Blankets cover glacier in effort to halt melt

From afar, the Rhone Glacier looks pristine, but on closer inspection the surface is covered with white blankets to slow the melting of the rapidly retreating ice.

Thousands in holiday costumes revel at SantaCon

Santas arrived by the thousands and oversized elves cavorted with saucy Mrs Clauses as a police helicopter circled overhead. Welcome to SantaCon, the annual Christmastime parade-meets-pub-crawl that was hoping this year would persuade New York it's more nice than naughty.

Japan to build India's first high-speed train

Japan will provide $12 billion of soft loans to build India's first bullet train, the two nations announced during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that also yielded deeper defense ties and a plan for civil nuclear cooperation.

Suu Kyi's party literally cleans up

Aung San Suu Kyi took to the streets of Myanmar on Sunday to pick up trash, a rare public appearance since her election triumph, in a move aimed at highlighting her party's commitment to public service.

Woman wins council seat in historic polls

A Saudi woman won a municipal council seat in the country's first ever election open to female voters and candidates, an official said Sunday, in a milestone result for the kingdom.

Far right faces test in regional election

Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front was the front-runner heading into the decisive second round of French regional elections on Sunday, and now it's up to voters whether to hand the party an unprecedented political victory.

Death toll from day of clashes rises to nearly 90

Nearly 90 people were killed during Friday's clashes in the Burundian capital, the army said on Saturday, the worst outbreak of violence in Burundi since a failed coup in May.

Fire at psychiatric hospital kills 23

Twenty-three psychiatric patients, most of them elderly, died when a fire ripped through their care facility in southern Russia on Saturday night, in the latest tragedy to hit mental health hospitals in the country.

US asks Germany for more military help

The United States has asked Germany for more military help in the fight against Islamic State, a German magazine reported on Saturday, a week after Parliament approved a plan to join the campaign in Syria.

IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Gay Iranian poet's visit fulfills dream

Payam Feili fled his native Iran last year because of the persecution he faced over his sexuality. Now, the gay poet has made a yearslong dream come true - he is visiting Israel, Iran's archenemy and a country known for its tolerance toward gays.

Machine has 'ability to learn' like a human

Scientists have invented a machine that imitates the way the human brain learns information, a step forward for artificial intelligence, researchers reported on Thursday.