Car bomb attack on Somalia's main airport is reported to have killed 2, officials say. A Somali security official says a car bomb has exploded at the front gate of Mogadishu's airport and that he believes two women were killed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned on Thursday that a Florida pastor's plan to burn copies of the Koran is being used as an al Qaeda recruitment tool and he urged the minister to reconsider the decision.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Members of Parliament (MPs) will next week grill outgoing BP Plc Chief Executive Tony Hayward, as part of an investigation into risks around deepwater drilling in the North Sea.

KABUL (Reuters) - India led calls on Thursday for the United States to intervene to halt a small church's plan to burn copies of the Koran in commemoration of the September 11 attacks and urged a media blackout to calm tensions.

KABUL (Reuters) - India led calls on Thursday for the United States to intervene to halt a small church's plan to burn copies of the Koran in commemoration of the September 11 attacks and urged a media blackout to calm tensions.

Banish the tax! Romanian witches 'frighten' lawmakers into voting against levy. "Abracadabra, we'll turn all of you into toads!"

EU: Iran must go beyond suspending stoning sentence against woman. The European Union presidency said Thursday that Iran's suspension of a stoning sentence against a woman convicted of adultery is not enough and demands it be completely overturned.

Beijing warns: If Japan puts captain involved in boat collision on trial, it will harm ties. Japan will damage its relations with China if it decides to prosecute the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands, Beijing warned Thursday.

EU Parliament calls on Paris to suspend expulsions of Roma, criticizes France's policy. The European Parliament has called on France to suspend its expulsion of gypsies.

Tens of thousands of Hasidic celebrate Jewish New Year at spiritual leader's tomb in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews from around the world gathered in a small Ukrainian city Thursday to mark the Jewish New Year at the tomb of their spiritual leader ? an apparent record for the annual all-male pilgrimage banned for decades by the Soviets.

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia (Reuters) - A suicide bomber set off a powerful blast near a busy market in Russia's restive North Caucasus on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, authorities said.

Philippines says police might have shot some hostages in bungled rescue of HK tourists. Some victims in a botched hostage rescue of a tourist bus in the Philippines may have been hit by police fire, the nation's top law enforcement official said Thursday.

Suicide bombing kills 15, wounds more than 130 outside market in Russia's volatile Caucasus. A suicide car bomber hit the central market of a major city in Russia's North Caucasus on Thursday, killing at least 15 and wounding more than 130 people in one of the worst terror attacks in the volatile region in years, officials said.

Report: South Korea indicts Christian activist for violating security laws. A news report says South Korean authorities have indicted a Christian activist who made an unapproved visit to North Korea.

A US drone attack Thursday killed six militants in Pakistan -- the fourth strike in 24 hours -- officials said, amid an upsurge in violence across the country.

Taliban violence and intimidation are threatening Afghanistan's parliamentary elections as the government fails to protect candidates, especially women, a human rights watchdog said Thursday.

EU: Iran must go beyond suspending stoning sentence against woman. The European Union presidency said Thursday that Iran's suspension of a stoning sentence against a woman convicted of adultery is not enough and demands it be completely overturned.

Prime Minister David Cameron was set to return from France on Thursday following the death of his father whom he described as an "amazing man and a real life enhancer."

US Marine raid reclaims ship from pirate hands off Somalia. The U.S. Navy says Marine commandos have reclaimed control of a pirate-held vessel off the Somalia coast and taken nine prisoners.

Cuba's communist system gets panned by unlikely source _ revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Cuba's communist economic model has come in for criticism from an unlikely source: Fidel Castro.

A small Florida church has shrugged off global outrage and vowed to go ahead with a Koran burning ceremony amid growing fears it will ignite a wave of Islamic rage.

A British journalist held captive by extremists in Pakistan's militant-hit northwest has been released, the British embassy confirmed Thursday.

India's Formula One racing team and drivers Thursday welcomed the country's first opportunity to hold a Grand Prix, calling it an endorsement of its recent progress.

Blind Chinese activist lawyer released from prison but promptly confined in rural village. A blind, self-taught activist lawyer who documented forced abortions and other abuses was released from a Chinese prison Thursday and promptly confined in his rural village with limited access to communication, a relative said.

UK Prime Minister Cameron pays tribute to father, who died on vacation in France. British Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to his late father Thursday, saying he and his family would "treasure all the joy he brought us."

