MONTREAL -- Quebec's marriage laws are being challenged by a Montreal woman seeking $50 million from her wealthy ex-common-law husband.The woman, who can't be identified under provincial law, lived in luxury with servants with the man for 10 years and they had three children, her lawyers told the Globe & Mail.One of her lawyers, Marie-Helene Dube, said the man has been paying child support since they split in 2002, but claims the woman has been ... [full story]

KARBALA, Iraq -- A reported 6 million Iraqi pilgrims and about 60,000 Arab and foreign pilgrims have flocked to Karbala to observe Imam Hussein Arbaeen.Security was tighter than usual and the event went smoothly as chanting pilgrims marched through the streets.Some 3,000 buses and private vehicles were on hand to transport visitors as needed, Alsumaria reported. More than 40,000 police and military personnel were stationed at crossroads.Additionally, an estimated 10,000 emergency units were deployed in ... [full story]

ARLINGTON, Utah, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Harold Ickes, an old pro in Democratic politics, has returned to the fray to try to help Hillary Clinton wrest the presidential nomination from Barack Obama.Ickes, typically a behind-the-scenes player, will be out front this time. He'll be helping not only in the upcoming crucial primaries in Ohio and Texas but leading the battle for superdelegates, elected officials and party leaders who may determine whether Senator Clinton of New ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George Bush and his economic advisers are meeting Thursday amid a week of troubling news on a number of economic fronts.Concerns were growing that the economy was entering or already in a recession and that inflation was heating up, spurred by high gasoline prices as well as rising prices for wheat and corn -- used to make ethanol -- as demand increases for fuel alternatives.Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Robert Bernanke was ... [full story]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Appeal Division of Canada's National Parole Board has granted a farmer convicted of the 1993 mercy killing of his disabled daughter day parole.The 11-page ruling in British Columbia said a parole denial in December for Robert Latimer, 55, "cannot be reasonably supported in law," the Vancouver Sun reported.Latimer is serving a life sentence for the mercy killing of his severely disabled 12-year-old daughter Tracy on Oct. 24, 1993, by carbon ... [full story]

KABUJL, Afghanistan -- Stepped-up violence in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 25 Taliban fighters and two civilians, the interior ministry reported in Kabul Thursday.Among those reported killed was Mullah Naqibullah, a fugitive Taliban commander who twice broke out of jail, KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, said.Meanwhile, the U.N. said the increase in violence had made many Afghanistan refugees now in Iran and Pakistan reluctant to return home Copyright © 2008, by United Press International. All ... [full story]

ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Turkey to end its incursion into northern Iraq quickly but Turkish officials said they would take as long as needed.Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, meeting with Gates Thursday in Ankara, said Turkey would remain in northern Iraq "as long as necessary" to complete its operation against the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, Hurriyet reported. Gonul said Turkey had "no intention to occupy any area in the region."Turkish ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- At least 13 people died and 11 were injured in a missile strike Thursday on a seminary and a house in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region, officials said.The missile hit the school and a house in the Azam Warsak area of the province while students were asleep, shaking the entire area, the Press Trust of India reported. It was not known whether the missile was fired by coalition forces in Afghanistan or ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he won't run for president but could be persuaded to give his stamp of approval to the candidate with the right stuff.Bloomberg, writing in an Op-Ed piece in the Thursday edition of The New York Times, said "I am not -- and will not be -- a candidate for president." But Bloomberg went on to say he believes the United States needs to take a non-partisan ... [full story]

KALOSHA, Pakistan -- A rocket hit a Pakistani village near the Afghan border Thursday, killing several people, with reports labeling the victims possibly seminarians or militants.The BBC reported eight people had been killed in the village of Kalosha, possibly Arab militants, while the Press Trust of India said local TV channels put the death toll at 12 with 11 more injured and said most of those killed were believed to be Afghan seminary students.Local residents ... [full story]