Alabama delays vote on abortion ban

US Alabama state senate postponed a vote on Thursday on what could be the nation's toughest antiabortion bill.

Ship a healer for poor communities on Colombia's Pacific coast

THE SAN RAFFAELE, Colombia - As a white ship chugs through the muddy waters of the San Juan River, pirogues from the jungle glide toward it almost reverently, bringing their sick to healers they liken to angels.

Wanted: Boring machine to dig underground moon colonies

NAPLES, Italy - As space agencies prepare to return humans to the moon, top engineers are racing to design a tunnel boring machine capable of digging underground colonies for the first lunar inhabitants.

In 'happy' Bhutan, PM is a doc on Saturdays

THIMPHU, Bhutan - It's Saturday in Bhutan and Lotay Tshering has just completed an urinary bladder repair surgery on a patient at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital.

US seizes DPRK ship for 'violations'

The United States said on Thursday it has seized a DPRK cargo ship, claiming it had violated international sanctions, a first-of-its kind enforcement action that comes amid tense relations between the two countries.

Suicide bombing kills 8 in Baghdad market

Eight people were killed and 12 were injured on Thursday in a suicide bomb attack at a marketplace in Sadr City neighborhood in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua News Agency.

Venezuelans bear brunt of sanctions

CARACAS, Venezuela - With a prescription in his hand, Francisco Gonzalez, a night watchman whose wife was suffering from cancer, walked out of a private pharmacy in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

ANC leading in South African general election

The ruling African National Congress, or ANC, was heading to victory in South Africa's presidential and parliamentary elections on Friday, though its performance was likely to be the worst since it came to power 25 years ago.

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Russia celebrates WW II victory

A grand military parade involving 13,000 soldiers and 132 weapons systems was held in Moscow's Red Square on Thursday, to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Traditional craft a modern-day money-spinner

There is more to Anxi of Fujian province than the handmade green tea, Tieguanyin.

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