18 die in Thai boat accident

Divers pulled at least two bodies from the bowels of a submerged river boat Monday after the overcrowded vessel carrying Muslim pilgrims sank on Thailand's Chao Phraya river, leaving 18 people dead.

Study estimates 100,000 premature deaths from haze

Indonesian forest fires that choked a swath of Southeast Asia with a smoky haze for weeks last year may have caused more than 100,000 premature deaths, according to new research that will add to pressure on Indonesia's government to tackle the annual crisis.

Naturalized citizen from Afghanistan sought in blast

Authorities are looking for a naturalized citizen from Afghanistan for questioning in a weekend explosion in a Manhattan neighborhood that injured 29 people as the governor conceded on Monday that investigators could no longer rule out international terrorism.

Pro-Kremlin party wins big majority in parliament

The United Russia party backed by President Vladimir Putin has won 54.2 percent of the vote in a parliamentary election, based on the 90 percent of ballots counted by Monday morning, data from the election commission showed.

Chirac, 83, hospitalized with lung infection

Former French president Jacques Chirac, 83, was hospitalized on Sunday with a lung infection, the second time in a year the frail elder statesman has received hospital care.

Populist surge piles pressure on Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party on Monday digested another stinging poll loss in Berlin state elections, and the relentless rise of the right-wing populist AfD which rails against her liberal refugee policy.

IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Deep-sea volcano holds mysteries

The turquoise waters became darker and darker, and squiggly glow-in-dark marine creatures began to glide past in the inky depths like ghosts.

Stone Age mummy is still revealing secrets 25 years on

When police heard about the frozen corpse up in the Alps in September 1991, they opened a criminal probe. Murder it was, but the crime was rather old - and the ultimate cold case.

Death toll in suicide bombing rises to 36

The death toll from a Taliban suicide bomb attack on a mosque in northwest tribal Pakistan has risen to 36, including eight children, officials said on Sunday.

Nation confronts disability stigma after 19 murders

The stabbing deaths of 19 disabled people in their sleep in July and the silence surrounding their identities are forcing Japan to grapple with its attitudes toward physically and cognitively impaired persons, less than four years before Tokyo hosts the Paralympics.

Security at Oktoberfest tightened in light of recent attacks in Munich

Heavy rain and stricter security did little to dampen the spirits of beer lovers at the start of this year's Oktoberfest, which opened on Saturday in the Bavarian city of Munich.