Uruguay drew one step closer to becoming the first country in Latin America to allow same-sex couples to adopt children with the passage of a bill by the lower house of Congress.

Yang Yong-eun is the Tiger-slayer. The Korean golfer stunned the world by beating Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship earlier this month, on the way becoming the first Asian-born winner of a major golfing event.

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics, died Wednesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 77. "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," a family statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and ...

The hot wind swirls around the human bones and cracked skulls that litter the forsaken desert lands in Western Iraq. We are standing in the middle of what was an al Qaeda execution site, just outside an intricate bunker complex that the organization used to torture and murder its victims, the bodies left to rot or be eaten by animals. From the back of the police truck the opening to the first bunker is barely discernible in the distance. "Al ...

Top Iranian military officials have called for even faster prosecutions and demanded "swift retribution" for post-election detainees, despite more than 100 Iranians going through mass trials this month, Iranian media reported. The detainees were among those arrested amid protests against the disputed election, in which hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the overwhelming winner. The protests sparked a brutal government crackdown that led to thousands of arrests, scores of injuries and at least 30 deaths. Most of those arrested ...

An act of compassion or an undercover deal? What is the truth about the release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi from the Scottish prison where the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing was incarcerated? Defending his controversial decision Monday at an emergency session of the Scottish Parliament, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill argued that it was a case of "Do as you would wish to be done by." He would not have let out al Megrahi, he said, on ...

South Korea's Y.E.Yang is still coming to terms with his historic victory at the PGA Championship where he became the first Asian-born golfer to win a major title. It was a triumph made the more remarkable because he was paired with overnight leader Tiger Woods in the final round and even Yang could scarcely believe he had defied the odds to win. "If I were to tee off tomorrow, I wish it wouldn't happen," Yang told CNN, acknowledging that ...

A Malaysian model, who is set to become the first woman in the Southeast Asian country to be caned for drinking alcohol in public, wants her punishment carried out in public. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno said Thursday that if the intent of the Islamic, or Shariah, court that sentenced her was to set an example for other Muslims, then the flogging should take place in the open. "Let's be transparent about it," she said. "We want to challenge them," added ...

A depressed aluminum market dragged down first-half earnings at Rio Tinto, the global mining company, which paid no interim dividend in order to husband cash and cope with $39 billion in net debt. Rio, fresh from a $15.2 billion rights issue, recorded a $206 million loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization at its Rio Tinto Alcan aluminum unit, compared with an ebitda gain of $2.38 billion in the first half of 2008. The group's 55 percent drop in pre-tax ...

Television pioneer and longtime CBS executive Don Hewitt, the creator of "60 Minutes," has died, CBSNews.com reported Wednesday. He was 86. The winner of eight Emmy and two Peabody awards, Hewitt began working for CBS News as an associate director in 1948. He was executive producer of "60 Minutes" when it premiered on CBS on September 24, 1968. Hewitt stepped down in June 2004, but the program remains on the air and is the No. 1 news program, according ...