Asia

• At least one third of Manila has been submerged by flooding. 
• Three NATO troops and an Afghan civilian were killed by a suicide bombing in Kunar province. 
• India named former IMF Chief Economist Raghuram Rajan as a senior advisor to the government. 

Middle East

• Syrian rebels have pulled back from parts of Aleppo as government troops launched a ground assault.
• Iran says the group of 48 Iranians captured by rebels in Syria includes some former Revolutionary Guards. 
• Jordan confirmed that it is hosting Syria's defected prime minister. 

Africa

• Gunmen killed three in an attack on a mosque in northern Nigeria, a day after an attack on a church in the same town. 
• The foreign minister of Burkina Faso is in Northern Mali to meet with one of the leaders of Islamist militant group Ansar Dine.
• Speaking to students, Hillary Clinton urged South Africans to live up to the example of Nelson Mandela.

Europe

• The Bank of England has cut its growth forecast to near zero. 
• Belarus has withdrawn its remaining embassy staff from Sweden over the teddy bear drop incident. 
• A Russian court reduced the sentence of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's business partner Platon Lebedev. 

Americas

• Hurricane Ernesto has hit Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. 
• Brazil has deployed 9,000 troops to its borders for a two-day anti-crime operation. 
• Argentina is seizing control of the company that prints the country's currency. 

Middle East

• Gunmen killed 15 and stole a vehicle in an attack on an Egyptian army base in Sinai. 
• Dozens were killed in a suicide bombing in southern Yemen on Saturday. 
• A major Turkish security offensive over the last two weeks may have killed more than 100 Kurdish rebels. 

Asia

• Afghan President Hamid Karzai approved the impeachment of two senior security officials. 
• In a potential diplomatic incident, Sri Lanka's navy has detained 37 Chinese fishermen. 
• Top Chinese leaders have convened a secret meeting to finalize plans for a handover in leadership later this year. 

Africa

• Gunmen launched a raid on a military camp in the Ivory Coast. 
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's focus is on HIV/AIDS prevention as she visits Malawi.
• A suicide bombing killed six soldiers and two civilians in Northern Nigeria. 

Americas

• Seven people were killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. 
• Jamaica marks the 50th anniversary of its independence as the country celebrates Usain Bolt's latest gold medal. 
• Peruvian police destroyed more than 50 tons of marijuana. 

Europe

• Greek police rounded up nearly 5,000 people in an operation targeting illegal immigrants. 
• British Prime Minister David Cameron's government will face a test with voters after a prominent conservative legislator quit parliament. 
• S&P has affirmed the downgrade of 15 major Italian banks and cut the ratings of 15 more. 

Middle East

• Hamas criticized an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for visiting an "alleged" Holocaust site in Poland.
• Egyptian state television released a partial list of names in the new cabinet formed by President Mohamed Morsy.  
• President Barack Obama authorized the CIA to provide Syrian rebels with "non-lethal" support as they attempt to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

Asia

• Electricity was restored in northern India on Wednesday.
• Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng met with top U.S. lawmakers and urged the U.S. to uphold its commitment to investigate his case and protect his family.
• A series of bombs exploded in the Indian city of Pune, injuring at least one person.

Africa

• A government spokesman said that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is in "good condition and recuperating," allaying fears that the president was critically ill.
• Eight people were killed in a protest in the Darfur region of Sudan.
• A woman convicted of adultery in Sudan has been sentenced to death by stoning.

Americas

• The Venezuelan ambassador's deputy is the prime suspect in last week's embassy killing in Nairobi.
• Peruvian police seized $2.3 million in counterfeit U.S. dollars.
• The trial of a number of officials connected to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to begin in Brazil.

Europe

• Greece agreed to €11.5 billion in new spending cuts needed to receive the next installment of its EU/IMF bailout.
• The European Central Bank held its benchmark interest rate constant at 0.75 percent.
• Belarussian President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko fired two generals over the "teddy bear" invasion by a Swedish advertising firm.

Middle East

• U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta urged Israeli leaders to give sanctions more time to work in Iran.
• As Pakistan's spy chief prepares for a U.S. visit, the Haqqani network poses a new threat to U.S.-Pakistan relations.
• Turkey sent additional forces to secure the Syrian border.

Asia

• U.N. officials will visit North Korea to assess the damage caused by recent flooding.
• A Japanese white paper raised concern over the increasingly "complex" relationship between China's People's Liberation Army and the ruling Communist Party.
• Australian police seized $500 million worth of drugs in Hong Kong.

