Preparations are under way on India's east coast ahead of Saturday's expected landfall of a massive cyclone now gathering strength in the Bay of Bengal.
Authorities are shuttling multitudes of people out of its path, following a practice developed after a similar cyclone killed thousands over a decade ago. They are giving residents no choice in the matter.
FULL STORYRussia and the United States will meet later this month to discuss a possible diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said from Switzerland on Friday, where the two nations are holding a second day of talks about Syria's chemical weapons.
Kerry said they would meet "around the United Nations General Assembly" on September 28. Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, spoke to reporters after meeting with the joint U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, in Geneva.
They pledged to work toward setting a date for a long-delayed second round of peace talks involving all parties in Syria, known as Geneva II, at the meeting in New York.
FULL STORYThree more people were arrested Saturday in connection with this week's grisly killing of British soldier Lee Rigby, police said.
The men were being held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
Police did not detail how they were allegedly tied to the killing nor did they release their identities, saying only that the men - ages 21, 24 and 28 - were arrested by detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command and taken to a south London police station.
FULL STORYNorth Korea launched three short-range guided missiles into the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast Saturday, South Korea's semi-official news agency Yonhap cited the South Korean Defense Ministry as saying.
The ministry said it had detected two launches in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, Yonhap reported.
The missiles were fired in a northeasterly direction, away from South Korean waters, the ministry said.
South Korea has beefed up monitoring on North Korea and is maintaining a high-level of readiness to deal with any risky developments, the ministry added, according to Yonhap.
FULL STORYThe maker of a fake bomb detector that investigators say put lives at risk was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison by a London court.
James McCormick, 57, marketed his ADE 651 units to government agencies and private companies around the world, including in Iraq, with sales exceeding $50 million by his own admission.
However, independent tests showed the device has no better than a random chance of finding a golf ball, much less a bomb.
British police say the device - the ADE standing for "Advanced Detection Equipment" - is really a novelty golf-ball finder with the label removed.
FULL STORYAmid pomp and ceremony, Britain will say its final farewell Wednesday to Margaret Thatcher - its first female prime minister and a politician who even in death divides public opinion.
More than 2,000 mourners, Queen Elizabeth II and serving UK Prime Minister David Cameron among them, will join Thatcher's family at St. Paul's Cathedral in London to pay their respects.
FULL STORYThe security plan in place for the London Marathon this weekend will be reviewed following the deadly bomb blasts in Boston, London's Metropolitan Police said Tuesday.
"We will be reviewing our security arrangements in partnership with London Marathon," said event commander Chief Supt. Julia Pendry.
Police and race organizers said they are working closely together on security arrangements for Sunday's race, which attracts tens of thousands of competitors and spectators each year.
The organizers of the London Marathon said they expected the event "will go ahead as originally scheduled."
FULL STORYAbout 70,000 refugees who fled violence in Mali are living in "appalling" conditions in a camp in the middle of the Mauritanian desert, Doctors Without Borders said Friday.
The situation has only got worse in Mbera camp since French forces entered Mali in January to help local forces take on Islamist militants, the humanitarian group said.
About 15,000 more refugees have flooded into the camp since the fighting, and conditions are so bad there that many who were healthy became ill or malnourished after they arrived.
FULL STORYAn inquest into the death of an Indian dentist in Ireland after she was reportedly denied an abortion for her miscarrying fetus is due to open Monday in Galway.
The death of Savita Halappanavar at University Hospital Galway on October 28, 2012, prompted anger in Ireland and elsewhere, and sparked demands for Ireland to introduce new abortion laws.
The Halappanavar family says Savita died of blood poisoning after doctors declined to abort her miscarrying fetus because of Ireland's strict laws. Her husband says she was advised her unborn baby would likely die.
Praveen Halappanavar says his wife, who was in extreme pain, asked for the abortion, but was told that Ireland is a Catholic country and an abortion could not be done while the fetus was alive.
More details may emerge at Monday's hearing into the events leading to the 31-year-old's death.
FULL STORYThe French Senate will debate a controversial bill Thursday that would extend the right to marry and adopt to same-sex couples.
The lower house has already approved the legislation, in the face of large demonstrations from those opposed to the measure.
If it passes the Senate, it would mark the biggest step forward for French gay rights advocates in more than a decade.
FULL STORYSouth African track star Oscar Pistorius, charged with murder in the slaying of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, is once more allowed to travel overseas after a judge lifted a bail condition Thursday restricting his movements.
Judge Bert Bam said Pistorius could hand over his passport to his attorney and was entitled to use it to travel outside South Africa.
He should report his itinerary a week before leaving, Bam said.
Authorities charged Pistorius with premeditated murder last month after he shot Steenkamp in his Pretoria home on February 14.
