Baghdad bombings kill at least 20

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs struck across Baghdad Thursday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens, in the latest wave of attacks on the Iraqi capital since a political crisis erupted in December, security officials said. One car bomb killed at least nine people and wounded 27 in the upmarket Karrada neighborhood, hurling shrapnel into the next street and blowing out glass from nearby buildings. At least two other blasts hit Karrada, including another car bomb attack that killed one person, police said. ...

Australian PM Gillard calls for leadership vote

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has dared her political rival, former foreign minister Kevin Rudd, to challenge her in a leadership vote next week, hoping to end infighting that threatens to sink the minority government and its reform agenda. Gillard called on Thursday for the vote to be held by ruling-party lawmakers next Monday, gambling that a victory for her would silence Rudd whom she accused of trying to destabilize her unpopular government and regain the top job. ...

Argentine commuter train crashes, killing 49 people

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A packed commuter train crashed at a Buenos Aires station during Wednesday's morning rush hour, killing 49 people and injuring more than 600 in Argentina's worst rail disaster in three decades. Passengers said the force of the collision propelled the second train car inside the first carriage, trapping dozens of people in the wreckage alongside the busy platforms at Once station. Officials said faulty brakes were suspected of causing the accident and witnesses said the train hurtled into the buffers. "I said, 'Be careful, the train isn't braking' ... ...

Assad forces renew barrage on Syria’s Homs

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists. The barrages marked an intensification of a nearly three-week offensive to crush resistance in Homs, one of the focal points of a nationwide uprising against Assad's 11-year rule, and prompted further international condemnation. ...

Karzai urges calm as six die in Afghan Koran protests

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm Wednesday after officials said six people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, at NATO's main base in the country. The U.S. embassy said its staff were in "lockdown" and travel had been suspended as thousands of people expressed fury over the burning, in protests that flared for a second day in several cities. It was a public relations disaster for U.S. ...

Assad forces bomb Syria’s Homs

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs on Wednesday, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists. The barrages marked an intensification of a nearly three-week offensive to crush resistance in Homs, one of the focal points of a nationwide uprising against Assad's 11-year rule, and prompted further international condemnation. ...

Argentine commuter train crashes, killing 49 people

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A packed commuter train plowed into the buffers at a Buenos Aires station during Wednesday's morning rush hour, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 600 in Argentina's worst rail crash in three decades. Passengers said the force of the collision propelled the second train car inside the first carriage, trapping dozens of people in the wreckage alongside the busy platforms at Once station. Officials said faulty brakes were suspected of causing the accident and witnesses said the train hurtled into the buffers. "I said, 'Be careful, the train isn't braking' ...

Chavez surgery rocks Venezuela ahead of election

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's imminent departure for more cancer surgery in Cuba has thrown his re-election campaign into uncertainty and once again shaken the socialist leader's passionate supporters. Though the 57-year-old former soldier looked stoic and played down the dangers of his latest condition, the announcement inevitably raises questions over his ability to stand for the October 7 presidential vote - or rule beyond it. Chavez, who has dominated Venezuela since taking office in 1999 and whose fierce anti-U.S. ...

Rome expands cruise ship probe as bodies found

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors placed four ship's officers and three company executives under investigation Wednesday in connection with the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster as divers found eight more bodies on the wreck including that of a 5-year-old girl. The officers and executives from Costa Cruises, the stricken vessel's operator, join the ship's captain Francesco Schettino and first officer Ciro Ambrosio who are being formally investigated. A spokesman for the company would not identify the new group of defendants. ...

Venezuela’s Chavez says his cancer is likely back

President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant.