United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is calling for additional security for U.N. staff in Afghanistan, citing a "dramatically escalated threat" due to the world body's support for that nation's electoral process.Ban also said the U.N. is "exploring the feasibility of bringing in additional security units to guard U.N. facilities." The U.N. currently has hundreds of staff in Afghanistan offering technical and operational support for Afghanistan's elections. Various other U.N. agencies are involved in humanitarian work in the war-torn nation.

Militants who control parts of Somalia's capital city are beating women in broad daylight for violating their radical brand of Islamic law, according to local officials and witnesses in Mogadishu.Ban also said the U.N. is "exploring the feasibility of bringing in additional security units to guard U.N. facilities." The U.N. currently has hundreds of staff in Afghanistan offering technical and operational support for Afghanistan's elections. Various other U.N. agencies are involved in humanitarian work in the war-torn nation.

The group that controls top-level domain codes for Internet addresses is poised to permit non-Latin language codes for the first time in its history. And if, as expected, it does move forward, it means that Web surfing is about to get easier for about half of the world's 1.6 billion Internet users. "There are over 40 million users in the Arab world," said Wael Ghanim, Google's product and marketing manager for the Middle East and Africa, "and this number ...

China and the US resolved several thorny trade disputes on Thursday even as Beijing confirmed it was investigating potential dumping of US-made cars in the Chinese market.

Those who knew Canadian folk musician Taylor Mitchell say her passion for her craft was matched by her affinity for nature."When the decision had been made to kill the pack of coyotes, I clearly heard Taylor's voice say, 'please don't, this is their space.' She wouldn't have wanted their demise, especially as a result of her own. She was passionate about animals, was an environmentalist and was also planning to volunteer at the Toronto Wildlife Centre in the coming months," ...

The saying goes that life imitates art. But that's the last thing you want when you write crime fiction. You never want to see the things you write about mirrored back to you in real life.

Broadening the number of health care professionals who can administer vaccine, New York Gov. David Paterson issued a sweeping executive order Thursday officially declaring a state of emergency due to the increase in H1N1 cases, including 75 H1N1-related deaths in New York state.

Four teenagers were arraigned Thursday on charges connected to the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl on a high school campus after a homecoming dance.All of those arraigned are due back in court on November 5. Another adult was arrested in connection with the October 24 attack, but has a different court date than the others. Police said as many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lit back alley at the school, while another ...

Japan's unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in September, the government reported on Friday.

Japan's unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in September, the government reported on Friday, according to Kyodo news Service.