A day at the Test match is always a special occasion for cricket fans, and even more so when England are playing Australia and the Ashes are on the line.

Few things have peeved Latin America more than Washington's hypocrisy regarding coups. Overthrowing our friends at gunpoint is bad, the traditional U.S. line seemed to go, but toppling our foes — even the democratically elected ones — is O.K. So it surprised Latin Americans when U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the June 28 military ouster of leftist Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, a critic of the U.S., and called for his return to office. "We respect the universal principle that ...

The beginning of the town-hall meeting in Belgrade, Mont., was ominous. As Katie Gibson, the petite woman chosen to introduce President Obama, began, her soft-spoken testimony about losing medical-insurance coverage amid cancer treatment was suddenly overwhelmed by thunderclaps and a heavy downpour of rain and hailstones that reverberated through the cavernous metal airport hangar. But by the time she brought on the President, the storm had eased, and he was warmly welcomed by most of the roughly 1,000 people ...

NASA has released new pictures of the Earth showing the vast extent of Wednesday's spectacular solar eclipse. The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean, luring millions outside to watch the spectacle. Day turned into night, temperatures turned cooler in cities and villages teemed with amateur stargazers. The total eclipse started in India on Wednesday morning and moved eastward across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China ...

Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal on Thursday called on the United States to take a more active role in the Mideast peace process "so that America and the rest of the world can take a break from the headache of the region." "We appreciate the new language Obama used toward Hamas, and it is the first step in the right direction toward launching direct dialogue without any preconditions," Meshaal said in his address from Damascus, Syria. "We welcome this." Meshaal ...

It had been a while since Russia pulled out the "sanitary regulations" card to ban imports over a spat with one of its neighbors. But on June 6, after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko publicly voiced his fury at Russia's raising of energy prices, Russia imposed a ban on dairy products from Belarus, sparking a so-called milk war that has seen tensions between the former allies escalate daily. Over the past year, Lukashenko has been increasingly turning his back on ...

In the early days of the Iraq war, the analogy of choice for the Bush Administration was the post-World War II occupations of Japan and Germany. They had been bitter enemies of the United States; were both destroyed in a merciless world war; and eventually turned into peaceful, democratic allies of the first order. Anyone who said democracy couldn't come at the barrel of a gun was denying the obvious. That talking point lasted until about the fall of 2003, ...

North Korea fired two short-range missiles from its east coast Tuesday -- a day after conducting a nuclear test -- South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing a South Korean official. "The North is continuing its saber-rattling," the unnamed official said. The firings came a day after the reclusive communist state conducted a nuclear test and fired another short-range missile. "We should be clear that these are short-range missiles. They are in the realm of anti-ship or anti-aircraft missiles, not ...

Indian telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Limited and South Africa's MTN Group Limited have renewed merger talks with the aim of creating an emerging market telecom giant, both companies announced Monday. Such a merger would create an operator with combined revenues of over $20 billion and a combined customer base of over 200 million, according to both companies. In addition to savings, "this opportunity also represents a first of its kind in developing an Indian-African initiative that would serve as ...

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon toured a displacement camp in Sri Lanka on Saturday, days after the country declared victory in a 25-year civil war against rebels. He visited portions of Manik Farm, a sprawling camp for internally displaced people in the country's north. Some in the camp had experienced fierce fighting in recent months, saying they did not believe at points that they were going to survive. The Sri Lankan government declared victory Tuesday in the country's 25-year ...