The European Union Naval Force says Somali pirates have hijacked a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is saying he is ready to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama during a visit to the United Nations next month.

A landmark treaty banning cluster bombs became binding international law Sunday.

The United Nations says a Russian helicopter pilot who disappeared in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region has been found and returned to his U.N. peacekeeper's base after being seized and beaten by a militia group earlier this week.

The Mexican government says a top member of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel has been killed.

Late Thursday, authorities confirmed reports in the Mexican media that Inacio "Nacho" Coronel, a senior member of the cartel, was killed in a military raid near the western city of Guadalajara.

Somali officials have welcomed the African Union's decision to strengthen its force in the war-torn country, where al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants are threatening to topple the embattled, U.N.-backed government.

Tensions are growing between the United States and China after Washington weighed in on territorial disputes between China and Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.

China lays claim to maritime territories in the sea along with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. While most of the territory consists of small islands, boulders, and strips of sand, some of them are believed to be rich in oil and gas.

China, and the other disputing nations, have been developing tourism to some islands in order to justify their territorial claims.

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U.S. and South Korean military commanders are expressing satisfaction with the results of a four-day military exercise designed as a warning to North Korea.