World News

COCKERMOUTH, England (Reuters) - Lifeboats and military helicopters rescued hundreds of people overnight in northern England and a policeman was killed as torrential rain flooded homes, washed away bridges and closed roads.

LONDON -- Buckingham Palace says the queen and her husband Prince Philip are celebrating 62 years of marriage quietly - without the fanfare of two years ago, when they marked their diamond anniversary.

LONDON -- A British man who said he strangled his wife during a nightmare about fighting off an intruder has been found innocent in her death.

BAGHDAD -- A top aide to Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader on Friday urged the country's fractious political blocs to resolve a crisis over a key election law that threatens to delay national polls planned for January.

ROME (Reuters) - A Brazilian transsexual caught up in a scandal which prompted the resignation of a senior Italian politician -- the center-left governor of Lazio region, which includes Rome -- was found burned to death in his home Friday. Police found a body following a fire in a basement flat in a...

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia will not be provoked into armed conflict with Venezuela despite the neighboring country's aggressive rhetoric and its dynamiting of two cross-border pedestrian bridges, Colombia's defense minister said on Friday.

MOSCOW -- Russia lacks a viable program for developing a new spacecraft and risks losing its place as a leader in space travel, a veteran Russian cosmonaut said in an interview published Friday.

HANOI, Vietnam -- Babies squirmed and wailed as needles plunged into their chubby thighs at a public health clinic on the outskirts of Hanoi on Friday. Like little ones everywhere, the reaction to the sting was never pretty.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Senior officials from six world powers expressed disappointment on Friday that Iran had not accepted proposals intended to delay its potential ability to make nuclear bombs and urged Tehran to reconsider.

GOMA, Congo -- Conservationists say Congolese schoolchildren will soon be able to take a closer look at baby mountain gorillas.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber in southwestern Afghanistan killed 17 people Friday, and an Afghan lawmaker escaped a separate blast on the outskirts of Kabul but five of his bodyguards were killed, officials said.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber in southwestern Afghanistan killed 17 people Friday, and an Afghan lawmaker escaped a separate blast on the outskirts of Kabul but five of his bodyguards were killed, officials said.

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran plans to launch a communications satellite by late 2011 with no outside help, a top Iranian official said Friday, after Italy and Russia declined to put it into orbit.

PARIS -- Police say a man with an automatic rifle opened fire on a car near a Paris train station, killing one man and wounding two others.

KABUL -- A suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded at least 23 others Friday in a busy city square in western Afghanistan, while near Kabul a powerful former warlord narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, officials said.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January will be postponed, confirming that he has accepted advice not to hold the vote.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama meet next week to strengthen ties, with the emerging Asian power increasingly playing a bigger role on global issues such as climate change and trade.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama meet next week to strengthen ties, with the emerging Asian power increasingly playing a bigger role on global issues such as climate change and trade.

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's party said on Friday it would not part ways with its junior coalition partner after all, despite a quarrel stemming from this week's local elections.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgians on Friday mixed pride with trepidation over Herman Van Rompuy's appointment as the first president of the European Union because of the risk of instability after his exit as prime minister.