The latest in a series of powerful tornadoes raked across a broad swath of the US Midwest and Southeast, killing at least 33 people in four states, authorities said.
Survivors and relatives of victims of the Costa Concordia shipwreck clamoured for truth at a pre-trial hearing in Italy, with some still waiting for identification of the remains of their loved ones 1-1/2 months after the disaster.
Obesity experts applauded Walt Disney World for shuttering a new attraction that drew fierce criticism for its potential to shame overweight children and misrepresent the causes of the global obesity crisis.
European Union leaders argued today over the right balance between budget austerity and reviving lost growth at the first summit for two years in which the euro zone debt crisis did not eclipse all else.
President Nicolas Sarkozy said today that France would shut its Syrian embassy due to the repression of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad and was ready to step up its support of rebels if the United Nations can give a green light.
Moody's Investors Service cut Greece's sovereign debt rating to the lowest possible level after a debt-restructuring deal that imposes hefty economic losses for private creditors.
US President Barack Obama issued his most direct threat yet of US military action against Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, but in a message to Israel's leader ahead of White House talks he also cautioned against a pre-emptive Israeli strike.
All but two European Union countries signed a treaty on tighter budget discipline for the euro zone today, marking a coup for Germany which pushed for the accord to try to prevent a repeat of the loose spending that led to a debt crisis.
The UK Foreign Office came on stage today to respond to President Cristina de Kirchner who yesterday said she wanted Argentina's flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas to fly to the Malvinas Islands and to renegotiate a 1999 agreement with Britain.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had received "grisly reports" that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs after rebel fighters had fled.