LAW

A backpack with the word "Bang" found inside a Los Angeles subway train prompted authorities to close the train station for more than two hours on Tuesday night.

Authorities investigating the murder of Hayden Miles on Tuesday recovered human remains from a crime scene at Ruru Lawn Cemetery in Christchurch, where they have spent the past few days in search for the teen’s body.

Wellington journalist Phillip Cottrell who died from severe bashing was attacked by a bully, according to a criminal expert.

Papua New Guinea was engulfed in a political turmoil on Monday when its Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of Sir Michael Somare as the prime minister, a post that parliament bestowed earlier to Peter O'Neill. But O'Neill refuses to turn over his post, so the country technically has two leaders.

The nanny of Chloe Murphy, the baby who died mysteriously, could face charges over the tragedy. Baby Chloe died a year ago, just seven weeks before her first birthday. Detectives waited for final medical reports before moving on with the case.

A 46-year-old Sydney teacher has been accused by three 11-year-old girls of indecent behavior towards them. The teacher has been charged with indecent assault and removed from a primary school in Sydney's east in November after allegations were brought to the attention of authorities, as he had allegedly inappropriately touched an 11-year-old student.

NSW and Queensland police busted separate drug rings on Tuesday morning arresting eight people and seizing heroin, cocaine and cannabis from raided homes.

A Rutherglen man's effort to find the remains of his brother under a disused mine near Avoca got a boost from the Victoria government, which offered to reimburse up to $25,000 in cost to the digging.

A jobless man angry for not receiving unemployment benefits threw his shoes at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while he was speaking at a ceremony in the city of Sari, Mazandaran Province on Monday. The shoes missed the president, who dodged it, and hit the banner behind him instead.

Bomb disposal experts defused a letter bomb received by the Greek embassy in Paris, France on Monday.

A 26-year-old man, who was distraught because his girlfriend broke up their four-year relationship, shot at passing cars in a Hollywood intersection before being gunned down by police on Friday morning.

An American teenager kidnapped in southern Philippines five months ago escaped from his captors and is now in the custody of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, local officials announced on Sunday.

Pakistani officials have announced that they are releasing the three wives and several children of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

A search team from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority found Thursday the wreckage of a Cessna plane missing since Wednesday and said its lone pilot was dead.

A letter that arrived at the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany Wednesday was found to contain an explosive device after it passed through a mail room security X-ray.

The father of a suspected murder victim of fugitive Malcolm Naden has appealed to police not to catch him dead.

Police and detectives are searching the dense bushland near Nowendoc for traces of the state's most wanted man, Malcolm Naden, on Thursday, a day after one officer approaching a campsite in the area was shot in his shoulder by an unidentified shooter.

Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev has called for a repeat of Sunday's parliamentary elections, saying the results were tainted by widespread reports of fraud.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who tried to sell the appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama in 2008, was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in prison for corruption.

A Victorian man has been sentenced to one-year imprisonment and 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for violating the country's blasphemy law.

Six Koreans and 17 Filipinos were charged with animal cruelty and illegal gambling for conducting dog fights at a house in Cavite province, Philippines and broadcasting it live online for bettors.

An Australian businessman was sentenced Tuesday by a Chinese court to 13 years imprisonment for bribery and embezzlement.

A Japanese whale hunting vessel set off Tuesday for the Antarctic seas beefed up by Coast Guard patrol boats in anticipation of another fierce interference from Sea Shepherd's anti-whaling ships and activists.

Chinese police said Tuesday that a Coca-Cola yogurt drink that killed a boy last month was deliberately laced with pesticide ingredients and was not contaminated at the soft drink maker's factory.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard bared that a task force has been formed to deal with the kidnapping of a citizen in southern Philippines.

Police found Tuesday the body of a missing barge master off Cape York peninsula in the northern tip of Queensland.

Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull asked Opposition leader Tony Abbott to allow coalition MPs to vote according to their conscience on the same-sex marriage bill. Mr Abbott has not ruled out a conscience vote, but said he will come out with a decision when he reads the legislation.

Police in Indonesia are not allowing the head of Research in Motion (RIM) in the country to leave Jakarta for being one of the suspects who triggered a stampede during a bargain sale of BlackBerry smartphones inside a mall.

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has placed four northern highland provinces under a state of emergency to stop violent protests against a U.S. mining firm that injured dozens of people and forced an airport to shut down.