LUISS Guido Carli University

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo insisted Wednesday that this week's explosion of violence that claimed at least 200 lives is not driven by religious tensions between Christians and Muslims -- but by ethnic, social, and economic problems.

Forbes magazine released its annual list of the world's richest people Wednesday, and for only the second time since 1995, Microsoft founder Bill Gates' name was not at the top.

President Obama met Wednesday with Haitian President Rene Preval to discuss relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts in Haiti.

The United States will hold both Israel and the Palestinians responsible for any steps that make peace between them more difficult, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States condemns Israel's decision to build 1,600 housing units in a Jerusalem neighborhood, calling it "a step that undermines the trust we need right now."

Myanmar's ruling junta has announced a new election law that disqualifies pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in upcoming national elections.

The Pennsylvania woman who dubbed herself Jihad Jane is an American who lived literally on Main Street in an apartment where she spent much time online, posting messages saying she was "desperate to do something" to help Muslims.

A 23-year-old American activist stands in front of an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza. The bulldozer drives over her, crushing her to death.

Militants attacked the office of a humanitarian organization in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday killing six people, police said.

Norbert Denef says for years he couldn't speak about the crimes committed against him during his childhood in Germany.

Bahrain's finance minister said adherence to strict Islamic rules helped his country escape the worst of the global recession.

A Spanish aid worker kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) last November in Mauritania has been freed unharmed, but the group continues to hold two other Spanish workers, Spain's deputy prime minister said Wednesday.

Three U.S. hikers who were detained in Iran have spoken by phone with their relatives for the first time since authorities jailed them more than seven months ago, the hikers' families said Wednesday.

The suspected mastermind behind the deadly Bali bombings in 2002 has been killed by Indonesian police, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday.

Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the head of Sunni Islam's top learning center, died of a heart attack on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, Egyptian state-run television reported. He was 82.

America's defense chief thanked Afghanistan's soldiers for their service during a tour of a training camp Wednesday as Iran's hardline president arrived in Kabul with a pledge to purge "occupying forces" from the troubled land.

A police raid on the outskirts of Jakarta Tuesday may have killed one of Indonesia's most-wanted terrorists, though officials said they would await tests to verify the man's identity.

After more than a month in a Haitian jail, an American missionary was free Monday night, looking forward to a hot shower and a long night in bed on home soil.

Nigeria's acting president replaced his national security adviser Tuesday, two days after mobs massacred hundreds in villages in central Nigeria.

As part of a revamping of animal welfare laws, China is considering banning consumption of meat from cats and dogs. Such a ban would show "China has reached a new level of civilization," one proponent says.