Africa

• Islamists stoned a couple to death for allegedly having premarital sex in northern Mali.
• Uganda denied aiding the M23 rebels fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The U.N. Security Council expressed concern over increased drug trafficking in Guinea-Bissau following the April 12 coup d'etat in that country.

Americas

• Striking railway workers in Colombia remain at an impasse with their employer, Fenoco.
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez travelled to Brazil for a regional trade summit.
• Survivors of the car crash that killed Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya said the wreck was an accident.

Europe

• U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney met former Polish President Lech Walesa in Poland, the last stop on his foreign policy trip.
• President Vladimir Putin pledged that Russia will remain "one of the leading naval powers," as the country began work on a new fleet of nuclear submarines.
• U.S. President Barack Obama predicted that the euro zone will remain intact.

Asia

• Afghan President Hamid Karzai released a set of proposals aimed at tackling corruption. 
• Hong Kong has overtaken Japan in global life expectancy for the first time. 
• North Korea held a massive "day of victory" rally. 

Middle East

• Al Qaeda insurgents clashed with security forces in Iraq's Diyala province. 
• Turkey warned that it would not allow the PKK to operate in Northern Syria. 
• The Israeli Supreme Court delayed the eviction of the largest illegal settler outpost in the West Bank. 

Europe

• ECB chief Mario Draghi vowed to do "whatever it takes" to defend the euro. 
• The Ukrainian parliament is reconvening to consider a contentious bill on making Russia a second national language. 
• Spanish unemployment has hit its highest rate since the end of the Franco regime. 

Africa

• A Sudanese runner has asked for asylum in Britain ahead of the Olympic Games. 
• The Netherlands has suspended budget support to Rwanda over allegations of support for rebels in the DRC. 
• A South African white supremacist leader was convicted of a plot to kill Nelson Mandela.

Americas

• At an impromptu address for Revolution Day, Raul Castro said he would be willing hold talks with the United States. 
• The Mexican government has fined HSBC for failing to enforce money-laundering controls. 
• Latin American leaders met for a two-day summit in Caracas. 

Asia

• An International Crisis Group report concluded that the probability of conflict in the South China Sea is increasing.   

• Tajik forces engaged in deadly clashes with rebels after a top security official was fatally stabbed.

• Continued fighting between indigenous groups and Muslim migrants in India's Assam state has left more than 30 people dead.  

Europe

• NASA reported massive melting in Greenland's ice sheet.  

• The Bulgarian prime minister announced that the suicide bomber who killed Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver last week had worked with accomplices.  

• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hired the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon to lead his legal team. 

Americas

• President Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela will withdraw from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights after a ruling that the country violated a prisoner's rights. 

• Cuban police arrested several activists at the funeral of dissident Oswaldo Paya.  

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered a critique of President Barack Obama's foreign policy ahead of an overseas trip. 

Middle East

• Al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in the country that killed more than 100 people. 

• Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refused to alter government policies in the face of mounting Western sanctions.

• The trial of Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was postponed.

Africa

• U.N.-backed government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have launched an offensive against rebel fighters north of Goma. 

• Madagascan leader Andry Rajoelina participated in reconciliation talks with the man he overthrew in 2009.

• Nigeria's anti-corruption agency will charge 12 fuel traders with oil subsidy fraud. 

Middle East

• The European Union imposed new sanctions on Syria as fighting engulfed the major Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus.   

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was on alert for plots to kill Israelis overseas after a suicide bombing in Bulgaria. 

• Gunmen released the president of Libya's Olympic committee after kidnapping him last week.

Asia

• Clashes between indigenous groups and Muslim migrants in the Indian state of Assam killed at least 17 people.

• An Afghan policeman killed three foreign trainers in Herat province.

• China established a military garrison on disputed islands in the South China Sea.  

Europe

• Spain's borrowing costs are rising sharply amid concerns about the financial health of the country and its indebted regions.

• Norway marked the anniversary of Anders Behring Breivik's deadly attacks in Oslo and on Utoeya island. 

• Russian authorities charged three local officials with negligence for their handling of recent flooding in Krymsk. 

Africa

• The leader of a military mutiny in Madagascar was killed by loyalist troops.

• The European Union pledged to suspend sanctions against Zimbabwe if it holds a referendum on a new constitution.  

• The United States trimmed its military aid to Rwanda amid allegations that Kigali is supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Americas

• Thousands of people marched in Mexico City to protest Enrique Pena Nieto's victory in Mexico's presidential election.

• The Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya Sardinas died in a car accident in eastern Cuba. 

• Venezuelan police ended a 20-day prison riot in Merida state. 

Africa

• Chinese President Hu Jintao announced that China will lend Africa $20 billion for agriculture and infrastructure.  

