President declares victory in Serbian elections Serbia's pro-Western president declared victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections — a stunning upset over ultranationalists who tried to exploit anger over Kosovo's independence. But his rivals vowed to fight on. 5/11/2008 6:18:07 PM

22 dead in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia Crews and search dogs hunted Sunday for survivors or bodies in piles of debris after tornados and storms rumbled across the region a day earlier and killed at least 22 people in three states. 5/11/2008 1:11:30 PM

Gunmen kill top Mexican policemen Three top Mexican police officials have been shot dead in as many days while the country's fight against drug-trafficking continues. Assailants sprayed the car of the deputy police chief of the Mexico/Texas border city of Ciudad Juarez on Saturday. 5/11/2008 12:49:30 PM

Exporting the American dream In the penultimate episode of a six-part series entitled Age of Empire, the BBC's Jonathan Marcus examines how US culture is as crucial a weapon in the American arsenal as its military hardware. 5/11/2008 12:46:16 PM

Australian swimmer recovers after shark attack An Australian man is recovering in hospital after being attacked by a shark while swimming. Jason Cull said he saw a shadow under the surface of the water, but thought it was a dolphin. 5/11/2008 11:49:20 AM

All eyes on price of Rice The Philippines went to the international auction table like a high-stakes gambler, desperate to win rice for its 88 million people – lots of it, in fact 675,000 tonnes. 5/11/2008 12:28:01 PM

President calls daughter's wedding 'spectacular' President Bush and first lady Laura Bush didn't share their daughter's wedding with the nation, but the president eagerly shared their joy on Sunday about Jenna Bush's marriage to Henry Hager. 5/11/2008 12:26:28 PM

Oxfam warns of post-cyclone health 'catastrophe' Eight days after Cyclone Nargis tore through Burma, the British group Oxfam has warned that the lives of up to 1.5 million people are in danger from diseases if clean water and sanitation are not provided soon. 5/11/2008 11:44:27 AM

Sudan cuts Chad ties over attack Sudan says it has cut off diplomatic relations with Chad, blaming it for helping rebels from Darfur to launch an attack on Sudan's capital, Khartoum. 5/11/2008 8:35:45 AM

Five women and 365 days Nicolas Sarkozy has plummeted in the opinion polls, reaching a low usually reserved for the end of a president's third term, not the beginning of his first. 5/11/2008 7:32:41 AM

How Cyclone devastated an already Vulnerable Land The cyclone that hit Burma revealed how people in poor countries are increasingly vulnerable when hit by natural disasters. Neither dykes, shelters nor a competent government were there to protect them. 5/11/2008 7:26:29 AM

Ash cloud stretches across South America The eruption of a long-dormant volcano in southern Chile has created an enormous cloud of ash that has spread hundreds of kilometres to the east, across Argentina and Uruguay. 5/11/2008 7:20:01 AM

Obama outlines plans for race against McCain Barack Obama began sketching the outlines of his expected presidential contest against Republican John McCain on Saturday, saying the fall election will be more about specific plans and priorities than about questions of political ideology or who is more patriotic. 5/11/2008 7:12:59 AM

Zimbabwe runoff will be delayed Zimbabwe's presidential runoff cannot take place in the time allotted by law, the head of the electoral commission said in an interview published Sunday. 5/11/2008 7:11:44 AM

Burma eases restrictions on aid Increased amounts of aid have started to reach cyclone-stricken Burma amid signs the government is easing restrictions on foreign access. 5/11/2008 5:22:07 AM

Nepal arrests 560 Tibetan women Nepalese police have arrested some 560 Tibetan women, including many Buddhist nuns, after breaking up demonstrations against China's crackdown in Tibet. 5/11/2008 5:16:23 AM

Thousands protest Israeli focus at Turin book fair About 4,000 people filled the streets of Turin, Italy, on Saturday to protest against the Turin Book fair's celebration of Israeli writers. With a banner reading: "Boycott Israel, support Palestine," protestors walked through the streets. 5/11/2008 5:13:46 AM

