BRUSSELS — A top Belgian politician warned the country’s citizens on Sunday to “get ready for the break-up of Belgium,” as King Albert II seeks to relaunch knife-edge coalition talks. Leading francophone Socialist Laurette Onkelinx, considered a potential successor to party chief Elio Di Rupo, who gave up... 

By David Oakley The eurozone debt crisis is about to enter a critical phase as governments prepare to step up borrowing in the capital markets to fund their faltering economies. Some strategists are warning that some of the weaker economies could fail to raise the amount of money they need as eurozone governments attempt to... 

The Telegraph is reporting that Maj. Gen. Yuri Ivanov, deputy head of Russian intelligence service known as GRU, died in Syria recently.  Speculation is rampant that he was assassinated.  He had been staying in the northwestern Syrian resort of Tartous when he disappeared, with his body later hauled in by Turkish fishermen. Here... 

By Rob Crilly A delegation of Pakistani military officers has abandoned a trip to the US after being mistaken for terrorists and ordered off an airliner. The eight officers, led by a two-star Navy rear admiral, were on their way to a meeting at US Central Command. They had boarded a United Airlines Flight from Washington... 

PUBLIC support for the European Union has collapsed to a nine-year low in all of its 27 countries, a poll has revealed. The European Commission says fewer than half of voters across Europe are in favour of the union. The “Eurobarometer” survey – conducted in May – found only 49 per cent of voters backed the EU, four... 

By Thomas Harding Russian submarines are hunting down British Vanguard boats in a return to Cold War tactics not seen for 25 years, Navy chiefs have warned. A specially upgraded Russian Akula class submarine has been caught trying to record the acoustic signature made by the Vanguard submarines that carry Trident nuclear... 

By Heidi Blake Saliva samples taken from 39 relatives of the Nazi leader show he may have had biological links to the “subhuman” races that he tried to exterminate during the Holocaust. Jean-Paul Mulders, a Belgian journalist, and Marc Vermeeren, a historian, tracked down the Fuhrer’s relatives, including an... 

A massive traffic jam in north China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won’t be finished until the middle of next month, an official said. Bumper-to-bumper gridlock spanning for 60 miles (100 kilometers) with cars moving little more... 

By IOAN GRILLO / MEXICO CITY The murder scarred a part of Mexico that was supposed to be reasonably safe from violence and crime. Santiago is a picturesque town of waterfalls, colonial churches and holiday homes for the rich. Its mayor Edelmiro Cavazos was a blue-eyed 38-year old, educated in the United States. But it seems... 

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – A gunbattle erupted between Mexican police and gunmen near the Rio Grande on Saturday, killing one person and prompting U.S. authorities to close a highway that runs along the border in El Paso, Texas. There were no reports of bullets crossing into the U.S. side, El Paso police Detective Mike Baranyay... 

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Argentina’s government on Friday ordered the closure one of the nation’s three leading Internet providers, demanding that Grupo Clarin immediately inform “each and every one” of its more than 1 million customers that they have 90 days to find new ways of getting online. The... 

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ordered an investigation into an oil spill caused by a collision between two cargo ships off Mumbai on Saturday. The Indian navy and coast guard are still trying to contain the leak from the stricken MSC Chitra. It is tilting at least 75 degrees since the crash with a Panamanian cargo... 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea fired about 110 rounds of artillery Monday near its disputed sea border with South Korea, the South’s military said, amid high tension over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea. The firing came shortly after South Korea ended five-day naval drills... 

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia fought a deadly battle Tuesday to prevent wildfires from engulfing key nuclear sites as alarm mounted over the impact on health of a toxic smoke cloud shrouded over Moscow. Two soldiers were killed by blazing trees as they worked to put out a fire dangerously close to Russia’s main nuclear research... 

A smoke cloud covered Moscow on Friday and authorities warned of a possible radioactive cloud that could form if the wildfires raging in Russia spread to an area contaminated by the Chernobyl accident. The giant smoke cloud cause Russian landmarks like the Kremlin to disappear and left commuters and civilians wearing face masks.... 

By Andrew Hough, and Peter Hutchison Winston Churchill was accused of ordering a cover-up of a Second World War encounter between a UFO and a RAF bomber because he feared public “panic” and loss of faith in religion, newly released secret files disclose. The former Prime Minister allegedly banned reporting... 

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia, the world’s third wheat exporter, Thursday banned grain exports for the next four-and-a-half months due to a record drought that has destroyed millions of hectares (acres) of its land. Wheat futures shot up to new two-year highs on commodities markets after the sudden announcement from Prime Minister... 

Next week, the United States and Russia will hold their first joint counter-terrorism military exercises, involving the two countries’ air force personnel and civilian air traffic control agencies. This came in a statement by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The drills, named Vigilant Eagle, will take... 

Canadian military jets intercepted two Russian bombers this week as they approached Canadian airspace near the Arctic, the defense ministry said Friday. “The two Russian TU-95 bombers have returned to their base without incident,” Canadian Defense Ministry spokesman Jay Paxton told AFP of the situation that occurred... 

President Raul Castro expanded self-employment fields on Sunday, ahead of looming government plans to slash as many as one million jobs — 20 percent of communist Cuba’s work force — from state payrolls. The economy, 95 percent of which is currently in state hands, does not have the ability to absorb such vast...