Premier Mario Monti's government hung by a thread on Friday as Silvio Berlusconi prepared to return to the fray, with his supporters arguing that Italy was economically now far worse off than before.

Hundreds of mourners lined up in the vast open plaza at the heart of Brasilia, Brazil's modernist capital, to honor internationally renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer during a Thursday memorial in the city that most strongly reflects his signature style in its monumental buildings of flowing concrete and grand, sweeping curves.

This year's Nobel Prize in literature winner, Mo Yan, who has been criticized for his membership in China's Communist Party and reluctance to speak out against the country's government, defended censorship Thursday as something as necessary as airport security checks.

Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal made his first visit to Gaza on Friday, kissing the ground and saying he hoped he would one day die a “martyr” in the Palestinian territory.

Hundreds of same-sex couples across Washington state started picking up marriage licenses as a voter-approved law legalizing gay marriage took effect.

The Duchess of Cambridge left a London hospital Thursday after being treated for acute morning sickness related to her pregnancy.

Pot smokers lit up in Washington state Thursday as recreational marijuana became legal in a historic first for the United States, clouded by the fact that federal law still bans the practice.

Scientists Friday warned of an alarming increase in the death rates of the largest living organisms on the planet, the giant, old trees that harbor and sustain countless birds and wildlife.

The U.S. Congress drew a furious response from the Kremlin on Thursday by passing legislation that targeted human rights abusers in the prison death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Thousands of Egyptians marched toward the president's palace early Friday afternoon for another day of demonstrations against the president while thousands of his Islamist backers gathered outside the country's most respected Islamic institution for a funeral for two men killed in Wednesday's bloody clashes.