Deadly storms batter Missouri, Oklahoma The search is under way for survivors Sunday, a day after a deadly storm system spawned tornadoes in Missouri and Oklahoma and killed at least 19 people. An emergency official says one Oklahoma town "looks like a war zone." 5/11/2008 4:54:04 AM

Thanks for your Patience! Behind the scenes Today.com has been hard at work improving our site to handle more traffic. Big thanks to our Webmaster and our Provider for their help. We're ready to serve and entertain you at a faster pace. (Editor). 5/11/2008 4:24:53 AM

Hezbollah fighters withdraw from Beirut streets Hezbollah gunmen removed roadblocks and left the streets of Beirut on Saturday, following a request from the Lebanese army. 5/11/2008 4:06:27 AM

Wife's beer fortune gives McCain access to millions On a spring day at a speedway in North Carolina, John McCain posed with his wife, Cindy, and racing star Dale Earnhardt Jr., highlighting the couple's political and business interests in a single snapshot. 5/10/2008 7:10:10 AM

Lebanon PM: Hezbollah tried to stage coup Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Hezbollah of trying to stage a "militant coup d'etat" on Saturday in his first public comments since violence began three days ago in Beirut. He also called for the army to intervene. 5/10/2008 6:42:25 AM

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi unhurt in cyclone Burmese prime minister-in-exile Sein Win told reporters in Washington that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democracy activist, who has been under house arrest or in prison for much of the past 18 years, was unharmed by Cyclone Nargis. 5/10/2008 6:40:12 AM

Referendum vote begins in Burma Voting on a referendum for a proposed new constitution has begun in Burma even as the country continues to struggle with devastation wreaked by a cyclone that left thousands dead and an estimated one million homeless. 5/10/2008 6:38:10 AM

Cyclone heightens rice crisis When Cyclone Nargis swept through the Irrawaddy Delta, it shattered both Burma/Myanmar's famed rice bowl as well as any hope Asia's rice crisis might abate anytime soon. 5/10/2008 5:50:20 AM

Israeli PM won't resign over bribes Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defied a barrage of calls to resign on Friday after he admitted taking cash from an American businessman at the centre of a police inquiry into allegations of bribery. 5/10/2008 5:46:00 AM

French charmed by 'almost queen' France mostly ignored Canada's national unity debate as Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean continued Friday to receive rock-star media treatment. Quebec nationalists have been fuming all week. 5/10/2008 5:27:24 AM

Montana Death Row: Documents shed new light Montana's governor told a top Canadian consular official last year that he was willing to consider commuting the death sentence of Ronald Smith -- the only Canadian on death row in the U.S. -- and transfer him to a Canadian prison. 5/10/2008 5:18:34 AM

Secret Service bosses send Emails Trashing Blacks Secret Service supervisors engaged in racially derogatory banter, and an anecdote about a possible assassination of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The message, an anecdote about a missile striking an airplane in which Mr. Jackson and his wife were traveling, concludes, it “certainly wouldn’t be a great loss and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.” 5/9/2008 6:57:05 PM

Chaos in effort to help Burma/Myanmar Myanmar's military regime has seized two planeloads of relief supplies and ordered a third planeload to leave, throwing into chaos the international effort to help the 1.5 million homeless victims of cyclone Nargis. 5/9/2008 6:39:33 PM

Digging to begin at Manson ranch Authorities said Friday that they will begin digging for evidence of graves at a California ranch that once was home to the infamous "family" of convicted killer Charles Manson. 5/9/2008 6:28:23 PM

More signs Clinton still in the race The Clinton camp this morning also released a "Dear Fellow Democrats" letter from 16 US House members supporting her that reinforces her argument that she would be the stronger nominee in what is likely to be a very close November election because she is winning primaries in key battleground states. 5/9/2008 5:51:41 PM

