Eight of the 16 members of al Qaeda in Iraq who escaped Wednesday night from a Tikrit prison north of Baghdad have been recaptured, security officials in Samarra told CNN Saturday.

President Obama said Wednesday that the nations of the world are failing to work together to confront the most pressing challenges of today. "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges," Obama said, in his first speech as president to the U.N. General Assembly. "If we are honest with ourselves, we need to admit that we are not living up to that responsibility." Obama cited issues such ...

A massive dust storm swept through parts of southern Australia on Wednesday, bathing them in a reddish haze and prompting health officials to warn asthma patients to take cover. Susan Paget marveled at the eerie red view from the balcony of her apartment in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, and said she took the day off work to avoid the dust storm mess. "It just feels dirty and rusty," Paget told CNN. "It was totally bizarre to wake up around ...

The Iraqi government implemented new security measures a day after a string of bombings in Baghdad killed at least 100 people and wounded hundreds more, an interior ministry official told CNN on Thursday. The measures, ordered by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, include additional security checkpoints across the capital, more stringent vehicle searches and random security stops. The stepped-up security followed a late-night meeting that included al-Maliki and Iraq's defense, interior and national security ministers, along with senior representatives ...

The International Monetary Fund's chief economist described a "nascent" global recovery on Wednesday, but warned that US policymakers walked a tightrope in timing the end of the fiscal stimulus.

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 ...

Bill strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm early Wednesday as it churned far from land with maximum sustained winds near 135 mph. At 5 a.m. ET, Bill was centered about 460 miles east of the Leeward Islands, and more than 1,100 miles southeast of Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters expected Bill to maintain its intensity, while turning more to northwest on Wednesday. "On this track, the core of this dangerous hurricane will be passing well to ...

Twenty people were killed and 75 were wounded Wednesday in five explosions in Baghdad, Iraq's Interior Ministry officials said.

Police stormed a bank and killed three armed robbers Wednesday in Afghanistan's capital after their robbery attempt had escalated into a gun battle with security officers.

Schools, colleges and cinema halls in India's commercial capital of Mumbai have been ordered to shut over a mounting H1N1 scare, officials said Wednesday.