Pope denounces dissident priests on celibacy

Pope Benedict XVI denounced priests who have questioned church teaching on celibacy and ordaining women, saying Thursday they were disobeying his authority to try to impose their own ideas on the church.

Sequel to anti-warlord video addresses criticisms

A wildly popular Internet video turned African warlord Joseph Kony into a household name and boosted the international hunt for the brutal rebel leader. Can a sequel do more?

Fighting in Syria despite talk of pullback

(Reuters) - Syria told U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan it had begun pulling troops out of several cities on Thursday in line with a peace plan accepted by President Bashar al-Assad, but his foes said the army was still firing in those towns and elsewhere. Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Syrian authorities "told us that they have begun withdrawing troops from certain areas", namely the cities of Deraa, Idlib and Zabadani. Speaking in Geneva, he said this was being verified, but did not say how. "They are complete liars, there is no army withdrawal, they are still in the middle of the city. ...

Pakistan: Suicide bomber targeting police kills 4

A Taliban suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a vehicle carrying a senior police official in a southern Pakistani port city on Thursday, killing four people, officials said.

Women in Black: The voice of peace in Serbia

They have been beaten, spat at and cursed. Jeered, mocked and ignored.

UK's Sky News: We hacked in the public interest

Rupert Murdoch's Sky News channel twice authorized its reporters to hack into computers, a potentially embarrassing revelation that could further dent the media tycoon's hope of acquiring full control over satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

Syrian troops attack Damascus suburb

Syrian troops launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.

Mali's Tuareg rebels say military operations over

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Tuareg-led separatist rebels announced the end of their fight to create an "Azawad" state on the edge of the Sahara on Thursday after sweeping across northern Mali during a political crisis after a coup. The ceasefire came ahead of a meeting of army chiefs from West Africa's ECOWAS bloc, which will try and hammer out a plan for military intervention in Mali, which experts fear has become a security vacuum for al Qaeda cells and smugglers to exploit. ...

Syria negotiating deployment of UN mission

A team led by a Norwegian major general arrived in Damascus on Thursday to negotiate the possible deployment of a U.N. team that would monitor a cease-fire agreement between government troops and rebel forces, a spokesman for the U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said.

Fighting in Syria as U.N. general arrives for truce

(Reuters) - Syria told U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan it had begun pulling troops out of several cities on Thursday in line with a peace plan accepted by President Bashar al-Assad, but his foes said the army was still firing in those towns and elsewhere. Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Syrian authorities "told us that they have begun withdrawing troops from certain areas", namely the cities of Deraa, Idlib and Zabadani. Speaking in Geneva, he said this was being verified, but did not say how. "They are complete liars, there is no army withdrawal, they are still in the middle of the city. ...

UK's Sky News: We hacked in the public interest

Rupert Murdoch's Sky News channel twice authorized its reporters to hack into computers, a potentially embarrassing revelation that could further dent the media tycoon's hope of acquiring full control over satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

Syrian troops attack Damascus suburb

Syrian troops launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.

Separatist Mali rebels say military operations over

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's MNLA separatist rebels announced they had ended their fight to create an "Azawad" state on the edge of the Sahara on Thursday after achieving their goal amid a political crisis that has paralyzed southern capital. The ceasefire was announced ahead of a meeting of army chiefs from West Africa's ECOWAS bloc in Ivory Coast, where they will try and hammer out a plan for military intervention in Mali, which experts fear has become a security vacuum for al Qaeda cells and smugglers to exploit. ...

Rocket hits Israeli city near Egypt border

A rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai desert hit a southern Israeli resort city early Thursday, police said, raising new concerns about militant activity in the mountainous peninsula. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Sinai was becoming a "terror zone."

Pope reaffirms ban on women priests, assails disobedience

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Thursday re-stated the Roman Catholic Church's ban on women priests and warned that he would not tolerate disobedience by clerics on fundamental teachings. Benedict, who for decades before his 2005 election was the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer, delivered an unusually direct denunciation of disobedient priests in a sermon at a morning Mass on Holy Thursday, the day the Church commemorates the day Christ instituted the priesthood. ...

Pakistan: Suicide bomber targeting police kills 2

A Taliban suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a vehicle carrying a senior police official in a southern Pakistani port city on Thursday, killing two people, officials said.