A hot-air balloon crash in New Zealand early Saturday killed 11 people -- everyone aboard -- an official said.

A prominent Bahraini activist was severely beaten by security forces at a protest Friday, according to the human rights group that he leads.

After a suicide bombing Friday and continued violence in anti-government bastions, the embattled Syrian regime vowed to confront its foes with an "iron fist."

Joran van der Sloot goes on trial Friday in Peru, ready to admit to killing a 21-year-old woman while planning to fight more stringent charges that could land him more time in prison, his lawyer said.

South Sudan appealed for international aid for a remote region under attack by roaming fighters, as thousands of residents fled into the bush to avoid the violence.

On January 1 2012, Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, ended oil subsidies that had kept gasoline prices artificially low. The cost of a liter of gasoline shot up from 65 naira (40 cents) to at least 141 naira (86 cents) virtually overnight. Furious Nigerians have taken to the streets, staging protests and mass demonstrations across the country.

The Europe Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton demanded Friday that Iran halt the pending executions of a woman sentenced to die by stoning and a Christian pastor convicted of apostasy.

Iran plans to conduct military drills in the Strait of Hormuz in February, state media said Friday.

It sits in the center of ancient Rome and is an emblem of the city's imperial history as well as an icon of Italy, but plans to renovate the Colosseum have sparked controversy.

A meal containing the world's most deadly mushroom is responsible for killing two people and sickening another in Canberra, Australian health officials said Friday.