FULL STORYNigerian author Chinua Achebe, acclaimed in part for his groundbreaking 1958 novel "Things Fall Apart," has died, his British publisher, Penguin Books, said Friday. He was 82.
An author of more than 20 books, his honors included the 2007 Man Booker International Prize for Fiction.
Achebe is a major part of African literature, and is popular all over the continent for his novels, especially "Anthills of the Savannah," which was itself shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987, and "Things Fall Apart."
Roaches crawling out of air vents. Roaches climbing up seats and windows. Roaches on people's coats and hats. Roaches everywhere.
It sounds like a scene from a horror movie - but is in fact what passengers say happened on a Greyhound bus journey from Atlantic City to New York on Friday.
"There's like a thousand roaches," passenger Dawn Alexander told CNN affiliate WABC. "And when I say infested, I mean infested. People were in the aisles literally brushing roaches off of them."
"We thought it was one. It turned out to be a whole house full of roaches," said a fellow passenger.
Cellphone footage shows the pests scurrying across the bus floor and steps.
Greyhound's Media Relations Director Maureen Richmond said the bus driver had acted swiftly when passengers alerted him to "bugs on the bus."
FULL STORYWill the Roman Catholic Church's cardinals elect a pope today, the first full day of their conclave? If so, they'll have to make it happen in their afternoon session.
Black smoke rose from the chimney fixed to the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday morning, indicating that the cardinals' first two votes of the day were inconclusive. The cardinals also didn't come to a conclusion on Tuesday evening, which was their first vote.
They will have two more opportunities to vote on Wednesday afternoon, after they have lunch.
We have a number of features to inform you about the process. Our full story on Wednesday's activities can be found here. But also check out:
All eyes will remain peeled on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel Wednesday morning, as the Roman Catholic cardinals tasked with electing the next pope convene for a second day of the papal conclave.
The 115 voting eligible church leaders file into the chapel chamber, renowned for its ceiling fresco painted by Renaissance master Michelangelo, at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET).
FULL STORY[Updated at 2:47 p.m. ET] In a not-so-surprising result, there will be no new pope tonight.
Black smoke has risen from a chimney over the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, indicating that no one collected enough votes Tuesday to be elected the successor to the retired Pope Benedict XVI. The Roman Catholic Church's cardinals held their first vote in the chapel today.
The cardinals will vote again tomorrow.
[Updated at 12:46 p.m. ET] The process of selecting a new pope of the Roman Catholic church has begun.
The 115 cardinal-electors have gathered in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, and the doors to the chapel have closed, marking the beginning of today's election session.
This session is scheduled to last two hours, assuming no pope is chosen before then. The cardinals would then go at it again tomorrow.
[Updated at 7:43 a.m. ET] The wait is nearly over: It's time for the cardinals to get down to the business of choosing a pope.
The Catholic Church's cardinals are set to begin their secret election, or conclave, in Vatican City on Tuesday. The process to choose a successor to the retired Benedict XVI could take days.
We have a number of features to inform you about the process. Our full story on Tuesday's activities can be found here. But also check out:
Today isn't the easiest day for travel in northern Europe.
Swaths of the region are in the grip of snow, ice and high winds Tuesday, causing serious disruption to road, rail and air travelers.
High-speed train operator Eurostar, which runs services linking Paris, Brussels and London, among other destinations, warned of serious disruption and urged passengers to stay at home.
FULL STORYPeople living in the Falkland Islands are voting in a referendum on their political status on Sunday and Monday at a time of heightened tensions between Argentina and Britain over their sovereignty.
The two countries went to war over the territory, known to the Argentinians as Las Malvinas, in 1982 after the then-military government in Argentina landed troops on the islands.
FULL STORYTwo people were killed and at least 15 injured Saturday in Cairo, officials said, as Egyptians in two rival cities took to the streets to vent their anger over court verdicts in a controversial case involving deadly riots at a soccer game last year.
Health Ministry spokesman Ahmed Osman said one protester had been killed in violence outside the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel in downtown Cairo. He later confirmed a second death.
Five others have been injured in the clashes by the hotel, he said. Another 10 are suffering smoke inhalation.
A fire gutted the three-story building housing the Egyptian Football Association in a wealthy Cairo neighborhood, as soccer fans looked on. Next door, an exclusive club for policemen was also ablaze.
FULL STORYThe Catholic cardinals gathered in Rome voted Friday to begin the secret election, or conclave, to elect a new pope next Tuesday afternoon, the Vatican said.
The 115 cardinal-electors taking part in the conclave will enter the closed-door process after a morning Mass, the Vatican said. Only those younger than 80 are eligible to vote.
FULL STORY
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