Date: Thu, 4. September 2008 21:53:43

AP - When Hala al-Masaad invited her girlfriends over to celebrate her 18th birthday with cake and juice, the high school student was stepping into an unusual public debate. Is celebrating birthdays un-Islamic?

Date: Mon, 29. September 2008 17:32:32

AP - Suicide attacks have killed nearly 1,200 people in Pakistan since July 2007, most of them civilians, according to military statistics Monday that underscored the ferocity of the threat facing the U.S. ally in the war on extremist groups.

Date: Mon, 9. June 2008 09:17:39

AP - A man suspected of killing seven people in a knifing rampage foretold the mayhem in a series of messages posted on the Internet, including one just before the attack saying, "It's time," police and media reports said Monday.

Date: Sat, 8. November 2008 14:27:20

AP - Congolese soldiers advanced toward rebel lines Saturday in renewed fighting that threatens a tenuous cease-fire around the eastern provincial capital Goma.

Date: Wed, 8. October 2008 14:42:34

AP - Pakistan's new spy chief briefed lawmakers Wednesday in an unusual private session focused on the fledgling government's fight against Taliban and al-Qaida militants entrenched in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.

Date: Thu, 13. November 2008 11:45:10

AP - Gunmen kidnapped an Iranian diplomat after killing his guard Thursday in Peshawar, authorities said, a day after an American aid worker was shot dead in the city in Pakistan's volatile northwest.

Date: Fri, 10. October 2008 07:45:22

AFP - Democratic White House front-runner Barack Obama warned against "fear or panic" and called for quick action on the Wall Street bailout after world stocks went into free-fall.

Date: Sun, 15. June 2008 18:44:04

AP - Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened Sunday to send Afghan troops after notorious Taliban leaders inside Pakistan in an angry warning to his eastern neighbor that he will no longer tolerate cross-border attacks.

Date: Tue, 3. June 2008 02:23:44

AP - Tourists got a view of real-life disaster in the make-believe world of Hollywood on Monday as the Universal Studios theme park reopened after a huge fire swept through back lot sets and buildings. Fire officials said studio workers accidentally set the blaze.

Date: Sun, 10. August 2008 12:27:05

AP - Security agents detained a Christian activist Sunday who was on his way to a church service attended by President Bush and the man was being held at an undisclosed location, a relative said.