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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will "show no mercy" toward opposition protesters seen as threatening national security, a judiciary official said on Tuesday, a day after thousands of students staged anti-government rallies. Full Story »

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi leaders came under fire Wednesday from enraged MPs for failing to prevent a spate of bombings in Baghdad that killed 127 people, the third major set of attacks to hit the capital since August. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden is an iconic figure among extremists who must be captured or killed in order to defeat al Qaeda, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said on Tuesday. Full Story »

BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - Corruption, whether in the form of crooked officials, financial fraudsters or even philandering sports stars, is tearing at the fabric of U.S. society and is the country's No. 1 criminal threat, a senior FBI agent said on Tuesday. Full Story »

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Negotiators at the UN climate marathon tried to steer into calmer waters Wednesday after developing countries blasted an early draft accord as favouring rich carbon emitters and sidelining the poor. Full Story »

KABUL (Reuters) - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited U.S. commanders in Afghanistan on Wednesday, promising that President Barack Obama's surge of extra forces would give them what they need for success against the Taliban. Full Story »

MANILA (AFP) - A Muslim clan blamed for a horrific political massacre in the Philippines was accused on Wednesday of killing more than 250 people during an eight-year reign of terror in a strife-torn southern province. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 94 percent of the world's people are not protected by laws against smoking, leaving them exposed to the biggest cause of preventable death, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Security Administration accidentally posted a document online containing secrets related to airport passenger screening practices, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department will not renew the contract of a security company embroiled in a scandal involving the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, where guards were accused of drunken conduct and sexual hazing. Full Story »

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday executed a former securities trader for embezzlement, the first person in the industry to be put to death, but millions of yuan are still missing, a state newspaper said. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. commander in Afghanistan and the top diplomat closed ranks on Tuesday around President Barack Obama's orders to send in 30,000 more troops, saying the strategy would halt Taliban momentum within a year. Full Story »

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - China led calls by developing nations for deeper emissions cuts from the United States, Japan and Europe at U.N. climate talks on Tuesday, as a study showed that this decade will be the warmest on record. Full Story »

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police have charged two stars of British reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" with animal cruelty after an RSPCA complaint over an episode that involved killing and cooking a rat. Full Story »

ROUDHAM, England (AFP) - After three years maturing in charred white oak casks, the first English whisky in more than a century is finally ready to flow out to excited and curious drinkers around the world. Full Story »

KABUL (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday toured the nerve centre of NATO command in Afghanistan, telling officers an imminent troop surge will turn around the eight-year war against the Taliban. Full Story »

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombings that killed 112 people were carried out with foreign backing, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Wednesday as he signaled a shake-up of security officials to try to thwart pre-election violence. Full Story »

MELBOURNE (AFP) - A compulsive gambler who wagered close to 1.4 billion US dollars during a 16-month betting spree lost his lawsuit against Australia's largest casino Tuesday when a judge ruled he was not exploited. Full Story »