• At least 34 people are dead after a ferry sank off the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar.

• Islamist rebels in Mali released three European aid workers who had been kidnapped from a refugee camp in Algeria.

Americas

• The relatives of American citizens killed by drone strikes in Yemen filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Obama administration officials. 

• Mexican police arrested 17 people in connection with an attack on a Christian youth camp. 

• Colombian police clashed with indigenous Colombians in Cauca province. 

Europe

• British authorities charged five people with terrorism offenses but insisted that the allegations were not linked to the Olympic Games.

• A giant iceberg broke away from the Petermann Glacier in Greenland.

• A top Muslim cleric was fatally shot and another wounded in a bombing in Russia's Tatarstan province.

Middle East

• Omar Suleiman, Egypt's former intelligence chief under Hosni Mubarak, reportedly died in an American hospital. 

• Yemeni authorities arrested participants in an alleged spy ring led by a former member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

• A bombing in the southern Yemeni city of Aden killed a top security official. 

Asia

• Indian lawmakers are voting for a new president, with the country's former finance minister emerging as the frontrunner. 

• The Taliban killed eight Afghan civilians and two NATO soldiers in a series of bombings.

• A French architect linked to disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai and his wife returned to China from Cambodia. 

Middle East

• The U.S. ambassador to India reportedly promised an investigation after a U.S. Navy ship in the Persian Gulf fired on a fishing boat, killing an Indian fisherman. 

• Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was transferred from a military hospital to prison.

• Doctors are struggling to save the life of an Israeli man who self-immolated at a protest for social justice.

Asia

• North Korea appointed a new vice marshal after the country's military chief was dismissed. 

• Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tokyo for Japan's largest anti-nuclear rally since last year's Fukushima disaster. 

• Gunmen injured a U.N. doctor who was administering polio vaccines in the Pakistani city of Karachi.

Europe

• Hungary is investigating whether a Nazi war criminal has been living in Budapest.

• Tunisia's president is visiting France in an effort to rebuild relations with the country's former colonial ruler.

• Spain's economy minister warned that European debt markets aren't functioning properly. 

Americas

• The International Monetary Fund slashed its 2013 global growth forecast to 3.9 percent. 

• A U.S. Senate report suggests that the British bank HSBC was used for money laundering around the world.

• The FBI launched an investigation after needles were discovered in sandwiches served on U.S.-bound Delta Air Lines flights.

Africa

• Nigerian authorities have begun dismantling slum dwellings in Lagos.

• The United Nations warned that 2.5 million people in Somalia are still at risk a year after famine struck parts of the country.  

• Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf blamed insurgencies across Africa on drug trafficking and arms proliferation. 

Asia

• A conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ended without any resolution of disputes in the South China Sea. 

• Thailand's Constitutional Court rejected petitions that opposed government plans to modify the constitution. 

• The Pakistani Supreme Court ordered the country's new prime minister to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari. 

Europe

• Moody's downgraded Italy's sovereign debt rating.

• British intelligence chief Sir John Sawers reportedly said Iran was two years away from nuclear weapons capability in a briefing to civil servants.

• The British government deployed additional military troops to provide security for the London Olympics after a private security company admitted it was behind schedule in training guards.  

Middle East

• The United States blacklisted several companies and individuals as part of an effort to bolster sanctions against Iran.  

• Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in his first foreign visit as the country's leader. 

• The Muslim Brotherhood's political party in Jordan says it will boycott the country's upcoming parliamentary elections. 

Americas

• The runner-up in Mexico's presidential election filed a lawsuit to challenge the vote, which he claims was rigged.

• Two tunnels that may have been designed for drug smuggling were discovered near the border between the United States and Mexico.

• The Colombian military discovered the wreckage of an Air Force plane that had been participating in an anti-FARC mission.

Africa

• An Ethiopian court sentenced blogger Eskinder Nega to 18 years in prison for violating the country's anti-terrorism legislation.

• The Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya is facing a $25 million funding shortfall.  

• A train crash in South Africa killed at least 19 people.

Middle East

• Syrian opposition leaders are visiting Russia shortly after Russia announced that it will dock warships in Syria.   

• A suicide bombing at a police academy in the Yemeni capital killed at least 20 people.

• Thousands of Egyptians in Cairo protested against the Supreme Constitutional Court's decision to reverse a presidential decree reconvening parliament. 

Asia

• The brother of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was arrested on bribery charges.

• Japanese and Chinese officials are clashing after Chinese patrol ships appeared near disputed islands in the East China Sea.  

• Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Laos since John Foster Dulles in 1955. 

