Ankara — The event seemed routine, the opening of an exhibit of photographs of Russia. So when a man in a dark suit and tie pulled out a gun, I was stunned and thought it was a theatrical flourish.
Instead, it was a coolly calculated assassination, (...)
As a child, Osama Al-Bar would walk from his home past Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba, to the market of spice and fabric merchants where his father owned a store. At that time, Makkah was so small, pilgrims could sit near the Kaaba and look out at (...)
In the face of increasingly harsh criticism from the West, Russia is holding firm in its opposition to international intervention in Syria, warning the US and other nations against any temptation to resort to actions like the NATO airstrikes in (...)
Syrian security forces opened fire Monday in a restive central city, injuring an Olympic boxing champion and at least 20 others as President Bashar Al-Assad's regime swept through several cities and towns to crush a pro-democracy uprising, activists (...)
LOS ANGELES: Six weeks after Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed he had fathered a child out of wedlock, his wife Maria Shriver filed divorce papers Friday to end their marriage of 25 years.
The former television journalist and Kennedy family heir cited (...)
NEW YORK: The NBA locked out its players Friday, a long-expected move that put the 2011-12 season in jeopardy and came as the NFL is trying to end its own work stoppage that began in March.
The latest lockout began at 12:01 EDT (0401 GMT) (...)
LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Asafa Powell ran the fastest time of this world championships season Thursday, winning the 100 meters in 9.78 seconds at Athletissima.
Powell's sprint, powered by a strong start on a cool, blustery night, was 0.01 faster than (...)
PHILADELPHIA: Jon Lester tossed two-hit ball over seven shutout innings, Jason Varitek homered twice and the Boston Red Sox avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in interleague play Thursday.
The Phillies got a (...)
DRESDEN, Germany: Jill Scott scored a second-half goal and assisted on another to resurrect England's World Cup campaign with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over New Zealand Friday.
For more than an hour, England was in trouble but tall midfielder (...)
LONDON: Admirers of the late Princess Diana gathered outside Kensington Palace Friday, a bright sunny day that would have been the troubled royal's 50th birthday.
Cards, a cake, a collage and other mementoes were among the gifts left at the gates (...)
MONACO: After waiting decades for Prince Albert II to choose his bride, residents of this high-flying Riviera principality are preparing to embrace South Africa's Charlene Wittstock to succeed Grace Kelly as Princess of Monaco.
The striking blond (...)
ATHENS, Greece: American protesters on a boat bound for the Gaza Strip were escorted back to shore Friday, as Greece announced it was banning vessels heading to Gaza from leaving Greek ports.
The secretive attempt by the activists to head out to (...)
AMMAN, Jordan: The leader of Jordan's largest Islamist opposition group is calling on people to topple the country's prime minister as 2,000 protesters took to the streets demanding he resign.
Anger has been rising over a decision by Jordanian (...)
TOKYO: Mazda's president believes gasoline engines will still power 80 to 90 percent of the world's autos even in 20 years time, and remains confident the carmaker can grow without electric vehicles.
The comments Thursday from Mazda Motor Corp. (...)
SEOUL, South Korea: Samsung Electronics is asking the United States to prohibit Apple from importing key products including the latest iPhone and iPad devices amid an escalating patent dispute.
Samsung filed a complaint with the US International (...)
If oil prices stay at these levels, then Saudi Arabia will see its foreign assets climbing above the half a trillion (dollar) mark, which is significant.
John Sfakianakis
Chief economist at Banque Saudi-Fransi
CAIRO: Saudi Arabia's net foreign (...)
OTTAWA, Ontario: Prince William and Kate arrived in Canada Thursday for their first official overseas trip since their wedding, in a visit that is expected to draw record-numbers of star-struck crowds and well-wishers hoping to catch a glimpse of (...)
BEIJING: China has opened the world's longest cross-sea bridge. The Jiaozhou Bay bridge is 26 miles (42 kilometers) long and links China's eastern port city of Qingdao to an offshore island, Huangdao. State-run CCTV says the 110-foot (35-meter)-wide (...)
An Antarctic penguin pauses after its treatment at Wellington Zoo in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday. (AP)WELLINGTON: A young emperor penguin that turned up on a New Zealand beach won't be getting a free ride all the way back to its Antarctic home – (...)
HONG KONG: Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, who plays Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an upcoming biopic, says she is “saddened” by her recent deportation from the country.
The 48-year-old Malaysian actress arrived in the country's (...)
ATHENS, Greece: An Irish ship Thursday dropped out of the pro-Palestinian flotilla planning to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, citing sabotage, and a US ship declared it may set sail from a Greek port for Gaza without permission, activists (...)
backed court indicted at least one senior Hezbollah member and three other suspects Thursday in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, a killing that transformed this tiny Arab nation and brought down its government (...)
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Syrian army forces spread through a restive mountainous area near the Turkish border Thursday as the death toll from a two-day military siege rose to 19 people, according to activists and a witness.
The action by Syrian troops in (...)
TURSUNZADE, Tajikistan: Palestine beat Afghanistan 2-0 while the Philippines snatched an away draw at Sri Lanka as Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup got underway Wednesday.
There were victories for Cambodia, Nepal and Mongolia in other (...)
FRANKFURT: Brazil and Norway became the latest tournament favorites to run into stubborn opposition at the women's World Cup Wednesday, as both escaped with 1-0 wins.
Either the gap is closing between nations in women's football or the World Cup (...)