World News Headlines

LONDON (Reuters) - Gay and lesbian athletes from dozens of countries that outlaw homosexuality should seek asylum in Britain during the Olympic Games in London to escape persecution or even death at home, a prominent human rights activist said on Tuesday. The advice came from Mark Stephens, a lawyer whose high-profile clients …

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Huddled under Beirut's concrete bridges and around street corners are thousands of Syrian men who have left home and crossed the border in recent months in the hope of finding work as day labourers. From 13-year-old schoolboys to limping elderly men, most of them represent impoverished families from Syria's …

A missing four-year-old girl's body parts were found wrapped in plastic bags in the family freezer on Wednesday, a Belgian prosecutor said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Almost half of Yemen's population does not have enough food to eat and world powers are unwilling to help because of the unstable political situation, seven aid agencies said on Wednesday. The charities called for urgent aid to avert a catastrophe as representatives from Western and Arab Gulf nations …

Egyptians voted Wednesday in the country's first free presidential elections, with Islamists and secularists vying for power with competing visions of an Egypt liberated of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak's iron grip.

RIYADH/DAMMAM (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, may finally be getting serious about overcoming the technical and financial hurdles for tapping its other main resource: sunshine. Thousands of solar power panels have sprung up across Europe over the past few years, thanks to generous subsidies that …

BOSTON (Reuters) - Successful people work with what they have at hand - whatever comes along - including surprises, obstacles and even disappointments, at times adeptly turning lemons into lemonade, says Harvard Business Review. The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard …

Europe's leaders are expected to shift their focus from austerity to growth at a summit Wednesday amid deepening worries over Greece's eurozone future and Spain's troubled banks.

World powers sought Wednesday to pave the way to ending the decade-old and escalating Iran nuclear crisis by laying out a new package of proposals they said would be "of interest" to Tehran.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have sentenced a doctor accused of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden to 33 years in jail on charges of treason, officials said, a move almost certain to further strain ties between Washington and Islamabad. Shakil Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign, …

Regime forces launched a fierce assault on the rebel bastion of Rastan in central Syria on Wednesday, raining shells on the town before launching a ground attack, monitors and activists said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - World powers held talks with Iran on Wednesday to test its readiness under pressure of sanctions to scale back its disputed nuclear programme, seeking to defuse a decade-old standoff and avert the threat of a Middle East war. The stakes could hardly be higher: global oil markets are edgy over sanctions …

ROME (Reuters) - Comedian Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement has become Italy's second most popular party after dealing a stunning blow to traditional parties in Monday's local elections, an Ipsos poll broadcast by state TV late on Tuesday showed. The People of Liberty (PDL) party headed by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, …