Israel lifts closure of West Bank as tensions ease in east Jerusalem

JERUSALEM - Israel on Wednesday lifted its tight restrictions on Palestinian access to Jerusalem's holiest shrine and called off an extended West Bank closure after days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Despite moving to end the lockdown, Israel still kept thousands of police officers on alert as an uneasy calm settled over the holy city. - Read more...

Kilts, green body paint decorate NYC as marchers worldwide parade for St. Patrick

NEW YORK - All the world from the Sydney Opera House to the Empire State Building turned Irish for the day, as revelers marked St. Patrick's Day with bagpipes, dancing, emerald lights and green body paint in a flurry of celebration. New Yorkers and visitors from all over the globe lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue a dozen deep for the world's oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day parade Wednesday, as crowds gathered along sun-warmed routes in Dublin and cities around the U.S. to mark the holiday. - Read more...

Chancellor Merkel: sex abuse scandal in Germany major challenge to society

BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel called the sex abuse scandal rocking the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI a major challenge to German society and warned the only way to come to terms with it was to "find out everything that has happened." Merkel's comments to parliament on Wednesday came amid growing impatience from Germany's Roman Catholics for the pontiff to address the scandal in his homeland, where some 300 former Catholic students have come forward with claims of physical or sexual abuse. - Read more...

Senior official: Al-Qaida leader linked to bombing of CIA post believed killed in US strike

WASHINGTON - An al-Qaida leader believed to have played a key role in bombing a CIA post in Afghanistan last December was apparently killed by an American missile strike last week, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday. The counterterrorism official said Hussein al-Yemeni was believed killed in a strike in Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. - Read more...

Iraqi PM fighting off challenge from secular candidate - negotiations to follow vote count

BAGHDAD - The man who has led Iraq for the past four years is battling for his political survival just as U.S. troops are getting ready to pack up and go home. With about 83 per cent of the votes counted from parliamentary elections, it's not at all clear that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will emerge the winner because a secular challenger is showing surprising strength. And a drawn-out battle of negotiations with rival coalitions is inevitable. - Read more...

Suspect in Berlin poker heist surrenders to authorities, another arrested; 2 on run

BERLIN - A man who admits he took part in a brazen daylight raid on a poker tournament in Berlin surrendered to authorities and identified three suspected accomplices, one of whom was later arrested, officials said Wednesday. Authorities had been hunting since March 6 for four suspects who, armed with a revolver and a machete, stormed into the tournament at a downtown Berlin hotel and made off with C242,000 ($332,000) in jackpot money. - Read more...

Black people must leave store, announcer at NJ Walmart says; company investigates

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. - An announcement at a Walmart store in New Jersey ordering black people to leave brought chagrin and apologies Wednesday from leaders of the company, which has built a fragile trust among minority communities. A male voice came over the public-address system Sunday evening at a store in Washington Township in southern New Jersey and calmly announced: "Attention Walmart customers: All black people leave the store now." - Read more...

Taliban onslaught drove Afghan councillors from province last spring: documents

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Governance in Kandahar was pushed to the brink by Taliban bombs and assassinations last spring, an onslaught that at one point saw provincial council members temporarily abandoning the region, newly released Canadian documents reveal. An extraordinary set of quarterly campaign reviews, prepared by Canadian Forces Expeditionary Command over several months, paint a startling picture of the civilian administration in Kandahar province where Canadian troops operate. - Read more...

More than 900 World War II artillery shells found under road in Moscow

MOSCOW - Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes in Russia's capital Wednesday after maintenance workers uncovered hundreds of rusty World War II-era artillery shells beneath a road. Sappers removed 916 field artillery shells of various calibre after workers expanding a road in west Moscow stumbled upon the cache. Residents of two nearby buildings were evacuated immediately, and the road was closed to traffic. - Read more...

Brazilian president places wreath at Arafat's tomb, risking Israeli ire

Brazil's president placed a wreath on the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Wednesday and sharply criticized Israeli policies, leading Israeli officials to suggested he was not being evenhanded. Making the first visit by any sitting Brazilian president to Israel and the Palestinian territories, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's has termed the trip a "a mission of peace." The visit appears aimed at helping Brazil emerge as a bigger player in foreign affairs. - Read more...

Toyota, US government inspectors look at wrecked NY Prius to find cause of crash

HARRISON, N.Y. - Investigators from Toyota and the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration inspected a wrecked 2005 Prius in a suburb of New York City on Wednesday to see if its event data recorder or the car would point to a problem with braking or acceleration. A housekeeper who was driving the car told police that it sped up on its own as she eased forward down her employer's driveway on March 9 and hit a wall across the street. She was not hurt and authorities have said there is no indication of driver error. - Read more...

Despite troubles, Italians shrug off concerns that it will be next to crash; social costs loom

MILAN, Italy - As Greece wins at least temporary respite from its debt troubles, will Italy be the next to face a crisis? The chronically underachieving country is saddled with an astonishing level of debt, no real prospect for growth, and a a leader mired in scandal. - Read more...

Pregnant SKoreans desperate amid abortion crackdown in former 'Abortion Republic'

SEOUL, South Korea - Having a third child wasn't in Mrs. Kim's plans. She and her husband are already struggling to get by. But getting an abortion, once so routine here that South Korea was known as "Abortion Republic," is no longer easy. In recent weeks, the government has begun enforcing a long-ignored ban on the procedure for the first time. - Read more...

French documentary showing mock reality TV electrocutions probes TV's power

PARIS - A state-run TV channel is stirring controversy with a documentary about a fake game show in which credulous participants obey orders to deliver increasingly powerful electric shocks to a man, who is really an actor, until he appears to die. The producers of "The Game of Death," set to air Wednesday night, wanted to examine both what they call TV's mind-numbing power to suspend morality, and the striking human willingness to obey orders. - Read more...

U.S. clinic sparks debate with raffle of human eggs for infertile winner in U.K.

LONDON - An American infertility clinic seeking business in Britain has prompted fierce criticism by offering free eggs from a U.S. woman to one participant in a promotional seminar Wednesday evening in London. The event has sparked a debate in Britain about the ethics of an event that many said violated the spirit, if not the letter, of a European Union law forbidding fertile women from being paid for their eggs. - Read more...

Students protest bail appearance for South African hip-hop artist accused in fatal drag race

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Police used rubber bullets and water cannons Wednesday to disperse thousands of high school students protesting a bail hearing for a South African hip-hop artist accused of killing four children while drag racing on drugs. Molemo Maarohanye - who is known as "Jub Jub," which means Marshmallow - faces four murder charges and two charges of attempted murder along with co-defendant Themba Tshabalala. Authorities say the children were run down by a Mini Cooper but it is unknown who was driving the vehicle at the time. - Read more...

EU food safety agency says most raw chicken in Europe carries food-poisoning bugs

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union's food safety agency says most chicken sold in Europe is infected with bacteria that can cause food poisoning if the meat is not cooked thoroughly. In a report Wednesday, scientists said 76 per cent of chicken they tested at slaughterhouses in 2008 was infected with campylobacter and another 16 per cent had salmonella. - Read more...

Thai anti-govt protesters, hurl blood at PM's house, vow to stay in capital indefinitely

BANGKOK, Thailand - Leaders of Thailand's anti-government protesters, who have hurled their own blood at the offices and home of the prime minister, said Wednesday they will remain camped out in capital indefinitely, though in smaller numbers. Hoping to bring down Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, red-shirted protesters hurled plastic bags filled with their own blood into his residential compound Wednesday - following similar protests the day before at his office and the headquarters of his Democrat Party. - Read more...