MILAN (AP) — The former head of Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica , accused by prosecutors of making bribery part of the company culture, went on trial Wednesday for his alleged role in the payment of bribes to secure a crucial 560 million euro ($670 million) helicopter contract in India.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Afghan president on Wednesday suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest the way his government was being left out of initial peace negotiations with the Taliban meant to find a way to end the nearly 12-year war.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Al-Qaida-linked militants detonated multiple bomb blasts and engaged in ongoing battles with security forces in an attempt to breach the main U.N. compound in Mogadishu, officials said Wednesday.
GENEVA (AP) — The Syrian civil war contributed to pushing the numbers of refugees and those displaced by conflict within their own nation to an 18-year high of 45.2 million worldwide by the end of 2012, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The opening of a new airport to accommodate budget carriers has been delayed until next year because of design changes and other construction setbacks, Malaysia's airport operator says.
BEIJING (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the world body's peacekeeping efforts face growing dangers from non-traditional threats such as suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United Nations and Washington have separately asked the Philippines not to withdraw its more than 300 Filipino peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, warning of "maximum volatility" in the region after a number of countries decided to pull out their peacekeeping forces amid escalating violence, the Philippines' top diplomat said Wednesday.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Girl Guides have dropped a reference to God in their pledge.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's highest court says the families of several soldiers killed or injured in Iraq can sue the government for failing to protect them.
BERLIN (AP) — President Barack Obama will renew his call Wednesday to reduce the world's nuclear stockpiles, including a proposed one-third reduction in U.S. and Russian arsenals, the White House said.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rights groups are criticizing a code of media ethics proposed by Sri Lanka's government, saying Wednesday that the code could have a chilling effect on free speech in the Indian Ocean island nation.
BEIJING (AP) — Negotiators from North Korea and China held strategic talks in Beijing on Wednesday as they work to repair strained relations, but offered little indication they will lead to a resumption of nuclear disarmament talks any time soon.
LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Air France-KLM is ordering 25 Airbus A350 jets, saying the wide-body plane that flew for the first time last week is key to plans to expand long-haul flights.
MADRID (AP) — The International Monetary Fund says recession-wracked Spain is making progress but is urging policymakers both within the country and in Europe to take "urgent action" to slash the country's crippling 27 percent unemployment rate.
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — A joint army and air force operation has evacuated nearly 12,000 Hindu pilgrims stranded in a mountainous area by torrential monsoon rains and landslides in northern India, but nearly 63,000 people remain cut off, a senior official said Wednesday.
