The first two cars were packed as usual for the morning rush, so tightly that people stood pressed flesh to flesh, sandwiched between bicycles and the few seats, many without so much as a strap to hold onto.

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists. The barrages marked an intensification of a nearly three-week offensive to crush resistance in Homs,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shortly before the United States ended a two-month pause in missile strikes on militants in Pakistan last month, senior U.S. officials telephoned their Pakistani counterparts and told them Washington would be resuming its covert drone program despite mounting objections in Islamabad. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary...

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm Wednesday after officials said six people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, at NATO's main base in the country. The U.S. embassy said its staff were in...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin praised Cold War-era scientists on Thursday for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets so that United States would not be the world's sole atomic power, in comments reflecting his vision of Russia as a counterweight to U.S. power. Spies with suitcases full of data helped the Soviet...

(Reuters) - U.S. and European officials are downplaying allegations that Iran and al Qaeda have recently stepped up cooperation in preparation for possible attacks on U.S. and other Western targets. The officials, who are familiar with security issues, and private experts, discounted recent news reports about a possible new deal...

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's imminent departure for more cancer surgery in Cuba has thrown his re-election campaign into uncertainty and once again shaken the socialist leader's passionate supporters. Though the 57-year-old former soldier looked stoic and played down the dangers of his latest condition, the announcement inevitably...

VIENNA/TEHRAN (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog ended its latest mission to Iran after talks on Tehran's suspected secret atomic weapons research failed, a setback likely to increase the risk of confrontation with the West. The United States criticized Iran on Wednesday over the failure of the International Atomic Energy...

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors placed four ship's officers and three company executives under investigation Wednesday in connection with the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster as divers found eight more bodies on the wreck including that of a 5-year-old girl. The officers and executives from Costa Cruises, the stricken...

Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship found eight bodies Wednesday on one of the passenger decks, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said.

President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant.

CAIRO (Reuters) - The verdict in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, charged with ordering the killing of protesters in the uprising that swept him from power, will be delivered on June 2, the judge said on Wednesday. "We have vowed to speak the truth. We are committed...