Police in Sydney, Australia confirmed that three people were killed Tuesday as part of a hostage situation in the city's downtown area.

An erroneous media report last week allegedly quoting Pope Francis nearly officially opened the gates of heaven to dogs and other animals. Picked up by major news outlets worldwide including the New York Times and CNN, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera ran a headline on Nov. 27 saying "The pope and animals: Paradise is open to all creatures."

A tense hostage situation in Sydney, Australia ended Tuesday morning when police stormed a local cafe where an unknown number of hostages were being held by a suspected Iranian refugee.

A Taliban bomb has killed two American soldiers in a NATO convoy late on Friday night near the U.S. Bagram Airfield base north of Kabul, a U.S. defense official confirmed on Saturday morning.

Flights were disrupted at Heathrow Airport in London, England Friday after a computer glitch at the airport\'s air traffic control center.

Israeli authorities are reporting that a Palestinian man poured acid on an Israeli family in the West Bank on Friday as part of an alleged terrorist attack.

Pope Francis denied a meeting with the Dalai Lama in Rome this week, saying he would not meet with the Tibetan leader due to the leader\'s relationship with China.

Confronting a diplomatic dilemma, Pope Francis has chosen not to meet the visiting Dalai Lama in Rome, despite the "very high regard" he holds for the Tibetan exile and Buddhist leader and his well known enthusiasm to meet other religious leaders.

A medical alliance is reportedly set to buy millions of doses of an ebola vaccine once one is approved by the World Health Organization as safe and effective.

Oscar Pistorius is heading back to court as Judge Thokozile Masipa has ruled that the athlete's acquittal on the more serious murder charge can be appealed.

A newborn baby in China reportedly survived being flushed down the toilet by its mother, and was saved from a nearby sewer when passerby heard crying.