The arrests of top Taliban figures in Pakistan abruptly halted secret U.N. contacts with the insurgency at a time when the efforts were gathering momentum, the U.N.'s former envoy to Afghanistan said Friday.

Japanese fish dealers on Friday welcomed the rejection of a proposed trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna - a prized ingredient of sushi - while urging that existing quotas be more strictly enforced to protect the species from overfishing.

Fijians cleaning up after a devastating cyclone discovered the body of a second victim on Friday, as military forces from three nations worked to find out the extent of damage to outlying islands and deliver aid.

A Chicago man admitted in court Thursday that he scouted out the Indian city of Mumbai before a 2008 terrorist attack that left 166 dead and helped plan an attack a Danish newspaper that never took place.

Palestinian militants have killed an Israeli farm worker in their first rocket attack from Gaza since last year's Israeli offensive.

VILLALDAMA, Mexico a ' Mexican marines detained more than half the police force of a northern rural town Wednesday for suspected ties to drug cartels.

A crowded bus veered off a mountain road and plunged into a river in western Nepal on Thursday, killing at least 24 people and leaving another nine missing, officials said.

A five-year-old boy freed by kidnappers after his family paid a 110,000 ransom has been reunited with his father.