Early-morning arrivals at John Garang's mausoleum

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have flocked to the site of today's independence ceremony.

Former First Lady Betty Ford Dies at 93

Betty Ford, wife of former President Gerald Ford and the founder of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse and addiction, has died at age 93.

Yellowstone: Bear in Mauling Was Protecting Cubs

Yellowstone National Park officials say they will not kill or capture a grizzly bear that mauled a 57-year-old hiker to death because it was only defending its cubs and had not threatened humans before.

Drought in the Horn of Africa

Tens of thousands of Somalis have ended up at Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, the largest in the world.

Celebrations at the birth of a nation.

Thousands celebrate on the streets in South Sudan, marking their long-awaited independence. Marie-Claire Fennessy reports

Exxon Oil Spill in Mont. Prompts Evacuations

An ExxonMobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River near Billings ruptured and dumped an unknown amount of oil into the waterway, prompting temporary evacuations along the river Saturday morning.

Philippine mayor and sheriff in fisticuffs

Sara Duterte, the mayor of Davao City in southern Philippines, was unhappy about shanty homes being knocked down in her city. So she squared up to the sheriff, Abe Andres, she held responsible.

Duterte says she asked for a two-hour delay on the court order so she could ask the residents to peacefully dismantle their homes.

Andres ignored her request - and got in return, four blows to his left eye, face and back.

Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan reports.

Bristol Palin Talks About Getting Her Virginity "Stolen"

Bristol visits Good Morning America to talk about her new book, Not Afraid of Life, and spills on losing her viginity to Levi Johnston.

Smurf Day breaks Guinness World Record!

Thousands globally dressed-up as smurfs to celebrate the creator's birthday and managed to break the Guinness World Record.



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Egyptians protest by stoning police cars

Protesters hurl stones at police vehicles outside a court where former Egyptian government officials are being tried.



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Man fights lion in a cage

An Egyptian strongman has confronted a lion in a cage, in what was billed as a man-versus-beast spectacle.

A Tokyo-Paris flight in under three hours on the horizon

Imagine flying from Tokyo to Paris in less than two and a half hours, without having to burn tons of fossil fuel. One day it might be possible. The concept of zero-emissions, supersonic flight is being explored by European aircraft maker, EADS.

Michelle Obama's Soweto message

The U.S. first lady urges young Africans to fight for women's rights and battle the stigma of AIDS, using her husband's "yes, we can" campaign slogan to motivate youth across the continent.

New York mayor's 'largest fraud ever'

New York City's billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, created a pet project with the stated goal of modernising the city's old paper-based payroll system with a new computerised biometric system called 'Citytime'.

The project was meant to cost $63m in tax-payer money, but that amount has ballooned to over $600m, and Citytime has been described as one of the "largest and most brazen frauds ever committed" against New York.

US prosecutors say some of the contractors hired to reduce payroll fraud actually helped swindle tax-payers out of millions of dollars.

Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York.

Haiti headed for bad hurricane season

Hurricane season is about to get underway in Haiti, where many communities are still devastated by last year's deadly earthquake.

Displaced residents live in exposed camps on flat land, sometimes near hillsides bereft of trees that were cut down for charcoal fuel, leaving people exposed to mudslides.

Little has been done to help residents prepare for flooding. Pierre Louis Saint Juste, the mayor of the northern town of Gonaives, says residents will have to "find high places and survive on their own".

Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Gonaives, Haiti.

Berlusconi pledges to finish term

After winning a confidence vote, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he will stay to the end of his term in 2013, and is committed to controlling public finances. Bobbi Rebell reports.

Kabul Celebrates "Go Skateboarding Day"

Kids turned out in force for the "Go Skateboarding Day" event in the Afghan capital Kabul Tuesday.

FDA Issues New Graphic Cigarette Labels

In the most significant change to U.S. cigarette packs in 25 years, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday released nine new warning labels that depict in graphic detail the negative health effects of tobacco use.

Penguin Steps Ashore Far From Home

A young Emperor penguin took a rare wrong turn from the Antarctic and ended up stranded on a New Zealand beach, the first time in 44 years the aquatic bird has been sighted in the wild in the South Pacific country.

Russian Officials Say 44 Dead in NW Plane Crash

A RusAir plane crashed in northwestern Russia in heavy fog overnight, killing 44 people. Officials said some of the eight survivors were in critical condition.

Spaniards protest over unemployment and economy

Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Barcelona, capital of Spain's Catalonia region, to drive home their anger over high unemployment, bleak economic prospects and politicians they consider inept.

Famous pink tank rolls back into Prague

A symbolic pink tank returns to Prague as the city readies to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Czech Republic. The tank symbolizes the end of World War II and the end of Soviet occupation.

Thousands call for Yemen president's son to go

ens of thousands took to the streets of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, demanding that the president's sons leave the country as pressure rose for the wounded leader being treated outside the country to step down.

Western Libyan fighters regroup

An offensive by opposition fighters has failed to dislodge Gadaffi forces gathered on the valley beneath the town of Nalut in Libya's western mountians.

After three days of heavy fighting, commanders on the opposition side say they will halt their assault. They aimed to regroup, and then plan another attack.

Al Jazeera's James Bay, reports from western Libya.

Libya Says 9 Civilians Killed in NATO Airstrike

Libya's government said NATO warplanes struck a residential neighborhood in the capital Sunday and killed nine civilians, including two children. Hours later, NATO confirmed one of its airstrikes went astray.

NATO airstrikes target Tripoli

NATO has once again launched airstrikes on the capital Tripoli.

Muammar Gaddafi's government says a number of civilians were killed, including two children, in what it called a 'deliberate targeting of houses'.

Al Jazeera's Renee Odeh reports.

Kate and Wills don't mind getting dirty

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge don't want a houskeeper, showing they're just like the rest of us.

Frontline rebel rocket attacks near Misrata as NATO air strikes taget Tripoli

Libyan rebels launch rockets from Misrata towards Zliten, while daytime NATO air strikes target Tripoli.

Bomb scare in Washington

Police arrest a man near the Pentagon after a device was found in a car.

Nasa unveil Mercury probe images

Nasa's Mercury probe Messenger has revealed new information on the solar system's innermost planet.