RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who ended a long self-imposed exile in October, died Thursday of gunshot wounds following a political rally.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A man in New Zealand was lucky to be alive after a Christmas Day encounter with one of the world's most poisonous snakes.
NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Thomas Morgan III, a former New York Times reporter who helped build the National Association of Black Journalists, has died at the age of 56.
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The United States reportedly signaled support for secret talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan following the expulsion of two European diplomats.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Special Forces are expected to expand their presence in Pakistan to train anti-terror units there starting next year, a Washington Post column said.
ATHENS, Greece, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A Greek magistrate ordered a woman accused of causing an official's attempted suicide with a blackmail campaign to be kept in custody pending trial.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, reacting to the killing of Benazir Bhutto, said Thursday his party would boycott elections Jan. 8, BBC reported.
BAGHDAD, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army said Thursday 12 al-Qaida in Iraq militants were killed and 37 detained in a multiday operation that also freed a hostage.
RAMADI, Iraq, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Two men suspected in an attack that killed five U.S. soldiers and left two missing more than seven months ago have been arrested.
SRI JAYAWARDENAPURA-KOTTE, Sri Lanka, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The Sri Lankan military announced Thursday that it destroyed a rebel Tamil Tiger naval base in the northern part of the country.
PRISTINA, Serbia, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Serbs in Kosovo province said they were uneasy as leaders of an ethnic-Albanian majority were expected to unilaterally declare independence from Serbia.
ATLANTA, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Robbers in Lilburn, Ga., an Atlanta suburb, held a kidnapped couple's son hostage while demanding jewelry from their store, police said.
YERMO, Calif., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- San Bernardino County, Calif., sheriff's deputies investigated the death of a woman who was mauled by a pack of dogs in the town of Yermo.
MANCHESTER, N.H., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A new poll surveying the U.S. presidential race indicates that Sen. Hillary Clinton leads the Democratic pack in Iowa but the GOP contest is a dead heat.
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Marvel Comics and the United Nations are teaming up to create comic books to show superheroes working with the agency to rid the world of conflict and disease.
DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called assassinated former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto a "decent woman."
BERLIN, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Germany's Neo-Nazi party is being investigated for fraud after allegedly cheating the government out of matching political funds.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Protests, some violent, erupted Thursday in many Pakistani cities after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi.
OCALA, Fla., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Authorities in Ocala, Fla., say they won't press charges against a 10-year-old girl caught carrying a steak knife to her school cafeteria.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy announced its first major strategic shift in more than 20 years, refocusing the fleet's role on humanitarian aid and other forms of soft power.
Lori Anne Madison, 6, of Woodbridge, Virginia, spells out the letters in her word as she competes during the opening round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 30, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Madison, the youngest known qualifier in the history of the contest, correctly spelled the word "dirigible*", a lighter-than-air aircraft, to advance. UPI/Mike Theiler
