World Politics News

ROME - Italian police on Saturday arrested a Pakistani father and son accused of helping fund and providing logistical support for last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, authorities said. Full Story »

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican says the pope and the archbishop of Canterbury have agreed to press for closer relations between Catholics and Anglicans despite the jolt from the Vatican's unprecedented invitation to disaffected Anglicans. Full Story »

PERUGIA, Italy - Prosecutors on Saturday were expected to request life in prison for an American student and her former boyfriend accused of killing a young British woman in Italy. Full Story »

ROME - A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Experts say the historian may be reading too much into the markings, and they stand by carbon-dating that points to the shroud being a medieval forgery. Full Story »

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Incoming EU president Herman Van Rompuy kept a low profile as the 27-nation bloc's leaders faced flak for picking him and a little-known British peer to lead a revamped Europe on the world stage. Full Story »

ROME - Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again and will soon be put on display, an Italian museum director said Friday. Full Story »

COCKERMOUTH, England - Raging floods engulfed northern England's picturesque Lake District on Friday following the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain, killing a police officer and trapping dozens in their swamped homes. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - A key U.N. committee approved a resolution Friday urging Iran to halt the persecution of political opponents following the country's disputed presidential election and release those still detained. Full Story »

GENEVA - Spokesman says world's largest atom smasher circulates beam of protons after yearlong repairs. Full Story »

LONDON - A British couple being held hostage by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast Friday that they fear they will be killed or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom is not paid soon. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee condemned Iran on Friday for a violent crackdown on protesters after presidential elections this year that the Iranian opposition says were rigged. Full Story »

GENEVA - The World Health Organization said Friday it is investigating samples of variant swine flu linked to two deaths and one severe case in Norway, but that so far the significance of the mutation is unclear. Full Story »

LONDON - Catherine Ashton: International woman of mystery. Full Story »

ANKARA (Reuters) - Herman Van Rompuy's appointment as the first European Union president provoked fears in Turkey that he might hinder Ankara's hopes of joining the bloc, with some media declaring outright that he is anti-Turkish. Full Story »

ZAGREB (AFP) - The Croatian parliament ratified on Friday a deal with Slovenia for international arbitration to resolve a border row between the two countries that blocked Zagreb's bid to join the European Union. Full Story »

BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday congratulated the European Union for creating the new posts of president and foreign policy chief, calling it a "step forward" for EU integration. Full Story »

MOSCOW - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev criticized Kremlin policies Friday and toyed with the ambitious idea of attempting a political comeback. Full Story »

LONDON - Buckingham Palace says the queen and her husband Prince Philip are celebrating 62 years of marriage quietly — without the fanfare of two years ago, when they marked their diamond anniversary. Full Story »