Second police shooting in Mexico Gunmen in Mexico have killed another top police official - one day after the head of the national anti-narcotics effort was shot dead. Esteban Robles was the fourth top policemen murdered in the past 10 days. 5/9/2008 3:24:17 PM

Move to resurrect CIA leak case Ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame has begun an attempt to resurrect a lawsuit against officials in the Bush administration, among them Vice-President Dick Cheney. 5/9/2008 12:20:55 PM

Brazilian girl's parents arrested Brazilian police have arrested the father and stepmother of a five-year-old girl thrown to her death from a sixth-floor window. The case has shocked Brazil, and been the focus of intense media coverage. 5/9/2008 12:19:26 PM

Spain Claims Sunken Treasure from Florida Deep-Sea Spain formally laid claim Thursday to a shipwreck that yielded a US$500 million treasure, saying it has proof the vessel was Spanish. Officials demanded the return of the booty recovered last year by a U.S. deep-sea exploration firm. 5/9/2008 11:26:55 AM

Texas Swinger's Club Involved Young Children A jury again needed just four minutes Thursday to convict an organizer of an East Texas swinger's club where prosecutors say young children were forced to perform sexual acts for an audience. 5/9/2008 11:16:34 AM

Pythons Cause Scare at German Post Office Police in Darmstadt said Friday that the snakes were stuffed into a parcel that was handed in for mailing to eastern Germany. It contained two tiger pythons and an albino tiger python of more than 3 feet in length. 5/9/2008 11:13:09 AM

Top Mexican Cop gunned down Hired hitmen, one wielding a pistol with a silencer, shot dead one of Mexico's top federal police officers at his home yesterday, in a blow to President Felipe Calderon's fight against drug cartels. "They were hunting him," a spokesman for the Security Ministry said. 5/9/2008 11:11:57 AM

Fisherman clinging to tree, watches wife, children die When the massive storm surge churned up by Cyclone Nargis struck his village, fisherman Zaw Win clung to a tree for three hours. He could only watch helplessly as his wife, 10-year-old son and four-year-old daughter were dragged to their deaths by the head-high waves. 5/9/2008 10:51:20 AM

Dalai Lama understands anger over Everest torch The Dalai Lama says he understands why Tibetan exiles were angry that the Olympic torch reached the top of Mount Everest but had advised them against protesting. 5/9/2008 10:31:05 AM

Regime's paranoia worsens cyclone tragedy Since 2005, Hurricane Katrina has been shorthand for government incompetence in managing the aftermath of a devastating storm. But in the Southeast Asian nation of Burma even a Katrina-style response would, sadly, pass as a miracle of efficiency. 5/9/2008 9:33:30 AM

UN to resume aid flights to Burma/Myanmar The United Nations says it will resume food aid flights to Burma/Myanmar on Saturday. It also forecasts heavy rains next week in the country already devastated by a cyclone. 5/9/2008 9:15:45 AM

Burma refuses to let in Aid Workers The United Nations has announced it is suspending aid shipments to Burma after authorities there began seizing supplies. A relief plane was able to drop supplies Friday, but humanitarian workers and journalists on board were turned away. 5/9/2008 5:24:41 AM

Hezbollah takes over west Beirut Gunmen from the Shia militant group Hezbollah have seized most of western Beirut, driving out supporters of the Western-backed government. 5/9/2008 4:59:19 AM

US threatens Burma with military aid drops “We are shocked by the behaviour of the Government. It should be a no brainer to accept the offer made by the international community,” Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to the United Nations. 5/8/2008 6:21:30 PM

U.S.: 15 Fish Hooks Surround Dog's Neck Pittsburg: A cruel collar forced a dog to undergo surgery. The mixed breed border collie was found wearing a collar full of fishhooks; and one of the hooks created a hole in the dog's neck. 5/8/2008 10:52:19 AM