| Five injured, 9 missing in ship fire in Caribbean Rafael Lugo, the national commander of Venezuela's Maritime Rescue and Aid service, told Reuters the "Aegean Wind" was 33 nautical miles northeast of the Venezuelan Caribbean island of La Bla ...[more] |
| China jails dissident Liu Xiaobo for 11 years Liu, who turns 54 on Monday, helped organize the "Charter 08" petition which called for sweeping political reforms, and before that was prominent in the 1989 pro-democracy protests centered o ...[more] |
| Pope calls for peace amid concern over his security In his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" message to the city and the world from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the pope urged the world to rediscover the simplicity of the Christmas mes ...[more] |
| Top Russian doctor accuses brewers of spiking beer "In general, (Russian) beer and tinned low alcohol cocktails are a pure chemical weapon. Alcohol is added at a certain stage of production to make it stronger," Russia's chief narcologist Yev ...[more] |
| Britain's queen calls 2009 "difficult year" "Each year that passes seems to have its own character. Some leave us with a feeling of satisfaction, others are best forgotten. 2009 was a difficult year for many, in particular those facing ...[more] |
| Tsunami early warning must start at community level The 230,000 people killed in Africa and Asia by the 2004 tsunami received no formal warning of the approaching waves. Since then, millions of dollars have gone into building a vast ne ...[more] |
| Two more Irish bishops to resign over child abuse Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, the only two serving auxiliary (assistant) bishops in the archdiocese of Dublin, said they had informed Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of their decision.[more] |
| Pilgrims crowd Bethlehem on warm Christmas eve Entertaining crowds outside, bagpipers played carols and whirling dervishes danced, unfurling giant white skirts embroidered with the word peace in various languages. Some 15,000 visi ...[more] |
| Ukraine has problems paying for gas: Gazprom A dispute between the two countries led to gas supplies to Europe being cut off in January 2009, leaving millions of homes without heat at the height of winter and damaging the industry. ...[more] |
| Queen calls 2009 "difficult year" "Each year that passes seems to have its own character. Some leave us with a feeling of satisfaction, others are best forgotten. 2009 was a difficult year for many, in particular those facing ...[more] |
| Japan drafts record budget as PM battles scandal With tax revenues sliding since the financial crisis erupted, the government has ditched a key campaign pledge to voters and tapped cash reserves to limit new borrowing at 44.3 trillion yen, ...[more] |