World News

BRUSSELS - Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped inside a paralyzed body.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Bank group ABN Amro reported a third-quarter net loss of a billion euros (1.5 billion dollars) on Wednesday, a sharp improvement from the outcome in the previous quarter.

BUDAPEST (AFP) - Liverpool's miserable season continued as they were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage despite a 1-0 victory over Debrecen at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won support for his country's nuclear ambitions and expanded his reach in Latin America in a three-country goodwill tour that took him to close ally Venezuela for his final stop.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent - Voters in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines decide Wednesday whether to break their ties with Britain's monarchy, even as Queen Elizabeth II is making a rare visit to the region.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Honduran police detained two Nicaraguans and two Hondurans along with several rifles, and interim President Roberto Micheletti claimed the weapons were part of a plot to attack him during Sunday's presidential election.

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's ailing public health system will receive a 180 million US dollar boost to fight HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria from the Global Fund, state media reported Wednesday.

KINSHASA/PARIS (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday accused Canada of holding up progress toward rescheduling its foreign debt but Ottawa said it was now prepared to provide the needed financing assurances.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Visitors to South Africa's premier holiday destination who are worried about becoming victims of the country's high crime rate could find themselves instead robbed by a more furry kind of felon: baboons.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama expects Americans to support more U.S. troops in Afghanistan once they understand the perils of losing, and he is preparing to make his case to the nation next week.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's 74-year-old president swapped her trademark sari for military flying gear on Wednesday as she took off in a supersonic Sukhoi-30 fighter jet.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani security agencies have detained a former army officer for possible links with two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges, an army spokesman said on Wednesday.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A union representing train engineers at Canadian National Railway Co is unhappy with the railway's decision to impose labor contract terms on its members and may consider the move tantamount to a lockout, the union's president said on Tuesday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is looking into reports in Britain and the United States that the H1N1 flu may have developed resistance to Tamiflu in people with severely suppressed immune systems, a spokesman said Tuesday.

KINSHASA/PARIS (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday accused Canada of holding up progress toward rescheduling its foreign debt but Ottawa said it was now prepared to provide the needed financing assurances.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Ships are on alert and maritime authorities are monitoring the movements of hundreds of menacing icebergs drifting toward New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean, officials said.

MELBOURNE, Australia - Formerly conjoined twin sisters Trishna and Krishna are enjoying a favorite DVD and trying new foods as they continue their recovery from marathon separation surgery, doctors said.

CANBERRA, Australia - Australia's opposition leader Tuesday pledged his party's support for contentious legislation proposed by the government aimed at curbing the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

AMPATUAN, Philippines - Philippine authorities, under intense public pressure to make arrests in the country's worst election massacre, said Wednesday they are investigating a member of a powerful clan allied with the government along with four police commanders.

BRUSSELS - Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped inside a paralyzed body.

BARIYAPUR, Nepal - The ceremony began with prayers in a temple by tens of thousands of Hindus before dawn Tuesday. Then it shifted to a nearby corral, where in the cold morning mist, scores of butchers wielding curved swords began slaughtering buffalo calves by hacking off their heads.