· Hunger Plagues Haiti After Storm Wipes Out Food Supply
At least 26 severely malnourished children have died in the past four weeks in the remote region of Baie d'Orange in Haiti's southeast

· Trendy Fruit Replaces Afghan Opium Poppy Farms
This ancient land is telling the world that it has a trendy, new replacement for its dreaded poppy crop: sweet, juicy pomegranates.

· Iraqi Soldiers Donate $500 to California Wildfire Victims
Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil says his troops donated money to California wildfire victims to send the message, ‘we are a family.’

· Somali Pirates Collect $150M in Ransom in Past Year
Somali pirates have collected more than $150 million in ransoms over the past year, Kenya's foreign affairs minister said Friday, calling on ship owners not to pay when their vessels are hijacked.

· Court: Obese Canadians Can Have 2-for-1 Plane Seats
Obese people in Canada have the right to two seats on an airplane for the price of one on domestic flights, the country's supreme court ruled on Thursday.

· Iraqis Burn Bush Effigy Where Saddam Statue Fell
Followers of a Shiite cleric on Friday stomped on and burned an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same central Baghdad square where Iraqis beat a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein with their sandals five years earlier.

· Officials: Mexican Drug Officer Took Cartel $ to Leak Info
Officials say Mexico's former drug czar took $450,000 to leak information to a powerful cartel.

· Germany Bans Hezbollah TV Station
Germany bans the Hezbollah television station Al Manar on the grounds of violating international understanding.

· China Identifies 19,000 Victims From May Quake
A Chinese official says a little over 19,000 victims have been identified from the Sichuan earthquake in May.

· U.N. Expects 3K New Peacekeepers in Congo in Weeks
The U.N.'s peacekeeping force, numbering 17,000, has been unable to fulfill its primary mandate of protecting civilians in eastern Congo.

· Playboy Convicted of Throwing Model Girlfriend Off Cliff
Thirteen years after a young model's body was found at the bottom of a 180-foot cliff in Sydney, her British boyfriend has been convicted of her murder.

· Monk, Comedian Get Long Burma Prison Sentences
Courts in military-ruled Burma, also known as Myanmar, have handed long prison sentences to a prominent Buddhist monk and a popular comedian who are active in the country's pro-democracy movement.

· 'O54MA' Road Ban: U.K. Blacklists Terror License Plates
License plate numbers that may be snapped up by terrorist sympathizers have been banned in the U.K.

· Mayor Seeking Ugly Women Crowned 'Sexist of Year'
An Australian mayor who begged unattractive women to move to his town has been crowned 'sexist of the year.'

· Prison Scraps Comedy Course for Al Qaeda Terrorist
An Al Qaeda terrorist serving 18 years for his involvement in a plot to bomb London was taught how to be a stand-up comic at his top-security prison.

· U.N. Network Created to Help Kids Escape, Heal From War
Three former child soldiers from Africa announced the launch of a new U.N.-backed advocacy group Thursday to help other kids escape and heal from war.

· Lebanon's Sole, Destroyed Synagogue Awaits Restoration
The synagogue, like the country's once-thriving Jewish community, fell prey to the savage 1975-90 civil war.

· What American Dream? Mexican Emigration Down
Experts say America's economic troubles and tighter border security have deterred many Mexicans from risking the journey to the United States, a trip that often means long desert treks, dodging bandits and bribing corrupt police.

· 'Eyes of a Killer' Video Gets Teen Murder Conviction
A 16-year-old British boy has been jailed for a minimum of 13 years after murdering a father of three and then filming himself on his cell phone saying 'eyes of a killer.'

· Cairo Police Arrest 400 Teens in 'Flirting' Crackdown
Hundreds of teenage boys were arrested in Cairo for flirting, as Egyptian police conducted a day-long crackdown on sexual harassment, Agence-France Presse reported Thursday.