Europe

• British Prime Minister David Cameron's governing coalition abandoned a plan to reform the House of Lords. 

• Bosnians are marking the 17th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre and reburying more than 500 victims.

• The Russian parliament is poised to vote on a bill that critics say will enable Internet censorship.

Africa

• The United Nations is sending peacekeepers to Goma to protect the Congolese city from rebels.

• More than 50 African migrants died of dehydration while sailing from Libya to Italy.

• Islamic extremists destroyed two more tombs in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu.

Americas

• Fitch Ratings affirmed the U.S. AAA credit rating but expressed concern about the country's so-called "fiscal cliff." 

• Fishermen in Chile clashed with police over a proposed fisheries law.

• Fighting between Colombian security forces and FARC rebels has provoked a backlash in Cauca province's indigenous community. 

Asia

• More than 70 countries pledged $16 billion in aid for Afghanistan in exchange for anti-corruption measures, as NATO confirmed a deadly attack on U.S. troops in the country.

• Unidentified gunmen killed six Pakistani soldiers and a policeman in Punjab Province. 

• The top U.S. general in South Korea apologized after American military policemen handcuffed three South Koreans.

Middle East

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party backed an effort to end military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab Israelis.

• U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan met with Bashar al-Assad to discuss the escalating violence in Syria after the Syrian president gave an interview on German television.

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas approved the exhumation of Yasir Arafat's remains amid speculation that the former Palestinian leader was poisoned.

Africa

• Gunmen killed more than 100 people, including a senator and state lawmaker, in Nigeria's central Plateau state. 

• South Sudan marked its first anniversary of independence.

• Rebel fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo took control of several towns in the country's east.

Europe

• Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a national day of mourning after flooding in southern Russia killed more than 170 people. 

• Spanish and Italian borrowing costs are rising ahead of a summit of eurozone finance ministers.

• Greece's new coalition government won a confidence vote in parliament.

Americas

• Two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents killed a drug smuggling suspect in Honduras, in the second such incident in a month.

• Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Mexico City against Enrique Pena Nieto's presidential election victory. 

• The FBI is shutting down servers used by cyber criminals in a move that could leave more than 300,000 people without Internet access. 

Middle East

• The Palestinian Authority may exhume the body of Yasser Arafat after an Al Jazeera special alleged that he may have been poisoned. 
• The Emir of Kuwait has asked the country's outgoing prime minister to form a government. 
• Eight people were killed in a car bombing in Central Iraq. 

Asia

• A Japanese government commission has concluded that the Fukushima meltdown was a preventable disaster. 
• China vowed to strike with an "iron fist" at separatist forces in Xinjiang.
• A local police group in northwest Afghanistan has surrendered to the Taliban. 

Europe

• Barclay's CEO Robert Diamond has resigned over the bank's rate-fixing scandal. 
• The French government announced a major tax increase on the wealthy. 
• The chairman of Ukraine's parliament resigned over a bill that would allow local governments to make Russian an official language.  

Americas

• A partial recount has been ordered for Mexico's presidential election. 
• The regional bloc CARICOM is meeting amidst an escalating trade war between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. 
• A state of emergency has been declared in parts of Northern Peru after police clashed with demonstrators against a proposed gold-mining project. 

Africa

• The U.S. has accused Tanzania of reflagging Iranian oil tankers. 
• Save the Children warns that Somalia may be facing a new hunger crisis. 
• The party of new Senegalese President Macky Sall won a huge majority in legislative elections.

Asia

• A man in an Afghan police uniform killed three British troops in southern Afghanistan. 

• Monsoon floods in northeast India have killed more than 80 people.

• Mass protests erupted in Hong Kong during the 15th anniversary of Chinese rule.

Middle East

• Armed protesters attacked election commission offices in Libya over the geographic distribution of seats in a constituent assembly.

• Rebel fighters in Syria will boycott an opposition meeting in Cairo after world powers endorsed a transition plan that both sides in the Syrian conflict rejected.  

• Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir died at the age of 96.

Africa

• Gunmen attacked two churches in eastern Kenya and killed at least 15 people.

• Islamist militants destroyed the door of an ancient mosque in Timbuktu.

• Kenyan and Somali forces rescued four aid workers who were kidnapped in Kenya.

Europe

• Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, resigned in the wake of an interest rate scandal.

• The European Union began an embargo against Iranian oil exports as Iran announced a new round of war games.

• Unemployment in the eurozone reached a record high in May.

Americas

• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and rival Henrique Capriles formally launched their presidential campaigns.

• The Mercosur trading bloc suspended Paraguay over the dismissal of former President Fernando Lugo. 

• An Associated Press intern was found dead in Mexico City.