AP - Iran's official news agency reports a former vice president has been released on bail in the mass trial of opposition figures accused of fomenting the country's postelection unrest.

AP - Rescuers worked in frigid cold to reach 21 miners trapped underground Sunday as the death toll from a huge gas explosion in a northern Chinese mine jumped to 87 — the deadliest blast to hit the beleaguered industry in nearly two years.

AP - Israeli aircraft attacked two suspected weapons-making factories and a smuggling tunnel in the Gaza Strip early Sunday in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.

AP - Iran on Thursday began large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting the country's nuclear facilities against any possible attack, state television reported.

AP - A Danish official says 65 world leaders so far will attend the Copenhagen climate summit in December and several more have responded positively to invitations.

Time.com - What we learned from the American President's journey through the Middle Kingdom

AP - Irish Republican Army dissidents left a 400-pound (180-kilogram) car bomb outside police reform headquarters in Belfast but the homemade device failed to detonate, Northern Ireland's police commander said Sunday.

AP - Iraq's state television has shown what it says are confessions of alleged conspirators in October bombings of government offices that killed more than 150 people.

AP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is inviting his mentor Fidel Castro to visit Venezuela during the coming months.

Reuters - Israel's president said Sunday expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank was a "marginal" issue blocking resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

AFP - Suspected separatists in northeast India set off two explosions on Sunday killing five people and wounding 50 more, police said, as two of the movement's leaders remained under arrest.

Reuters - Canada's ruling Conservatives and the main opposition Liberals both lost ground in a poll published on Friday as the left-leaning New Democrats enjoyed a surprising surge in public support.

AFP - Hundreds of residents in eastern Australia were on alert Sunday as out-of-control wildfires fanned by soaring temperatures and windy conditions threatened properties, officials said.

McClatchy Newspapers - CAIRO, Egypt — The Yemeni-American imam who's been under renewed scrutiny after the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, preaches against alcohol, birthday parties, black magic and extramarital sex. He also supports armed struggle — jihad — against the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has encouraged extremist insurgents in Pakistan and Somalia.

The Christian Science Monitor - A senior Kurdish leader on Friday moved to defuse the latest threat to Iraq's imperiled elections – a possible Kurdish boycott – saying ongoing discussions with Iraqi leaders and political party blocs were close to resolving their differences.