Suicide bombing kills 15, wounds more than 100 outside market in Russia's volatile Caucasus. Suicide bombing kills 15, wounds more than 100 outside market in Russia's volatile Caucasus.

The cleric behind a proposed Islamic center in New York said he would not have planned it so close to the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks had he foreseen the level of "pain" triggered by the controversial project.

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines acknowledged for the first time Thursday that some of the hostages killed during a botched bus hijack rescue operation in Manila last month may have been shot by police.

Suspected US missile hits NW Pakistan, killing 5 alleged militants in 4th attack in 24 hours. A suspected American missile strike killed five alleged militants in northwestern Pakistan early Thursday, an intelligence official said, the fourth such attack on suspected insurgent targets there in 24 hours.

At least 11 people were killed on Thursday and dozens wounded in an apparent suicide bombing outside a crowded central market in the Russian Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz, officials said.

A British journalist held captive by extremists in Pakistan's militant-hit northwest has been released, the British embassy confirmed Thursday.

British deputy leader urges police to swiftly probe claims tabloid illegally eavesdropped. Britain's deputy prime minister Nick Clegg urged police Thursday to quickly investigate new claims that one of Britain's biggest tabloids, the News of the World, illegally eavesdropped on politicians and celebrities.

4 Iraqis with links to al-Qaida escape from US custody in maximum-security prison in Baghdad. Four prisoners with links to al-Qaida have escaped from the U.S.-controlled part of a maximum-security prison in Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday.

A British watchdog hit the iconic but controversial Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs with a huge fine of 17.5 million pounds in a statement on Thursday, for information failures tied to US fraud charges.

Afghan official: Karzai wants corruption probes led by Afghans, West should take back seat. Afghanistan's top prosecutor said Thursday that while President Hamid Karzai backs the work of Western-supported anti-corruption teams, he wants investigations to be led by Afghans and free of interference from international advisers.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Muslim activists plan to burn the U.S. flag outside the U.S. embassy on September 11 to voice anger at plan by a U.S. Christian pastor to burn copies of the Koran the same day, a hardline Islamist said on Thursday.

The cleric behind a proposed Islamic center in New York said he would not have planned it so close to the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks had he foreseen the level of "pain" triggered by the controversial project.

Large daily doses of B vitamins could delay -- or even halt -- the onset of Alzheimer's disease, a study suggested Thursday.

Sri Lankan ministers on Thursday denied that the president now enjoyed dictatorial powers under a post-war constitutional revamp, but observers worried about the chilling effect on democracy.

PARACHINAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed 10 people and wounded four in a Pakistani tribal region on the Afghan border Thursday, a government official said, as militants linked to al Qaeda launch a new wave of attacks.

Violent crime declined last year in South Africa, the police minister said Thursday, with murders down 8.6 percent to under 17,000, in one of the world's most violent countries.

A bomb near a provincial minister's house in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta killed two people and left two others seriously injured Thursday, a senior police officer told AFP.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will limit foreign involvement in two major anti-crime units in a move likely to worry its Western backers and stoke fears about President Hamid Karzai's commitment to fighting endemic graft.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will limit foreign involvement in two major anti-crime units in a move likely to worry its Western backers and stoke fears about President Hamid Karzai's commitment to fighting endemic graft.

North Korea celebrates nation's founding amid speculation Kim Jong Il will hand power to son. North Korea celebrated its 62nd anniversary Thursday with odes to supreme leader Kim Jong Il and pilgrimages to his late father's statue amid hints that a political meeting believed aimed at promoting his son as successor is imminent.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Switzerland remains the world's most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth after losing the top spot last year, according to the World Economic Forum's annual rankings issued on Thursday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's capital is ready for its biggest political event in decades: giant billboards proclaim an event to make the country's "history shine forever," the dress rehearsals are complete and the army is ready.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's capital is ready for its biggest political event in decades: giant billboards proclaim an event to make the country's "history shine forever," the dress rehearsals are complete and the army is ready.

Police hunted hundreds of inmates Thursday who escaped when suspected Islamists used machine guns and bombs in a Nigerian prison attack, while authorities warned other jails may be vulnerable.

India's Formula One racing team and drivers Thursday welcomed the country's first opportunity to hold a Grand Prix, calling it an endorsement of its recent progress.