News from United Press International, around the world around the clock ...

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A Polish research institute alleges former Communist Interior Minister Czeslaw Kiszczak sabotaged the inquiry into the killing of poet Grzegorz Przemyk.

TEHRAN, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Demonstrators took to the streets of Tehran following Friday prayers to protest reformers who vandalized pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini, state media said.

HELSINKI, Finland, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The Obama administration's decision to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in 18 months after the start of the surge has already begun to bear fruit, but perhaps not in a way that was intended.

PARIS, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Former French President Jacques Chirac was placed under formal investigation Friday over alleged embezzlement while he was Paris mayor, officials said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The Pentagon didn't begin securing communications from unmanned U.S. aircraft until 2009, despite knowing about the vulnerability in 2004, officers said.

BUCHAREST, Romania, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton marked Romania's 20th anniversary of its revolution, saying America was proud to call Romania an ally.

NEW YORK, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. markets regained some lost ground Friday morning, gaining modestly after two consecutive days of losses.

OTTAWA, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A black woman in Ottawa, Canada, claims she was a victim of racial profiling at the city's airport and subjected to a fruitless strip search for drugs.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkish President Abdullah Gul says their countries will resume normal diplomatic relations.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Friday saw the biggest security operation ever staged in Denmark, with 115 heads of state and government, including President Barack Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, packed in one building.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Scientists and U.S. President Barack Obama both have stumbled on climate change in the eyes of many Americans, a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicates.

KRAKOW, Poland, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The sign prisoners of the Auschwitz death camp saw as they entered the compound in Poland has been stolen, police said Friday.

YARMOUTH, Nova Scotia, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The search for a Canadian fishing captain missing off the western coast of Nova Scotia was called off Friday two days after his ship sank, officials said.

BARCELONA, Spain, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The parliament of the Spanish region of Catalonia is considering a proposal to ban bullfighting, observers say.