war crime, the UN said Monday, as explosions and fighting blocked a new attempt by Dutch and Australian police to reach the crash site in insurgent-held east Ukraine.

It has taken 18 months for the Nortons to adopt their new children, but now, thanks to a State Department computer glitch, the U.S. family is stuck in Guangzhou, China, as their newly adopted babies have no visa to leave the country.

Dutch and Australian police will make a fresh attempt on Monday to reach the crash site of Malaysian flight MH17 in insurgent-held east Ukraine, after heavy fighting nearby scuppered their previous effort.

McDonald's outlets in Beijing and Shanghai have yanked their flagship burgers off the menu after a key US supplier recalled products made by its Shanghai factory, which is alleged to have used expired meat.

Pacific island leaders will renew calls for meaningful action on climate change at a regional summit opening in Palau on Tuesday, amid fears rising seas will swamp their low-lying nations.

Fighting subsided in war-torn Gaza Monday at the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr as world powers ramped up pressure on the warring sides to immediately end their 21-day confrontation.

The end of a month of fasting was supposed to be a time to celebrate for Abeer Shamali. But instead, she spent the Muslim Eid feast at the grave of her teenage son.

Emergency officials in Tennessee are going door to door in Claiborne County, searching for possible victims after strong storms ripped through the area.

Author and peace activist Dr. Fran Romano feels the current leadership in Israel-Palestine region may be feeding on violence to maintain short-term power.

On Saturday, the Vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq warned that the end was "very near" for Christians in that country. Mosul is Iraq's second largest city, and six weeks ago, 35,000 Christians lived there. Today, there are no Christians in Mosul.

Jalila Ayyad's widower George still had a black eye and bloodstains on his shirt as he processed ahead of her coffin, hours after the air strike that destroyed their home.Jalila, 60, was the first Christian casualty of a bloody Gaza war.

A group of 157 asylum-seekers held for weeks on the high seas on an Australian customs vessel were likely economic migrants from India, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Monday. "The indications are...

Egypt and several Western states urged their nationals to leave Libya amid spiralling violence after two weeks of fighting left 97 people dead and a warning by state-owned National Oil Corp of a major disaster after a fuel tank was hit.

Aruba on Sunday freed a Venezuelan ex-military intelligence chief wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges, stating that he had diplomatic immunity.

Student survivors of South Korea's ferry disaster testified at the murder trial of the captain and crew on Monday how they were left to fend for themselves in the sinking vessel.

One person is dead and one is listed in critical condition after lightning struck a crowded Los Angeles beach, electrocuting 13 beachgoers.

Russia accused the United States of hindering the OSCE's work in Ukraine, as fighting raged around the crash site of flight MH17 and the Netherlands scrapped plans for an armed international mission to secure the area.

US President Barack Obama called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel and Hamas ignored calls for a truce and the raging conflict entered its third week Monday.

Alarm soared in west Africa Monday over the deadliest Ebola virus outbreak yet, with an American doctor and a missionary contracting the disease in Liberia and the death of the first victim from Sierra Leone's capital Freetown.

Libya is virtually in a civil war so severe now that Britain, Germany, France, and the Netherlands have all urged their nationals to leave the country.

Inside Ashraf al-Qudra's cramped office in Shifa hospital, the phone never stops ringing, with news flooding in of the latest victims of Israel's devastating 20-day military operation.

Amid increased criticism, escalating sanctions and pending lawsuits, Russian President Vladimir Putin used a national holiday to launch two new nuclear submarines and reminded the world that Russia is more than capable of using nuclear weapons.

The new leader of Spain's main opposition Socialist Party vowed Sunday during his inaugural speech to lead the party back to power and get the crisis-hit country "back on track".

Nigeria's northern city of Kano on Sunday cancelled celebrations to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after two bomb attacks blamed on the Islamist group Boko Haram.

Two weeks of fighting between militias in Libya's capital Tripoli have left 97 people dead, as Egypt and western foreign ministries Sunday urged their citizens to leave amid spiralling violence.

According to the 2,400 participants in the annual Most Trusted Brand poll conducted by Reader’s Digest Magazine Australia, Guide Dogs won the majority vote - for the second consecutive year.

According to the National Dog Database from the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, the Labrador Retriever remains the most popular dog breed in the country — over 41,000 of the pooches were registered in 2013/2014.

Two Americans involved in the treatment of Ebola victims in Liberia have become infected with the West African epidemic, an aid agency said Sunday.

Ship horns blared Sunday as the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner limped into the Italian port of Genoa to be scrapped two and a half years after it capsized in a tragedy that claimed 32 lives.

Faced with rising public anger over Russia’s role in the downing of a Malaysian passenger jet, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s eldest daughter Maria and her Dutch boyfriend have apparently fled their penthouse apartment near Amsterdam.

The black boxes from the Air Algerie plane disaster on Sunday began their journey to France from northern Mali as investigators ramped up efforts to find the cause of the deadly crash.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing a lawsuit in the shooting down and murder of 298 Malaysian airlines employees and passengers. The White House says Putin is "culpable."

The wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner made its final approach Sunday to the Italian port of Genoa, where the mammoth carcass is being towed for scrap after its fatal capsize two and a half years ago.