World

A Cambodian court jailed a 71-year-old radio broadcaster and land-rights campaigner for 20 years on Monday after finding him guilty of leading an anti-state rebellion, a verdict condemned by activists as the latest crackdown on human rights.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda appointed as finance minister on Monday a veteran lawmaker expected to follow his line on budget reform and currency intervention in a new cabinet unveiled ahead of an election due in months.

The trial of former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, who faces charges of abuse of power, is due to begin in the capital, Male.

Syrian rebels said they had launched a major attack in Aleppo on Thursday at the start of a "decisive battle" to push President Bashar al-Assad's forces out of the country's biggest city.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a "red line" for Iran's nuclear program on Thursday despite a U.S. refusal to set an ultimatum, saying Tehran will be on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon in less than a year.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday Israel has no roots in the Middle East and would be "eliminated," ignoring a U.N. warning to avoid incendiary rhetoric ahead of the annual General Assembly session.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reassured Egypt's new Islamist president on Monday that the United States would forge ahead with plans to expand economic assistance despite anti-American protests that cast new shadows over U.S. engagement with the region.

China sent its first aircraft carrier into formal service on Tuesday amid a tense maritime dispute with Japan, a show of naval force that could worry its neighbors.

The biggest partner in Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's shaky coalition formally withdrew on Friday over big-ticket economic reforms that have cheered investors but sparked nationwide protests.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg reshuffled his cabinet on Friday, hoping to revive the fortunes of his Labor Party, badly trailing in polls just a year before parliamentary elections.

Demonstrators clashed with police in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday as anger over insults to the Prophet Mohammad boiled over despite calls from political and religious leaders across the Muslim world for peaceful protest.

China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping held on Wednesday his first talks with a foreign official since vanishing from the public eye nearly two weeks ago, telling U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta he wanted to advance ties with the United States.

China moved quickly on Wednesday to snuff out anti-Japan protests after days of angry demonstrations over a territorial dispute forced Japanese businesses to shut their doors and threatened an economic backlash.

Berlin, not Brussels, will decide the future of the ailing eurozone because Germany's economic power and its status as the European Union's main paymaster give it an effective veto over key decisions.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is climbing back into contention for the next general election, still about 12 months away, with two new opinion polls showing a boost for her Labor Party government.

Major Japanese firms have shuttered factories in China and urged expatriate workers on Monday to stay indoors after angry protests flared over a territorial dispute that threatened to hurt trade ties between Asia's two biggest economies.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Afghan capital on Monday, setting fire to cars and shouting "death to America", the latest in demonstrations that have swept the Muslim world against a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

In 1510, Pope Leo X thanked Divine Providence for having preserved the Maronite Christians through the hardest of times, "planted among infidels, schismatics and heretics as in a field of error".

Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters near disputed islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing on Friday, raising tensions between Asia's two biggest economies to their highest level since 2010.

Japan's government said it intends to stop using nuclear power by the 2030s, marking a major shift from policy goals set before last year's Fukushima disaster that sought to increase the share of atomic energy to more than half of electricity supply.