NATO allies agree on common initiatives

BRUSSELS - NATO leaders achieved a series of landmark agreements - ranging from a military withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan, a decision to build a missile defense system to protect its European members and beefing up cooperation with Russia - at the Lisbon summit over the weekend.

US, Russian presidents met quietly at the Lisbon summit

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - United States President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev held an unplanned meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lisbon in an effort to build confidence between the two nations, a White House official announced.

Families await fate of New Zealand miners

GREYMOUTH, New Zealand - Relatives of 29 miners still missing two days after an underground explosion were given a tour of the site on Sunday in order to better understand the situation, including how toxic gases are preventing a rescue attempt.

Haiti hopefuls call for voting postponement

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Chinese ship crew foils hijacking by pirates in the Arabian Sea

BEIJING - A warship from China arrived over the weekend to protect a Chinese cargo ship with a crew of 26 who repelled an attempted hijacking by pirates in the northern Indian Ocean on Thursday night.

Al-Qaida warning of new attacks

WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is promising more small-scale attacks like its attempts to bomb two United States-bound cargo planes, which it likens to bleeding its enemy to death by a thousand cuts, in a special edition of the Yemeni-based group's English online magazine, Inspire.

IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Down-home Italian

Shanghai

Snake charmers

Hong Kong

Galaxy of Michelin stars

Beijing

Ambrosia and white liquid fire

First, let's get the nomenclature clear. Wine as we know it is defined as putao jiu in Chinese, or "liquor distilled from grapes". The single character "jiu" covers not just wine but a host of spirits produced from fruit, grain, tuber or root.

Thais' secret recipe for success

GUANGZHOU - Thailand's women's sepak takraw team has a secret weapon.