UNITED NATIONS

Four men, one German and three Iranian-Germans, have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of having supplied Iran with key parts for its heavy water reactor.

A prominent Shi'ite clan in Lebanon announced Wednesday it has kidnapped more than 20 Syrian nationals in retaliation for the alleged abduction in Damascus of one of their own by members of the Free Syrian Army. Meanwhile, a bomb was detonated in Damascus.

The Australian government is approaching a compromise on sweeping reforms to immigration policy that would set up controversial offshore detention centers and increase the number of refugees the country accepts annually.

Walcott’s accomplishments presents some good news for a country desperately in need of some.

Taiwan and Japan have an awkward relationship that is compromised and complicated by various intractable issues - namely, Mainland China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and has compelled most nations of the earth to deny diplomatic recognition of the island.

At a time when big banks are constantly raising fees or imposing new ones to help them recover lost revenue from new regulations, not-for-profit credit unions are booming.

Gasoline production issues and tensions between Iran and Israel have sent U.S. gasoline prices above $4 per gallon in some cities, and prices likely won't fall until October, according to gasoline analysts.

The Arab League has indefinitely postponed a meeting to discuss the Syria crisis, suspending the effort to find a replacement for former United Nations envoy Kofi Annan.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed its corn-yield forecast for the year as the Food and Agriculture Organization warns of a potential repeat of the 2007-08 global food crisis.

Pakistanis consume heroin valued at $1.2 billion every year.

Militant spokesman said leaders are meeting to decide whether the man they consider a kafir (infidel) would be allowed to lead an anti-drone-attack march of thousands in Waziristan unmolested in September.

Rohingya migrants are seeking refuge from Myanmar in neighboring Bangladesh, but thousands have been forced to return to the violent persecution they were desperate to escape.

Amnesty International believes 1-million North Koreans have died of starvation since the 1990s, while millions more remain malnourished.

As the U.N. General Assembly session in September approaches, Israel is flexing its muscles against a Palestinian bid for statehood, but such a move could only spell trouble for both sides.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III Monday endorsed a reproductive-health bill designed to reduce the country's high birthrate and introduce mandatory sex education in schools, despite strong opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.

The effects of the drought that has pummeled the U.S. corn belt will be felt for a while, but the grain most affected by it isn't one the world's hungriest depend on to survive.

Kiir wears the ten-gallon Stetson so often in public that it has become his trademark.

Jesuit priest Paolo Dall'Oglio, who spent the last 30 years in Syria and was recently exiled, said the country still very much needs the U.N.'s help to find a peaceful solution, but the end of Bashar al-Assad's days as president is near.

Globalization -- basically, free markets and the transfer of jobs to lower-cost labor/production centers -- has lifted more than 1 billion people out of poverty. However, globalization, at least initially, also contains a contradiction that, in time, could undermine not only the uniting of markets, but trade and global GDP growth itself.

Honduras, which has the world’s highest homicide rate already -- estimated at 86.5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants according to the United Nations -- has witnessed a particularly gruesome spike in carnage in Colon, from two different fronts.

A whiff of change from the world's most mysterious regime?