Avalanches on a mountain pass north of Kabul have killed at least 28 people, with another 1,500 stranded in their vehicles on snow-blocked roads, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

The security men brandished their weapons and ordered the suspicious car to halt, forcing the occupants to get out and put their hands in their air.

North Korea's Kim Jong Il reportedly dispatched his top nuclear envoy to Beijing on Tuesday to discuss restarting nuclear disarmament talks.

The head of Iran's atomic agency said the Islamic Republic would not enrich uranium to a higher level if the West provides the fuel it needs for the Tehran research reactor.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has refused to concede the presidential race to opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych.

China has revealed its most ambitious measure of what explosive development has done to its environment, saying Tuesday its first national pollution census has mapped nearly 6 million sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste.

Pakistani Taliban today confirmed that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in a US drone strike, ending weeks of speculation over his fate.

Sri Lankan opposition leader Sarath Fonseka's wife, Anoma, today accused the government of abducting her husband and asked for help to trace his whereabouts.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said that he was worried over the stories his Asian son-in-law has told him about racism in this country.

A Chinese court Tuesday sentenced an activist who investigated the deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in the country's massive 2008 earthquake to five years in jail for inciting subversion of state power, the man's lawyer said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il assured a high-level envoy visiting from Beijing that Pyongyang is committed to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, China's state news agency reported Tuesday.

Iran pressed ahead Monday with plans that will increase its ability to make nuclear weapons as it formally informed the U.N. nuclear agency of its intention to enrich uranium to higher levels.

Nicolas Sarkozy's father has painted the French President's lover Carla Bruni on a large canvas as a wedding gift for the former supermodel.

Sri Lanka's defeated opposition presidential candidate Gen Sarath Fonseka was tonight arrested by the military police, a fortnight after he suffered defeat at the hands of incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The sodomy trial of former deputy Premier Anwar Ibrahim was adjourned today after his counsels sought to recuse the judge from hearing the case, citing his refusal to act against biased media coverage despite appeals.

Aid groups say they are launching an emergency vaccination campaign for 140,000 people in Haiti to protect them against measles and other diseases.

France has agreed to sell Russia an advanced amphibious warship and is considering a Russian request for three more, French defense officials said on Monday. It would be the first major arms deal between Russia and a NATO member.

Taiwan's top China negotiator said on Monday that the US decision to sell $6.4 billion in arms to the island will not affect steadily improving ties between Taipei and Beijing.

Planes were grounded, trains stood still and Greyhound buses weren't rolling in the Mid-Atlantic region of America on Sunday, leaving stranded travelers wondering when they'll be able to escape the icy, gray mess created by a major snowstorm.

About 90 factories sit vacant in the economic capital of southern Afghanistan. They could fight militants in a way no army could, employing thousands of people and giving them a reason to shun the Taliban.

Iran's president on Sunday ordered his atomic agency to significantly enrich the country's stockpile of uranium, angering Western nations who want to the Islamic republic to halt its nuclear program.

Costa Ricans have elected their first woman president as the ruling party candidate won in a landslide, after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America's most stable nation.

North Korea warned South Korea on Monday that any attempt to bring down the communist country would draw "strong measures" from its military, a threat issued even as Pyongyang embarked on a flurry of diplomacy with Seoul, Washington and Beijing.

Pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych declared victory in Ukraine's presidential runoff but his opponent rejected the claim, saying the vote was too close to call.

The explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, about 20 miles south of Hartford, could be heard and felt for miles.