CAIRO (AP) ― Ignoring a stern U.S. threat, Egypt on Sunday referred 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly using illegal foreign funds to foment unrest.The decision marked a sharp escalation of the dispute between Cairo and Washington over Egypt’s crackdown on U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights. The two countries have been close allies for more than three decades, but the campaign against the organizations has angered Washingto

LONDON (AFP) ― Queen Elizabeth II started five months of diamond jubilee celebrations last weekend with the promise of pomp and splendor despite the British monarch’s wishes for restraint.The queen will make a deliberately low-key visit to Norfolk in eastern England on Monday, 60 years to the day since she ascended to the throne after her father King George VI suddenly died on Feb. 6, 1952.The visit kicks off a series of events culminating in a flotilla of 1,000 boats sailing up the River Thames

KABUL (AP) ― Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, the United Nations said Saturday.Taliban-affiliated militants were responsible for more than three-quarters of the civilian deaths in 2011, the fifth year in a row in which the death toll went up, the U.N. said.The figures were a grim testament to the violence the Taliban and allied Islamist militants can still unleash

The death toll from the vicious cold snap across Europe has risen to more than 260, with hundreds having to be rescued after a ferry caught in a snow storm hit a breakwater off Italy.Ukraine has suffered the heaviest toll with 122 deaths, including many who froze to death in the streets as temperatures plunged to as low as minus 38.1 degrees Celsius.Airports were shut, flights and trains delayed, and highways gridlocked as emergency services raced to clear falling snow.In Italy, the ferry Sharde

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Outrage grew on Sunday after Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its crackdown on protests, with the opposition saying it handed the regime a "licence to kill."Saturday's rare double veto drew swift condemnation from world powers, with Wash

A Syrian dissident was killed by security forces before his body was thrown off the rooftop of his home in front of his wife and children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday.The Britain-based monitoring group said the incident took place on Wednesday in the town of Al-Maadamiyeh,