ISLAMABAD: Weeks of mounting anti-government protests in Pakistan had been enough to convince five of the powerful army's 11 Corps Commanders that it was time for them to step in and force embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign.

RICHMOND, Virginia: Former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and his wife were convicted on Thursday of using his office to promote a dietary supplement in exchange for gifts in a public corruption case that derailed the career of a onetime rising Republican star.

CAPE TOWN: For the third time in a row, South Africa has refused to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama for attending World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates here next month, fearing that the Tibetan spiritual leader's trip would jeopardize relations with China.

ISLAMABAD: Chinese President Xi Jinping has cancelled his Pakistan visit later this month due to ongoing anti-government protests in Islamabad.

WASHINGTON: The justice department will open a broad civil rights investigation into police practices in Ferguson, Mo., where a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager last month and set off days of racially charged unrest, the city's police chief and other officials said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON: The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa is racing ahead of efforts to control it and at least $600 million is needed to get the unprecedented epidemic under control, UN health officials said on Wednesday.

 LONDON: UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday announced his plans to build a coalition for a full-fledged military-led intervention against ISIS in Iraq even as the group threatened to kill a British hostage.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy activists admitted on Tuesday they are powerless to overturn Beijing's refusal to grant them full voting rights, but the United States threw its weight behind the protesters, courting China's wrath.

BAMAKO: Four United Nations peacekeepers from Chad were killed on Tuesday when their truck was blown up in Mali, casting a shadow over the restart of peace talks between the west African state and rebel militias.

JERUSALEM: A week after the guns fell silent in the Gaza war, Israel and the Palestinians seem to have little appetite or incentive for a return to US-sponsored peace and statehood talks that collapsed five months ago.