J.J. McGrath

A suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into a church in the Nigerian city of Jos on Sunday, killing two people and wounding 38, which led to Christian youths beating two Muslims to death in revenge.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital on Sunday after a keyhole abdominal examination showed there was nothing seriously wrong with the 93-year-old anti-apartheid leader, the government said.

With gasoline prices already approaching a distinctly unseasonal $4 a gallon in a presidential-election year, the United States is considering tapping its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as one way to control the prices of crude oil and its derivatives. Herewith is a look at past SPR loans and sales.

Afghan authorities said on Sunday they believe one of the country's police intelligence officers may have been involved in the shooting deaths of two U.S. officers inside the nation's interior ministry a day earlier, prompting NATO to recall all its staff from ministries.

White House hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum battled over who was the most conservative Republican on Saturday -- while knocking President Barack Obama on account of accelerating gasoline prices -- as the high-octane race in Michigan moves toward a still-uncertain finish.

The German government will decide whether to boost the European bailout fund in March and its parliament is very likely to support any decision for more resources, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Saturday at a meeting of finance officials from the Group of 20 economic powers.

The United States did not openly call for a release of countries' strategic petroleum reserves during Group of 20 meetings this weekend, G-20 sources said on Saturday, although the country is considering a release from its own Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stem surging crude-oil prices.

There's a whole lot of shaking going on in the Asia-Pacific region Sunday, as an absolutely strong magnitude-6.7 earthquake hit southwestern Siberia in Russia and a relatively strong magnitude-5.9 quake struck southern Taiwan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Dozens of democracy activists -- 16 Americans among them -- go on trial in Egypt Sunday in a politically charged case that has led to a crisis in relations between Cairo and Washington while threatening $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to the North African nation.

Italian judges on Saturday concluded former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges of bribing British lawyer David Mills, saying the statute of limitations had run out and a verdict could not be reached. The case surrounding Mills was one of the most prominent of the scandals centered on Berlusconi.

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said on Saturday policy makers are closely watching the impact of looser monetary policy on crude-oil prices. Along with the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan is taking unconventional steps to boost the economy.

Only a month ago, Newt Gingrich was atop the Republican Party's presidential-nomination race. Now he is in a fight for a win even in his home state of Georgia as his campaign stakes its future on the Super Tuesday primaries to be conducted March 6.

Germany is easing its opposition to a bigger European bailout fund, officials said, smoothing the way for the world's leading economies to secure nearly $2 trillion in firepower to prevent more fallout from the euro-zone's sovereign-debt crisis.

Iran has yet to clarify a discrepancy in uranium quantities at a Tehran research site, as measurements by international inspectors last year failed to match the amount declared by the laboratory, according to a United Nations nuclear watchdog report released Friday.

The Syrian military took its bombardment of the rebel-held Baba Amro district of Homs into a fourth week on Saturday as the Red Cross attempted to evacuate more distressed civilians from the city. At least 28 people were killed in Syria on Saturday, including nine in Homs.

Two Americans who were shot dead Saturday inside the Interior Ministry in Afghanistan's capital Kabul are believed to be a colonel and a major in the U.S. military, according to Afghan security sources.

A rally on Wall Street will be put to the test next week, with the S&P 500 index at its highest closing level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008 and the European Central Bank about to flood the financial markets with a new wave of cheap money.

Saudi Arabia has raised crude exports and the United States is considering releasing oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as crude-oil prices hit nine-month highs on Friday and concerns deepened over Iran's nuclear program.

The Japanese government will seek the resignation of the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco's) board of directors at a shareholder meeting in June in return for injecting $13 billion of public funds, the Mainichi newspaper said on Saturday.

Leaders in the euro zone may not be able to meet international demands to bolster their own funds for bailing out the bloc's debtors when they meet next week because Germany is showing no sign of dropping its opposition to the plan, officials in the euro zone said.

After a week when Rick Santorum's presidential campaign often appeared focused on issues like abortion, prenatal testing, and religion, the message from the Republican Party's establishment was becoming clear on Friday: We've had enough.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital on Saturday for treatment for a long-standing abdominal complaint, the government said.

A solid U.S. candidate to head the World Bank would be good for the United States and the bank because the world's largest economy should be represented in top international bodies, outgoing President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday, while emphasizing he has no role in the selection process.

The S&P 500 rose on Friday to close at its highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008, continuing a pattern of steady gains on apparent signs of U.S. economic recovery.

World economic powers at a Group of 20 gathering in Mexico City told Europe on Friday it would have to do more to fight its financial crisis before they agree to provide backup in the form of a bigger International Monetary Fund war chest.

Police and militia patrols fanned out in the Syrian capital's Mezze district on Sunday to prevent a repeat of protests against President Bashar al-Assad that have threatened his grip on Damascus, opposition activists said.

The revelations this week that Google, Twitter, and other popular Internet companies have been taking liberties with customer data have prompted criticism by privacy advocates and lawmakers, along with apologies by the companies.

Iran has halted sales of crude oil to British and French companies, the oil ministry said Sunday. Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped, representative Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic's ministry of petroleum Web site.

North Korea warned South Korea on Sunday that it would shell islands close to their disputed sea border should there be a violation of territorial waters during a military drill reported to begin in the Yellow Sea this week.