Ahead of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was hopeful for a two-state solution.

At least 28 people are dead and at least 218 others were wounded Wednesday after three blasts during a Shiite procession here, authorities in Pakistan said.

Dutch authorities can detain two men held on suspicion of plotting a terrorist act for another day without charging them, a prosecution spokesman said Wednesday.

Swedish prosecutors will reopen the rape case involving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. "There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed," said a statement from Sweden's director of public prosecutions.

A Kentucky service member who was missing in action during the Korean War has been identified, a Defense Department agency said on Wednesday.

In only eight months, 2010 has become the deadliest year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to a CNN count.

Three people died and dozens were injured in riots over increases in the price of bread, water, energy and other critical goods in Mozambique, the southern African nation's official news agency reported Wednesday.

Mexican authorities have rescued six undocumented Cuban migrants who had been held for ransom for a month in Cancun, a vacation hotspot on the nation's Yucatan Peninsula, the state-run Notimex news agency reported Wednesday.

After more than seven years of American military operations in Iraq, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will help mark the transfer of U.S. military command in Iraq on Wednesday.

A Qantas Airlines flight bound for Sydney, Australia, from San Francisco, California, was forced to return to San Francisco early Tuesday after experiencing problems with one of the plane's engines, the airline said.

A video apparently showing a young woman throwing live puppies into a river has sparked outrage across the Internet.

Divers are recovering bottles of champagne that have been lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for about two centuries, an autonomous Finnish island official said Wednesday.

French police are raiding the Paris home of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, a local prosecutor told CNN on Wednesday.

Violence killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians in August, authorities said Wednesday, a day after President Barack Obama marked the end of the U.S. combat mission in the country.

The shooting death of four Israelis in the West Bank should not be allowed to derail the resumption of Mideast peace talks, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

The death toll from air strikes in Pakistan on Tuesday has climbed to 60, two military officials said.

Fresh off a major speech on Iraq, President Barack Obama on Wednesday turns his attention to the extremely difficult task of trying to broker Mideast peace, with his special envoy declaring there is a "window of opportunity" for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to achieve an historic deal within one year.

Four Israelis were killed in a shooting near Hebron in the West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli medical sources and the army said.

Crews have begun boring a rescue shaft to reach the 33 miners who have been trapped underground in Chile for more than three weeks, according to CNN Chile.

Hurricane Earl continues its forceful journey across the Atlantic Ocean, packing 135 mph (215 kph) winds and moving toward the east coast of the United States.