Afghanistan is prepared to begin taking over security from international forces in some parts of the war-torn nation by the end of the year, President Hamid Karzai says.

In just the past 19 days, an estimated 63,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Somalia by fighting involving government forces and militias, combined with “general insecurity,” the United Nations’ refugee agency said Tuesday.

Roger Federer swept aside Britain’s Andy Murray in straight sets to win the Australian Open final and claim the 16th grand slam of his record breaking career on Sunday.

One child is dead and two others are missing in Malaysia, after a suspension bridge they were crossing collapsed, the Bernama national news agency said Tuesday.

Al Qaeda’s north African wing has threatened to kill a French hostage unless four of its members are released within 20 days.

A government official and five of his children were killed Sunday morning in a blast in Pakistan’s troubled northwest, authorities said.

Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off after inspiring Real Madrid to an incident-packed 4-2 victory at home to Almeria on Saturday night, in which he created a goal, scored one and also missed a penalty.

London’s Heathrow Airport will begin subjecting passengers to full body scans “as soon as practical,” following the failed attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound jetliner, its operator said Sunday.

A roadside bomb struck a convoy on its way to a school reopening Wednesday in northwest Pakistan, killing six people, including three foreigners.

Pakistani Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, above, is among 280 officials blocked from leaving the country after a court invalidates an amnesty protecting them from corruption charges, state media reports.

Pakistan has arrested a key militant commander suspected of launching suicide attacks in the country’s northwest, Pakistan’s army announced Monday.

Six more people were sentenced to death for their roles in July riots that killed about 200 people in western China, state media reported on Thursday.

President Obama will announce within days whether he will send more troops to Afghanistan, the White House said after he and the National Security Council met Monday night.

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Photographers fed up with being stopped and searched by British police under the country’s terrorism laws have gathered in London to protest.

An explosion killed at least two people Monday in a city in southern Thailand, a police official who is familiar with the investigation said.